Summer at Seaside Cove (36 page)

“So obviously there's a ‘but' coming.”

“Right. But—you've been here a week and you need to go. Not because I don't want you around. But because you're here for the wrong reasons.”

“Since when is helping a buddy the wrong reason?”

“It's not. And the first four days you were here I desperately needed the help with the Langston roof job and the Portermans' deck. But both jobs are finished so I could have pulled in one of my other guys for the last three days to do the renovation stuff here you've hung around to do. Which, again, I appreciate, but I know damn well you have a load of projects to do on your own place.”

“Nothing that can't wait. Getting this addition finished for you and Liz and Emily is more important.”

“Maybe—but that's not why you've hung around three extra days.”

Nick crossed his arms over his chest. “If you wanted me to leave, why didn't you just say so?”

Kevin shook his head. “It's not that I want you to leave.”

“Sure as hell sounds like it. So what's the problem?”

“The problem is that you're not staying here because this is where you want to be. It's because you don't want to be
there.
And you know why you don't want to be there?”

“No, but obviously you're going to tell me.”

“Damn right I am. It's because you're avoiding Jamie. Because she's got you all tied up in knots. And instead of facing her, you're hiding out here.”

The fact that Kevin's words hit the bull's-eye really irked. “So what if that's the case?”

“There's no
if
about it. And you know what that makes you? A big fat chickenshit.”

Nick narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, I'm really feeling all the manly affection.”

“Well, you should be, asshole, because all this yapping about feelings and shit is not my favorite thing to do.”

“So who asked you to yap about it?”

Kevin's gaze wavered and Nick groaned. “Oh, Jesus. Liz put you up to this.”

The guilty flush that stained Kevin's cheeks confirmed it. “I can't deny we've discussed it, but dude, even
I
noticed the sparks flying between you and Jamie, and I don't usually pick up on that sort of thing. So you wanna explain why you're cowering in my house instead of heading back to your own and fixing whatever the hell is wrong? Because you can stand there and glare at me all you want but I know you as well as I know myself, and you, my friend, are not yourself. The facts are pretty simple—you were happy the day you brought her here. You came back two days later without her. That was a week ago and you've been miserable since you walked in the door. You could have, should have, left three days ago, yet here you remain. Looking miserable.”

“I'm not miserable—”

“
Miserable
, bro. Not happy. Not yourself. Looking like crap. And I've had it. So spill. What's going on and why the hell are you still here?”

Nick dragged a hand down his face, grimacing at the stubble that abraded his palm. “I guess I've been a little . . . out of sorts.”

“No shit. Why?”

He pulled in a deep breath and tried to put into words what he'd been wrangling with since the moment Jamie had left his house a week ago. “I guess the problem is that . . . I think I . . . like her.”

Kevin stared at him in silence for a good ten seconds. Then he closed his eyes, shook his head, pinched the bridge of his nose, and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, “Sweet God in heaven, please give me patience with this moron.”

When Kevin opened his eyes, he said, “You
think
you
like
her? Nick. You're a smart guy—got the fancy schmancy Princeton degree to prove it. But if you believe the problem is that you
think
you
like
her, then you've been whacked on the head with the stupid stick. But just for giggles, let's say that's what's wrong. Then explain to me why, if you like her, you're avoiding her as if she's poison ivy.”

“Okay, fine. I
know
I like her. A lot. And that's the problem.”

“Seems pretty unproblematic to me. Boy meets girl, boy likes girl. If he likes her a lot, even better.”

“There are . . . complications.”

“She married?”

“No.”

“Engaged or otherwise spoken for?”

“No. Although she recently had a bad breakup.”

“So you're the rebound guy?”

“Debatable. Based on time since the breakup, yes. But based on her level of brokenhearted-ness, no.”

“Criminal?”

“No.”

“Druggie? Financial disaster? Kicks old ladies? Steals from kids?”

“None of that. I wish she was.”

“Because every guy dreams of meeting a drugged-out, old-lady-kicking criminal?”

Nick shook his head. “Of course not. Because if she had serious flaws like that I wouldn't be in this mess. The problem is that this . . .
thing
with her wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't even like her at first. I thought she was a real pain-in-the-ass princess-type. You know I can't stand pain-in-the-ass princesses.”

“Who can? But she didn't strike me that way.”

“Because, as it turns out, she isn't. And as I started figuring that out, I realized I sort of
did
like her. But it's only supposed to be a fling.
Can
only be a fling. Her life is in New York. Mine is here. And that was fine—figured we'd have some no-strings fun, she'd leave and no sweat. But . . . the night before I came here, we were together, and . . . I don't know. Something happened to me. Damned if I know what it was. I was looking at her and it felt like I got punched. Right in the heart.”

He paced a few steps and then halted. “You're right. I'm avoiding going home. I feel like if I do, I'll be starting—or continuing—something I can't finish. Something that won't end well. It's as if I'm standing on the edge of an emotional canyon and I really don't want to fall in. And I'm afraid that as soon as I see her again . . .”

“You'll fall?” Kevin guessed.

“Yeah.”

Kevin's eyes reflected both confusion and concern. “Would that be so terrible?” Before Nick could reply, Kevin continued, “I know you're gun-shy and with good reason. But Jamie doesn't know the whole truth—unless you've told her?”

Nick shook his head. “No. Not yet.”

“I've seen you with plenty of women over the years that were with you for the wrong reasons. For money, for what you could buy them, what your family connections could do for them. You almost married one of them. But you took all that out of the equation. Jamie doesn't know you as Nicolas Trent the third, heir to Luxe hotels.”

“Not the heir anymore,” Nick reminded him. “I walked away from all that.”

“True, but my point is, your whole life you were never sure if a woman cared for
you
or for who you were. That's not a problem here. So why are you so afraid?”

“Well, for starters, her ex came from the same background as me. He cheated, it ended badly, and she harbors a definite distaste for that sort of man. Me being Nicolas Trent the third and all that goes with that would
not
be welcome news.”

“You're not that guy anymore, Nick,” Kevin said quietly. “You never really were.”

“I did a lot of things I'm not proud of.”

“Show me a person over the age of twelve who hasn't. As far as I'm concerned, the only thing you did wrong was trying to please everyone except yourself. By trying to live up to your family's expectations and living the life they demanded of you, you lost yourself and were miserable. It took a lot of strength and integrity to walk away from a lifestyle that most people would kill for.”

As it always did, Kevin's steadfast loyalty touched him. “Even if she's okay with who I am—”

“Who you
were
,” Kevin reiterated.

“She won't like that I wasn't up-front about it.”

“Dude, that's what flowers, chocolate, apologies, and make-up sex are for.”

Nick paced to the wall and back, then stopped in front of Kevin. “What about the fact that she lives seven hundred miles away?”

“Last I heard there were airplanes. You should know that—your family owns a freakin' fleet of them.”

“Knock it off. I no longer have a private jet at my disposal.”

“Cry me a river. So fly coach like the rest of us. All the major airlines—and a bunch of minor ones as well—have daily flights from here to New York.”

“I know that. And that's great in theory, but the reality is I don't want a long-distance relationship. Sure, it would be okay for a while, but it's really just two people leading separate lives, and at some point it wouldn't work any longer.”

“Then there are moving vans. People in love use them to relocate themselves and their crap closer to the ones they love.”

Nick actually felt the blood drain from his face. “Whoa, whoa, first of all, nobody said anything about
love
. And second, I'm not going anywhere. No way. And there's no way she'd consider moving. Her life, her family, her career, they're all in New York.”

Kevin looked toward the ceiling. “Bro—first of all, we've been talking about
love
this entire time. And second, based on my own experience I can only tell you that if you love someone enough, if they love you enough, you can work that other shit out.”

Nick shook his head. “I'm not in love. I'm just . . . deeply in lust.”

“Uh-huh. Let me guess—you can't get her out of your head. She's the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning, the last thing you think about before you go to bed, and she's pretty much there all the hours in between. Every time you see her, it's hard to breathe for a few seconds. You can't wait to get your hands on her—but you enjoy her company just as much out of bed as you do in it. She makes you laugh. She makes you think. And ache like you never have before—with wanting her, with missing her. And other than knowing you just want to be with her every minute, you're so damn confused you don't know which end is up. Yet somehow, at the core of that tornado of confusion is a calm center that just
knows
.” Kevin cocked a brow. “Sound familiar?”

An uncomfortable prickly sensation raced through Nick— as if Kevin had just read his most private thoughts. “Some of it. Maybe.”

“More like all of it. Definitely.” The rubber tips of Kevin's crutches made soft splat sounds on the plywood subfloor as he moved to stand in front of Nick. “Listen, I know the signs. I've
lived
those signs. I saw the way you looked at her. And the way she looked at you.”

“And how did she look at me?”

“The exact same way you were looking at her.”

Something that felt like elation—topped with fear—rippled through Nick. Still, he narrowed his eyes. “I thought guys were supposed to talk their buds
out
of this stuff.”

“We are. When it's the wrong girl. Did you try to talk me out of Liz?”

“Hell, no. She's perfect for you.”

The instant the words left his mouth, he realized his tactical error. Kevin smirked. “I rest my case. The question is—what are you going to do about it?”

“Damned if I know.” Surely, contrary to Kevin's opinion, he wasn't in love. Definitely not. While he couldn't deny he liked Jamie a lot more than he'd ever anticipated, love—real, deep, abiding love—took time. Lots of time.

Kevin fell for Liz in about four seconds,
his inner voice reminded him.
And it's not like you only met Jamie yesterday.

True. Still, they hadn't spent nearly enough time together. He was just lost in a haze of sexual desire unlike anything he'd ever experienced. His hormones had gotten the best of him—a pretty embarrassing situation for a guy his age. He wasn't a damn teenager, after all. This was just the result of him not having indulged in a fling in a while. And that's all this was, all this could be. A fling.

So what if he'd had to force himself to stay here these extra few days? He'd done it. Maybe it was for reasons he didn't fully understand, other than to know that he'd needed to prove to himself that he
could
stay away. And he'd proved it. Right?

Right,
his inner voice agreed.
You did great. Proved this is just a fling. Now get your ass home where it belongs. And where it wants to be.

“I'm not convinced you're right about everything, but you do have a point. I've been avoiding the situation, and I need to go home.”

“Hallelujah. How soon can you leave?”

Nick couldn't help but laugh. “You have a hot date?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. My folks are taking Emily for the night, which means that for the first time in weeks, Liz and I will have the house to ourselves. Which means you've gotta go. The sooner the better.”

“Sheesh. Subtle you are not. Can I take a shower first?”

“No. Go home and take one with your woman. Now that my cast is off, I intend to take one with mine the instant you're gone.”

“Liz would kill you if she knew you'd said that.”

“Liz is going to be much too busy screaming with pleasure to think of murder. Now get out. You can come back in a few days and finish up.”

“Gee, thanks. Maybe I will. Maybe I'll bring Jamie along and she'll bake brownies and you won't get any.”

“You're forgetting about these weapons I'm wielding,” Kevin said, brandishing one of his crutches.