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Wow, totally called it.
“Someone not worth another second of your time or tears,” I confirm.
“You’re right!” she hollers, grabbing the shot glass Mara sets in front of her. “Let’s get drunk, Cowboy. Maybe, if you play your cards right, you’ll get lucky in the bathroom of the bar my friend owns.”
I chuckle and reach for my own shot glass. I know that if I wanted this to happen, it would. But there’s something in her eyes that tells me a mindless fuck in the men’s bathroom wouldn’t really help her situation in the long run. Sure, an orgasm would be nice (and let’s face it, I know how to provide the O’s), but she’ll still wake up in the morning hungover and alone.
And even though I just met this woman, that’s not what I want for her.
That’s why I tap my shot glass against hers, throw back the liquid, and stand from my stool. Reaching into my wallet, I grab a few bills and toss them onto the worn bar top, making sure to not only pay for all of the drinks, but a nice little tip for Mara too.
Harper glances my way, while Free plays on her phone. “You’re leaving?”
“’Fraid so, sugar I have an early day tomorrow, and the last thing I want to do is something you’ll regret in the morning.” I should win a fucking medal for walking away from this woman. She’s beautiful, but she’s hurting, and I really think sleeping with her would be a bad idea.
Look at me, all grown up and shit.
She gazes up at me, studying my face. It’s a bit unnerving, like I’m under a microscope or something. “Thank you, Rhenn,” she says with the tiniest hint of a smile. I turn to leave, but her next words stop me in my tracks. “My sister’s right. You are gorgeous.”
Considering I’ve only met about half a dozen people since arriving in Rockland Falls earlier today (and many of them old enough to be my parents), her comment has my full attention. When I turn back around, she’s watching me over her shoulder. I take a step back in her direction as she slowly turns on her stool to face me. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage,” I reply, placing my hands in my pockets and rocking back on my heels.
Her manicured eyebrows arch skyward and a full smile plays on her lips. “My sister just so happened to mention that she met the new electrician today. I could tell by the way she didn’t really want to talk about you that something was up.” Her eyes drop to my boots as she slowly peruses her way back up to my face. “Now I know why she was so flustered when she talked about you.”
The corner of my mouth turns upward as I invade her personal space. I place a kiss on her cheek, much like I would a friend or family member. “Thank you, Harper.”
“Don’t hurt her or I’ll cut off your balls and feed them to my pit bull, Snuggles,” she adds, making me wince and my balls to shrivel up just a little bit.
“Sounds pleasant,” I reply as I step away.
“It will be…to watch,” she sasses before reaching for her beer bottle.
“So noted. Have a good night,” I reply to the group before turning and heading out the front door.
The night is cool, the air a bit salty from the ocean. I can’t hear the waves crashing on the shore, but I know they’re there, lurking in the dark. It calls to me, which is why I find myself turning and walking the few blocks toward the sea, and not to my truck parked in the lot beside The Station. My mind is full of images, ones I’ve been trying to avoid all night.
Marissa.
Small world that the woman I was chatting up at the bar is the sister of the one I can’t stop thinking about. Good thing I didn’t shag the hell out of her in the bathroom, huh? The fact I didn’t is very un-Rhenn like, but the fact I care I didn’t, is even more so. Would I have? Maybe. Harper is definitely a looker, and in any other situation, I may have very well taken her up on her offer.
But the offer wasn’t really on the table.
She knew who I was, and even though she offered a quick fuck to help alleviate the pain she was in, I could see it in her eyes: she wasn’t really interested.
Now I know why.
Standing along the beach, I watch as the water moves tiny granules of sand, pushing them farther onto the shore and then washing them out to sea. I can’t wait to get my boat. It’s part of me, like an extension of my arm. I’ve never felt so alive as I do with my hands on the wheel and the sun on my face.
And even though I pushed the earlier thought out of my mind, I can’t help but picture Marissa there with me. Sunbathing on the deck, her slender fingers gripping the wheel, a tiny bikini barely covering my favorite parts of a woman. But something tells me she’s not a dental floss bikini kind of woman, and even that image turns my cock to stone in my pants.
There’s something alluring and enchanting about this woman, and even though I know I should stay away, I know I won’t.
I can’t.
Because she calls to me just as much as the sea.
