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That doesn’t mean I didn’t feel it. I did and I wanted Bristol to know it because the yearning in her eyes as she talked about the love her brother found was making my heart ache. She deserves to have that kind of love in her life. She deserves the world to be laid out at her feet.
As I scan the cars again, I notice one that looks a lot like Bristol’s rental car, but it doesn’t make any damn sense. I start to panic a little as I look around and don’t find my woman anywhere. Where the fuck is she?
I would have seen her pull up and I think the car was there the entire time I’ve been waiting. I think? I’m almost positive.
Fuck. I’d make a horrible detective.
I’m about to stomp over toward her car to get a better look and then maybe stroll up and down the street to check for her in a few businesses. It wouldn’t surprise me if she were to get distracted with a little shopping. While I wouldn’t call Bristol flighty or purposefully rude, I could feel the excitement coming from her at being in a new place. She’s also easy to talk to and some of the ladies in the stores could talk your ear off and not let you escape when you want to.
I’ll probably find her cornered by Lady Frost somewhere. Lady has a way of making it hard to walk and likes to know as many of the tourists as possible that come through the island. Damn it. If Wanelda Albright has found Bristol, she’ll be married off before sunset.
“Who are you waiting for with that fire breathing out of your nose, Hayden?” I whirl around to find Jim looking at me with assessing eyes. He’s an old timer who spends most of his days out on the water and pretty much all his time at the marina. He taught more boys on the island how to fish than anyone else. There’s a tease mixed with an accusation in his voice, “I hope you’re not meeting that pretty little thing you were talking to yesterday with how pissed you are.”
“I’m not pissed,” I try not to seethe as I deny his accusation, but by the way his busy eyebrows hike up to his hairline, I’m not as effective as I was hoping I’d be.
“Uh huh. Sure,” he mocks me slightly. I swear if the man weren’t as old as he is and if I didn’t love him like a surrogate father, I’d lay into him for his bullshit. As it is, I can’t, and my hands are tied.
My shoulders slump and I shuffle a little closer to him even though I desperately want to march over to the car I just spotted to see if it’s Bristol’s. Although, I’m not entirely sure how I’ll check. It’s not like I memorized her plates yesterday or anything and there are a lot of rental cars driving around the island right now.
“I’m waiting for someone,” I tell Jim honestly. “She’s late.”
Jim lets out a low whistle. “Well, I know how much you hate people being late,” his voice takes on a teasing quality with his next words, “and how valuable your time is.”
“If I don’t value my time, how can I expect anyone else to? Time is money when I could be with a charter.”
“Do you have a charter right now?”
I barely stop myself from rolling my eyes as I shake my head, sounding petulant as fuck, “No.”
“Then chill the fuck out,” he orders me, but it’s not biting in his delivery; his words are filled with amusement.
I blink at him. Not because of the cursing. I think a lot of the people my age around here who learned at Jim’s feet heard their first curse words from his lips. I try and hide my smirk as I give him a little bit of shit, “Chill out?”
“What?” He shrugs one shoulder, “I’m hip. Isn’t that what the kids are saying these days?”
“Uh,” I try not to laugh in his face, “I’m not sure, but I don’t think so.”
He waves his hand dismissively. “Doesn’t really matter, it’s the sentiment that counts.” His eyes come back to mine; all the humor gone. “Who are you waiting for?”
“The woman I was speaking to yesterday,” I grumble. “She was supposed to come by so I could take her around the island and scout for locations for a photoshoot.”
His eyes widen slightly and my gut sinks. I don’t like that look on him at all. Something’s wrong.
“I don’t know how to tell you this, Hayden, but that woman came and went,” his voice is soft as if he’s afraid to say it any louder.
“What do you mean ‘came and went’?” I watch Jim carefully, not wanting to miss a single reaction from him. He flinches slightly and it has my heart racing with something like fear.
I look at the sky and see the gray on the horizon. Afternoon showers aren’t uncommon. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to get out there on time today. It won’t take long for me to take her to the few spots I have in mind and if we get caught in a little rain, there is more than enough room below deck to ride it out.
“She showed up not long before you did, got a rental and set out heading west along the coast,” he winces with his words and pure fucking rage fills me.
I try and take some deep breaths, but I’m too far gone. The thought of something happening to her, considering she has no boating experience, which she told me last night, has fear filling me in a way I’ve never felt before. Oh, and the anger. So much anger.
Why would she do that? She wanted to avoid me? Why? It doesn’t make any sense.
Sure, I was an asshole to her, but that’s not personal. I’m an asshole to everyone at some point.
I thought we ended the night on a nice note.
