Chapter 13
Zoe
Landon’s persistence is enough to make me want to give up my daily swims, but I don’t know what I would replace them with, so I do my best to ignore him. At least he’s not trying to swim with me anymore. That lasted all of three days before the cold drove him out of the ocean for good.
But what we lack in quality time, he makes up for with ridiculous gifts.
On the day after his last swim, I woke to a knock on my front door.
A delivery man asked for my signature while another unloaded a brand new, fully-loaded, baby-blue Jeep Grand Cherokee into my driveway.
A cashmere coat, new cell phone, three dive suits, and four dozen red roses were in the trunk.
Cookies, tacos, and an entire cow’s worth of steak were delivered to my front porch over the next six days.
I can’t pretend his attention isn’t softening my resolve, so I send an SOS to Emberly and Kelsey to meet me at the Red Wood Saloon in Pine Ridge. I need them to talk sense into me, and I can’t risk Rainwater Bay’s gossips overhearing.
I can’t get the kiss with Landon out of my head—okay, it was a full on make-out session, but we’re not splitting hairs here.
It’s been a week. I should be able to disengage that part of my brain.
The part that replays the tingles created by his soft lips, strong hands, and undivided attention.
The way my cheeks heat when I’m supposed to be cooking dinner and my mind wanders back to the firelit library.
The burn in my chest as fierce as the char on the steak I ruined.
No. Stop it.
The fire he creates in me needs to be outlawed. No good comes from feelings this intense.
I purposely avoided the estate, which Lucky was quick to point out at last night’s town council meeting. I swear that woman has nothing better to do than watch my every move.
At least she doesn’t know about the kiss.
Damn, why are my cheeks getting hot again?
It’s not like we can do anything on the property until Collin’s team repairs the road. What should I have done? Driven my pretty blue present up there and sat on a stump while the excavator fished my Mini Cooper out of the ravine and placed rocks to shore up the road?
Instead, I finally took a copy of the blueprints to Earl and listened to him complain about how Pine Ridge is a better location for Landon’s resort since they’re the bigger town.
Doesn’t matter.
Landon is my problem, not his.
Kelsey and Emberly are already sitting in a booth in the back with full pints in front of them when I arrive. As I shake hands with neighbors and acquaintances on my way past the pool tables and dart boards, my stomach clenches.
This is too public. I should have invited the ladies to my house instead.
No. It will be fine. We’ll keep our voices down. Being in public will force me to keep my reactions in check. No heated cheeks or sweaty palms.
Yep. Totally manageable.
I give Emberly a hug and then slide into the booth next to Kelsey. Orange goo decorates the side of Kelsey’s neck. I swipe at it and hold up my finger. “What is this?”
“I thought I got them all.” She sighs and scrubs her neck. “Abby didn’t like the sweet potatoes I made her for lunch.”
“That girl is the pickiest eater.” I sip my beer. “Anything new on the job front?”
Her eyes dart to Emberly. “Umm, no. Nothing. Well, I mean, I can’t take advantage of Sebastian’s charity too much longer, so I’ve been looking into other things.”
“That’s a non-answer if I’ve ever heard one. Sebastian needs you. It’s not charity when we all know you’d give your left arm for that girl.” Emberly laces her hands on the table and leans forward. “Spill.”
Kelsey twists the napkin between her fingers as her gaze darts from me to Emberly and back again. She loves Abby fiercely and would nanny for free if Sebastian let her, but he refuses to accept help. Charity both ways, I guess.
It doesn’t help that Sebastian is the sexiest single dad in the county. No breathing female is immune to what happens when they watch that man slip the suspenders on his firefighter uniform over his broad shoulders.
Kelsey called dibs before he met, married, and divorced his ex-wife, but Sebastian doesn’t seem to have received that memo. Her head knows better, but her heart won’t let him go.
But that’s not what this is about.
Kelsey tosses the napkin on the table. “Abby liked sweet potatoes last week. I don’t know what happened.”
“She realized they’re gross, but that’s not what you need to tell us.” Emberly plucks the napkin from the table and tosses it against Kelsey’s forehead.
“It’s nothing.”
We stare at her.
Her already rosy cheeks turn pinker and pinker. “I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?” Emberly asks.
“Because if I do, you’ll be obliged to decorate my wrists with your department-issued bracelets.” She raises her eyebrows.
“My handcuffs?” Emberly flops against the back of the booth. “Kels, not again.”
“It will be fine. It’s just a little—”
Emberly throws her hands up. “Nope. Not a word.”
“I told you that you didn’t want to know.” Kelsey elbows me. “Why’d you call us here anyway? Your text had a panicky undertone.”
Dead weight settles deep in my chest. I hoped they’d give me at least another hour. It’s not like I can dig into the details of the renovation project to kill time and distract them. They know why I’m spending so much time with Landon.
I need their wisdom.
Well, maybe Kelsey isn’t the best to give me relationship advice, but these women know me. The me I show the world, at least. They’ll help me see reason and shove fiery thoughts of Landon’s lips out of my brain.
This confession is like ripping off a bandage anyway. Get it over with and they will tell me how to never kiss him again.
I hold Emberly’s gaze. “I kissed Landon.”
The crevice between Emberly’s eyebrows deepens, and her mouth pinches.
Kelsey squeals and presses her fingertips to her lips then shakes my arm. “Details. Who made the first move? Where were you? Was it amazing? Do billionaires kiss better than normal men, or is all that money compensation for deficiencies in other areas?”
I blink at the rapid-fire questions.
Yep. No help from the unrequited romantic’s corner. What did I expect from a woman who has pined for a man for almost a decade?
I grab my sensible friend’s hand. “Em, what do I do?”
“Why do you need to do anything?” She cocks her head to let me fill the silence.
Confession time.
“Because I want to do it again.” I want to bury my face in my hands to hide my blush, but I force myself to watch her expression.
She sucks her lips against her teeth and flames not only burn across my cheeks, but down my chest into my stomach, where they smolder and hope dies.
A smallish part of me wanted her to sympathize.
Maybe encourage me.
Main character energy, right? That’s what I wanted before, but her scowl makes it clear she doesn’t believe I should chase that feeling.
If she encouraged me to kiss Landon, to sow wild oats or whatever, I might have been able to convince myself he was a good idea.
It was a fraction of one percent, but that’s better than nothing.
But if my logical compass on the other side of the table thinks I’m being stupid, then I’m being stupid.
“What’s wrong with wanting to kiss him?” Kelsey asks.
“What’s wrong?” Emberly taps her finger into the table and whispers. “Everything. He’s the enemy. Do you have any idea what Lucky would do if she got ahold of this information?”
“Lucky can mind her own business,” Kelsey says. “It’s not like she can attract a man as beautiful as Landon Prince. Imagine how pretty your babies would be.”
Emberly smacks Kelsey’s arm. “She’s not having anyone’s babies. Especially not his.” Emberly turns her scowl on me. “You can’t kiss him again.”
Kelsey scoffs. “She’s allowed to have fun.
A man like that doesn’t get serious about women—no offense, Zo—so what’s the harm in enjoying herself if he’s interested in extracurricular activities?
” She tents her fingers below her chin. “Sounds romantic. Trapped by a thunderstorm, snuggled next to a crackling fire. All you needed was a picnic basket and you’d have been on a reality TV fantasy date.
” She spreads her hands like she’s revealing a marquee.
“Win the billionaire’s heart. Oh, no. The Mayor’s Billionaire. That has a nice ring to it.”
“Kels, why do you want her to get hurt? Because that’s the only outcome I see in this scenario,” Emberly says.
“Not if she’s smart about it.” Kelsey shifts her gaze to me. “It’s not like you’re hoping for wedding bells. Are you?”
“Definitely not. How would that even work? He’s here until he builds his resort, then I’ll never see him again.”
Kelsey flips her hands like I made her point. “Making out is the best part of a relationship and he has amazing lips. I don’t see why she can’t borrow them while they’re in town.”
“Zoe doesn’t make out with strangers. It took her, what, two months to kiss what’s-his-bucket, the financial advisor from Seattle who was here that summer?”
“She shouldn’t have kissed him in the first place.
He only talked about how to increase her portfolio.
Never brought her flowers or swept her off her feet.
She did all the work in the relationship.
The only reason she kissed him was because we were at that bonfire and there was a shooting star.
She kissed a frog under the stars, hoping he’d turn into a prince, and it didn’t work that way.
Now she’s got a literal Mr. Prince who wants to kiss her. Let her get her smooching on.”
It doesn’t surprise me they’re talking about me like I’m not here. This is why I called them. They’ll debate my path and tell me which to choose. That’s what I need right now.
Forget main character energy—they make good points. I don’t want a broken heart. I don’t do casual. I want the happily-ever-after, forever-and-ever, no-take-backs kind of love.
Landon can’t give me that, so why put my heart on the line?