The Sex On Beach Book Club (28 page)

George stood up. “No, I'll take Michelle back to your house and stay there with her and that mutt you call a dog. We'll be fine.”

Wes nodded. George would take care of his sister. He had to take care of Holly. He went down to her bedroom and kicked the door closed behind them. He placed her on the bed and stripped her out of her clothes. Then he went into the bathroom and ran the water, wet a washcloth, and grabbed a towel.

She eyed him as he came back. “What are you doing?”

“Washing the blood off of you.” He gently cleaned where the blood had soaked through her shirt and pants. Once he was done, he dumped the cloth and towel in the bathroom. He went to her dresser, found a pair of black panties and a loose shirt he could get over her wounded arm.

She started to sit up. “I can dress myself.”

He sat down, reached behind her back, and helped her sit up. Then he worked the shirt over her injured arm, slid it over her head, got her second arm in, and pulled it down. He picked up the panties and grinned at her. “Pay attention, Hill
baby
. This is one of the few times you'll see me putting these on you. Most of the time, I'm going to be doing my damnest to get you out of your panties.” He stood, put his hand behind her back, and helped her to lie down. Then he leaned over and slipped the panties over her feet and up her legs. Once he had her dressed, he pulled off his shoes, pants, and shirt. He turned off the light, got in the bed on the left side of her, and pulled the covers over them.

“Wes.”

He put his arm under her neck and slid up against her, careful not to jar her, but cradled her against him. “What?”

Her voice was flat. “You have your life back now.”

She thought it was going to change things between them. That she had been good enough while he was on the run and couldn't do any better. It made him half angry that she believed that, and half scared to death that he'd lose her. “I've never met a woman like you, Holly. You fought for me from the first day. And tonight you saved our lives.”

Her body tensed. “You did. You threw the utility knife. You still have quite an arm left over from your pitching days.”

“And you backed me up. Like a partner.” He leaned over her and kissed her mouth. No tongue, no sexual tension, just a gentle kiss. Then he touched her face. “I love you, Holly. That's not going to change.”

He heard her breathing, felt her heart beating where he'd rested his hand on her chest. She said, “I want you to know for sure that you want a relationship.”

“I do.” He didn't quite understand what she was so worried about. “It's not like we're getting married in the next couple of days. We'll take as much time as you need.”

She shook her head. He felt a wave of pain wrench her body.

“Don't,” he told her. “Holly, please, don't hurt yourself. Baby, you're tired, hurt, and lost a lot of blood. Your body went into shock when you were shot.” God, he wanted her to keep believing in him.

“Please, Wes.”

For the first time since he'd met her, he touched her face and felt tears.
Jesus
. “Holly, don't cry.” His own throat closed up painfully. “Tell me what you want.”

She took a deep breath. “I want you to take care of everything, get to know your sister again. Take some time. You might find that you want to go back to Los Angeles, go back to your life there. You were rich and powerful, Wes. In fact, you weren't even Wes, you were Nick. I don't want some kind of guilt, or debt, keeping you with me until you can't stand it anymore.” In the moonlight streaming through her window, she turned and looked at him with tear-filled eyes. “Take time to think about never having children. Never having a son to play baseball with.”

That hurt, surprising him. Somewhere in his mind was an image of him teaching his son to play baseball.

She touched his face with her left hand. “I've had time, Wes. I've come to terms with it. And now that I've met you, I know I'm still worth loving.” More tears spilled down her face. “I'd rather you find out what you want, then either come back or walk away clean. Better that than tarnish the memory of loving you by watching our relationship die a little each day because neither of us had the guts to face the truth.”

Her courage and wisdom humbled him. She was right. He owed her the truth. Wes leaned over her, kissing her tears. “I'll be back, Holly. I'll always come back for you.”

“You don't know that. Not everybody comes back.” Her tears dried up. Her words were flat and matter-of-fact. “And that's okay.”

He knew she was right. And he did have to go. His lawyers were making arrangements now. He had to clear his name, or names, and resolve everything.

But Holly Hillbay was the one woman who had never walked out on him. He would come back for her. He slid his body closer, needing the skin-to-skin contact with her. “I'll be back.”

T
anya raised her glass of beer. “To Holly! She was awesome today!”

Holly rolled her eyes and drank her beer.

“Tell us again,” Kelly said.

Tanya adjusted her black tube top and laughed. “By the time Holly got done castrating Phil with the pictures proving he was screwing Bridget before my, ah, indiscretion with Cullen, his own lawyers told him he was a fool. They added that he had no choice, because of his own actions, but to pay me the entire amount of the prenuptial settlement and Holly's fees for the investigation.” Her grin lit up the restaurant.

Jodi looked at Holly. “Who did you get the pictures from?”

She put her beer down. They were at the Elephant Bar, celebrating Tanya's good news. Holly loved this shit, hunting down cheaters, any kind of cheater. “From the flash drive of Cullen's computer. Cullen knew that Phil and Bridget were sleeping together, so he snapped pictures of them making out with his camera phone and e-mailed them to his computer.” She shrugged. “Cullen probably planned to use them to convince Tanya to sleep with him, but he didn't need them. Obviously, since he was murdered right after seeing Tanya, the pictures meant Phil and Bridget were doing the deed before Tanya and Cullen were.”

Seth shook his head. “Hard to believe Brad did something right.”

Holly smiled at the memory. “Brad, the dumb shit, started realizing something was wrong about the time that Maggie stormed into his office and threw him a new one. The two of them made another copy of the flash drive. Brad and Maggie were in Save Their Ass mode. They found Helene/Ashley's manuscript on the flash drive, checked the ending, and realized that Helene planned to murder Wes and Michelle in the bookstore.” Holly shook her head, still amazed. Helene or Ashley, whichever name she was called, was a true sociopath, but smart. “Helene knew we'd figure some of it out, so she made it look like the setup was at Brad's office to talk about the book. Then she got Nora in the bookstore, held a gun to her, and forced her to call Wes, planning a dramatic murder, and an ending to her book. The plan had been to blame Nora, saying that she wanted revenge on Wes for her husband's sports gambling, which led to him embezzling. It was crazy in a brilliant way.”

Joe's voice was cop-cold. “Brad didn't call the police like he should have.”

Holly smiled. “No, but Dad called you and Rodgers. Brad and Maggie were too busy coming up with a story to keep their sorry asses out of prison.” So much had happened. It had been a long month. But productive. Holly's arm was healing nicely. She had more work than she could handle. Wes had sent her a large check, and a note telling her that if she didn't take it, he'd just put the money directly in her account.

God, she missed him. But she kept busy and tried not to think about him. Except at night, when she was alone. He was even with her in her dreams. For two weeks, she made herself believe he was coming back.

The third week, it got harder.

Now it was a constant pain in her stomach. But Holly knew she'd be all right. She'd go on. She'd live her life and cherish her memory of the man who loved her exactly as she was. At least for a while.

Seth snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Wake up.”

She smacked his hand away. “Don't make me kick your ass in public. I was just thinking.”

His understanding blue eyes rested on her face, but he didn't ask about Wes. Instead, he said, “How'd you get Brad to give you the flash drive?”

“The truth. I threatened him. I told him I'd tell the world that he'd dumped me the very day I lost his baby. Oh, and that I paid for most of his law school, ruining the self-made man he liked to brag about being.”

Tanya set down her beer. “Holly, I…gosh, I didn't know. I'm sorry.”

She waved her hand. “It was three years ago. But Brad is desperate to regain his dubious reputation. He gave me a copy of the flash drive.”

Her dad sat beside her. “Tell them the rest.”

She looked over at her dad. The rock of her life. He had always been there for her. She realized now that her mom may not have wanted her, may have gone out and had perfect daughters to replace her, but Holly got the perfect dad. Her brothers were okay, too, when she didn't want to kill them. “I made the creep crawl back to the human resources person of the manufacturing plant I used to do background checks for and tell them he lied about me. He had told them I was forced to quit the sheriff's department, and they let me go.”

Her dad's eyes sparkled. “That's my girl.”

She picked up her beer and shrugged.

Nora rushed in, looking frazzled but happy. “Sorry I'm late.” She went over to Tanya and hugged her. “I'm happy for you, Tanya. You can go on with your life now. Are you going to keep working for Holly?”

“She'd better,” Holly muttered. “I've spent a lot of time training her.”

Tanya laughed. “I have to. She needs me.”

Nora sat down and ordered a glass of wine. “So, where's George?”

Jodi said, “He's closing up the bookstore. He'll come by.”

Holly grinned. “Is he as overprotective as your previous boss?” She ignored the tightness in her chest that came automatically when she thought of Wes. George had offered to run the bookstore and watch out for Jodi and Kelly while Wes was gone. Wes was in and out of town, dealing with the police, the IRS, and his lawyers. He called once in a while, but it was too hard. She wanted Wes to make his own decision.

Jodi rolled her eyes. “Heck, yeah. And he talks to our parents on the phone, too.”

Kelly moved her glass of lemonade, smearing the condensation from the bottom of the glass on the table. “Wes is coming home today.”

Everyone turned and looked at her. Holly kept her face blank.

Nora saved her. “I have to thank him. I don't know what I would have done without Wes. He got me the lawyer, who negotiated the deal for me. I didn't deserve his help.” She blinked back tears and added, “Immunity for turning on Helene. I thought my life was over that day in the bookstore and I was sick for Ryan.”

Holly looked at her. “You helped us in the bookstore, Nora. We couldn't have done it if you hadn't distracted Helene.”

She nodded. “I watched her shoot you with my gun. I told her about the gun once, and the story of my ex-husband and how Ryan and I were starting over in Goleta. I didn't even know Wes was really Nick Mandeville, and it wouldn't have mattered if I had because I'd never heard of Nick. I never blamed anyone but my ex-husband for his gambling and embezzling.” Nora took a sip of her wine and added, “Helene's a monster. She told me that Cullen had pictures of us having sex on his computer and he was going to put them on his blog. I couldn't let Ryan…”

Tanya squeezed her hand. “You have friends now, Nora. We all do. If we run into trouble, we know who to count on.”

Holly looked around the table, seeing her family and friends. Tanya was right. The gaping hole in her life without Wes was painful, but her friends made it bearable.

Sitting across from her, Jodi said, “Oh, there's George.”

He strode up, looking a little less lean. Taking care of the bookstore, and watching out for Jodi and Kelly, had given George a purpose. He came to Holly's side, leaned down, and cupped the elbow of her good arm. “We have some business,” he said to the table. “Excuse us for a minute.”

George helped Holly out with her PI work now and again. He was a natural at investigating, but he longed for something more. The trouble was that people were still after George. Even Holly didn't know his real identity. She was pretty sure she could find it if she wanted to.

She didn't.

Getting up, she grabbed her purse and followed George outside. They stood on the slab of cement in front of the restaurant. “What's up?”

He smiled down at her. “Go to Wes's house, Holly. Go see him.”

Shocked, she said, “Now? What, is he summoning me like an employee?”

“He wanted to come here and get you himself. I told him that if he showed up, it'd be hours before the two of you could get away from the group.”

She opened her mouth and almost asked him if Wes was back for good. If he still wanted her. If they had a chance. She shut her mouth and looked down. She wore her usual jeans and a tank top, and she'd added a black jacket for her meeting with the lawyers earlier in the day. She had her hair up in its usual clip.

“Holly.”

She looked up.

“Do you want me to go with you?”

She glared at him. “Hell, no. I don't need a baby-sitter.”

He grinned.

“Bastard.” Her nerves were stretched tight, and George was playing with her.

He slid his glasses down his nose and looked at her. “Make no mistake. If you didn't go on your own, I'd drag your chicken-shit ass there myself. You two are really getting on my nerves.” He turned and started for the door of the Elephant Bar.

Holly had to bite back a laugh. Not that she doubted him. “George.”

He looked back at her over his mostly healed shoulder.

“Thanks.” She turned and headed for her car.

A half hour later, she pulled up in front of Wes's beach house. She had stopped by her condo to get Monty. The dog was growing; his paws were huge now. She got out of the car with the dog and she inhaled the ocean air. George had told her to go up on Wes's deck. She led Monty through the gate to the back of the house. At the steps she hesitated. She didn't hear Wes on the deck, but she heard movement in the house.

Monty got excited and started yanking on his leash, trying to run up the stairs. He must have caught Wes's scent. Holly unsnapped the leash and let the dog go. He barked happily and scrambled up the steps.

A lump formed in her chest. She loved that dog. And damn it, if Wes had decided he was going to move on without her, she was keeping the dog.

She needed a minute to pull herself together. She turned and headed to the ocean. The sun was quickly falling, sinking into the sea, and leaving the water a dark silver color. She stopped a few feet back from the water, crossed her arms, and watched as the reddish orange orb slid down.

She would know soon. Wes would tell her the truth. Could he live without fathering a child? Could he love her? Or did he need something else? Both of them had to be honest.

Monty's excited barking had quieted. She heard the low tones of Wes's voice, then nothing. Music started up behind her. Soft jazz drifted down from one of the beach houses. Had Wes turned on music? She heard him walk up behind her and shivered with nerves. She didn't turn around. “Hello, Wes.”

He put his arms around her. “I came back for you.” He set his chin on her shoulder.

His warmth surrounded her, his scent filled her. The sun was nearly down, just a rim of light left. And the jazz music wafted over them. She put her hands on his arms. “Are you sure?”

He breathed against her neck. “I am. I missed you every day. But you were right to send me away. I had to clean up my life, resolve my legal problems, and spend some time with Michelle.”

She leaned back against him, into his arms. “How is she?” Holly knew how important Michelle was to him.

“Amazing. She's gone back home to Australia to train for her next competition. She'd like us to come see her, and she'll be back out this way in a few months.”

“I'm happy for you.”

“I know you are, Holly. Before I came home, I flew to Washington and talked to Lacey. I told her that I was sorry I didn't listen to her and do something about it. Conrad was more than just a baseball player, or a homerun slugger, he was a man who touched many lives. She's something else, Holly.”

“She forgave you.”

His silence settled over her for a full minute. “I won't forget him, and I'll always live with guilt. But she told me she doubted I could have done anything. She carries guilt, too. But the point is, you made me face my ghosts, and come back to you ready for a future.” He kissed the curve of her neck, then said, “When I looked out and saw you standing down here in the sunset, I knew I was home.” He paused and added, “What about you? Do you want me, Holly?”

That was easy. “I never stopped wanting you.” But she had to make sure. She turned in his arms and looked into his eyes. They were a darker green as the day slid into night. And just looking into his eyes made her heart open. Setting her hands on his waist, she said, “Maybe we can adopt or—”

His smile was intimate and easy. “Or we'll be aunts and uncles to your brothers' and my sister's kids. We'll decide together. But for now, I want time with you.” He reached down and took her wrists, then paused. “How's your arm?”

She was a little thrown. “Fine.”

“Any pain?”

“No.”

“Good.” He pulled her wrists up and placed them around his neck. He put his arms around her waist.

Holly loved the feel of Wes. Out there on the beach in the silky dusk, with the damp sand beneath them and the crashing waves mixing with the jazz music, she knew that she was home, too. With Wes. She took a breath and told him, “I love you.”