Warrior (First to Fight #1)(32)
“Just remember I have to be out by eleven,” I tell Chad.
A flash of irritation crosses his face, but he replaces it with a sugar-sweet smile. “Of course, sweetheart.”
The night is cool, and I stop when we reach the beach to toe off my sandals. I hold them in one hand as we’re absorbed by the crowd. As it is with near everyone in the surrounding areas, I’ve known Chad for years. He and Jack went to school together, though I didn’t get to know him in truth until a few months ago. He is easygoing and handsome. I don’t want or need to be blown away by lust or fall madly in love. A simple relationship of comfort is all I could handle, especially with Cole now in the picture.
Thankfully, Chad seems to understand that so far.
Music is pulsing from one of the cars someone parked on the grassy knoll which borders the beach to the lake. A smooth, male voice drifts from it as I relax into one of the white plastic lawn chairs and listen to the chatter around me. Chad leaves soon after I’m settled to flit around the crowd, social butterfly that he is. He has a boundless supply of energy and has never seemed content just to sit and watch with me. No, the moment we get wherever we’re going, he’s off to engage someone in a game of beer pong or daring someone to strip and jump in the lake.
I set the baby monitor I’d brought from home on the table next to me so I can hear any stir from Cole. Through it, his soft murmurs comfort me. It was a good idea after all to let Chad drag me out here. I haven’t been out since before Cole was born, so it’s nice to just relax with people who can actually talk back to me. I’d forgotten what adult conversations were like. Especially if they’re not about work, hospital procedure, or babies.
A couple of the guys’ dates gather around with the girls I’d invited from work and we make idle chit-chat about their drunken antics. Though they’re younger and seem more interested in guzzling down beer after beer, I find myself laughing along with them as Chad convinces one of the new guys from the gym to jump naked off the docks into the frigid water.
At that moment, I feel the air change. It shifts over my skin, snapping and crackling until I shiver with awareness. My eyes flit over the bobbing heads of the other people and land on a shadowed figure by the car. George Straight croons about getting carried away, and my heart starts to beat faster. It’s as though it somehow recognizes that its other half has returned. I curse it for its flighty affections. When will it ever learn? I should have realized by now that hearts are fragile things. They break easily.
I don’t realize that I’ve stopped breathing—or that the figure is almost within touching distance—until Chad appears at my side, clapping an arm around my back and forcing air back into my lungs.
“Ben!” Chad’s breath fans over me in a noxious cloud of sour beer. “I didn’t know you had a place around here.”
Stupid. I should have known he’d be here.
“Good to see you man,” Chad continues, completely oblivious to the tense looks we’re sharing and the fact that most of us have known each other for decades.
Ben nods, his eyes elsewhere, though I have a feeling he’s catalogued everything about me in seconds. And damn if he doesn’t look downright edible cleaned up in a pair of jeans and a tight T-shirt. The baseball cap throws a shadow over his eyes and the firelight flickers over his beard.
I refuse to let my fingers tug down the hem of my shirt to make sure the infinitesimal white lines that mar my stomach aren’t visible. Doing so would only emphasize the new fullness of my breasts. As if on cue, I can feel them tighten and come to attention.
His face is all hard, uncompromising angles, almost too harsh to be attractive, but somehow it is. The light of the fire flickers in his crystal-blue eyes and it takes a moment for me to realize that he’s ceased his perusal of the goings-on and is now staring right at me.
“Good to see you, too,” Ben murmurs to Chad, his voice flowing over me like silk.
A shout distracts Chad from the conversation. “Let me get you a beer, okay? Sweetheart, you want something?”
I shake my head but am unable to tear my eyes away. Chad departs, ever oblivious, and howls welcome him back into the fold of partygoers. The girls sense the tension, as well, and leave under the guise of refreshing their own cups. I shift my weight from one foot to the other, suddenly feeling like we’re alone even though we’re surrounded by people. And I can recall quite vividly what transpired between us the last time we were alone. In this very spot.
The memory breaks the current flowing between us. I dig in my purse for the water I’d stashed there and take deep, refreshing gulps. I fold into the chair again, determined to ignore his presence and get back to my good time.
I hear the scrape of a chair being dragged along the sand, causing my heart to beat ever faster in my chest. His spicy, clean scent surrounds me, and damn if it doesn’t throw me back to tasting the spot on his neck where it’s the strongest. I’m too far away from the fire to feel its warmth, but I do feel the heat emanating from the closeness of his body.
My words bubble up in my throat. “If you’re here to rub the fact that you bought Dad’s house in my face you can kiss my ass.”
He sighs. “That’s not why I’m here, Olivia.”
I concentrate on my water bottle, not yet feeling strong enough to look in his direction. “Then why are you here? You made it damn clear that night that you didn’t want anything to do with me. Nassau may be a small town, but it’s easy enough to stay out of each other’s way.”