Broken Pieces (Cape Isle, #3): A Cape Isle Novel (3 page)

“Does that happen with other woman then?”

I think I stop breathing for a second. How am I supposed to answer that? I clear my throat and kiss the top of her head. “I've never slept in bed with another woman.” I hope that my non-answer will be enough.

She nods her head and scoots closer again, causing my dick to jump. There is no way in hell I'm going to be able to sleep.

“I've never slept like this with another man. I actually hate it when someone tries to cuddle me while I sleep.”

My eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. “No you don't. This is how we always sleep.”

She's quiet for a second, almost like she choosing her words carefully. She kisses my chest lightly, before laying her head down.

“Only you.”

I suck in a breath, but I don't respond.

Just when I thought we couldn't get any weirder, she proves me wrong.

It's not long before Lexie's breathing evens out and I know she's asleep.

I lay awake thinking of all of the different ways I could tell her that I'm in love with her. I think of every scenario that could possibly happen once my secret is out and I still don't know what to do. I've got to tell her soon because either way I have to move on with my life. I love her, but I can't keep living like this. I just hope she knows how amazing we could be, if she would just open her eyes and see what's right here in front of her.

It's time.

I kiss the top of her head and pull her closer to me, before drifting off to sleep.

Chapter Three

Lexie

I
OPEN MY EYES AND
try to blink the sleep away. I can smell coffee and it takes me a second to remember that Zack is here. I smile and bury myself deeper into the covers. I always sleep the best when he's here. I wasn't lying last night when I said that I've never been much of a cuddler. I actually hate to be touched when I'm sleeping, but it's different with Zack. I can't imagine sleeping in the bed with him and not touching.

I hear his footsteps coming down the hall and he walks into my bedroom, setting a cup of coffee on my bedside table.

“Wake up, sleepy head.”

I shake my head and smile. “No, I'm warm.”

He chuckles. “It's July in South Carolina. I'm pretty sure it's warm everywhere.”

I throw the covers back and sit up in the bed cross-legged.

“What's on the agenda today?” I ask, reaching over to grab my coffee.

He laughs and sits down on the edge of the bed and I watch as he brings his coffee cup up to his mouth, taking a drink before responding. “Well, we have the clean up at Grant and Summer's house. How long do you think that will take?”

“Probably two hours max.”

He nods his head. “Okay. Do you have to open the bakery today?”

“No, Summer closed for the weekend. I'm free until tomorrow morning.”

“Okay. After cleanup how about we grab some lunch and go to the beach?”

“Sounds fantastic,” I smile.

I never learned how to surf. My body just won't move like that, but I love watching Zack move through the waves.

“Breakfast?”

My stomach lets out a growl in response and we both laugh.

“You get dressed and meet me in the kitchen. We'll eat and then head over to my house so I can change.”

I nod my head and move to get off of the bed. After setting my coffee down, I give Zack a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for staying with me last night.”

“Anytime,” he says with a smile.

I grab my swim suit out of my drawer and start making my way towards the bathroom. Zack is still sitting on the bed and he looks deep in thought.

“Angel,” he says, as I open the bathroom door.

I turn to look at him and raise my eyebrow in question.

“I need to talk to you about something tonight,” he says quietly.

“That sounds ominous.” I release a nervous laugh.

He studies my face and shakes his head. “No. It's nothing bad,” he assures me.

Part of me doesn't believe him. His face looks so serious, but I nod my head. It's time to tell him about Jared anyway. We can kill two birds with one stone or however that damn saying goes.

* * *

I take a bite of my sandwich and watch Zack as he sits on his surf board bobbing in the water. After I got changed and we ate breakfast, we headed over to Grant and Summer's house where the workers were already waiting for us. It only took us about an hour to clean up and get everything squared away. I’d offered to look after Duke, Summer’s monster of a dog, while her and Grant are away, so we brought him back to mine—along with Lady, Zack’s dog, so they could play together—before finally heading to the beach.

Since it's July and tourist season, most of the beaches are packed, but we are locals, so we know the best spots to go. I look around and see a few families playing, but it's nothing like what the main strip looks like. Tourists season really helps our small town, but I just can't stand the overwhelming amount of people it brings.

I see a huge wave coming and I hold my breath as Zack starts paddling. This part always makes me nervous. When I was a little girl, I would close my eyes, until I knew they were standing. I don't do that now though. I watch as he pulls his big body up and stands. He cuts left and then right as he rides the wave. Right as the it crashes, he wipes out.

I keep holding my breath, until I see his head pop up and he turns to look me with a huge smile. I roll my eyes and shake my head as I take another bite of my sandwich. I'm surprised he hasn't given me a heart attack over the years. I love the ocean, but I also respect it. I know how quickly an undercurrent can suck you out of sight.

Zack shakes his head and tosses his hair to the side, trying to get some of the water out of it, as he walks towards me. He sticks his surf board up in the sand, before plopping down beside me.

“Want to come get in the water?” he asks, while digging through the cooler for a drink.

“Yep. I'm burning up. I need to put some more sunscreen on first, though,” I say shoving the last bite of my sandwich into my mouth.

He looks over at me and snorts. “You are so lady like.”

I swallow and take a sip of his water as I nod my head. “I know.”

He laughs and reaches over for the sunscreen that's laying on my towel. “Your back is getting pink.”

I scoot closer to him and turn so that my back is facing him. “Lather it on, Zacky.”

“Stop it,” he says with a laugh.

His hands are cool from the water and I shiver when he touches my hot back. “Is the water cold today?” I ask.

He clears his throat and I feel his hands move under the string of my bathing suit, as he spreads the sunscreen.

“A little chilly, but it feels good,” he responds.

I nod my head, but don't say anything.

Why do his hands feel so good?

Is it because I haven't been touched by a man in a long time? Zack has put sunscreen on me a hundreds of times before, but for some reason this time I'm focusing on how his hands are moving slowly across my back. He moves lower and I arch into his touch.

What in the hell is happening right now?

Why am I getting turned on?

He moves his hands away and clears his throat. “I think you're good, Angel.”

I dumbly nod my head and turn to face him. “Do you need some on your back?”

Is that my voice?

Why do I sound like that?

Without looking at me, he nods his head and passes me the bottle. He turns so that I can see his back and I can't help but admire the tattoo he has there. On his right shoulder blade sits one of the most intricate tattoos I've ever seen. It's bright and colorful and it's done in a white outline that makes it pop against his dark skin. A clock explodes and the pieces of it are scattered everywhere. I asked him once what it meant and he just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

I run my fingers across it, feeling the raised skin and finally squirt the sunscreen in my hand, before rubbing it on his back. God, he's so big. He was so tiny when we were kids, but somewhere between high school and college, he filled out. He still goes to the gym five times a week and I guess working out is even more important now that he is going into the fire academy.

I run my hands down his back and feel his muscles tighten under my touch and I swear I have to squeeze my legs together to try and relieve the ache.

What are you doing Lexie? This is your best friend for Christ Sakes, snap out of it!

I mentally berate myself as I move my hands away from him and stand up.

“I need to cool off. Meet you out there,” I mumble as I walk quickly through the sand.

Yeah, cool off in more ways than one.

I sigh as the cool water hits my thighs. It's not that I have never noticed how attractive Zack is, trust me I have, but I have also known him my whole life. He is my best friend and I refuse to screw that up by acting on my foolish thoughts. I mean, what would happen if we slept together? It would be awkward and I would lose my best friend forever. That's not going to happen. I would rather suffer through seeing him with other women and knowing I can never be like that with him, than risk losing him.

Zack joins me in the water and looks over at me with a smirk on his handsome face. I cock my head to the side and try to figure out what he's smiling about. Surely he can't read my mind but if he could, he would probably be mortified. He moves closer and I squeal as he picks me up.

“Zack, no!” I scream, as he tosses me through the air. I come up out the water spluttering and wiping the hair out of my face and open my eyes, watching as he laughs.

“Oh you are so going to pay for that,” I warn, making him laugh harder.

“What are you going to do, Angel, throw me in too?” A chuckle is released from deep within his throat.

“I'll get you back when you least expect it.”

He laughs again and tosses me a football.

“You don't scare me,” he says with a wink.

* * *

We spend the rest of the afternoon playing in the water, and by the time we make it back to my place, I'm wiped out. I sit down on my couch and stretch my legs out in front of me.

Zack looks down at me and shakes his head. “Totally useless,” he says with a smirk. “I'm taking the dogs for a walk. You want pizza for dinner?”

I nod my head and close my eyes. “Sounds great.”

I hear him laugh as he walks towards the front door and calls the dogs over to him.

“Take a nap. I'll be back soon.”

I nod my head and scoot down lower on the couch. Spending all day in the sun and the ocean always makes me sleepy. I can't count how many times I've fallen asleep on my beach towel.

I hear the front door open and then shut. I can hear my phone beeping with a text, but I'm too damn tired to get up and get it. I roll onto my side and drift off to sleep with thoughts of Zack rubbing sunscreen on my back.

SHIT!

This is going to be a problem
.

* * *

I wake up a short time later and lazily blink open my eyes. I hear Zack talking to someone, who I assume is the pizza delivery guy, and stretch my arms above my head and groan. The front door closes and Zack walks back towards the kitchen.

I lift my head and look towards the window. It's almost dark outside. How long did he let me sleep?

Reluctantly, I swing my legs off of the couch and stand up, stumbling my way towards the kitchen, while rubbing my eyes. Both of the dogs greet me first and I smile as I scratch the tops of their heads. I look up and notice that Zack has both of his hands laid flat against my kitchen island, his head down. His body is tense and I immediately know something is wrong.

“Zack, what is it?” I whisper.

He doesn't respond for a few seconds and I move towards him again.

He suddenly looks up and pins me with an angry gaze.

“When were you going to tell me?” he asks in a low voice.

I stop moving towards him and cock my head to the side in confusion. “Tell you what?”

He slides my cell phone towards me. “When were you going to tell me?” he repeats.

“I don't have the slightest idea what you are talking about. So how about you clue me in,” I say getting angry at his confusing questions.

He points towards my phone and he looks even angrier. “When were you going to tell me that your fucking ex-boyfriend has been fucking stalking you for almost a fucking year,” he roars.

Oh, he's really pissed. I don't think I have ever heard him this mad. I almost laugh at how many times he said the word ‘fucking’, but I know that won't help right now.

“How did you know?” I ask, quietly

“Your damn phone wouldn't quit beeping,” he says shaking his head.

Ok, now I'm pissed. “You went through my phone,” I yell.

His head pops back up and he pins me again with his gaze. “Oh hell no,” he says as he starts walking towards me.

I back up a few steps and my eyes get wide. I have never seen Zack like this. Sure, I've seen him mad before, but nothing like this. If I'm being honest it's a little intimidating. So why am I getting so turned on the closer he gets? This is going to be a serious problem.

Chapter Four

Zack

I
WALK TOWARDS
L
EXIE AND
I don't know whether to strangle her or hug her body against me. I am so mad at her for not telling me what's been going on with Jared, but I'm also scared to death that something could have happened to her.

Why didn't she tell me?

I'm supposed to be her best friend, yet she doesn't feel the need to talk to me about something this serious? It just doesn't make sense. On that thought, I mentally kick my own ass. I’ve been hiding my feelings for her for eighteen years. I quickly push my own short-fallings to the back of my mind: I can only deal with one thing at a time right now and this is more important.

I watch her eyes get wide, as she takes a step back.

“You don't get to be angry right now,” I say in a low voice.

She stops retreating and places her hands on her hips. “And why not? You went through my phone,” she snaps.

“It wouldn't stop beeping. I thought it may be important. I glanced at the screen and saw Jared's name and then I saw what he was writing. So yes, I picked it up and read them, but I shouldn't have had to do that. Why didn't you tell me?” I ask, stopping once I get right in front of her.