Chapter 11
Gage fastened the last two buttons on his shirt and studied his reflection. Sure, he’d spent the entire day with the woman he was about to have dinner with, but this wasn’t a mere surf lesson. This was dinner. At her place.
After they’d just shared their first kiss the day before. That familiar heat flared up as the kiss played back in his mind. Dang, it was nice. Very nice. The gentle push and pull of those pouty lips. The way her touch sent his skin ablaze.
Sure, they’d hit a speed bump when Christian showed up, but Gage felt confident that he’d done the right thing.
Forget about the fact that he’d spent each slow-moving minute in agony over giving up his date with Carly.
He’d been very tempted to score a pair of binoculars, hit the beach running, and somehow spy on the two of them from the sand dunes.
What he had done is lace up his shoes after the sun set and step out into the night, ready to stroll on over to Carly’s house when Christian gave him a call.
“Well,” his friend said when Gage answered. “She really is falling for you. Lucky dog.”
No sweeter words had been spoken, Gage was sure of it.
It had given him enough assurance that he decided to skip the visit to Carly’s and wait for the morning; he didn’t want to come on too strong.
The trouble was, when he showed up to surf lessons today, Carly hadn’t been the same.
He wasn’t sure how to put his finger on it, only knew that she’d been quieter than usual, sticking to details pertaining to surf and not much more.
Hopefully tonight he could figure out what was bothering her.
He hurried over to the pedestal sink, splashed on some aftershave, and gave himself another look over. Just as he wondered if he should change back into the T-shirt he’d tried on earlier, his phone started ringing. He snatched it from his pocket and checked the screen.
It was Dad. A deep sense of dread rushed in.
His dad had called last night too, but Gage had sent it to voicemail.
The truth was, Gage was battling something of his own—trying to maintain his father’s fickle approval.
It was like the video games he and Beau played as kids: do everything you can to get the key and get to the castle so you can win the game.
Half the battle was scoring the key in the first place. Failure after failure, one lost life after next, the opposition coming to a great head the moment before the battle was won and the key was handed over at last.
But the mission wasn’t over yet. No, next it was time to get to the castle. Navigating bubbling lakes of lava, fire-breathing dragons, and dark, hidden enemies while hanging onto that precious key you’d worked so hard to earn.
That’s exactly where Gage was now. He’d finally scored the key to the old man’s heart, but at any moment, he could lose it.
A recollection of his brother Beau came to mind.
The way Dad stopped talking to him after he’d said he might quit football to get his doctorate in engineering.
A week of the silent treatment, and that idea was out the window.
Beau went back to being the star football player Mark Craven loved most.
For Gage, the lake of lava was his blooming relationship with Carly.
Now that they’d been spotted kissing on the beach, Gage could practically feel the key slipping from his grip.
Dad would not approve of him warming up to her, and Gage hated how very much he cared.
How much he wanted to have the best of both worlds: love from the warden as well as the heart of the princess from the highest tower. He just wasn’t sure how he could do it.
Still, Gage tapped the screen before it went to voicemail and brought it to his ear. “Hello?”
“How’s it going out there, son?”
Gage stepped away from his reflection and strode down the hallway. “Good, good. Just…about to go grab a bite to eat.”
“Ah, I bet you and Christian are making quite a splash at the resort. Couple of good-looking bachelors at the club.”
Gage didn’t bother correcting him. No need to volunteer the fact that he’d be with Carly tonight, not his old pal.
“I hear the Brady family frequents that place. Of course, they know how to accept luxury living, unlike some people.”
There came the first subtle jab. “Mansions aren’t meant for one, Pops.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Dad grumbled under his breath. “Some people just don’t know how to live the good life.”
Jab number two. Man, there were a whole lot of ways to disappoint his old man, weren’t there?
Gage just hadn’t known how many until he’d accepted the acting role.
He rolled his shoulders back and blew out a pursed breath.
Gage had watched enough of the Animal Planet to recognize physical manifestations among wildlife.
Hackles rising, feathers ruffling. His own reaction came in the tightening of his shoulders and jaw.
“Hey,” his dad said. “I wanted to let you know that there’s a buzz picking up that you’re getting a little cozy with some blonde out there. Who is it? Your surf instructor?”
The tightness darted straight to his throat. “Huh?”
“Listen, I thought I already made myself clear on this point. If there’s one thing I know, it’s the Hollywood game.
Hooking up with the hired help is not how you score the title of Hollywood’s Most Eligible Bachelor.
Trust me. Those ladies have loose lips. They’ll lure you into bed by night, and sell you to the paparazzi by morning. ”
“She’s not like that,” Gage spat. He clenched the phone and paced back down the hallway, fighting the urge to elaborate. It wouldn’t be worth his breath.
The line went quiet for three long, aching beats.
“Well…” the man finally said. “Perhaps I’ve underestimated the situation here. Do you actually have feelings for this gal?”
Sweat broke out over the back of his neck. A very large part of him wanted to say yes, he did in fact, really like her. But what if things didn’t work out between them? What if Carly—after being standoffish all day—had him over for dinner tonight to simply put an end to things between them?
“Gage?” Dad urged.
“No,” he blurted. Gage rolled his shoulders back and puffed out a breath, desperate to shed the guilt attached to the denial. Anger was there too; he didn’t like hearing his father talk about Carly that way. “I don’t have feelings for her,” he added. “She’s just…a really nice woman, that’s all.”
“Huh.”
More silence.
Gage hated lying about his feelings, but it was as much for Carly as it was for him.
At least, he told himself it was. He couldn’t have people badmouthing her.
Not her coworkers, not some silly tabloid, and most definitely not his own father.
“I’ve got to get going, Pops,” he said, anxious to end the call. “Thanks for the heads up.”
“You bet,” his dad said, but he still sounded off. “Don’t dismiss what I told you, no matter how nice the woman is. You get me?”
Jab number three: I know this woman better than you and I haven’t even met her. “Got you.”
“Good. Have fun tonight. And don’t you and Christian go breaking too many hearts.”
Gage tucked the phone back into his pocket as a rash of nerves rustled through him. Dad might have let things drop for now, but he sensed an inquisition in the works. One that threatened to whittle Gage back down to size in his father’s eyes.
“The hired help?” Gage shook his head as he headed out, soundly slamming the door behind him. Who was he kidding? It wouldn’t be enough that Gage shot just one film. And even that came with a list of things required to stay in the man’s good graces.
As annoying as the thought was, Gage felt himself testing ideas he hadn’t considered before. Should he slow things down with Carly? Tell her that they should put things off for a while?
A sick knot of anxiety rammed into his gut at the thought. No, Carly had been through enough in her lifetime. She didn’t need someone who was only half in. What she needed—what she deserved—was a man who would claim her no matter the consequences.
And suddenly, Gage wanted very much to be that man.
The conclusion shed new light onto the mental course he was navigating, key in hand.
Sure, he could jump over all the lava pools, somehow duck from the dragon’s sight, but eventually he’d get the fire-breathing wrath of the beast himself.
Perhaps Gage should resign himself to the fact and focus on Carly and no one else.
He did that very thing as he strolled along the path toward her bungalow. The sun hadn’t set yet, but a blanket of clouds had drifted across the sky, blocking its light from view. Gage sucked in a deep breath of the salty air, enjoying the cool breeze against his skin.
Carly. His feelings for her were real and magnifying with each moment he spent with her.
Every new detail he learned of her fascinated him.
He pictured her charming an entire second grade class as she taught them tricks to learning their spelling words each week.
He could picture her doing the same with a child of her own one day. Perhaps their child.
Whoa, Gage. Take it down a notch. But already his pulse was racing at the idea.
He liked it way too much. He eyed a small family on the beach, a set of young parents lifting their toddler so his feet would just touch the foaming tide as it came in.
A round of small giggles drifted on the wind, warming Gage’s heart.
A vision of being married to the woman played through his mind.
Coming home to her everyday. Bringing her and the little ones to the Royal Palm for a getaway.
The truth was, Carly was the first woman he could picture having a future with, and he didn’t want to lose that.
At once, Gage imagined holding two keys.
One for Carly, the other for his old man.