Getting Rough (20 page)

“And what does Jayson do about it?” I asked, hoping she’d gotten that far.

Mia’s teeth tugged at her bottom lip. “Um… Well, he um… He sleeps with another woman.”

Her face drew up like she was waiting for me to blast her over it, which I had zero intention of doing. But damn. Talk about opening wounds. Mine weren’t only open, they were oozing crimson gunk all over the place. I wasn’t mad. I really wasn’t. I’d earned all four knuckles of reality’s punch to the teeth.

“Why would he do that?” This was where I got to see Mia’s feelings about what I’d done to her. Hard as it was going to be to have to hear, I had to know.

Damn, but I wished she wouldn’t look at me with so much pity.

“Because he’s hurt and frustrated and he just needs to feel something other than the pain.”

Hearing her say it out loud was like having salt poured into those wounds. It stung like a son of a bitch, only because that was some real shit. And through my own pain, I couldn’t help but be in awe of Mia. Not only did the woman write books about people, she read people like they were books, as well.

But the truth was the truth was the truth, so I put it out there. Blunt as blunt could be. “So he uses one woman to get over another? What a dick.”

“I don’t see it that way, and neither does his concubine.”

“Concubine” was an interesting word choice. I wondered if that was the way she saw herself when she looked into the mirror this morning. Because I really wasn’t okay with that.

“Oh, really? And what’s this concubine’s name?”

She hedged, and then her voice was soft. “Maria.”

Maria… Mia… Nope, not a coincidence.

“Maria knows she’s being used and she’s okay with that?”

Her eyes glassed over while the tip of her nose turned a shade of pink. Fuck me, she was trying so hard not to cry. Mia swallowed and forced a smile before saying, “Of course.
She
actually gives a shit about him. Besides” – she blinked away unshed tears and then shrugged – “what are friends for?”

Bullshit. I was going to kick my own ass. Any douchebag that could make someone as virtuous as Mia cry had it coming. The woman had a heart of pure gold, good to the core, and she didn’t deserve to be made to cry. Not one day in her life. No one would ever convince me otherwise. Yet I’d done it. I’d fucked her with a total disregard for her feelings. What kind of friend does
that
? And the thing was, I’d never even seen Mia as just my friend. She was something I couldn’t explain.

She was… a possibility.

I slid off the bed and onto my knees before her. “Mia, when you look at me, what do you see?”

It took a moment before she answered. A moment during which she seemed to study everything about me, leaving my eyes for last. And when she looked into them, it was as if she’d found her answer there. “I see Jayson… just a figment of my imagination.”

For whatever reason, that wasn’t okay with me.

“You know, when you came to town and said you wanted to interview me for the book you’re writing, I figured you were trying to get some of the technical details about lobstering and a lobster fisherman’s way of life. I didn’t realize you were going to write my life.”

“I honestly didn’t intend to. But, Casey, you’re the ultimate alpha hero: flawed yet perfect; confident, not cocky; passionate about everything you do; strong and strong willed; smart without being a smart-ass; you have the swagger of a bad boy with a boy-next-door’s heart; you’re dominant, yet not aggressive; and you are a
very
capable lover.”

That last part made my cock flinch in my jeans. Huh. I didn’t have the heart to tell her an alpha male would never use an innocent woman to get over another.

Mia must have taken my contemplative silence as a sign that I was insulted because she said, “I’ll scrap the whole manuscript. I promise. Contracts be damned. I’d never want to offend you or make you feel like your whole life is on display.”

That wasn’t at all what I wanted. Truth be told, I was honored that she thought me worthy of being a topic in the first place. And to make me the hero? Well, I didn’t feel very much like the hero at the moment. Be that as it was, she saw me that way. Maybe she was the only one. And I didn’t want that to stop. Having had an insight into her beautifully creative mind, I wondered if the answers were hidden somewhere within all that brilliance.

“No, you don’t have to scrap any of it. But maybe you can help me with one thing.”

Her voice was soft again, a gentle swallow drawing my attention to a neck I suddenly wanted to mark. “Anything.”

“Tell me what happens to Jayson.”

“You know what happens, Casey… You
are
Jayson.”

“No, not that. I meant, what happens to him at the end of the book?”

“He sails off into the sunset and lives happily ever after, of course.”

“With who?”

A meek smile tugged at her lips and a flourish of pink tinged her cheeks. “Guess.”

“Maria?”

She nodded. “He’s all she’s ever wanted but never knew she’d been searching for.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible after what he’s done to her. Maybe you should just kill him off.”

Mia laughed. “That’s impossible.”

“Why is that impossible?”

Her smile never fell, but those eyes? Those eyes did some wicked shit to the rhythm of my heart. “Because, silly… if a writer falls in love with you, you can never die.”

My eyebrows reached for my hairline and damn near permanently relocated. “You’re in love with me?” Shaking my head, I made a quick correction. “I mean, Jayson?”

“I’m in love with all of my characters.”

“Mia —”

She cut me off before I could say another word. “Casey, please don’t freak out on me, okay? I’m a romantic. It’s not a big deal. Really. I do this all the time – with fictional characters, not actual men – and I eventually get over it. I promise. You don’t have to worry that I’ve dreamed up some real-life scenario born of fantasy in my head. And while it’s true there’s a fine line between brilliance and insanity for artists, and we walk it every single day, I haven’t yet crossed over to the delusional side. I know I’m not Maria, and I know exactly what last night was all about. You needed a concubine, and I was glad I could be there for you. And hey, I got a breakthrough in my plot and a couple of really awesome orgasms out of it. So it’s cool. We’re cool.” She stopped and took a much-needed breath before her shoulders drooped with the exhale. “Right?”

Catching her completely off guard, I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to me, forcing her legs to unfold and form a cage around my ribs. Just as I’d wanted. And then I kissed her. She’d told me she could tell how a person felt by the way they kissed, and that was something I’d used the night before to let her know I wanted to fuck. This time, I used it to show her something else.

Her lips were so sweet, so pliant beneath mine, and when I deepened the kiss, her mouth was receptive. Mia moaned, a sound that went straight to my cock, and then she wrapped her arms around my neck to push her fingers through my hair. With an arch to her back, she pressed her center to my chest, the warmth nearly scorching me through my shirt. Mia was no concubine. And she was more than a possibility. She was… everything.

I pulled back ever so slightly to allow her a moment to catch her breath. She kept her arms and fingers just as they were and pressed her forehead to mine, simply breathing.

“Wow,” she whispered, and I had to smile because, yeah, my message was received.

“You don’t get seasick, do you?” I asked, knowing damn well she didn’t.

The shake of her head was almost imperceptible, but I caught it. I also caught the sexy little way her teeth pulled at her bottom lip.

“Casey, please be sure. If you’re just looking for a rebound —”

“I’m sure,” I said, not letting her go there. “What man wouldn’t want to live forever? Make me immortal, Mia Morgan.”

Leaning in for a soft, chaste kiss, she said, “You’re already halfway there.”

“Yeah? Does that mean I’m like bulletproof or something?” I asked, because I sure as shit felt like there was a giant
S
on my chest at the moment.

Mia laughed. She laughed and my heart soared like a bird, like a plane, like a speeding bullet, like it could leap tall buildings in a single bound. I’d be her hero in the flesh, despite the fact that she was the one who’d rescued me.

But I’d fight for her because I knew she’d fight for me. Fuck it; we could be some dynamic duo or whatever. I didn’t care as long as we could take on the world together; her with a gold lasso on her hip, and me with a red cape blowing in the wind.

And no, I wasn’t delusional either. She’d be leaving Stonington, just like Cassidy did. I knew that. Though this time, I wasn’t going to leave fate to the wind. This time, I was going to get off my ass and make damn sure I convinced Mia to stay.

People always talked about the calm before the storm, but no one ever mentioned how deafening the silence afterward could be. Cassidy and I were fine within the four walls of her bedroom, but outside those walls lurked the reality I’d warned her about. The only way to identify that reality was to open the door and walk out to meet it. Together.

Right after we showered. Together. I’d had to sneak into my room to grab a change of clothes for that one, but we managed to pull it off without getting busted. I didn’t want this thing between us to be a secret anymore, though I wasn’t sure how she’d feel about it. Not that I was planning on hiring a blimp with a scrolling neon advertisement to proclaim my feelings. Especially when I hadn’t even told Cassidy, but still, I was all about making damn sure that happened in the very near future. Telling Cassidy, not the blimp thing. That would be overkill.

Cassidy tightened the laces on her second gym shoe and looked up at me while tying the bow, a graceful smile lighting up her entire face. Jesus, the woman even made tying her shoes look sexy as hell.

When she was done, she slapped both knees and stood with her hands on her hips. Hips that were covered by yoga pants that she’d pulled up to her knees to show off those toned calves, by the way. I thought about asking her if she’d brought any of those fuck-me heels with her, but the distraction wouldn’t have been conducive to the work waiting to be done.

“Well, are you ready to see what the aftermath looks like?”

I was sure she meant from the hurricane, but really, the question could apply to not only that but whatever had taken place between the two of us last night. A near-death experience and an emotional awakening within a man who’d prided himself on not feeling anything at all was a recipe for a whole lot of what-the-fuckery. Things were going to get
very
messy. Especially if she was still in casual-fuck mode, the way we’d started. The only way any of this thing between us had ever been meant to be.

Taking a moment to appreciate her bare shoulder, courtesy of the oversized V-neck raglan she’d chosen to wear for the cleanup process, I gave her an answer that could also apply to both situations. “Is anyone ever really ready for something like that?” I for damn sure wasn’t, but I’d never backed down from a challenge before, so I was full steam ahead. On both counts.

“Good point,” she said, seeming to be in good spirits despite the inevitable work that lay ahead. “Time to face the music, then.”

Reaching for the doorknob, I stepped back as I swung the door open to let her pass through, because that was what a gentleman was always supposed to do for his lady. Whether she knew she was his lady or not. But once we stepped out into the hallway, we stopped in our tracks. It wasn’t the music we’d come face-to-face with. It was Casey and Mia, side by side in the exact same stance as Cassidy and me.

No good-mornings were uttered, not a sound was made, but I noticed the look Cassidy and Casey shared. Right before she reached out and took my hand, lacing her fingers through mine. It surprised me, though, thankfully, not enough to make me do something stupid. I did, however, grin like a motherfucker because, yeah, I’d won the girl and my position as the alpha male was set in stone.

And then Casey reached out and took Mia’s hand. Huh… two alpha males occupying the same space? Well, there was a new and interesting concept. Another interesting twist was the tender smile exchanged between Casey and Cassidy, followed by a quite intense stare-down from him to me that ended with a respectful nod. I heard him loud and clear: I’d better take damn good care of her. And I would.

It was funny how so much information could be exchanged without one word being said between four people. But it was quite clear that Casey was with Mia, Cassidy was with me, and Casey and Cassidy were genuinely happy and okay with that. All was where it was meant to be.

Casey and Mia were closest to the steps, so Mia was the first to head in that direction with Casey at her side. Cassidy and I followed, the four of us descending two-by-two, like animals off the ramp from Noah’s ark after the flood. It was a fitting visual considering the bit of epic-ness that Mother Nature had thrown at us during the night.

Filing into the kitchen where the parents were already moving about, also quiet, four sets of eyes turned toward the two newly emerging couples. And still, no word was said. Abby, Thomas, Duff, and Anna all took in the sight before them, with a particular interest in the hand-holding. Hmm, I made a note to do a lot more of that everywhere Cassidy and I went after this so that everyone would know she was my girl.

Abby’s face lit up with complete approval of the way things had worked out. For both Casey and me. I really didn’t notice what the other parents thought because Abby’s approval was all I needed. Well, Abby’s and Duff’s, of course. He gave it in his own way.

With a loud clap of his hands, Duff finally broke the silence. “Well, all right, then. Let’s go face the music,” he said, and it made me smile because it was obviously a phrase he’d used often enough for his only daughter to have picked it up as well. I was so going to love this family shit.

We cleared the path as Duff escorted his wheelchair-bound wife toward the front door. When everyone else had gone ahead, Cassidy looked at me and sighed, not altogether prepared to see what ruin might have been left of her hometown. I gave her hand a squeeze, and with that, we brought up the rear.

The morning sun was bright, in contrast to a house darkened by shuttered windows and no electricity, and the seabirds were calling just like they would have on any normal day. But standing shoulder to shoulder with two families stretched eight wide across the porch, each person in absolute shock from the scene before them, it was clear to see that this was anything but a normal day in Stonington, Maine.

The Whalen House’s position on the side of the hill, coupled with its very strong foundation, had been its saving grace. Others in town hadn’t been so fortunate. Looking out over Main Street, it was hard to tell where some properties began and others ended. The streets were littered with the normal debris you might expect to see – gobs of seaweed, tree limbs, shingles off roofs and siding, and just plain garbage – but what you didn’t expect to see were whole-ass trees that had been pulled up by their roots and smashed through houses, or homes crushed, their contents spilled out into the streets and bobbing around in the bay.

Mother Nature’s power was something to be respected. The way she picked and chose which families lost everything, which suffered only minor damage, and which remained untouched was a puzzler indeed. We still didn’t know how much actual destruction had been done to the Whalen House because we hadn’t stepped out to really survey the property, but no way could it have been as bad as most of the other homes.

Quite a few of the townspeople were already out and about, some of the elderly shaking their heads in disbelief while mothers hugged their children close, helping them over piles of who the fuck knew what it had once been. Instinct kicked in and I released Cassidy’s hand to go help, not shocked in the least that Casey was already on the move as well. But I pulled up short when I heard a sniffle to my right.

Looking over my shoulder, I was frozen in place when I watched a tear stream down Anna Whalen’s face. That was my girl’s mother and she was heartbroken for her town. I was heartbroken for her. This was real shit. Not a negotiation gone south, not a major deal missed, but a real-life catastrophe.

Duff put his hand on Anna’s shoulder and gave it a loving pat. “It’s okay, darlin’. Everthing’s going to be okay. You’ll see.”