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Evernight
Publishing

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2013
Avril
Ashton

 
ISBN: 978-1-77130-547-1

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Editor:
Karyn
White

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this
copyrighted work is illegal.
 
No part of
this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written
permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are
fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or
persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

To the
real
Indy Steele

BACK FOR MORE

Avril
Ashton

Copyright © 2013

Chapter
One

“
Ain’t
this some shit?”
Indy Steele braced one hand on her desk and lifted her left foot. She jerked
off the offending stiletto and flung the damn thing across the room with a
grunt. The broken heel went one way, and the rest banged against the locked
office door then fell to the floor. “Good money down the freaking drain.” With
the amount of money she’d paid for the damn thing, she’d have expected it to at
least last her more than five months, but nope.

She walked around the desk on tiptoes and slumped
into her chair. Not a good day. First, she’d been late to the showing of an
open house; then the prospective buyers were a no-show without giving her a
heads-up, and now her favorite pair of killer heels were toast. To top it off,
Ridgefield was in the grasp of a record breaking heat wave.

Someone pounded on the door.
“You
in there,
chicka
?”
The voice
of her best friend, Arden Windham.

Indy grunted, but didn’t speak. She was in no mood
for small talk.

“I’m coming in.” Arden knew her too damn well
because she didn’t wait for an invite. The door opened, and Arden poked her
head in, eyes widening as she stepped into the room. “You okay?”

Indy snorted. “Do I look okay?”

Arden closed the door behind her then
came
closer, hesitancy in her steps and on her face. The
short skirt she wore showed off her legs while the white see-through racer-back
tank showed off her pink bra. “Um…” She bit her lip and glanced away. “Did you
see him?’

“See who?” Indy leaned forward with a finger at her
temple.
“Now’s not the time for guessing games, bitch.
It’s been a shitty day.” She wanted a cigarette, but she’d given those up a
long time ago.
A massage.
And a goddamn
do-
over. Yeah, that one would be good.
A
do-over.

Arden cocked a brow. “So you didn’t see him?” Her
voice
rose
an octave, and Indy narrowed her eyes.

“What’s going on?” Arden didn’t speak, and Indy
growled at her. “I’m two seconds away from launching myself from this chair and
strangling you.”

Arden grinned, but Indy knew her enough to see it
wasn’t one hundred percent real. Something was up. For the first time, she took
a mental step back and regarded her friend seriously. “Are you okay?
Something going on with you and Cam?”
Cam was Arden’s
live-in lover, a delicious specimen of sexy maleness. Despite his outward
appearance of scars and tattoos, and the sordid past he couldn’t shake, Cam was
a good guy. Did she have to rethink her opinion of him?

“We’re fine.” Arden waved a hand. “I was referring
to someone else.” She sat atop Indy’s desk and crossed her legs while fiddling
with her ponytail. “I saw Reno in town about an hour ago.”

“Reno’s in California.” Indy looked away from her
friend’s gaze as her heartbeat escalated. The knuckles on her right hand hurt,
and she glanced down. She’d fisted her hand, squeezing the life out of it.
“Reno left.” Her voice sounded like sandpaper on wood suddenly, rough and
scratchy. “He’s—”

“Here,” Arden said.
“In town.”
Pity flashed in her dark eyes then disappeared. “I saw him, walked right by
him, but he didn’t see me. He was with his mom and—”

“Why is he back?” Indy jumped to her feet. “Why did
he come back?”

Okay, she knew the question was stupid. The guy had
been born in Ridgefield, and his parents still lived there. Hell, he’d still be
there if she hadn’t sent him away. If she hadn’t demanded he
go
.

“Summer break?”
Arden shrugged. “
Dunno
, but uh, you should know…”
Regret filled her gaze as she said, “He brought someone with him.
A girlfriend.”

Jesus. That hurt. It shouldn’t. She’d broken his
heart. She’d sent him away as he’d begged for a chance, but goddamn if Arden
didn’t fuck her over with those words.

“I saw them,” Arden said softly. “Saw them walking
down the street, laughing with his mother.” Arden hopped over the desk and
walked around to Indy. “Sorry,
chicka
.” She hugged
Indy from behind. “Sorry.”

Indy allowed the embrace for only a second before
she pulled away with a shrug. “It’s no big deal.” She cleared her throat. “It
doesn’t matter. He’s moved on. I’ve moved on.” Her untouched body laughed at that.
One year since anyone had gotten close enough to breathe on her.

Moved
on, yeah right.

Arden knew it, too. They hid nothing from each
other, but she didn’t call Indy on her lies. She simply sighed and pulled away.

“Now that you’ve moved on, when your paths do cross
with your ex and his new main squeeze, I expect you to hike up your big girl
panties and smile.” She shifted and cupped Indy’s cheek. “Then you walk away,
yeah?”

“He was just a friend with benefits,” Indy said
stubbornly. “We weren’t in a relationship.” Stupid words she’d fought hard to
burn into her brain, to keep her from falling for him. Nobody bought it, not
Reno and not Arden. “Besides, how else would I react when I do see them? You
make it sound like I’d go all jealous and possessive.” She scowled.

“Oh, hon.” Arden planted a loud kiss on her
forehead.
“Rhetorical question, right?
Because we both
know you’re already thinking of ways to murder that blonde chick and bury the
body.”

Blonde.
“She’s blonde?”

Arden nodded.
“So blonde.
Young, too.
”

“Then they fit.” Her voice caught.
“Someone who looks like him, someone his own age.”

Arden rolled her eyes. “Really, bitch?” She held out
her forearm under Indy’s nose. “Have you seen me and Cam? Do we look even
remotely alike?”

No. Arden and Cam
were
a
beautiful couple, but they didn’t have that other thing hanging over their
heads. “You and Cam, you’re peers. You don’t have a huge age gap between you.”
The words stuck in her throat.

“Christ, will you get over it already?” Arden
gripped her chin. “He was twenty when you guys started.
A
grown-ass man.
He knew his own mind.”

Indy shrugged away her hold. She couldn’t get over
it. She shouldn’t have given in to that attraction, but she had, and now she
had to live with it.

“What’s done is done.” She met Arden’s gaze. “So
he’s back.” She forced a smile. “I can say hi, I can smile. I can.”

“Good.” Arden patted her cheek. “Good.” She stood
and straightened her clothes. “I
gotta
go. Cam is
waiting for me.” She regarded Indy steadily. “I’m here, you know this, whenever
you feel like talking or bitching or screaming. I got your back.
Anytime.”

Indy smiled. “I know.” She held the smile in place
as she watched her friend walk out the office and close the door with a soft
click. Then she pulled off her other shoe and pelted it at the wall.

Fuck!
Fuck!

****

Reno Sandovar looked on as his mother and Jenna made
dinner. He’d known those two would get along, which was one of the reasons he’d
agreed to bring her with him on his weeklong trip to Ridgefield. When that week
was up, they’d be on their way to New York where he’d spend some time exploring
the city and all it had to offer, before reuniting Jenna with Steven, Reno’s
good friend and Jenna’s soon-to-be baby daddy. Since Reno had nothing going on
at the time, no plans other than what he wished would happen, and since the
chances of him getting what he wanted were nil, he had taken Steven and Jenna
up on their offer to spend the summer in New York with them, but only if he
visited his family first.

So here they were. Jenna and his mom got along from
the instant they meant. Reno breathed a sigh of relief. Jenna was good people.
She and Steven would make great parents, but Reno couldn’t help but be envious
of their life. The hollow in his stomach grew and grew the longer he stayed in
Ridgefield. The itch to call the one phone number he should have long deleted
from his phone was strong.