Just a Wish Away (23 page)

"
She's my summer girl. Every time I see her, my heart whirls. Her smile lights up a sky that matches her eyes
."

She drew in a shaky breath as his voice drifted away.

"I don't remember the rest," he muttered, his fingers still playing a pretty melody.

His song took her back to that sweet, innocent love, her first experience with the emotion. There had been so many possibilities then, so much hope, so much yearning…

Braden finally stopped playing to look at her. There was uncertainty in his eyes and maybe a little fear that he'd revealed too much.

"I really loved the boy who wrote that," she said softly.

"I loved the girl I wrote about."

"Do you think they're still a part of us?"

"No."

"Not even down deep?"

He shrugged. "I can only speak for myself. I suspect you still have that girl inside of you."

"You need to write some more," she said.

"Why?"

"Because you won't know what you really have until it's done."

He stared back at her. "Alexa, don't read too much into the song."

"Stop warning me off, Braden. I'll think what I want to think about it and about us."

"Now, who's being stubborn?"

His teasing tone directed the conversation to a lighter note, and she decided to go along with it. "I have to say your music tastes have changed," she said.

"Do you think so?" he asked absentmindedly as he played with the guitar strings.

"Absolutely." She took out her phone and pulled up her playlist. Smiling to herself, she said, "I remember when you liked these guys." She pushed play, and the music from a boy band that was popular two decades ago blasted out of her phone. She'd found the song the night before when she'd been looking for something new to download. She'd been thinking about Braden and the songs they'd used to listen to, wondering if they'd influenced his musical choices.

A grin spread across Braden's face as he looked at her. "They were your favorite, not mine."

"Oh, I don't think so," she said. "You used to dance around and imitate the lead singer." She jumped to her feet and tried to put on the moves she remembered.

Braden set his guitar aside and said, "Give me that phone."

"No way."

And then he was on his feet, headed her way. She squealed and ran, but of course her legs were no match for Braden's long stride. He tackled her into the sand, grabbing the cell phone out of her hand and shutting off the annoying song.

Her heart was beating fast, her breath ragged, and it all got worse when there was nothing but silence, when she became acutely aware of Braden's body sprawled across hers. He gazed down at her, his eyes darkening, his lips parting.

"Alexa," he muttered.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down to her. She loved his weight on top of her, his mouth crushing hers with a passion that went way beyond the sweet little crush they'd shared. They weren't a boy and a girl anymore but a man and a woman. He kissed her like he was starving, like he couldn't get enough of her, and she felt exactly the same way.

She ran her hands up and down his back, feeling the play of his muscles beneath his shirt. Slipping her hands underneath the material, she heard him groan as her fingers ran down the curve of his spine. Her breasts hardened against his chest. An aching need spread through her, and as his lips left her mouth to slide along her jawline and the curve of her neck, she felt herself sigh with longing.

She wanted so much more than a make-out session on the beach, but she had a feeling getting from here to anywhere else was going to bring reason and logic back into the situation, and their passion was not going to make it off the beach.

So she'd just enjoy the moment, she told herself, putting her hands behind his head, running her fingers through the dark waves of his hair, enjoying every touch of his mouth on hers.

And then a barking dog, a splatter of sand from some flying paws, acted like a dose of cold water.

Braden rolled off of her and let out a breath. She sat up, brushing sand off her arms and out of her hair.

Wordlessly, Braden tossed her back the cell phone.

"Thanks," she said.

"This isn't working," Braden said.

"It seemed like it was working pretty well."

"Do you know what you want, Alexa?"

She hesitated, sensing the question could be answered on many different levels. "I know that one day I want to finish the kiss we keep starting."

"And then what?"

"I don't know, Braden. I can't predict the future."

"I can predict part of it. One or both of us gets hurt," he said flatly.

She didn't want to think that's what would happen, but she'd become cynical, too. "You're probably right, but I've been playing it safe for a long time. Maybe it's time I took a chance."

He shook his head, his jaw tight. "I don't know."

She didn't care for his answer.

"Well, when you do know, get back to me," she said rather sharply, as she got to her feet.

"You can't put this all on me," he protested.

"You want it all on you," she said. "You want to be in charge. You want to kiss me when you want to, and stop when you're scared."

"You're the one who stopped last night," he reminded her.

He was right. Her need for him had scared her. "You're right. You make me feel things that are terrifying to me. I saw what happened to my mother when she loved my dad."

"We would never repeat your parents' mistakes."

"No, but we would probably make enough of our own."

"So you don't know what you want," he said.

"I guess I don't. I know this -- we've always had bad timing," she said. "One of us was ready to move forward, and the other one wasn't. I don't know if that still holds true. But at some point, we're going to have to both jump at the same time, and close the door on this forever. This in-between thing is not working for me. In fact, it's making me a little crazy."

"Me, too," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I don't want to hurt you, Alexa."

"Then don’t."

"I can't decide right now."

"You don't have to." She brushed the sand off of her jeans. "I should go anyway."

"Where are you off to?"

"The antique shop." She paused, smiling a little as she added, "Every time I see the name on the window, Yesterday Once More, I think how very apropos that is to this whole situation. Every day that I'm here feels like it's tied to yesterday."

He nodded. "Yeah, we've been visiting the past a lot."

"Anyway, I want to look through the books that came in with the Wellbourne boxes. My dad told me earlier that Shayla kept a journal. I don't think I saw one when I was unpacking, but maybe it was stuck inside another book."

"Your dad told you that?" he asked in surprise. "You saw him again?"

"Right before he bailed on breakfast."

He frowned. "Seriously? He did that to you? I know he's your father, but he's an ass."

"Yeah, but I'm used to it."

"You shouldn't have to be used to it."

"Well, he did give me a little information before he left. He said Shayla was in love with someone who made her get an abortion. His guess was that it could have been either Jack Wellbourne or Daniel Stone. Shayla told him that the man was unavailable."

"That sounds more like Jack." He paused. "Unless your dad is deliberately trying to steer you away from his involvement."

"It's no wonder I have trust issues when it comes to men," she muttered.

"I hope you don't have that issue with me," Braden said, meeting her gaze. "Because whatever happens between us, you can always trust me not to lie to you, Alexa."

She was touched by his words. "It goes both ways, you know."

He nodded and smiled. "I feel like we should pinky swear now."

She laughed. "Why don't we just seal it with a kiss? One very, short, non-threatening kiss." She went on tiptoe to touch her lips to his, a soft, gentle promise of a kiss, that reminded her very much of the first one they'd ever shared. "I'll see you later."

Chapter Fourteen

One very short, non-threatening kiss, but it still lingered on his lips, as Braden sat down with Drew in the police station. He shrugged the memory out of his mind. He needed to focus on the present.

"Where have you been?" Drew asked Braden, giving him a speculative look. "There's sand in your hair."

He ran his fingers along his scalp. "I was at the beach."

"Rolling around in the sand? I hope you weren't alone."

He ignored Drew's very interested look. "I came to talk to you about the case."

"Yeah, about that."

Drew glanced toward the Chief Hayes' office. The door was closed, but Braden could see Edwin at his desk. "I was just about to go down the street and grab a coffee. Why don't you come with me?"

Sensing that Drew didn't just want coffee, Braden shrugged. "All right."

Drew grabbed his keys off his desk and they headed out of the station.

"Great day," Drew said as they walked down the street. "I've been inside too much lately. Do you remember when I used to fly down the courthouse steps on my skateboard?" he added, tipping his head to the big building across the street with the long, wide steps.

"I remember that you almost broke your neck when you decided to skate down the railing," he said dryly.

"Yeah, that was not my wisest move," Drew said with a grin. "Sometimes I can't believe I'm the one who has to arrest the kids making stupid moves now, or that I wear a suit and tie when I walk up those steps."

"Okay, what's going on?" Braden asked as they turned the corner. "You obviously want to tell me something."

"Let's get some coffee first," Drew said. "In the meantime, you can tell me who you were rolling around in the sand with. Or should I just guess?"

Braden didn't bother to answer. He'd stopped telling Drew about girls a dozen years ago, and he saw no reason to start up again.

"What's going on with you and Alexa?" Drew asked, obviously not willing to let the subject drop.

"Who said I was with Alexa?"

"Come on. I'm a detective, and you're not that hard to read. What's up with you two?"

"I don't know," he said honestly. "We've been having some fun together, catching up. Some days it seems like old times. Some days it seems like it's all new."

"You like her," Drew with a confident nod.

"I always liked her," he admitted. "That was never the problem."

"I thought geography was the problem. It's not now."

"It will be. Alexa will go home."

"And you could go anywhere. There's nothing holding you here. Your family would miss you, but I think they'd like to see you happy."

"I'm considering my options," he said, following Drew into a small bakery cafe.

"Are you hungry?" Drew asked. "I'm going to grab a sandwich, too."

"Coffee is fine for me," he said, grabbing a table while Drew placed his order. It was after lunchtime, so the café was empty with the exception of one older man sipping coffee and reading the newspaper.

"So, why are we here?" Braden asked when Drew sat down with two coffees.

"I feel bad that I have to tell you this."

"Tell me what?" he asked, settling back in his chair.

"The chief had a change of heart. He doesn't want you looking into anything to do with the robbery or the Wellbournes or anyone else. He said he wasn't thinking clearly after finding his dear friend, Phoebe, unconscious and bleeding, and he never should have agreed to involve you. He feels we could muddy the case against whoever is the culprit by not following procedure. He has a point," Drew added.

"So you're firing me?" Braden asked, both amused and a little annoyed. "You're not actually paying me, you know."

"I didn't think it through when I asked you to help. To be honest, part of my motivation was to get you out of your apartment. I thought you'd just look around a little and that would be that. But you've gotten quite involved."

"I have." Braden paused for a long moment. Something wasn't adding up, or maybe it was… "It's funny that you say this now, because I spoke to the chief yesterday. He seemed fine with me being involved."

"Like I said, he changed his mind."

"After our conversation," he said slowly.

Drew frowned. "What exactly did you say to him?"

"I asked him about the investigation into Shayla Cummings' death." He tapped his fingers restlessly on the table, feeling like he was missing something. "The chief was okay with me looking into the break-in at the antique shop, but the fact that I was tying it to the old case was what bothered him. Now, I'm more curious."

Drew sighed, his eyes troubled. "You need to back off, Braden."