2. Beckett
BECKETT
To-Do:
- Google small town clichés
- What’s a county fair?
Out of all the things I hated, small towns were near the top of my list. There was nothing familiar about the stores.
No comfort to be found in the things I’d grown accustomed to while spending half my time in Los Angeles and the other in New York City.
They were quiet to the point of being unnerving, leaving me alone with my thoughts, which never ended well.
Silence was the only thing I hated more than my current location.
Yet, in spite of my disdain, I found myself driving toward something that looked more like a cheap, traveling carnival rather than—what did Sawyer call it? A county fair?
Because as much as I hated towns like this, I was a sucker for pretty women.
I’d love to blame my current predicament on the adorable redhead behind the bar, but the truth was that it’d been my suggestion that allowed our little flirtation to continue.
Today had been a shit day. Three late meetings, two canceled flights, and one flat tire later, I found myself pulling up to the newly constructed guest cabins at some wanna-be tourist resort just past two this morning.
If I were actually here on vacation, it would’ve been a nice place to relax, but that wasn’t in the cards.
I’d barely fallen asleep when my alarm sounded, which only pissed me off. And when it rang again, that anger morphed into something sharper seeing my father’s picture flash across the screen.
Edward Montgomery was a pretentious prick, but show me a billionaire who wasn’t?
You didn’t acquire that much money by being a nice guy—a sentiment he’d attempted to drill into me since I was a boy.
Unfortunately for both of us, I was too smart to fully give in, and too cowardly to cut and run.
It left us tangled in a toxic, co-dependent relationship that didn’t seem like it would ever end.
Not until he disowned me, or I him.
And until that time, it meant I was unfortunately at his beck and call.
My position at his land development firm was finalized before I’d even graduated from college.
The shiny gold placard outside my office, which should have filled me with pride, was just a reminder that I hadn’t earned a goddamn thing in this life.
After listening to an earful from my father about how I wasn’t doing enough to persuade people from the last town to sell their livelihoods to our company, I was forced to listen to the folks in Pinecrest do it, too.
I understood what we did was just business.
Sellers were often able to take the money we offered and pay off their debts, and I loved being able to give them that kind of breathing room.
But lately, my dad’s attempts seemed more predatory than helpful.
His constant need to push people into making decisions in the heat of the moment didn’t sit right with me.
So, when I’d walked into that bar earlier, I was at the end of an already fraying rope.
It only took me two seconds to look at that piece of shit giving Sawyer hell to know he was just like my dad. Only, that asshole didn’t have the team of lawyers I had at my disposal, so I knew he couldn’t do shit about the punch I threw.
At least my father’s money might finally be put to good use rather than funding another corporate coffee shop no one needed.
For someone who worked at a bar, Sawyer seemed so innocent.
So timid. Too sweet and too good for a place like that, to be sure.
She was the epitome of all my girl-next-door fantasies from high school, and I’d been too stupid to recognize how terrible an idea this was until I was driving my BMW through a pothole-ridden dirt lot and staring at the bright, flashing lights that beckoned me into the fairgrounds.
It wasn’t too late to back out. I could leave now and be back at my rented cabin in fifteen minutes without having to scrub the scent of fried food from my skin later. But then I thought of Sawyer’s smile, the way she’d shyly accepted my invitation, and I put my car in park.
The whole bucket list idea had been stupid, but it’d worked like a charm. I had zero interest in anything other than seeing Sawyer’s cheeks flush crimson at my shameless flirting. If I were lucky, I might even steal a kiss or two. Maybe more, depending on how the night went.
This was the kind of distraction I needed. A night where I didn’t have to answer to anyone other than myself. A night where I could shed the persona of Beckett Montgomery and be someone else. Someone better.
While I had no shortage of people I could call back home, I’d grown bored of meaningless hookups. Not that I wanted a relationship or anything long-term, but there was no challenge in sending a quick text and watching an Uber pull up outside my house at midnight.
With Sawyer, I had to actively make an effort.
I had to charm her enough so she’d say yes, but not too much that she thought I was a fucking tool.
How long had it even been since I’d really flirted with someone who wasn’t trying to gain something from me?
Too damn long. But it was exciting to work for each of Sawyer’s smiles.
Rewarding, even. Especially with zero expectations.
My dashboard lit up with an incoming phone call, followed by my sister’s name. I hit the green button and leaned back in my plush leather seat. “Hey, stranger. Where have you been hiding?”
My sister chuckled dryly. “Oh, you know. A few days here, a month or two there. Freely spending the hush money your father sends every month to keep me out of the public eye. The usual.”
Tatum was my half-sister. She’d been the product of a long-term affair between my father and his secretary.
The two of them had kept the secret between themselves for years until she got sick and sought out help in taking care of their child.
It ended in a nasty battle that nearly went to court before it was settled outside the law on her mother’s deathbed.
Meanwhile, my mother was spending her spousal support from the divorce on lavish vacations and private “tennis lessons.”
Fortunately for my sister, our father’s idea of help was sending her a monthly stipend to keep her mouth shut about the whole ordeal. Her aunt had taken her in, so she didn’t have to live in the prison I grew up in.
“Well, I hope wherever you’ve been is better than what I’m about to do,” I said, grimacing as I noticed the flashing Funnel Cake sign. I’d never tried any sort of pastry requiring a funnel, but it didn’t seem like I was missing much.
“Oooh, now you’ve got my attention. Anything that makes you sound that miserable is probably right up my alley. Tell me everything.”
I sighed. “I met a girl, and—”
“Alert the press! My brother met a girl.” The sarcasm in her voice was impossible to miss. “What a shock.”
“And I’m sitting in my car in front of a county fair, complete with loud music, flashing lights that can probably be seen from space, and cheap rides that are likely missing bolts,” I continued on as though she hadn’t interrupted me.
Tatum was quiet for a moment before she broke out in a hearty laugh. Then the phone beeped, and I noticed she was sending me a FaceTime invite. I accepted, keeping my scowl in place as her face lit up my screen.
“I’m sorry, I had to see this for myself,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “You’re doing this all for a girl? What kind of spell did she put on you?”
“I don’t know. I walked into this bar, thinking I’d grab a drink before heading back to my cabin for the night.
The next thing I know, I’m slamming some prick against the wall for making the bartender uncomfortable.
” I ran my hand through my hair. “And now I’m here, waiting for her to show up when I know I should probably just leave. ”
“Wait, wait, wait… You got into a bar fight?” Tatum’s eyes grew wide when I nodded. “And I missed it?”
“That’s what you get for gallivanting all over the world instead of working for the family business,” I said.
“I mean, I’ll take my freedom over that bullshit every day, but I doubt I’ll get the chance to see you slinging fists at a dive bar again.”
“Okay, I didn’t sling fists,” I corrected her. “I just calmly told the guy to apologize, and when he didn’t, I had to switch my tactics. That’s all.”
“And now you’re going to a small town fair with the cute bartender, whose honor you defended,” she mused, making no attempt to hide her smile. “Interesting.”
Even though we couldn’t have been raised more differently, Tatum and I had always been closer than our father would have liked.
She was only three years younger than I was.
When I turned sixteen and got my driver’s license, I’d tell my dad I was going to study with friends when I was actually going to hang out with her instead.
The issue with my free-spirited little sister was how, despite her seemingly aloof nature, she was incredibly perceptive. She had the uncanny ability to always see through me, and she never missed an opportunity to call me on my bullshit.
“Don’t make this something it isn’t,” I groaned. “I’m already having regrets.”
Tatum held up her hands, but still wore a shit-eating grin. “I didn’t say anything. Just observing.”
“Keep your observations to yourself. The only reason I haven’t left yet is that you happened to call.”
“It would be rude not to show up, Beck. Especially if you don’t have her number to cancel.”
She had a point, but why should I care? It’s not like I was ever going to see this girl again after tonight.
I was only in town to collect a few contract signatures because my dad couldn’t rearrange his schedule to handle it himself.
Tomorrow, I’d be boarding the company jet and heading home to the busy New York streets.
Pinecrest was just a pit stop.