Unafraid (Beachwood Bay) (5 page)

“I don’t know,” I pretend to muse, setting out ketchup bottles and mustard. “I think you’d look cute with a couple of barrettes, maybe some highlights…”

“Shut up!” Garrett throws a dishtowel at me. I duck back, laughing.

“Wait, where’s Jade?” I look around. “Don’t tell me she got lost on the way to the storeroom.”

“I’ll go check.” Garrett starts towards the door, but I cut him off.

“Oh no. I’m not leaving you alone in there with her. That room has history.”

Garrett’s eyes widen in recognition. “That’s right, Em and Jules…”

I shudder, remembering the time I caught my brother in a very compromising position with Juliet, back before they were even officially together. “Don’t even talk about it.” I order him. “Some things, you can’t unsee!”

I spend the first half of my shift hidden away in the back office going through purchase orders. At least, that’s what I tell myself I’m doing, but the truth is I need a moment to myself, to process everything that’s happened over the past twenty-four hours.

Hunter.

It was only supposed to be one night, that’s how I justified it to myself at the time. One night to taste a world I knew I couldn’t own; one night to surrender to a feeling far beyond my control.

The last night of summer.

I’d just turned sixteen and the Covingtons were back in town again. I’d always stayed out of the way of the rich kids before. I had a gig waitressing at Mrs. Olson’s diner, and the closest I’d come to them was serving pancakes on a Sunday morning, or laying out on the beach a few towels over from their non-stop party crowd. I kept my distance for a reason. I’d seen the damage the summer people could do. My brother, Emerson, had his heart ripped out by a girl who left town and never looked back.

But something was different about Hunter.

It felt like we were circling each other, all summer long. We never said a word to each other, but I would catch him staring when we passed on the street, and one day when I was down by the docks I saw him, taking in the sail on their boat. He was stripped to his swim trunks, the muscles of his shoulders and torso gloriously defined in the midday sun as he reached to haul in the heavy fabric. I watched him from behind the safety of my shades, and felt something flicker to life I’d never known before.

Desire.

This wasn’t the frustrating tension from the brief hook-ups and clumsy fumblings I’d already experimented with. Those encounters left me feeling empty and unsatisfied, but this was something deeper, a strange awareness that seemed to flood my whole body, a magnetic pull towards him, as if my flesh and bone knew something I hadn’t yet discovered for myself. And once that flame flickered to life, I couldn’t damp it down again. That wanting haunted me all summer long, every time our eyes met, like a secret you have to tell.

It was inevitable. Even I knew it. You can’t resist an ache like that, so I made a deal with myself, building up my walls so I wouldn’t be the one to get hurt. It would be simple. Clean. One night, that’s all I’d have, and then he’d be gone, back to his golden, shining life, and I’d carry on as normal. Curiosity sated. Safe again.

And my plan worked—at first. I had my perfect night with him, and the next morning, I kissed his cheek and slipped away while he was still sleeping, making the long walk back to my run-down house alone in the pale dawn light. I told myself that I’d gotten everything I wanted. He left town that day with the rest of his family, and my life went on.

Except nothing was the same again.

That’s the dangerous thing about tasting something so perfect. I found out the hard way that once I’d had a glimpse of that beauty, even for a brief moment, it broke my heart a little every day to go without. The world shone dimmer, every kiss felt like a faded Xerox, and in the dark of the night, I couldn’t stop my dreams from taking me back through the years, to the one time I finally felt whole in somebody’s arms.

“Brit!” Garrett’s yell cuts through my memories. “Get your butt out here, we’re drowning.”

I haul myself up and head on out to the bar, now busy and buzzing with the evening crowd. “New girl not working out?” I ask, scooping up empty glasses from the bar.

“She’s… still finding her feet.” Garrett hedges, but soon it’s pretty clear Jade won’t be sticking around any longer than the rest. Either the poor girl is a naturally lousy waitress, or she’s too busy swooning over Garrett to pay attention to her tables. I’m the one left to pick up the slack, rushing around to keep up with the crowds, refill drinks, and get food orders out from the kitchen in some state resembling what the person wanted.

“Who ordered the cheeseburger?” I call across to Jade, when the plate’s been sitting untouched on the hatch for five minutes. “Because they better want it cold, with a side of soggy fries.”

She waves absently. “The guy at the bar.”

“That’s me. Behind you,” he adds helpfully

My heart leaps. Of course he’s shown up here. That man doesn’t know when to quit.

I turn. Hunter is sitting at the end of the bar, one hand wrapped around a bottle of beer. I slam the plate down in front of him. He takes one look and winces. “Damn, darlin’. I know you’re trying to chase me off, but messing with a man’s burger? That’s just low.”

I shrug, but my pulse is racing. Even in the dim lights of Jimmy’s, with bad rock music on the jukebox and peanut shells on the floor, Hunter looks like he’s stepped off a yacht—six foot two of tanned, preppy gorgeous.

Don’t forget ‘way out of your league
.’

“Feel free to go someplace else,” I tell him, turning my glare all the way up. I’ve sent guys running with this stare: prize street fighters and burly dock workers all wilting under my wrath.

But Hunter doesn’t flinch.

“Nah, I like the service here. It’s so… unpredictable.” He reaches for a fry, and I can’t stop my gaze following the elegant line of his forearm: all tanned sinew, dusted with golden hair.

I stifle a sigh. He may be driving me crazy with irritation right now, but Hunter’s body is a work of art. At least, it was when he was nineteen.

And now…?

“I work here,” I remind him, snapping out of my haze.

“I’m not stopping you.” He grins. “I think that couple in the corner are ready to order.”

I turn. They’re gesturing to me, looking annoyed. “There goes my tip,” I grumble, going over to deal with them, but when I return, Hunter is exactly where I left him—except now he’s talking up a storm with Garrett.

“Your buddy here says you’ve got the day off Monday,” Hunter gives me a teasing grin. “How about that date then?”

“Traitor,” I hiss at Garrett.

“What?” Garrett protests, “You do. I’m not going to lie for you.”

“Some buddy.”

I join him behind the bar to pour some sodas, but Hunter is still watching me, too close for comfort. “Can I get you anything?” I spit, sarcastically.

“Just a date,” Hunter says with a grin, “I’ll leave the rest up to you. I bet you’ve got some things you’d like to do…”

I fumble under his gaze and spill soda all over my shirt. “Now look what you’ve made me do!” I exclaim, frustrated. I don’t stick around to hear his protests of innocence; I storm away, down the hallway and into the storeroom, where I know I’ve stashed a couple of spare tanks for emergencies like this.

I strip off my damp shirt, cheeks hot with embarrassment. How am I supposed to focus on anything with him there, just…
watching
me? Every move the man makes, it’s like he’s some designer ad campaign come to life, so relaxed and easy, and meanwhile I’m acting like the stupid klutz, yelling at people and spilling stuff everywhere because I can’t stay cool knowing he’s in the building.

Damn him, and his endless confidence.

“Brit?” The door opens, and before I can grab another shirt, Hunter steps inside the small room. His eyes widen at the sight of me stripped to my skirt and bra. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry!”

My pulse kicks. My first instinct is to dive behind the shelves, but then I see the expression on his face. He’s frozen, drinking in the sight of me, something bright and rapturous in his eyes.

It’s the first time I’ve seen him shaken since the moment he stepped out onto that rooftop last night, and I’m sure as hell going to make the most of it.

“Heard of knocking?” I ask calmly. I slowly stroll over to the far shelf to grab a fresh tank top, taking my sweet time to pull it from the bag and shake it out. I glance back at Hunter. He’s still staring at me, looking like I just whacked him over the head with a two-by-four.

I hide a grin. “Or, you know, giving a girl some privacy?” I finally gesture for him to turn.

“Oh. Sure. Yeah.” He snaps out of his daze, spinning quickly to face the wall.

I pull on the shirt, giving silent thanks I picked a cute bra today: black lace with a purple trim I sewed myself, delicate and daring all at the same time. It’s a cheap shot, getting the upper hand like this, but I’ll take any advantage I can get when Hunter can slay me with a single smile.

“You can look now,” I tell Hunter, smug, but when he turns back to me, that casual grin is back on his face. He’s pulled himself back together, and my brief victory is nothing but a memory.

“Cute bra,” he smirks. “Is that one of your designs?”

I yank my shirt down and refasten my apron. “You a fashion expert now?”

“I know my way around a pair of panties,” Hunter winks, and despite myself, I smile. “How about you give me a private show sometime?”

His gaze slips over me like honey, and I can’t stop myself imagining what it would feel like for his hands to follow their same path. Slipping my lacy straps aside, peeling the soft silk over my body, easing the lace down my thighs…

I shiver.

I can’t. It’s too dangerous. As much as having the old charming, gorgeous Hunter back was a problem, this is so much worse. Because this isn’t just a handsome boy here in front of me, it’s a devastatingly sexy man.

Who knows what pleasure he’d show me—or what havoc he’d wreak?

I force myself to focus on that, the bitter aftertaste any kiss would leave. “You don’t get a hint, do you?” I snap. “I’ve told you a hundred times to just leave me alone—”

“No.” Hunter interrupts me, moving closer. Suddenly, he’s just inches away, so close I can feel the warmth radiating from his body. So close that there’s no mistaking the dark intensity in his eyes. “You haven’t. You’ve bitched, and bantered, and turned me down. But you’ve never told me to go.”

My breath catches. Hunter stares down at me, determined, the chiseled planes of his face shadowed in the dim storeroom light. “Say it,” he demands. “If you want me to go, just tell me, and I swear I’ll never bother you again.”

I open my mouth. The words are there, so simple on my tongue, but nothing comes out. One simple lie, that’s all it would take, and I’d be free from him forever.

But it’s still a lie. I can’t do it, not to him. Not when Hunter is the only truth I’ve ever known.

I exhale a slow sigh and press my lips shut in defeat.

Silence.

There’s a beat, and then victory blazes, fierce in Hunter’s eyes.

“Brit,” he whispers. I wait for him to make his move, breath catching in my throat, but instead of a rough hold, he reaches for me gently, lifting one hand to touch my face in a slow, sweet caress.

I tremble. His fingertips softly stroke the outline of my jaw, like he’s memorizing every contour, watching me so closely that I feel more naked than when I was half-dressed.

It’s too much. I try to turn my head away, but he gently takes hold of my chin and keeps my face steady in place, so I have no choice but to meet his eyes again and lose myself in that piercing blue stare.

He sees right through me.

I can’t fight it with a quip or a barbed comment. I can’t break away. His eyes demand everything from me, and I have no choice but to surrender. I feel naked, stripped bare, like all my fears and dreams and insecurities are right there for him to see. The worst of me, my darkest secrets.

Still, he doesn’t look away.

The moment stretches, nothing but the sound of his slow, steady breaths and my heartbeat, drumming faster in my ears as his fingertips continue their slow, agonizingly sweet discovery. My blood rises under his touch. Every movement, every whisper of sensation on my skin sends a new shiver through me, a ripple of something so fragile and tender I’ve never known before. I’m lost in the moment, everything around us falling away until my universe is nothing but the feel of his fingertips on my cheek and the endless blue of his eyes, and the heat of his breath whispering as he slowly, slowly closes the few tortured inches of space between us.

His lips meet mine.

Oh God.

It’s the kiss I’ve been waiting three long years to taste again, but it’s like nothing I imagined. Sweet and soft, hot and slow. My eyes drift shut with bliss as his mouth dances softly over mine. He’s barely touching me, but the shudder of pleasure that rolls through me is enough to make my heart stop and my legs buckle. Hunter wraps an arm around my waist, holding me up, and I sway into him, lost in the darkness. I’m drowning, overcome by the sweet torment of his lips and the feel of his body, so solid and strong against me.