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I wasn’t going anywhere.
And I still wanted so many things for my own future, too.
My hands fisted in his gloriously coarse, thick dark hair as he nibbled at my lips and then claimed my mouth all over again.
My heart was racing as he finally pulled back and grinned at me.
“Eight weeks seems like a long time right now, baby.”
God, I loved that naughty, mischievous expression on his face.
I nodded. “I’m going to miss you so much,” I said honestly.
He rested his forehead against mine. “I’ll miss you, too, sweetheart. Take care of yourself.”
He rose and pulled me to my feet. “I have to go. Think about me while I’m gone. Fuck knows I’ll be thinking about you. I want to give you something before I go.”
I looked at him with curiosity. “What? I thought you already gave me that last night,” I teased.
He shot me a warning look as he dug into the pocket of his jeans. “Don’t remind me, or you’re going to get that again, too.”
Like I’d mind if he dragged me somewhere private and we said good-bye with our bodies one more time? I honestly craved it. But I knew he had to be in San Diego on time.
“I want you to have this,” he said as he slipped something over my head. “My mother didn’t have a lot of jewelry, but we all got something when she died. It’s just a red tiger’s-eye stone. But I want you to keep it.”
Our eyes met, and my heart skittered as I realized he was giving me something that had belonged to his mother, who had died years ago.
Something precious to him.
I rarely cried, but tears sprang to my eyes, and a droplet escaped to roll down my cheek. I clutched the small stone that was hanging around my neck by a delicate chain. “I’ve never had a piece of jewelry,” I said, my heart in my throat.
“It looks good on you,” he said with a wink.
I threw myself into his arms and plastered my body against his. Every tumultuous emotion I was experiencing was very close to the surface.
I didn’t want him to go.
I wanted to keep our bodies close, and keep exploring the intense emotions that Aiden always brought out in me.
And I wanted to keep feeling as cherished and as safe as I had for most of the summer.
But I finally let go because I knew I had to. “Go,” I insisted, even as my heart screamed for him to stay. “Thank you for the gift. I’ll keep it safe.”
He kissed me one more time, and then pressed a kiss to my forehead. “See ya soon, sweetheart.”
“Be careful,” I called as he turned and started to make his way to his truck.
“Always,” he bellowed back. “I have a lot to come home to.”
I swiped the tears that started to fall harder as I watched his retreating figure disappear.
Home. He’ll be back home soon. Eight weeks isn’t all that long, right?
I collapsed on the bench, my legs shaky, and I realized that I had a death grip on the stone Aiden had given me.
He’d left something important to him behind with me. It was enough to keep me believing he’d come back.
I tucked the small red tiger’s-eye inside my T-shirt and then stood back up. I needed to get home, or I’d catch hell from my mother.
I’d never told her about my relationship with Aiden, because I knew she wouldn’t approve. She’d never liked any of the Sinclair family, even though Jade had been my best friend for years.
Funny how my mother’s opinion didn’t matter all that much to me anymore.
I knew Aiden.
Our souls were connected. I could feel it.
I loved him.
And that was all that mattered.
I started jogging toward my house, wearing a silly grin on my face because I could feel the stone he’d given me against my skin as I made my way back home.
CHAPTER 1
SKYE
The present . . .
My heart sank as I realized there was only one seat available at the dinner table.
That’s what I get for running late. Shit! Shit! Shit!
Every chair was taken except the one next to him.
Aiden Sinclair.
The man I’d been trying to avoid ever since I’d come back to Citrus Beach, California, permanently with my daughter, Maya.
He was the thorn in my side.
He was the only part of moving home, after almost a decade away, that I hated.
He was dangerous.
And I never let myself forget that for even a moment.
I sighed in resignation as I looked around the enormous table—like I was suddenly going to see another vacant place.
Not going to happen. My timing and my luck had never been all that good, so why should that change now?
“Come sit next to Aiden, Skye,” my best friend, Jade Sinclair, requested from her spot next to her billionaire fiancé, Eli Stone.
Jade and Eli were the reason I was here. The only reason. We were two weeks away from their wedding ceremony, and this was an impromptu get-together for everyone involved in planning the festivities or included in the wedding party. Eli’s home in Citrus Beach had been the logical place to meet up, since his house was bigger than Jade’s.
Honestly, almost everyone here had the last name of Sinclair except for Jade’s fiancé; Eli’s mother; Jade’s twin sister, Brooke, since she was wedded to Liam Sullivan now; and . . . me.
I was still Skye Weston, even though I’d been married and divorced. I’d changed my name back to my maiden name soon after my ex-husband had been put in prison for life.
I looked around the table again, amazed that one family could take up so much space. I was the only child of a mother who had been a single parent; the Sinclair family was so different from my own.
I’d been an only child, a lonely kid.
Even now, my daughter was really all I had.
How could a family this size not take up a lot of room? Jade had four brothers and a twin sister. Her half-siblings, cousins, and a bunch of other family hadn’t even shown up yet from the East Coast, and the large dining room was full.
I started making my way slowly down the table reluctantly after I shot a fake smile at Jade. I didn’t want her to know that sitting next to Aiden would be torture for me.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said in a voice loud enough to carry to my best friend. “I got hung up at the restaurant.”
When wasn’t I delayed by work at the Weston Café? I’d put every available moment and penny into getting the little diner I’d inherited from my deceased mother to turn a profit.
The only thing more important than work was my daughter, Maya.
I finally sat my ass down and smiled at Seth, another one of Jade’s older brothers, who was sitting on my left.
I completely avoided looking to my right, since I was determined to ignore Aiden.
“How are you doing, Skye?” Seth queried politely.
“I’m good,” I lied.
I’d be doing a lot better if I wasn’t forced into sitting next to Aiden.
I hated myself for the fact that I could feel Aiden’s presence, and that just a whiff of his masculine scent made my body suddenly come alive after a very long absence of experiencing any kind of desire.
I can’t show any reaction. I can’t.
I momentarily contemplated asking Seth if he wanted to change seats, but I knew it would look childish. The last thing I wanted was for Aiden to know that he bothered me at all.
