Chapter 1 #2
“Yep. It was awful, and after I loaned Mike the money and then figured out what he was really about, I called out sick for a few days because I was too upset to leave my house. The boss from hell told me not to bother coming back. That led to me losing my apartment when I couldn’t afford to renew the lease. ”
“I’m sorry. That sucks.”
She shrugged. “I brought it on myself by being stupid with Mike and then handing my boss a reason to get rid of me. I tried to find another job, but nothing materialized that would pay me enough to cover my expenses.”
“So there’s no reason to go rushing back, then?”
“No.” Julia kicked at a rock with one toe of the sandals she’d bought with the last of her credit card limit.
She’d been sleeping on a coworker’s sofa since she got evicted from the apartment she used to share with Katie.
She’d been unsuccessful in landing a roommate, thus her basically homeless status.
That word homeless struck fear in her heart the way few things ever had since she left her violent childhood behind. “Not anymore.”
“I’m stuck here for the summer, too.”
“How come?”
“Doing a favor for my brother.”
“What kind of favor?”
“He needed a harbor master. I’m certified, so he asked me to come do it.”
“What about your regular job?”
“I’m between jobs at the moment, so the timing worked out for both of us.” The Cape Cod town he’d worked for last year as the harbor master had invited him not to return after he spent a night in their jail.
“What’ll you do after the summer?”
“Find something else, I suppose. How about you?”
“Same, I guess. Although the thought of starting over, again, is exhausting.”
“You’ve done it before?”
“Too many times to count. My father was in the military. We moved a lot.”
“We grew up here on Gansett. I hated it.”
“My siblings and I spent summers here with our grandparents, who owned the Sand & Surf. It was our favorite place on earth.” It was also the only break they got from their abusive father.
They’d lived for those blissful summer days on Gansett, where they were safe and loved and away from the monster, as they’d called General Mark Lawry.
“Really? You loved it?”
“We loved everything about it.”
“Huh. I couldn’t believe when my brother moved back here willingly to become the police chief. He hated it as much as I did when we were kids. But then he met Tiffany, who’s now his wife, and he’s happier than a pig in shit with her, their kids and a job he loves.”
“Do you like his wife?”
“I barely know her, but he sure as hell likes her.”
“Some people get lucky. Like my brother and sister.” Julia, Katie and Owen had been a team for so long that she wasn’t sure how she was supposed to function now that they’d found new lives for themselves.
Julia was lost without them, not that she’d ever say as much to them.
She’d never do anything to undermine their hard-won happiness.
But God, she missed them. Especially Katie, who’d lived with Julia until Katie had come to Gansett for Owen and Laura’s wedding, met Laura’s brother, Shane, and decided to stay for a while that turned into forever.
Julia glanced at Deacon, wishing he wasn’t hotter than the sun.
He had messy dirty-blond hair the color of honey, golden-brown eyes, a muscular body and the perfect amount of scruff on his jaw.
But whatever. Who cared if he was hot? She’d had more than enough of good-looking guys who were beautiful on the outside and assholes on the inside.
“How old are you?” she asked, to make conversation more than anything.
“Thirty-five. You?”
“Thirty-three.”
“I wonder if we ever crossed paths as kids. Although, I’m sure I’d remember you.”
Another line from another pretty mouth. Julia had heard such things so many times, they barely registered anymore. Just once, she wished a man would see her for who she was on the inside, but they never got past her packaging to discover what she was really made of.
She looked out at the gorgeous scenery, wishing Gansett could have the usual effect on her. As a kid, she’d come alive the minute she stepped off the ferry. This time, she was just dead inside. “Did you think you’d have it all figured out by now?”
“Have what figured out?”
“Life.”
He shrugged. “I never had a timeline for figuring things out. Maybe that’s why my brother finds me so annoying. He’s a police chief at thirty-seven. Not that he didn’t have his rocky times, but he’s married with two kids and a dream job. He’s got his shit together.”
“I thought I’d be married with kids in school by now. I had a definite timeline. But nothing has worked out the way I hoped it would, and now…”
“What?”
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”
“Sure it does. What were you going to say?”
She crossed her arms against her knees and rested her head on her forearms while continuing to look at him. “Maybe it’s time to give up on the dream.”
“Don’t say that. You never know what’s coming right around the next corner. Anything can still happen.”
She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”
“You know what I’m thinking?”
“What?”
“You’re stuck here for a while. I’m stuck here for a while. Maybe we can hang out and make it more fun than it would be otherwise.”
Sitting upright, she eyed him with skepticism that was hardwired into her DNA after so many disappointments. “Is ‘hang out’ a metaphor for sex?”
He laughed. “You don’t pull any punches, do you?”
“What’s the point of pulling punches? I’ve had enough of the bullshit.
If you’re asking me to have sex with you, the answer is no.
I’m on a man diet, which also means a dick diet.
If you’re looking for someone to hang out with and have some fun this summer that doesn’t in any way include sex, then sure, why not? ”
Deacon sputtered with laughter. “A dick diet?”
“Yes, as in no dick.”
He shook his head as his gorgeous eyes danced with amusement. “How long have you been on this so-called diet?”
“Four months now.”
“Gotcha. Just to be clear—I wasn’t coming on to you. I was legitimately looking for a friend to make my summer in exile more bearable.”
Julia didn’t believe him, but she kept that to herself.
“What’s your number?”
She recited it and watched him tap the numbers into his phone and add her name to the contact.
“I’ll hit you up.”
“Cool.” She couldn’t care less if she ever heard from him. “I should probably go back to the wedding.”
“How come?”
“I’m the maid of honor. I have to give a toast after dinner.”
“You want a plus-one?”
“It’s kind of late for that at this point since you already crashed.”
His wolfish grin revealed a sexy dimple in his left cheek and did wondrous things to his gorgeous face—and she had no doubt he knew that. “I won’t eat.”
Julia had to admit that soldiering through the rest of this night would be more fun with a companion than it would’ve been on her own. Besides, Katie was so in love with her new husband that she wouldn’t even notice if Julia brought a last-minute guest. “Sure. Let’s go.”