23. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
C ARLY
“You okay, Carls?”
I turn around and squint against the sunlight to identify the broad, stocky man standing behind me. Robbie Wilkins. He once pushed me off a swing in middle school and I twisted my ankle in the process. And then after his mom tanned his hide for that, he had to help me carry my school bag to and from the bus stop every day until my ankle healed.
We became friendly-ish after that, or about as friendly as a hormonal teenage boy can be with a girl who his mother warned him was off limits due to her terrible family.
He now works in construction and was on the team that renovated the Pink Hotel. I guess they’re still working on it today.
I grin at him. “Yeah, I’m good. Just thinking.” It seems like all I do lately is think.
It’s been about three weeks since I last spoke to Micah, and I’m now sitting out on the porch of the Pink Hotel, waiting for Emma to finish her discussion with Declan so we can head to her house and finally have the talk.
Yes, the talk I’ve dreaded for weeks, but I don’t see any way out of it now. I’m going to swallow my pride and ask my best friend for money.
I’ll specify it’s a loan and insist we draw up a contract mandating that I’ll pay her back.
Then, I’m going to save like mad and make sure every spare penny goes toward paying the debt.
I still hate that I have to do this, but I don’t have a choice now. I have to ask so I can finish school.
I’m not going to let my pride destroy my only chance at a future.
But the situation is making me depressed still.
I was staring off, thinking about how to approach it when Robbie showed up behind me.
He steps down onto the base and sits beside me.
“Want to talk about whatever’s bugging you?” he asks.
I raise an eyebrow. “ You want to talk about feelings?”
“God no.” He gives me a mock horrified look. “But I figure if it’s something practical you need help with, like a pipe leak or something, then I gotcha.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Nah, it’s nothing like that. I just… I don’t know.” I sigh. It’s hard to describe my feelings, but I push to get it out for whatever reason. “I don’t know what to do anymore. I feel like I keep trying and trying and life keeps finding new ways to knock me down. To the point that I’m scared of trying anymore. You know?
He blinks at me and says plainly, “Nope. That kinda talk is way above my pay grade.”
For some reason that makes me snort and I shove him. This leads to him shoving me back and I try to tackle his head under my armpit to give him a noogie like when we were kids, but he laughingly traps my wrists and my shoulders in a bear hug that I can’t escape from.
A loudly cleared throat interrupts our battle.
I shift my head and then gape at a familiar form, silhouetted against the sunset.
Micah.
My heart stops and then gallops away like a horse.
As he moves closer, I meet his glittering eyes.
His emerald gaze gleams with an almost feline grace as he hovers over us.
Elation and annoyance hit me in even waves, and I try to stop my heart from beating erratically at his presence.
He’s back?
Damn it, why is he here? Why now?
I mean logically it makes sense why he’s here. It’s partially his hotel after all. But still. I didn’t think he would be back so soon, since he’s mentioned a few times how much he dislikes Laketown.
I wish he would have stayed away for at least a few more weeks.
I almost started to convince myself to forget him. To forget about how green his eyes are, and the way his hair curls over his face. I almost stopped thinking about his smile filled with mischief, his seductively plump lower lip, his wicked gaze, and his tall, built form, always impeccably dressed in something that makes him look like a million bucks.
I told myself constantly that I exaggerated how handsome he was and how breathless he made me feel.
But staring at him now, I can’t convince myself of that lie anymore. I was only trying to gaslight myself into forgetting him.
Because even unsmiling and looking vaguely threatening, Micah is as delicious and earth-shatteringly dazzling as ever.
It takes me a second to realize he’s no longer looking at me. His eyes shift to Robbie with a predatory gleam, which looks even scarier when he flashes his teeth in a mocking smile.
“Who is this?” he says, his tone artificially upbeat. “New boyfriend?”
“Who are you?” Robbie asks blankly. He gets to his feet, still holding my hand. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before. If you’re new in town, the Pink Hotel’s not open for guests yet. You should try the Marriott.”
“Right.” Micah doesn’t look like he paid any attention to anything Robbie said because as he talked, his eyes were trained solely on the grip Robbie has on my wrist. And Micah keeps staring at it, long after Robbie is done talking, long enough for the atmosphere to turn awkward.
“Are you going to let go of her or what?” he says finally.
Robbie frowns at him. “What’s it to you?”
“What it is to me is that you should let her go. Or you’re going to find your teeth on the ground.”
My jaw drops. I can’t believe he just said that. Did he just threaten Robbie?
Robbie’s face reddens.
“Oh yeah, pretty boy?” He glares at Micah, sizing him up. They’re both about the same height and weight probably, but there’s just something dangerous about Micah right now.
I decide this has gone way too far. I pull my hand out of Robbie’s grip and hold both hands out to ward off the violence I can sense coming.
“Calm down, both of you,” I say. “Micah, if you want to see Declan, he’s meeting with Emma right now.”
“I need to talk to you.”
I cross my hands over my chest. “Okay. So talk.”
“Alone.” He shoots Robbie another hard look and says, “Scram, you.”
Rage twists Robbie’s expression.
“Oh, that’s it, you preppy motherfucker.” He snarls and snatches Micah by the front of his shirt. But then Micah moves faster than I’ve ever seen anyone move, grabbing Robbie’s wrist, stepping out, and then throwing him over his shoulder.
Robbie crashes hard onto the floor on his back and rears forward in pain.
“Fuck,” he explodes.
“Micah!” I gasp in horror, grabbing his arm to drag him away from Robbie. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“You touch her again, and I’m going to break that arm.” Micah is still holding Robbie’s wrist and he twists it, leading the other man to howl again. “Got it?”
“Micah, let him go right this instant.”
Micah spares me a glance and I glare at him sternly. At first, it looks like he won’t oblige, that stubborn anger holding on firmly.
But then he suddenly schools his features into an implacable mask and releases Robbie, stepping back.
“You crazy asshole,” Robbie says, stumbling back to his feet. “Come on, Carly. Let’s get out of here and call the cops.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you.”
“She’s not staying here with you either, you jerk. You must be out of your mind. Heck, you could have broken my spine with that bullshit. Carly, get away from him, he’s clearly unhinged.”
Both men turn to stare at me waiting for my decision.
I hesitate for a moment, biting my lip as I come to a reluctant decision.
“Robbie, can you give me a second?” I tell him. “I actually do need to talk to Micah about something.”
Robbie seems unsure, as Micah shoots him a triumphant look.
“Are you sure?”
I nod. “Unfortunately.”
He gives Micah another threatening look, which Micah returns with a droll look of his own before Robbie walks off.
“What the hell was that?” I turn on Micah the second Robbie is far enough away still shooting Micah dirty looks. “How dare you just come up here and attack my friend?”
“Friend?” Micah’s eyebrow cocks sardonically. “He wasn’t looking at you in a very friendly way.”
I roll my eyes. “Really? We’ve known each other since we were kids, and I’m pretty sure I’m better at reading him than you are. Robbie and I have no interest in each other. The only reason you can’t see that is because you’re having a jealous fit.”
“Jealous?” He even laughs while he says it like it’s the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard. “I don’t get jealous.”
Is he for real right now? He just came up and attacked someone for no reason, but he’s not going to admit that he did it out of jealousy?
Of course not, because that giant ego of his won’t let him. He’s Micah Landing and there is no way the great Micah Landing would ever be jealous over little old Carly Huntley.
I glower at him. “What do you want, Micah?”
“Like I said, I came to talk to you. Before I saw that bastard pawing at you.”
Frustration jumps out of me. “He wasn’t pawing at me.”
“Yes, he was, and it’s crazy that you don’t see it.”
“Oh, so now I’m crazy.” My voice is loud enough to probably be heard by the workers inside the hotel but, frankly, I don’t care anymore. For the first time in a long time, I don’t care if I’m making a scene, or proving people right. I don’t care about keeping my head down to make up for my family’s reputation.
Since Micah thinks I’m crazy anyway, why not show him crazy?
“You’re the insane one,” I tell him, practically hollering. “You yell at me for defending you in front of your grandfather then you take me back to your hotel and fuck the shit out of me and then you fly me back in your private jet and don’t speak to me for weeks. Now you’re back here assaulting my friends and acting like a jealous husband! Is that not the definition of insanity?”
“I wasn’t jealous.”
“Right,” I scoff, because of course that would be the part he picks up on. “If you can’t even be honest with yourself, that already tells me how the rest of this conversation is going to go. Have a nice life, Micah.”
“Carly.” He grabs my arm as I attempt to walk away. I try to wrench out of his grasp as hard as I can, only to end up nearly losing my balance in the process. He catches me when I stumble and draws me close. Suddenly his scent hits me.
I almost moan from how good he smells.
“Easy there.” His voice is practically a whisper in my ears, soothing, making my pores more sensitive to the wind. Desire instantly flares, but I push away from him, angrier than I can ever remember being.
“Don’t touch me, asshole.”
“I won’t.” He puts his hand up in the air and stares at me with some contrition finally trickling into his expression. “Look, Carly, I didn’t come here to fight with you.”
“Then what on earth are you here for?”
“I came to apologize,” he says, shocking me. “Both for how I acted with my grandfather and… for now. You were right. I was… bothered by seeing you with that guy.”
I blink. I didn’t expect him to admit it that fast or at all for that matter. And now the part of me still itching to fight feels frustrated that it can’t yell at him anymore.
But I’m still mad. “Well, if you’re done apologizing, then get lost.”
“Carly...”
“What?” I raise my eyebrow. “You thought you would come here and say you’re sorry and I would forgive you just like that?”
“Yeah.” A small smile crooks his lips. “I mean isn’t that how apologies work?”
I don’t smile back. “You’re kidding me.”
“Carly, you don’t know how much it’s taking out of me to even be here. How much I have to bury my pride–”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass about your pride. What about my pride? What about the fact that I tried to do something nice and you threw it in my face, you jerk?”
“Not that I’m not enjoying this soap opera…” A new voice interrupts and we both turn to find Declan and Emma staring at us with a great deal of interest, along with a handful of construction workers behind them. I recognize a few of them like One-Eyed Mark Piedmont and Hal Rojas. Hal, despite looking like the strong silent type, is one of the biggest gossips in town.
“But can you save the pillow talk for later?” Declan continues. “The two of you are distracting my workers.”
“Also, Carly,” Emma points out, “your phone has been ringing for a while now.”
I glance back at my tote bag vibrating on the porch. I didn’t even hear it. All that yelling and the blood pounding in my ears made it impossible to. Sanity only returned once Emma pointed out the ringing of the phone, and my anger recedes as I take a deep breath.
Then I reach for my bag and fumble with it, feeling self-conscious as I pull my phone. The heat fills my face as I finally realize what just happened. What those people heard me say. With Hal, news is going to make it around town by tomorrow.
Oh, God, this is going to be a disaster.
“Hello?” I say as I pick up the phone.
“Took you long enough to answer,” my mother snarls. “Get to the hospital now.”
“Why? What happened?”
“It’s your father. He got attacked last night and beat up by a bunch of thugs. He’s in a bad state.”
“What?”
“I’m not going to repeat myself. Just get here.” She hangs up.
I stare at the phone, my ears ringing unable to believe what I just heard.
“Carly?” I glance over at Emma who called my name, concern shining in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Micah asks.
“Someone attacked my dad,” I say softly, still in shock. ‘“I have to go to the hospital.”
“I’ll drive you.”
“No,” I say. He’s the last person I want to be around right now.
“Come on,” Micah cajoles. “It’s faster than taking the bus.”
Shit, that’s right. Emma and I took the bus here because she refused to drive the new car that Declan got her. She says it’s so shiny she’s scared of wrecking it. The only other person I can ask for a ride right now is Declan, but I don’t want to pull him from his work.
I struggle with the thought.
“I can drive you,” Declan offers but I shake my head. It’s nice for him to offer but I don’t want to make a nuisance of myself.
I glare at Micah. “No, it’s fine. He’ll take me.”