Chapter 2
Gran’s old clock downstairs struck midnight.
I couldn’t sleep, so I switched on the lamp over my drawing table, rested my pencil on the center of an empty sheet, and let my mind go to work. I grabbed on to an image from memory, and in minutes Will Hastings’s eyes appeared.
As I considered his penciled likeness, something else hit me. His eyes had a clear expression of darkness.
That darkness drew me to him, even on paper. It ignited an energy that drove unexpected visions into my head…me…him…tangled sheets…our sweaty connected bodies.
Shaking my head to clear it, I flipped the page and started a list of things I wanted to accomplish over the next week while staying at my family’s beach house in Lords Point.
Catch up on my sleep.
Prepare for my first year at the school.
Outline my lesson plan.
Submit a request for the art supplies.
Drink some wine.
Sit on the beach.
Drink more wine.
No one else used the beach house anymore.
My father had inherited it from his father, and now it belonged to Isabel and me.
While my sister would object for sure, I’d been thinking seriously about moving in permanently before summer ended. It took me 25 minutes one way to and from the school in Stonington, but striking out on my own would make the drive worth it.
Growing more determined, I made another list, cheating, writing down only good reasons for taking the leap.
Private shoreline.
Water steps away from my back door.
My soul rests better there.
I might forget the sexy stranger filling my mind.
The sea’s whispers might replace his voice.
The deep-blue water might erase his blue eyes.
Oh my god, now you’re getting stupid. Go back to bed.
Days passed, and I still couldn’t clear Will from my thoughts. His elusive presence haunted me, and my curiosity about him became a fixation.
I had walked the fishing pier four times, hoping to see him there again. He wasn’t there, and honestly it came as no surprise. I knew he wasn’t a longshoreman or fishing crew. He didn’t fit the profile.
When walking to work, to the art studio, to Jess’s house, I had searched the streets for him. I had to find him, had to ease the aching in my lower abdomen. I grew more and more irritable and even unpredictable, or so Isabel had said.
I had to get past this, whatever the hell it was.
A text message from Jess pinged my phone.
Running 10 minutes late. Cover me.
We tended bar together at Nick’s restaurant three nights a week, sometimes four nights. The great tips we got helped us pay down our student loan debt. And we needed the distraction to help pass the time.
No problem.
Don’t forget the big party tonight. Be there as soon as I can.
The big party—an annual event celebrating the restaurant’s long run in the community. It drew people for miles throughout New London County, and the timing was perfect.
Don’t take too long!
I hadn’t forgotten. I’d been planning on it.
Because my gut told me Will Hastings would show up. And if I could talk to him, ask him some questions, then maybe the possessed mood taking over my life might let go.
I pulled on the t-shirt with Nick’s latest crimson-and-yellow logo, remembering how my niece, Lissie, thought it resembled the Superman emblem. I tucked it into my cutoff shorts and put some rosy-red stain on my lips.
After walking several blocks to work, I pushed open the restaurant’s signature blue door, and noise from the large crowd hit me in the face. The manager raised her arms and waved me over to the bar.
Only minutes into my shift, I had already mixed two cocktails and served three beers.
As I mixed the next order, Josh Mendes came in from the rear patio and just stood there. I had my back turned, but I could see him in the mirror hanging above the bar.
He watched quietly while I made two skinny margaritas and a whiskey smash.
I sighed.
“Hi, Josh. Can I grab you another beer?”
He nodded and then grabbed my wrist when I reached for his empty glass.
“Come back to me, Ellie. Give us one more shot. Please.”
Pulling back, I filled a clean glass with his Guinness.
“It’s been months. Nothing has changed for me. I’m sorry.”
“What can I do to change your mind? Just say the word…whatever it is, you know I’ll do it.”
“I know you would.”
Before turning away from him, I offered his beer with a friendly smile. When I glanced up to see if he had moved on, he wasn’t the one I found in the mirror.
Every part of me tensed.
Will Hastings stared at me from somewhere in the room.
My pulse quickened.
No, I couldn’t let him get away this time. I spun around and scanned the crowd.
He didn’t hesitate, coming closer, and we locked stares.
I searched his eyes for the dark emotion I’d drawn in them and found it. It overwhelmed me, fueled my curiosity even more. It showed me this man would never need my encouragement. He would definitely take what he wanted.
By canting his head, he signaled for me to follow him out the rear exit.
I nodded and watched him go.
“Cover me for a minute, Jess. I’ll just be out back,” I said.
“Are you up to something, Ells?”
“Just need a short break. Text if you need me.”
She bumped her hip against mine and tugged on my apron string as she passed.
“Got it. I owe you fifteen minutes anyway.”
The terrace was packed when I stepped out the back door.
Still, he was easy to find.
Will stood by the brick wall, his arms crossed over his chest.
I pushed my way through the drinking and dancing partiers, staying close to the wall, but I lost sight of him when someone pulled me into the mix. No sooner than I could complain, the guy who snatched my arm let go and backed away, his eyes set on something behind me. Or someone.
Will leaned down close to my ear, so close. His warm breath caused goose bumps to rise on my neck, my arms.
“Turn round here and face me,” he said.
His words held no hint of intonation. He had given a command, and I obeyed, turning to meet his eyes. He rubbed his chin, and one of the sun’s last rays hit his platinum watch.
Butterflies flitted around in my stomach as I waited for him to say something.
But he didn’t say a word, not yet. He closed in, making me put my back against the brick. He put one of his hands on the wall beside my head and kept his other arm at his side, but his eyes warned me he would lift that arm to hold me there if I tried to move away.
His eyes. They never parted from mine.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“I told you my name at the pier.”
“Yes, your name, but why are you here?”
“I’m here on business…and to address a personal matter.”
“So you don’t live here?”
“I do not live here, nor do I intend to stay much longer.”
A smirk dominated his lips. That assuming smile made him even more handsome, and it almost unmade me.
I wiped my sweaty palms on my hips.
“Well, what kind of business?”
“Manhattan. Wall Street.”
“Oh. Why did you introduce yourself to me and then just walk away? What was the point?”
He shrugged his shoulder but never broke eye contact.
“I shouldn’t have.”
“You shouldn’t have introduced yourself or you shouldn’t have walked away?”
“I shouldn’t have done either one.”
“Will, are you the one who’s been following me?”
“Yes.”
No explanation. No regret or shame in his expression.
What the hell?
“But why? Why would you just follow me around?”
He leaned in until his face was next to mine. I swore his mouth touched my ear.
“It’s been longer than you know, Ellie,” he growled.
A gasp stuck in my throat, and he backed up a little.
“I had hoped your sister would fill you in,” he added.
“Fill me in on what? What does that even mean?”
He pushed hair away from my face.
“Don’t get upset with me.”
“Well, you’re making no sense, and I want answers.”
“I’ll answer, but not here.”
I was mesmerized by this dangerous man. I wanted to reach up and drag my nails over his scruffy jaw. I wanted to touch his lips and feel their softness on my fingertips. I inhaled, taking in his sensual, earthy scent…sandalwood and scotch whisky.
He cocked his head and smiled.
“I have to get back to work. Where can I find you?” I asked.
His smile dropped, and his eyes burned deeper into mine.
“Stop looking for me.”
I matched his determined stare.
“Then stop following me. You said you would answer my questions.”
He kept staring, pulling me in deeper, and then he nodded.
“I do plan to see you again, Ellie.”
“When?” I whispered.
“Tomorrow.”
Neither of us moved. Was I even breathing?
“Talk to your sister tonight. Tell her you’ve met me.”
Though it didn’t make any sense, I nodded.
He dismissed me by dropping his arm and stepping back.
“Go inside, Ellie.”
I nodded again.
It was like my body automatically agreed with and submitted to his commands. I’d never experienced anything like it with anyone else.
I did go, but I looked back. He was still there, watching. Our eyes connected, and I had no doubt he would find me the next day.
Before going through the door, I glanced over my shoulder one more time, and he was gone.
Jess filled beers while giving me a grinning side glance like she knew I’d been with someone. I shook my head at her, tied my apron back onto my waist, and served the next customer in line.
The rest of my shift passed in a blur, the loud conversations and music hardly registering. I spent that time caught up inside my head, mixing drinks and filling beer glasses, confused by what had happened between Will and me out on the terrace.
Only one thing proved clear to me at that point. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough. I guessed he would find me at the art studio.
Jess gripped my shoulders, making me spill a drink.
“Ellie, did you hear me? I have to go right now. The emergency department called in the surgical nursing staff. There’s been some violent thing on the north side of town. It’s almost time to close anyway. And you’ll wait for Isabel, right?”
“Yes, you get going. I’ll close out your receipts and grab your tip money.”
I grabbed my phone and sent a text message to Isabel, asking if she planned to meet me outside like she usually did after my late shifts. After waiting a minute, I sent her another one and questioned her about Will Hastings.
He said to tell you he’s here. This is really sus. What’s going on?
But my sister never replied to my messages.
And she never showed up.