That Summer Night (Callaways #6) (16 page)

Unfortunately, staying close was also a problem.

As Shayla sat down on his couch, he was reminded of another couch, of how he'd felt earlier that day when they'd woken up in each other's arms. But that wasn't going to happen again. He would put Shayla in his bed tonight and leave her alone.

But the idea of Shayla in his bed, her long blonde hair flowing over his pillows, was an unsettling thought. How the hell was he going to keep his hands off of her?

Especially when Shayla wasn't that good about keeping her hands off of him. He knew it wouldn't take much persuasion to get her into bed with him, because they'd already lit the sparks. But he knew better than anyone what the aftermath of a bad fire looked like, and he didn't want to put Shayla through that. Or maybe he didn't want to put himself through that.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asked, opening the fridge. "I've got two beers left."

"No thanks. I'm full from the pizza. I haven't felt like eating much since I got back from Colombia, but tonight I was suddenly starving."

"I noticed. You ate more than half the pizza," he said, grabbing a bottle of beer.

"Are you complaining that you didn't get enough to eat?"

"Just stating a fact. I actually like a woman who eats."

"Well, I do eat."

He sat down across from her, realizing how small his boat was when there were two people on it. He'd had a few women on board, but they'd spent all their time in his bed, and he hadn't been looking for things to talk about.

"What do you do at night?" Shayla asked, as if she were reading his mind. "I don't see a television."

"I go on the computer. I read. I have sex," he said with a grin.

"Only one of those activities surprises me. You read? I thought you prided yourself on being the brawn in your family."

"Well, I'm not reading encyclopedias."

"Too bad. They can be very interesting." She leaned over and pulled a paperback novel off the table by the couch. "So you're a science fiction buff?"

"I like different genres."

She flipped the book over and read the blurb. "From the dark shadow of potential destruction comes an unexpected savior." She looked over at him with a smile. "I thought you said that you and Robert didn't have anything in common."

"We don't."

"He draws graphic novels, and you read them."

Reid frowned. "I think old Walt left that behind when he sold me the boat."

"Are you going to blame everything interesting I find in this place on old Walt?" she teased.

"Maybe. Let's talk about you and your twin for a change. Do you have a lot in common with—what was his name?"

"Colton. And, no, not that much in common. We're a little like you and Robert in reverse. I was the brainy one. Colton liked the action. We were four years younger than our nearest sibling, so we were always a little isolated from the rest of the group and we were always called out together as the twins. Sometimes I wasn't sure everyone in the family knew my name."

Her words were light, but he could hear the emotion behind them. "That must have bothered you a little."

"I wouldn't say bother. It was just the way it was. It made Colton and me even closer. We played together all the time. Colton could always make me laugh. He has a wicked sense of humor. He worries about nothing and I worry about everything. This probably won't surprise you, but I'm kind of a serious girl."

"Yeah, I got that."

"What kind of women do you like? Wait, let me guess. You like women who are looking for a good time, no strings attached."

"Bingo." He raised his beer to her.

"Are you sure that's what the women are looking for?" she challenged. "Or what you're looking for?"

"It's a mutual thing, Doc, a meeting of similar minds. I haven't broken anyone's heart."

"Is that because you haven't gotten close enough to anyone to break their heart?"

He took a long swig of his beer, her questions getting a little too personal. "Love is overrated."

She gave him a thoughtful look. "I don't think so."

"Well, you wouldn't. You're a romance and flowers kind of girl."

"No one has ever given me flowers."

"That can't be true."

"It is true."

"Then you've been picking the wrong boyfriends."

"I've only had two guys that I could call boyfriends, and neither of those relationships lasted longer than a few months. I guess we never got to the flowers part."

"Did they break your heart?"

She slowly shook her head. "One of them put a dent in it."

"Sorry."

She shrugged. "That's what life is about, right?" She paused. "I know you fell in love at least once. You asked a girl to marry you. The man of no commitment was willing to promise forever."

"Yeah, that guy is gone."

"You didn't deserve what Lisa and Robert did to you."

"No, I did not," he agreed.

"How did you meet Lisa in the first place?"

He groaned. "I don't really want to talk about her."

"Well, you're the one who doesn't have a television," she pointed out. "And I'm not a fan of science fiction. So just talk to me."

"I met her at a birthday party when I was home on leave. Her best friend was involved with one of my friends. Lisa was attractive, and she liked me, which I was happy about." He'd also enjoyed her crazy passion. They'd gone to bed that first night and didn't spend a night apart for the next three weeks.

"How long were you together before you got engaged?" Shayla asked.

"About a month."

She raised an eyebrow. "No way. A month? That's impulsive. And that doesn't seem at all like you."

"Looking back I can see where I might have given it more thought. But I was going to deploy, and I didn't want to leave her behind without putting a ring on her finger. I wanted to seal the deal, so to speak. Lisa seemed to want the same thing."

"What do you think changed? There had to be a reason why she hooked up with your brother right before the wedding. And to do it in such a public way—it almost seems like one of them wanted you to find them."

He blew out a breath, wishing Shayla wasn't so perceptive. "I think Lisa wanted out, but she was afraid to tell me."

"Or," Shayla began. "She might have wanted to make sure she had your brother before she said goodbye to you, hedge her bets. I think she did the same thing to Robert. She wasn't divorced five minutes before she was moving in with her new man. She'd obviously gotten involved with him before she left Robert. I don't think she likes to be alone."

"She doesn't. Her father died when she was a little girl. And her mother remarried a couple of times. Lisa told me that every time her mother moved on to a new man, she felt like she was being left behind."

Shayla's brows drew together. "That's a little sad."

"I think as my deployment drew near, Lisa got scared. The reality of my being a soldier sank in. She started to worry about moving to the post, leaving her friends behind, waiting for me to come home."

Shayla nodded. "And being afraid you wouldn't come home, that you'd die and leave her alone like her father did."

"It seems so clear now," he said, settling back in his chair. "It took me a lot longer to figure it out than you just did."

"Well, I wasn't involved with her in the same way. I've seen her from a distance. I've heard Robert talk about her. Actually, I understand her a little better now that you've told me her story." She paused. "But Lisa should have broken up with you. She was a coward for doing what she did. It was inexcusable."

"What about Robert?" he challenged.

"Same thing," she said, meeting his gaze, not a hint of indecision in her blue eyes. "I care a lot about Robert, but what he did was wrong." She shook her head. "I just wish I could figure out what his motive was. It does seem out of character for him. Not only the fact that he hooked up with your fiancée but because he did it in the coatroom. I mean, that is not Robert. He's not that impetuous, that passionate."

"He was that night."

"Did you ever ask him why he did it?"

"No. I haven't talked to him since that day. I didn't care why, Shayla. Because his reasons didn't matter."

"I understand. But maybe when this is all over, you should try to talk to him. Maybe things will be different now, like they were when you saw your parents earlier."

He didn't think that was possible. "I'd rather leave the past alone. It was all a long time ago."

"True. But it's not over."

"It is over. I'm not holding some torch for Lisa. I have moved on with my life many times."

"Oh, I'm sure you have moved on many times, if only to prove to yourself that you were done with Lisa."

"I was not proving anything to anyone," he argued. "You don't know everything, Shayla."

"Okay, fine." She waved her hand in the air. "I don't know everything, but I do know one thing for sure."

"What's that?"

"You're going to have to talk to Lisa again. Not about the past, but about what's happening now."

He wished he could say she was wrong, but she wasn't. "Yeah, I know."

"You should do it tomorrow, first thing, get it out of the way. But you cannot tell her that Robert has been in contact with me. You just have to be the concerned brother."

"You think she's going to believe that?"

Shayla shrugged. "I'm betting she'll be so rattled by your sudden appearance at her door that she won't have time to consider your motives."

"Probably true. I'll go in the morning, and you're coming with me."

"Oh, no, I do not need to be present for that. And I promised Robert I wouldn't talk to her."

"Don't worry, we're not going to tell her you talked to Robert, but you are his friend, and I think your presence will keep us off the personal track." He smiled at her frustrated look. "Now who's right?"

"You are," she said grumpily.

He smiled. "It's only fair. You're going to make me dance at a wedding, you're going to have to sit through what will undoubtedly be a very uncomfortable conversation with my ex-fiancée."

"All right, it's a deal. But you actually have to dance with me, you know. No hanging out at the bar drinking whiskey shots and picking up the single ladies."

"Well, now you're just getting mean," he drawled.

"I call it like I see it." She paused, looking around for her bag. "Speaking of calling, I need to tell Ria that I'm bringing a date. I hope it won't throw off the numbers."

"You go ahead. I'm going to sit outside for a while. Make yourself at home."

* * *

Shayla blew out a breath when Reid left. She was happy he'd decided to get some air. Things had gotten pretty personal the last few minutes. While she'd liked getting to know him better, the interior of the boat was very small, warm, cozy, and she was way too aware of Reid. It was one of the reasons she'd kept talking. She'd been trying to distract herself from throwing herself at him.

Wasn’t she the one who'd told him it could never happen between them?

She didn't want to be a liar.

She also needed to remember that Reid was only with her because she'd asked for his help. He was a natural born protector. He would protect anyone the way he was protecting her. It wasn't special. He was just that kind of guy.

The kind of guy she could really, really like.

With a sigh, she pulled out her cell phone and called Ria. She hated to bother her the night before the wedding, but she didn't want to show up with Reid without telling anyone first. That would only raise more questions.

"Hi, it's Shayla," she said when Ria answered the phone. "I'm sorry to bother you."

"You're not bothering me at all. Megan and I are having a girls' night before the big day."

"Well, I won't keep you from it. I was wondering if it's at all possible for me to bring a date tomorrow to the wedding. I know it's last minute, but I wasn't sure he'd be able to come, and now he is. I don’t need to eat if we're short on food or anything."

"Don't be silly, Shayla. Of course, you can bring someone. It's a casual buffet. One more won't make a difference."

"That's great."

"I didn't know you were seeing anyone."

"It's kind of new. I don't want to make a big deal out of it."

"If you're bringing him to the wedding, it's going to be a big deal," Ria said. "Not with me but with your family. They like to vet all potential newcomers to the Callaway clan."

"Reid isn't going to be part of the clan. He's just going to be my date tomorrow. That's it."

"Well, you never know where one date will lead."

Judging by the dreamy tone in Ria's voice, she was thinking about Drew. "I'm really happy for you and my brother," she said.

"I'm happy, too. You never know when you're going to meet the right person, Shayla. The first night I met Drew I knew I liked him, but I didn't think we would ever see each other again. Yet somehow, months later, on an entirely different continent, we found each other."

"It must have been fate," she said.

"Maybe. Although, Drew likes to tell me that I picked San Francisco because he'd told me he was stationed there."

"Perhaps you did," she said.

"It's possible, but I thought the odds of us meeting in such a big city were a million to one. Turns out I was wrong, and I'm so glad about that, because your brother is amazing."

"I know, but don't keep telling him that. His head is big enough already. I'll see you tomorrow, Ria."

"Yes, and I can't wait to meet your new man. If you're bringing him around the family, then he must be something special."

"He's something all right," she murmured, as she ended the call.

She put her phone into her bag and pulled out her laptop computer. She was happy she'd had the computer in her bag when she was at lunch. It might have gotten taken if she'd left it in her apartment.

Reid's Internet was locked, so she used the personal hotspot on her phone to go online. She checked her emails first. They were piling up fast. She hadn't written anyone back since she'd come home. She skimmed the list to see if there was anything out of the ordinary but there was nothing.