Every Little Dream (Second Chances) (6 page)

Oh, so gently, the breeze pushes us together, our lips brush against each other. And then again. Soft and sweet. We kiss, holding onto that tender moment, wrapped in desire.
 

That’s when the roar of a car gets louder. My instinct kicks in. I jerk away. A Camaro enters the lot, heading right toward us, the engine gunning. I push Katie behind me.
 

“Shit.” I’m ready to push her out of the way, except the car veers around us, circling us. The dust stirs up, clouding our view, creating a whirlwind.

“What do they want?” Katie yells, her hair whipping across her face.

“Don’t know.” I rack my brain for people I’ve offended, debts I haven’t paid, but I can’t think of one. I might be careless but I always pay what I owe. With a squeal, the Camaro circles a few times, blares its horn, then screeches back onto the strip, roaring away, but not before I recognize the blond hair, and the gleam in the guy’s eyes.
 

My arms wrap around her and I pull her against me. She’s warm, slightly trembling, and the desire to protect her seeps into my heart. A strange emotion I haven’t felt in forever.

And it scares the shit out of me.

Chapter 4

Katie

We sit like that for a while. The breeze dancing around us. The sun kissing our faces, warming us from the ocean chill and calming my nerves. That creep seems to show up everywhere I do. The whole experience if I really think about it freaks me out. I wonder if Chad knows this guy somehow. I sense there’s a lot more to Chad’s life than he shares with anyone, and I wonder how deep it’s hidden, how hard it would be to reach that part of him.
 

He grabs my hand and traces the skin on my hand over and over. He won’t look me in the eyes but is someplace else, thinking about something else.

“What?” I ask gently, trying to pull him back to the present moment. Something’s bugging him.

“Just sorry you got dragged into this. But I’ll always see you as my angel.” His arms loosen around me, signaling the moment’s over. “You should stay away from me.” Then he pecks my cheek and heads to his bike.

I’m not letting him get away that easily. “So that’s it?” He keeps walking away. “Why do you think I went looking for excitement the other day? I’m not a little girl.”
 

He climbs on his bike but if he drives away my brief stint with him will be over before it’s even started. There’s a part of me that wants this, longs for this, something different than the ordinary. A little excitement doesn’t scare me. I make up the distance between us and stop him before he can start the engine. “So that’s it? I don’t get a say in this at all? You get to walk away?”

“It’s for the best.”
 

“I haven’t always been perfect either, you know.”

He laughs for the first time. “Right. What, did you crush ants on a sidewalk? Run over a squirrel in your car?”
 

I shrug. “I’d tell you the truth but then I’d have to blackmail you to keep it a secret. You wouldn’t want to be responsible for me breaking the law, would you?”

“Never.” He sets his shoulder and I can see he’s determined. “I’m going to take care of this. Make sure this guy doesn’t bother you again. After this afternoon, you won’t have to worry about that clown anymore.” He glances at his watch. “I’ll see you back to the Inn and then stop by later. Okay?”

“Well, no.” I cross my arms across my chest. “I have a proposition for you.”

He raises an eyebrow, with a glint of humor in his eyes. “Honey, are you sure you want to do that?”
 

I gasp in fake shock and slug him. “Get your mind out of the gutter.”

He raises his hands, claiming innocence. But when he speaks, he’s serious. “Can’t help it when I’m with you.”

I huff. “You want to hear my deal or not?”

He sits back on the bike seat, flashing me a look like this ought to be good. “Love to.”
 

I swallow my nerves and just spit out what’s been on my mind. “I figure you need me as much as I need you.” I pause, judging him for any sign of reaction, but his face is impossible to read. “I’ll help you clean up your image, be seen as the good guy, and you’ll show me a little excitement.”
 

He presses his lips together, staring hard out at the sand dunes. “I’ll follow you home, just in case.” Then with a roar, he turns the key and the engine roars to life, making any further conversation impossible.

He waves me on and just like he said, he follows me all the way back. Only once I’m parked and heading inside does he roar off. Whatever. He can’t just decide the conversation is over without talking about it. Real life doesn’t work that way. I certainly don’t. And, okay, so I lied. I’m not the sweet little good girl he thought I was. I race back to my car, cursing that my yellow bug is so obvious. I follow the sound of his motorcycle toward his beach home. I stop about a hundred feet away and take a right turn down a small side road. I turn around in a driveway and stick the nose of my car out so I can see if he leaves.

It doesn’t take long before he walks out all dressed up. Huh? Now I’m even more curious. What did he mean he was going to take care of everything? How would he do that dressed in a suit and tie? My lower stomach twinges with butterflies. He cleans up nice.

When he heads my direction, I back my car up behind a minivan, praying he’s keeping his eyes on the road.

 
Again, I follow the distinct sound of his bike. He turns away from the shore and heads toward town. I lose him but it doesn’t take long to spot his bike parked along Main Street. I drive past and find a spot down the road behind a monstrous SUV. Then I jog down the road and slip into the coffee shop across the street from his bike. After ordering a black coffee, I find a window seat.
 

The main street of town has a charming feel with lots of small tourist shops with jacked-up prices. The kind of place that begs someone to stroll the sidewalks, their hand laced with someone else’s, possibly with ice cream in hand and romance swirling. Someday, maybe, that will be me with the right guy. I automatically think of Chad and remind myself that’s crazy. He needs a friend. I need a change. That’s it.

For some reason I feel like he can see me, so I hold my to-go cup close to my face as if I could hide behind it. His bike is parked in front of a tall, impressive brick building. The front doors are made of glass and gleam in the sun. I can’t imagine what business he has in an uppity place like that.

Every few seconds, I glance at the clock. Time is passing slower than a turtle in a race. What’s he doing? A little investigating couldn’t hurt. It’s not like he’s my keeper or anything, and I’m right here in public with just as much right to be walking down Main Street as anyone else.
 

With a confident stride, hoping I don’t look guilty, I leave the coffee shop and stroll past the gleaming doors. Pressed into the glass is gold lettering: Blake and Seymour Law Offices. A lawyer? Why would he need a lawyer? Chad is turning out to be more mysterious and more full of secrets, the good and bad, then I originally thought.

I’m about to pull open the heavy glass door, when someone clears their throat behind me. I feel a tap on my shoulder.

“Miss?”
 

I turn and squint into the sun. A casually dressed man with silver tinting the stubble on his face gives me a curt nod. “Could I talk with you?”
 

“Um, yeah, I guess so.” I glance through the glass doors into the fancy lobby, then step away. “What? I don’t have a lot of time.”

“Follow me.”
 

Seriously? Does he think I’m an idiot? I don’t move.

He turns around. “We are aware of your threatening experience with a certain someone this afternoon and would like to offer you protection.”

What? I step closer. “I’m not going to go anywhere with you until you give me more details.”

He fidgets like he wants to get away from the front of the office. After spotting my coffee cup, he says, “How about the coffee shop across the road.”

“Fine.”
 

He leads the way across the street. A bad feeling settles into my stomach. For some reason, I feel like I’m in a movie and the audience is screaming at me again to run away.

Inside the shop, we take a seat in the corner. He slides a thick envelope across the table. I don’t even have to look but see the edges of a stack of green. Money?

“Who are you and what do you want?” I spit out. Tears prick my eyes. Right there in front of me would be more than enough to help my dad. But this amount of cash is never given without strings attached.
 

“It’s simple. We’d like you to date young Chadwick. Encourage him to take the internship at his father’s law offices. This is the first half. You will receive the second half of the payment, once Chadwick finishes the internship.” He places his hand on the envelope. “And we’ll take care of the young man who bothered you this afternoon.”

“I…” I can’t speak. Everything I need is right here. Practically free. But at what price? I barely know Chad, but he likes me. He trusts me. And I like him too. He’d never expect me to betray him like this.

“I know you’ll make the right choice.” His eyes are cold, calculating, and he continues with instructions like I’m just going to accept the money. “You can’t tell the young man. If you do, our agreement is null and void.” Then after another curt nod, he walks out, leaving the money on the table.

I’m still in shock. He’s gone before I can shove it all back at him, making sure he knows I don’t need a handout. The nerve of the guy. I didn’t even agree and he left. I stuff it into my purse. Chad’s definitely more than I thought at first sight. I understand a small part of why he needs a friend. Someone is pulling the strings in his life. I understand why he got tattoos. Why he rides a bike. Why he’s a rebel.
 

And I’m more certain that he needs me just as much as I need him.

Chad

I park outside the law offices of Blake and Seymour, then brush through the lobby, ignoring the secretary.

“Mr. Seymour! Your father is in the middle of a conference call.” She stammers a bit. “If you’d take a seat…”

She gives up because I completely ignore her. I don’t even knock but burst into my father’s private office. A hulking man, one I haven’t seen before, grabs my arms. His biceps are the size of my legs. He stares straight ahead, his crooked nose and a two-inch scar above his eye meant to intimidate. His grip tightens like a vice as he waits for my father’s command.

Dad’s eyes flick up from his conference call. He waves us away. The guy tries to push me out the door, but I swing my free hand and catch him in the side of the face.
 

In two seconds, he slams me to the ground. My arm is twisted so far behind my back it feels like it might break any second. Just completely snap off. I can’t help the tiny grunting sounds escaping. My face is mashed into the plush carpet I admired the day before.

We stay in this position. Dad’s deep professional voice tapers off. The call must be ending. Then silence. Until I see Dad’s shiny black shoes next to my face. They walk away. The armchair squeaks as he moves it close to me and sinks into it, not making any motion for who must be his private bodyguard to let me go. His expensive pant leg flops as he crosses his legs and the one on top doesn’t stop moving.
 

I grunt again. The pain spreading from my shoulders into my back.

He says nothing. He doesn’t need to. The disappointment rolls off him, the constant judgment without having to say a word. It’s nothing I’m not familiar with. I’ve been a constant failure in his eyes. Ever since Mom left. Ever since Mom refused to be controlled anymore. I couldn’t just walk away. Not when he held the purse strings of my trust. Not when he controlled every aspect of my life.
 

Dad sighs. “It doesn’t have to be this way, Chadwick.”

I bite my tongue. He’s goading me. Wants me to mouth off. Probably so this guy can slam my face against the floor again. I refuse to cry uncle and ask this guy to let me go.
 

“I had such high hopes for you…for us working together.”
 

He doesn’t have to say anymore. His words are laden with all the memories. All the times he brought me into his office and let me sit in his twirly leather chair. The times he let me touch his stash of gold coins. I thought those times were bonding, time with Dad. But he really was grooming me, feeding my lust for money and power, so I could grow up and be like him.

The private bodyguard tightens his grip. I stifle a cry of pain.

“You’re dressed the part though.” Dad’s voice is hard and cold like a winter day with no hope of sun. “Outside of your burst of immaturity, I assume you’re here to accept my offer. About time you came to your senses.”

The image of Katie’s face flashing with fear, reminds me of the other reason I’m here. “She almost got hurt.” I force out.
 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He chuckles. “I know you have this paranoia that I follow you around. Really. I have more important things to do than follow my teenage miscreant son around.”

The anger drives up through my chest. “You know who I’m talking about. Your little threatening act almost went too far.”
 

A silence settles over the room. His growing rage is palpable, but he’ll never let it show. Something I was never able to master. “If a little friend of yours got in trouble, did you ever think it might be her association with you? The group you choose to hang around with.”
 

If Dad had nothing to do with it, and this guy’s not part of my crowd, then it’s coincidence that he’s tailing Katie. That scares me even more because there’s no one I can call to intervene.

“But, if you need help in any area all you have to do is ask.”
 

The tight grip loosens. The almighty has decided it’s the appropriate dramatic moment to let me go. Give me a chance to talk without staring at his shoes. The point is not lost on me. It never is. And he knows it.