Coming Home to You (The Rockport Beach Series Book 1) (9 page)

Finn clears his throat, ruining the fantasy
running through my head. “I’m going to have to do a sweep over at your house,
Kels,” he says before turning to me. “Can you keep an eye on her while we do
that?”

I stand up straighter knowing I’m not
letting Kelsey out of my sight until this fucker is behind bars or has a bullet
in him. “Of course I can,” I say. “And you can forget about the detail on her,
Finn, she won’t need it while I’m around.”

“Beck,” Kelsey says.

“What?”

“Don’t you have to go back to Boston.”

It’s the way the she says it that kills me.
It’s not malicious and it’s not a question, just a statement of fact. It’s the
resignation she has because she knows I left her once and can easily do it
again.

“No,” I spit out, as I take a step towards
the counter and the package from her ex-boyfriend. “I’m not going anywhere
until this fucking asshole is caught.”

I hear Kelsey gasp and I force myself not
to look at her. I don’t want to see the question that I know will be written
all over her face.

But
what happens after that?

Two hours later and Finn has called to say
the house is clean and there’s still no sign of Jason. Kelsey has tried to keep
busy throughout the day, running the inn and looking after the full load of
customers she has here for the summer. The whole place is buzzing and I meant
what I said to her earlier, the place does look amazing and her dad would be
proud of her. She’s added a lot of extra features, along with fishing and whale
sightseeing tours. I can’t help but be impressed at everything she’s done, at
how successful she’s made this place.

I’ve tried to help her out as much as I
can, fixing stuff that she’s been putting off or finding jobs she hasn’t even
noticed. It hasn’t escaped either of our attention that this is just like when
we were kids. A part of me wonders whether I really could give up everything I’ve
worked so hard to achieve, just so I could stay here and be with her.

“I’m going to head home,” Kelsey says,
breaking my train of thought.

I look up and see her leaning against the
front desk, arms crossed over her chest and Bella sitting patiently at her
feet.

“No you’re not,” I tell her.

“What?” she says, straightening a little.

“No, you’re not,” I say, walking towards
her. “First of all, we’re going to go and have some dinner. Then I’m going to
grab my bag from Pop’s place, and then, we are
both
going to go back to your place.”

“Beck,” she says, running a hand through
her hair. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“I don’t give a shit what you think you
need, Kels. You’re getting one,” I tell her, crossing my arms to indicate I’m
not budging on this. “You think this little fucker’s suddenly going to stop if
you ignore him? That sending you dead squirrels is just a fucking joke or
something?”

“Beck, come on,” she says, shaking her
head. “Yeah it’s gross, but it’s basically harmless.”

“Kelsey,” I say firmly, as I look her right
in the eye. “You might think it’s harmless, but let me tell you this. That squirrel,
the one you say Bella’s been chasing, means this guy has been watching you. He’s
seen your dog playing with it, he’s been at your house, fuck knows how many
times. He was there today, killing the fucking thing,” I add quietly. “And he
knows Bella wasn’t there.”

“Shit…” she whispers, understanding where I’m
going with all of this.

“Yeah,” I say, stepping closer. “And let’s
not forget the last time he showed up, and
you
were there. Alone.”

Kelsey stares back at me and for the first
time, I can see the fear in her eyes. I have no idea how far this guy’s
prepared to go, but I’m not willing to risk anything when it comes to this
woman. Finn might be the chief in this town and he might be the one leading the
investigation, but it doesn’t mean I’m gonna sit here with my thumb up my ass
and do nothing. Not when it comes to this woman.

“Right,” I say nodding at her. “So let me
buy you some dinner first, and then you’ll let me take you home.”

Kelsey stares at me as though she’s trying
to work out what
let me take you home
really means. I’m not gonna lie, the thought of taking her home and peeling off
those clothes of hers so I can fuck her all night, is the number one thought
running through my mind right now. But I also know how scared she is, that she’s
finally realizing this might be a lot more serious than she first thought. So I
mentally tell my dick to stop with all the fantasies as I stare back at Kelsey
to let her know I’m not dropping this.

“Okay,” she eventually says. “Let’s go.”

I nod and we head outside, leaving our cars
at the inn as we make the short walk down Main Street to Pop’s pub, sitting on
the main jetty at the end.

“You want to eat here?” she asks, surprised
as I hold the door open for her.

“Can you suggest anywhere else that might
be open on a Sunday night in this godforsaken place?”

Kelsey shakes her head at me as she walks
past. “It’s not that bad, Beck.”

I have to bite my tongue before I point out
that actually, it’s a lot worse. This place is like a fucking ghost town at the
best of times. And even though it’s the start of summer, everyone, tourists
included, seem to be tucked up in their beds for the night. Actually, thinking
about it, maybe that’s exactly where Kelsey and I should be too.

“Well look who it fucking is,” I hear
booming across the pub.

I shake my head, smiling, as I look over at
Brad, my best friend from high school. Unlike me, he stayed in Rockport after
we graduated. Unlike everyone else, he didn’t hate me for leaving. We’ve stayed
in touch over the years and he’s even come down to visit once or twice. That
hasn’t happened so much since he went and got himself a serious girlfriend, but
I’m okay with that.

“Brad,” I say, walking over to shake his
hand. “Good to see you, man.”

“What, no heads up you were coming back?”
he says, his eyes flicking between me and Kelsey, who’s now at the bar talking
to Pop.

I glance over at her, watch as she smiles
and laughs with him. They always did get along well, Kelsey practically a
surrogate daughter to him. I imagine their relationship has only gotten
stronger since her dad died. I’m glad Pop looks out for her. I hope he somehow
explained to Kelsey why I was never able to come back for her dad’s funeral. I
know I could have picked up the phone and done it myself, but somehow I knew
that the second I heard her voice and she asked me to come home, I’d do it and
I’d probably never leave.

“Nah,” I say, turning back to Brad. “It was
kind of a last minute decision.”

Brad smiles. “Well it’s good to have you
back, Beck. You guys wanna join us?”

I glance down at the blonde he’s sitting
with. She’s staring up at Brad with obvious love and when he glances at her, I
see the same dopey expression on his face. People used to say Kels and I stared
at each other like that. It was how they all knew it was true love between us.
I wanted to tell them all to mind their own fucking business. Kels always just
laughed it off, told me they were just happy for us. I could never understand
how she put up with it all.

“Ah, yeah, sure,” I say as Kelsey wanders
over with a Guinness for me, and a pint of cider for herself.

We sit with the two of them, Kelsey already
having met Louise before. It’s almost like old times and when a constant stream
of locals walk past the table, I begin to see that some things really never do
change, as I’m met with the same comments over and over again.

“Beck, good to see you’re back and you and
Kelsey are back on again.”

This is usually followed by a slap on the
back and a wink and then they walk off as though there’s nothing else to say. I’ve
given up trying to explain otherwise, because I know they won’t listen. Kelsey
just sits there not saying anything and I know it’s because she knows I’m not
really back and we certainly aren’t anywhere near being back on.

“You ready to go?” I ask her, when we’ve
finished our meals.

“Sure,” she murmurs, suddenly quiet as she
says goodbye to Brad, Louise and my dad.

I promise Brad that we’ll catch up
sometime, although I’m not really sure when as I don’t plan on letting Kelsey
out of my sight, before we make our way back to our cars at the inn.

“You wanna leave your car here and come
with me? I just need to swing by Pop’s and get my stuff before we head home.” I
say. Kelsey shrugs and when I glance at her, she’s staring straight ahead, arms
crossed. “Kels,” I say, my hand on her arm. “What’s wrong?” She shrugs again,
not saying anything, not even looking at me. I stop walking, my hand on her arm
stopping her too. “Kelsey, look at me.” She reluctantly looks up and I smile at
her. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, babe. I promise.”

She smiles at me, but it’s flat and doesn’t
reach her eyes. “I know, Beck,” she says, her voice quiet. “Let’s just get
Bella and go.”

She’s silent for the rest of the walk back
to the inn, only speaking when she agrees to leave her car there and come with
me. Bella jumps excitedly into the back of my truck and after I’ve grabbed my
bag, I take the road out to the point and head towards her house.

When I pull into her drive, I notice the
outside light is off and I make a mental note to set it on a timer tomorrow
morning. I grab my bag from the back and we head towards the house, my eyes
scanning the surrounding area for anything that seems out of the ordinary.

“You want a drink?” Kelsey asks as we head
in inside.

“Sure,” I say, dumping my bag by the front
door as she disappears into the kitchen. I follow her in and smile as she grabs
a bottle of Jameson whiskey from the top of the fridge before grabbing a can of
dog food for Bella.

“You remember?” I ask, opening the bottle
and taking a deep inhale. Kelsey and I used to steal this stuff from what was
then Granddad’s bar when we were kids. We’d run down to the beach and drink as
much of it as we could stomach, laughing and getting drunk as we hid in the
sand dunes. We’d always end up fucking afterwards; rolling around underneath a
couple of blankets and not even caring how cold it was or that someone might
walk past. To this day, I can’t drink this stuff and not think about those
nights.

“Of course,” she answers, not looking at
me.

I’m not sure what the fuck is going on with
her right now; this feels like more than just fear about this Jason fuckwit.
“Kels, what’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” she says, placing Bella’s
bowl by the back door and reaching into a cupboard for some glasses.

I can’t help but admire her ass as she
does. She always had a fantastic ass and if it’s possible, it might be even
better than I remember. “You’ve barely spoken two words since dinner.”

“I’m fine, Beck,” she says and I can tell
by her tone that she’s anything but fine.

“Bullshit, baby.”

Kelsey straightens up and lets out a loud
exhale. “Okay, Beck,” she says, finally looking at me. “It’s that.”

“What?” I ask, having no idea what she’s
talking about.

“The
baby
or the
Kels
,
baby,
” she says, gesturing to me now. “It’s all this protective
macho bullshit, the sweet talking, or the not correcting people when they just
assume you’re here to stay and we’re back together again.”

“Kels, come on, you know there’s no fucking
point trying to say anything to them,” I say, running a hand through my hair.

Kelsey stands with her hands on her hips.
“Yeah, but we aren’t back together, are we, Beck? You know it and I sure as
shit know it. So I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing, walking in
here and acting like nothing’s fucking changed,” she says, her voice louder
now. “It was hard enough getting over you the first time you left. I don’t want
a repeat of that when this all gets figured out and you fuck off back to Boston
in a couple of days.”

“Kels,” I say, stepping towards her.

“No, Beck, don’t,” she says, holding her
hand out as if to stop me. “I can’t go through it again,” she adds on, her
voice quieter. “I barely survived it the first time you left me.”

We’re standing here staring at each other.
I have no idea what to say to her, because even though I’ve spent the whole day
entertaining fantasies of Kelsey, and what it would be like to stay here and
get back together with her, a part of me knows it’s never going to happen. I’ve
worked too hard for the career I have in Boston to just give it all up and
seeing everything she’s done to her parents’ inn, I know Kelsey’s never going
to walk away from everything she’s done here either. Ten years have passed and
we still find ourselves in the exact same position as before. We both want each
other, but neither of us can compromise on all the other things we want.

“I’ll grab you some blankets for the
couch,” Kelsey eventually says, resignation in her voice as she realizes the
same thing. “Pour us both a drink, would you?”

As she brushes past me though, something
inside me snaps. I don’t know if it’s the fear of what this fucker is doing to
her, the idea that she might have moved on, or the memories of the kiss we
shared last night and in the guest room at the inn this morning. All I know is
that right now, I want her and I don’t give a shit about how much that’s going
to hurt when neither of us can walk away from everything else and find a way to
make it work.

“Kels,” I say, grabbing her arm.

“Don’t, Beck,” she whispers as she stops
beside me.

I turn to look at her at the same time as
she looks up at me. I can see all of the want in her eyes, despite everything
she’s just said to me.

“I can’t, baby,” I whisper. “I just can’t.”
And then I haul her body against mine and kiss her.