ARROGANT BRIT (A BRITISH BAD BOY ROMANCE) (19 page)

“We are not having this conversation right
now,” I told him furiously, feeling something inside start to crack. It cracked
so quickly that it even broke my voice. “Just leave me alone. I’ve
moved on,
Jeremy.”

“I can tell that you haven’t, not really,” he
replied calmly. “Look, I’m not asking for any promises or anything. But it
sounds like you’re having a rough go of things, right? Maybe that guy from that
date; I’m guessing things didn’t work out so well with him?”

My breath stopped in my throat, and I
couldn’t even squeeze out the slightest reply.

Jeremy chuckled sardonically. “Yeah, that’s
what I thought. You’ve been hurt again. All I’m asking is for a little of your
time, okay? I know you’re comfortable around me. Let’s get your mind off of
him, isn’t that what you need?”

“What I
need
,
I
have
,” I barely choked out.

“Let me guess… you’re at your apartment.
Natalie’s out, so you’re alone and watching Netflix, right? Just you, alone
with your thoughts?”

Goddammit, he’s got me fucking
pinned.

“Look, Clara, I
know
you. And you know
me.
You
know that I’m not a bad guy, I just got my… priorities fucked up, for a little
while there. I’m not asking you back… I wouldn’t dream of that yet. But I’m
lonely, and you’re lonely… we’re both hurting. Let’s go get dinner together,
okay?
Just
dinner. No pressure. What
do you say?”

It was so sudden. I hadn’t seen it coming,
and I was never good about being put on the spot like this… especially with
someone that I
did
miss, even if he
was a complete asshole.

But then again, Dalton had been a total prick
the night that I met him, too… at least at first. Maybe Jeremy
had
changed. He certainly sounded like
he might have.

And he was right, as much as I hated to admit
it. The last thing that I really needed right now was to be alone with myself,
trying to solve some depressing problem in my head that nothing was going to
fix, no matter how I tried…

I could use the distraction.

Besides… it was only
dinner
, right?

Dinner was practically
harmless.

“Okay, Jeremy, ” I finally conceded with a
defeated shrug. “Let’s do dinner tonight.”

“Perfect. I knew you’d come around, Clara.”

As I heard his wicked little chuckle over the
phone, I wondered if I hadn’t just made a
huge
mistake…

Chapter 18

The Californian sun baked down onto my
shoulders as I stepped out onto the familiar driveway from my rental car.
Covering my eyes, I began strolling the short distance around the front of the
expensive little house, perched at the edge of this cul-de-sac.

It hadn’t taken me long to consider the hot,
bright desert of the American Southwest another stunning rendition of
home sweet home.
After all, I’d spent
years
under this burning sun, in an
environment easily just as inhospitable as this one.

While I walked up the driveway, my mind
drifted back to the same place it had the entire week that I’d been here: my
last night with Clara.

…And what a clusterfuck
that
had been.

She’d seriously wounded my soul with the
severity and suddenness of her emotional reversal. It had taken me an hour of
stomping around my rental house and throwing shit before I could finally cool
down enough to think rationally. That’s when I’d decided to call upon one of my
closest friends in the marines, and I booked a flight for the following morning
out to California.

Almost every day since then, I’d ventured out
into the blinding, white heat to come to this house… the one place that I
thought might heal me.

“Dalton!”

My old marine buddy, Darren, was standing in
the backyard and waving me over. “You’re right on time, man. I’m just heating
up the grill now. Not exactly bangers and mash, but how do you feel about a
solid,
one hundred percent
unadulterated
American burger?”

“You guys always kicked our bloody arses when
it came to food,” I grinned. We embraced with matching backslaps, and his
beautiful wife popped out through the sliding backdoor.

“Dalton! I
thought
I heard you pulling up a moment ago. Welcome back!”

Sam gave me a peck on the cheek as I hugged
her. “Are you feeling any better?”

Samantha was Darren’s high school flame.
They’d separated after he entered his marine career, unable to withstand the
distance, but when he got out two years ago they had worked to rekindle that
fire.

The rest was history.

“Oh, leave him alone,” Darren smiled as he
played with the charcoal. “He’s still here, which tells me what I need to
know.”

I overlooked them talking about it in front
of me as if I wasn’t here, but I was pleased that the subject was being
dropped.

“I’m fine,” I reassured her. “Just enjoying
this little impromptu vacation for the moment.”

“Good! How are you liking California?”

“Not too bad, although I’m sure I’ve bedded
women wetter than this entire state,” I smiled crudely. “Once you get over that
part, it’s actually pretty nice out here.”

“I’m sure you have!” Sam laughed. “Hell,
maybe I have, too…”

It had come as a bit of a surprise that they
had an open marriage. It personally wasn’t for me, or anything I’d ever
participate in, but it didn’t take much convincing for me to see that they were
hopelessly in love with each other.

Good for them,
I thought to myself.

 
“Anyway, can I grab you anything from
inside?” Sam politely asked me. “I’d be a horrible hostess if you were out here
parched under this sun!”

“Actually, could I trouble you for a beer?”

“By all means. We still have a few Newcastles
in the fridge, unless you’d like a Mexican import? Options are Dos XX and
Corona, off the top of my head…”

“Dos XX, if you’d be so kind,” I replied. “If
you’ve got it, Lager.”

“I think we just might,” she smiled before
turning back to her husband. “How about you, dear? Feeling thirsty?”

Darren was preparing a few patties on the
counter beside the built-in grill. Pausing to think for a moment, he shrugged.
“Go ahead and make that two.”

“Okay then, back in a sec!”

She sauntered inside, and we started trading
old war stories.

Darren was a good man. He’d been one of the
more senior members to my platoon, an older, more rugged version of myself.
We’d become fast friends in the line of fire…
bash brothers,
they sometimes called a pair like us.

Darren had retired three years before I left
the marines. With a steady military pension and a ton of money in the bank,
he’d had the luxury of throwing himself into picking up a new skill.

The others were a little surprised to see
that he’d become a freelance novelist, but it didn’t surprise me much. The guy
was highly introspective, and very detail-oriented. With his firm grasp of
Marine life, a greater scope of military operations, and a ton of stories
kicking around in the back of his head, he was already starting to make waves
with his first novel's release.

Last I’d heard, he was a sure shot to the
tail end of the New York Times Bestsellers List.

When Sam returned with the refreshments, we
were laughing riotously over some of the military pranks we’d pulled during our
tenure overseas.

Life was always rough out there, and war
never changed. But it was all about the approach you took to the life you
chose.

We spent a good couple of hours chatting
away, cooking up great food, and basking in the pleasure of our own company.
Darren was a fantastic friend, same as always, and his wife was a real treat
too. It was gratifying to watch her sit against him, her head on his shoulder
and he delighted in tales of our old life, and ridiculous stories from before
my time.

They really loved each other, he and her.

At least they got their happy
ending,
I
thought.

“I have to admit, this has been a little on
the surreal side for me,” Darren chuckled as he swished his beer around,
towards the end of my visit. “I figured I’d see you around at a few reunions or
something, but I sure as shit didn’t expect you to pick up the phone and be
here in town for a week.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve really
seen each other, hasn’t it?” I smiled, glancing through the window at the dry,
arid environment. “Although, you must not have wanted to get far from the
desert if you settled in the American Southwest like this…”

“You know that’s not what I mean,” the older
man sighed, setting his beer down with a deep, drawn out sigh.

I looked back at him.

“I don’t think I follow.”

A shrewd smile crossed Darren’s lips. “Dalton
Carlyle. The
British Bastard!
I have
seen you pull marines off of grenades with my own eyes. You’ve always,
always
had my back. You’re the only one
out of our pack that I ever
completely
trusted
with my life. When I was wounded and down in the dirt, you defended me from an insurgent
with just a combat knife and the grit in your teeth...”

I shifted in my seat slightly, remembering
that uncomfortable flashback again. Pushing the mental images away, I forced a
faint smile at the recognition.

“…And yet, after all the things that could
have killed us out there, it’s a
woman
that
cripples you. From what you’ve told me, a
good
woman
at that. Put you in the desert with a knife, or put someone you
actually care about in harms way… and you’d go for the knife, every time.”

“Darren…” I subtly warned.

Sam sat down with him as he continued.

“Bro, you’re a bonafide lady-killer. I
wouldn’t believe this shit unless I’d seen it with my own eyes. Hell, the
morning after you leave, I’ll be halfway convinced I dreamt this.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” I told
him.

Darren nodded. “Yeah, the thing with the
parents. That’s pretty out there, I’ll admit it. But I mean, you saw this girl
before you knew about that, right? Isn’t that what you told me?”

“Yes,” I reluctantly admitted.

“And you were already interested?”

“I was.”

“So, I don’t get it.”

“Darren, she sent me away. She doesn’t want
any part of this. It was hard enough to chase her when she was sort of onboard
with the…
complications
we’ll be
facing… but the second I opened my stupid mouth and told her about traveling
the world, she snapped up tighter than our resources officer when we had that
severed supply line.”

“Then go get her,” Sam cut in, facing me
firmly. “Change her mind. Instead of sulking out here in the desert with your
old war buddy, much as we both love your company. This isn’t your place,
Dalton. You know that.”

I held my head in my hands.

“What am I supposed to do? Just march up and
tell her, you know,
fuck it?
Let’s
throw caution to the winds, no matter how crazy it sounds? Regardless of what
our parents will think?”

Darren reached for his beer again. He
offhandedly spoke: “If you ever really cared about this girl, it sounds like
you’ve answered your own question.” He took a deep sip, leaving me with the thought.

Sam winked at me. “He’s right. Seems to me
like you’ve already got this figured out.”

I leaned back, gazing out the window again.
The arid landscape was beautiful, in its own way, especially with the sun
setting across the land. It was also impartial. It was neutral, and it didn’t
give a flying fuck about what I was going through.

It was dry, barren, and rock solid.

It was the way I used to be.

“It might really be that simple, yeah?” I
wondered aloud. “Just like that.”

“Just like that,” Darren nodded thoughtfully.
“I’ll echo everything Sam said, but in particular… you know we both love you.
You’re welcome in our home as long as you’d like, anytime you’d like. But most
importantly… this isn’t where you need to be.”

I stared him straight in the eyes, seated
across from me.

“You need to be back there, where you belong.
With her.” He stopped to swig back the last of his beer. “This must be scary
for you, though. Actually caring about a girl for once. I get why you’d want to
run away from this.”

“I don’t run,” I told him through gritted
teeth.

“You ran halfway across the country to come
here,” Sam shrugged halfheartedly. “What’s the difference? Plane just got you
here faster.”

Holy fuck, she has a point.

“You’re seeing reason,” Darren chuckled as he
set his empty bottle back down. “I think you know what you need to do now.”

I stood up, with the clearest head I’d had
all freaking week.

“I do,” I told him.

The two of them stood up with me.

“Good,” he grinned, extending his hand. “Put
‘er here, and go get her.”