“You had no connection, you pompous ass,” I laughed through the truth.
“Truth be told, I was only hoping that you still worked for The Hope Foundation when I presented the suggestion. You’re the only girl I know who doesn’t have Facebook, so internet stalking was out of the question. I couldn’t ask Monica so I had to go the old fashion route.” He winked, and the bottom of my stomach fell again.
Josh brought us some beer, on the house. He was still trying to smooth things over with me in regards to Monica, even though it had only been two days since he smeared her heart all over her apartment. I thanked him dismissively and turned back to Adrian.
“What’s your problem with the bartender?” Adrian’s delivery was innocent.
“Josh? He’s one of the managers here. He was Monica’s boyfriend, until Tuesday night; it’s weird territory at the moment.” I shrugged honestly.
“How is Monica? I half expected her to show up with you tonight.”
“She didn’t want to be around Josh, obviously. You’ll probably see her at some point this weekend. We’ll likely be here tomorrow and Saturday; there’s live music here Saturday.” I sensed I was beginning to ramble, so I took an indulgent sip of my beer.
“Yea, Cavanaugh’s playing here Saturday, right?”
I spit some of my beer back in to my glass. “Uh, I guess so, he played here last weekend. He uses ‘Bo’ for music, though.” I shrugged impassively. Confident, nonchalant honesty, Ember. Don’t show your whole hand just yet.
“Yea, that’s right. Is he any good?” His tone was unreadable; my palms began to sweat a little.
He’s amazing, his soul is deeper than any ocean. I’m fairly certain angel’s weep at the sound of his voice , and sing his songs to those who are in pain.
“He’s really good. He knows his stuff, that’s for sure.” My palms broke into a full sweat. “Hey, let’s go sit outside.” Fresh air.
Adrian grabbed two more beers from Josh before holding the door for me, guiding me outside with his hand on my lower back. His touch didn’t send electric shockwaves of passion through my body, but it didn’t feel horrible either - which was a bit disconcerting. I’d hoped it would bother me, to have Adrian touch me. It didn’t. It was grounding somehow - familiar.
“Um, let’s walk a little.” I was too unnerved to sit.
An air of familiarity walked us down the beach. I didn’t feel like the emotionally wounded twenty-one year old who wouldn’t allow him to love her because she was scared. I shared a couple of good years with Adrian, and it was actually refreshing to see him. My heart, however, sat with a man named Bo, who had decided that Adrian was a smug bastard. The thought made me chuckle out loud.
“What?” Adrian responded.
“Nothing. Just this.” I motioned between the two of us. “Here we are, walking on the beach in Cape Cod, potential business associates. How are you Adrian? Are you happy?”
Adrian shrugged, “I’m happy. I have a great job, I get to work with a lot of great people and agencies, and I live mostly in Boston.” This is news.
“Boston?”
“Yea, I travel a lot between the different agencies I help represent. Not a bad life having to travel all over New England, if you ask me.” His tone sounded melancholy.
“What about your girlfriend? Does she mind all the travel?” I looked up at him expectantly. Please tell me you have a girlfriend.
“Nah, no girlfriend for me, Ember.” He turned to the ocean and sat in the sand.
Crap.
“You OK?” I carefully positioned myself next to Adrian in the sand, intentionally avoiding physical contact.
“Ember . . .” His voice was tight.
Shit.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I immediately realized I was echoing his words from our last serious conversation. I couldn’t be cold with Adrian. He’d given me no reason to.
“Ah, man.” He was wringing his hands tightly. “I’m just, uh, I just want to say I’m sorry.” He reached out and rubbed my knee for a second before clasping his hands back together.
He turned toward me with clouded eyes, biting his lower lip.
“Adrian, what could you possibly be sorry for?” I had an idea, but my pulse raced. My pulse had always raced around Adrian.
“I know it was a long time ago, but I shouldn’t have done that to you - told you I loved you because I was scared to lose you. I lost you anyway, and we were both hurt. You told me to stop, you said I didn’t love you, but it was all I had left to try to hold on to you.”
“Adrian.” I stopped him. I’d heard enough. “We were too young, that’s all. I got scared. I knew how I felt for you and it was unfair; you weren’t looking for a relationship.” My memory winced against the pain.
“Ember, I loved you even before we had sex for the first time, but I was too chickenshit to admit it.” This is also news.
Ten Days of Perfect (November Blue #1)
Andrea Randall's books
- Tender Mercies
- Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander)
- Forgotten Promises (The Promises Series Book 2)
- Just Listen
- Bed of Roses
- Son Of The Morning
- Cover Of Night
- Affairs of State
- A Profiler's Case for Seduction
- Because of Rebecca
- Conflict of Interest
- Eclipse of the Heart
- Flames of Attraction
- Illusions of Love
- Keeper of the Moon
- Keeper of the Shadows
- Legacy of Love
- Love Proof (Laws of Attraction)
- Miles of Pleasure
- Of One Heart
- Off Limits
- Off Sides
- Out of the Dark (The Brethren Series)
- Out of the Depths
- Pool of Crimson
- Prince of Wolves
- Rules of Entanglement
- Shadow of My Heart
- Sins of a Ruthless Rogue
- Something of a Kind
- Son of a Preacher Man
- Taste of Desire
- Taste of Love
- Translation of Love
- Web of Deception
- Words of Love
- The Lady of Bolton Hill
- The Scars of Us(Scars Series)
- Dreams of Lilacs
- House of Ivy & Sorrow
- A Question of Honor
- The Owner of His Heart
- The Heir of the Castle
- Tower of Glass
- The Last Prince of Dahaar
- Terms of Engagement
- Secrets of a Bollywood Marriage
- David Lord of Honor
- Return of the Prodigal Gilvry
- Killing Me Softly(A Broken Souls Series)
- Starting Over(Hart of Seattle)
- The Resurrection of Aubrey Mill
- OFF SIDES
- Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom
- Stolen: Warriors of Hir, Book 3
- The CEO Buys in (Wager of Hearts #1)
- The Law of Moses
- A Pound of Flesh (A Pound of Flesh #1)
- Arouse: A Spiral of Bliss Novel (Book One)
- Awaken: A Spiral of Bliss Novel (Book Three)
- The Art of French Kissing
- Leo (A Sign of Love Novel)
- Echoes of Scotland Street
- Jesus Freaks: Sins of the Father
- Stinger (A Sign of Love Novel)
- The Song of David
- The House of the Stone
- Ashes of Honor: An October Daye Novel
- The Weight of Feathers
- Her Perfect Match
- Hollow (Perfect Little Pieces)
- Mr. Imperfect
- Perfect Fit (Serendipity's Finest)
- Picture Imperfect
- The Perfect Bride
- Twisted Perfection
- A Perfect Life: A Novel
- Present Perfect
- Blue Dahlia
- Texas Blue
- A Different Blue
- Alex (Cold Fury Hockey #1)
- Breathless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires #1)
- Consolation (Consolation Duet #1)