AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 7
I just had to convince Bella her only wish was physical satisfaction.
Because the last thing I wanted to think about was who I was.
My greatest fear was that the answer was I was my father’s son. I never want to be that guy. The one who abandons his family.
Who doesn’t respect marriage.
Who stays because he doesn’t want to pay child support.
Or the guy who has multiple baby mamas. I had already screwed up and I didn’t want to screw up further.
So I didn’t want to go there in my own head, let alone out loud to Bella.
But I could let Bella say what she needed to all day long. And I could make her forget about her dickhead fiancé.
“If we head right down here,” I said, pointing to the well-worn path, “you’ll see the water in a second.”
“Really? Geez, this property must be worth a lot then.”
“I don’t think so. There is an easement that prevents direct water access. Technically we have to cut through the neighbor’s yard.” Though I did question if Bella was right and we were staying in a total stranger’s cabin. I wouldn’t put it past my father to sell it off without telling any of us. I doubted he would be allowed to conduct business like that in prison though, and my key had worked, so I was going to just roll with it. My mother wouldn’t sell. She was nostalgic, even when she shouldn’t be.
I led her down the path and to a bench that faced the water. The neighbor’s house was behind a copse and in better shape than ours, but definitely not a mansion. We had played with their kids when we were kids until my oldest brother, Cam, got caught with his hands in the cookie jar. As in the neighbor’s fourteen-year-old daughter’s pants. After that none of us were allowed to hang out with them. Story of my childhood. If my dad didn’t fuck up my friendships, my brothers did.
Fortunately, I didn’t give a shit anymore.
“I like how real this feels,” she said.
I wasn’t sure what exactly that meant, but I was good as long as she wasn’t talking about her feelings. Or her fiancé.
“But everything is so strange, you know? Like I am looking at life through a different lens.”
And we were right back to deep thoughts by Bella Bigelow. “I imagine you are.”
She didn’t pursue the thought though. She just reached out and ran her fingers over the leaves of some brush. Walking ahead of me she tossed her hair back, like she was letting go of her tension. I couldn’t believe that any man would leave her home alone to go fuck around. When she turned and smiled at me over her bare shoulder, I thought for a brief second that my reality was different too. That I was envisioning a different future from the one I had stumbled into.
I wanted the words of a poet right then. I wanted to be able to say to her that she was as vibrant and light as the sun dancing across her face. That she was extraordinary in her ability to stand there and smile at me after learning about her fiancé’s betrayal and having him call her a cunt on the phone. That was a line you never crossed with a woman. There was just no reason ever to be that disrespectful, especially with someone like Bella. This was not a woman who slung mud back.
But I didn’t have the words. And I wasn’t even sure it was my place. What right did I have to say anything to her? I needed to focus on action, not words. It had always been my MO to charm girls, but Bella didn’t need that. She needed a man to show her what she was: a sexy-as-fuck woman.
I was about to reach out, tumble her to the ground, and kiss her, when she stopped and turned around. “Oh, this view is amazing.”
Considering that her father’s house jutted over the bay like a gargantuan hovercraft, this seemed like a weak view in comparison, but Bella was nothing if not well mannered.
“The view is amazing,” I murmured. I meant her, of course. I’d seen the water a million times. It was familiar to me. She, and my reaction to her, was not.
Bella’s eyes widened and she smiled. “I have a huge confession to make.”
If she told me she was pregnant or some shit like that, I was going to have to end this right here and now. “Yeah?” I asked cautiously.
“I don’t actually like the water. The sound of it, or the expansiveness of it. I don’t like cruises or sailing. It makes me sad.”
That was it? That was her big confession? I smiled at her. “Sad? Seriously? I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who actually disliked the water. Is it fear or just preference?”
“Both. I guess you love the water, huh?”
I shrugged. “I can take it or leave it. I’m just used to being here, but I wouldn’t object to leaving. Not that I have grand plans to travel the world or anything. My job right now is to be a good father.”
