The Promise of Paradise

Chapter Eleven


“I got both,” Ash said two hours later, her arms filled with bags from Lou’s Sub Shop and a six-pack of soda. Behind her, on Frank’s desk, Eddie spied the corner of a pizza box. His stomach rumbled, but not before the scent of her, feminine and floral, drifted over to him.

“Great. Smells terrific.”

He headed for the sink in the corner and spent a few extra minutes scrubbing. Jesus, why does she do that to me? He glanced at his reflection in the paper towel dispenser. Why did Ash leave him stuttering around like a fool? Women never threw Eddie West into a tailspin. Usually it was the other way around. Usually they fell for him, called him, waited around for him. But ever since Ash had moved in upstairs, things had changed. He felt unsteady on his feet around her. And the trouble was, they weren’t even dating. A heavy whisper of possibility just hung over every moment they spent together. Eddie splashed water on his face. Did she feel it too?

“You don’t get your ass over here, I’m gonna eat the whole pie and both subs,” Frank called across the shop.

“Like hell you will.” Eddie pulled up a chair and propped one knee against the desk. Ash sat a few feet away, a salad balanced on her lap. She’d changed into one of those halter-tops that clung to her curves, one that made him see swells in all the right places. A pair of shorts, frayed around the hem, rode up on her thighs. Eddie reached for a soda and forced himself to look away.

“It’s the distributor cap,” he said after a few mouthfuls of Italian sub.

“On my car?” Ash said. “Is that bad?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Take me ten minutes to replace it.”

“That’s it?”

He finished the sub and reached for a slice of pizza. “That’s it.”

“How much will it cost?”

He thought about teasing her, about telling her she couldn’t afford it unless she meant to spend the next week cooking him dinner. But he couldn’t. The way she looked at him, with that wide, trusting expression, twisted his heart halfway around. “Forty bucks.”

Frank snorted. “For the part, maybe.” He winked at Ash. “Guess he’s throwing in the labor for free. Must be your lucky day.” The telephone rang, and he reached over to answer it.

Eddie watched the blush spread its way across Ash’s cheeks, enjoying the way it made her eyes shine.

“Thanks,” she said to Eddie, as Frank stood to take the call on the other side of the office. “I really appreciate it. You have no idea.”

“Better than having it towed back to your mechanic in Boston.”

The way she started in her chair caught him off guard.

“What do—oh.” She raised a hand to smooth a few curls away from her face. “Right.”

“You have someone you take it to, regular?” Eddie asked. There’s that look again. Like she has to watch her words. Or watch her back. Ash hadn’t told him anything about her life before Paradise. In fact, she avoided it every time he brought it up. But her silence, and those nervous glances every now and again, made him more curious than if she’d dropped hints and tried to tease him into guessing the details of her story. And everyone had a story. He knew that better than anyone.

She shrugged. “I usually just take it to whoever I can find.”

Frank hung up the phone and scrawled something on the giant calendar that hung on the office wall. “Everyone’s god-damned air conditioning goes at the same time,” he grumbled. “God forbid anyone thinks about trying it out before June. Then they get their panties in a knot ‘cause I can’t see ‘em until next week. What the hell do they expect?”

Ash laughed.

“So how you liking Paradise?” Eddie’s boss returned to his chair, springs creaking under his giant frame, and laced thick fingers behind his head as he leaned backwards.

“It’s nice.”

Frank grimaced. “Don’t know how nice it is if you’re used to livin’ in a city. ‘Less you been born here, I can’t see there’s much reason to stick around.”

“No, really, I like it,” Ash insisted. She turned to look out the plate glass window behind them. “The square, and all the little shops downtown, and…” Her voice drifted off, and suddenly, Eddie felt sorry for her.

“Guess every place has some redeeming qualities, huh?” he finished for her.

She glanced up at him. “Guess so.”

“Hey, how’s this for a crazy idea?” he said after a minute.

“What?”

“Let’s have a party.”

A furrow appeared between her eyes. “What kind?”

“A regular party. At our place. With lots of food and lots of beer and—” He pulled off his baseball cap and rubbed his head. “It’ll be like a housewarming party. We can have it outside, on the porch roof.”

She thought a minute. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Jen told me it was the perfect place. I think it needs some work, though. There’s loose boards in that one corner, and the big patch with no paint...”

He shrugged. “No biggie. We can do some repairs.”

“Jen's brother Lucas is really good at all that. I could ask him if he could come up for a day. I mean, so you don't have to worry about it.”

“Either way's fine.” He grinned, loving the idea already. “So it’s settled.”

“Do it for Fourth of July,” Frank suggested.

Ash cocked her head. “I like it.” Her gaze met Eddie’s and washed over him.

He cleared his throat, and though he wanted to say something else, wanted to keep the connection hovering between them, he didn’t have a chance. The bell on the front door rang, and Cassandra Perkins breezed in, with a sweep of auburn hair and a perky little ass sashaying below it. Eddie cringed.

Cass. Great. The last person he needed to see. Too much history there. He wished suddenly he could rewind the day, just five minutes in reverse, so he could lock the door and keep that part of his past where it belonged. Then he could watch Ash laugh, watch the way she tucked her hair behind her ears, and spend the rest of the afternoon remembering her smile and thinking about the way it burned him clear through to the core.

* * *

The buxom redhead wiggled her way across the office, leaving a cloud of cloying perfume in her wake. Ash inched back in her chair, to give the scent and the woman attached to it some room.

“Hi, darlin’.” She bent over and planted a kiss in the center of Eddie’s forehead. Pendulous breasts swayed from a tube top that had inched its way down from almost-modest to porn star wannabe.

Eddie turned almost purple with discomfort. “Hi yourself, Cassandra. What the hell are you doing here?”

The redhead tossed her hair. One hand tugged at her top. The other dropped to her hip and hung there. “Stopping by to say hi, that’s all.” She pushed out her lips in a faux pout. “It’s been a while. You haven’t stopped by the salon.”

Eddie shrugged. “Don’t need a haircut.”

Cassandra plopped herself onto his lap. She twined one arm around his neck and began running her fingers through the waves that fell around his ears. “Oh, I might argue with that,” she purred. One leg crossed over the other, and she gave a throaty laugh. “Been longer than six weeks, hasn’t it?”

Eddie placed two large hands on her hips and steered her back to a stand. “Lunch break's over. I gotta work.”

Undeterred, the twenty-something siren twisted a lock of hair around an artificial fingernail, painted bright pink. “I’m still waiting on that rain check you promised me.”

Ash’s chest tightened. She tried to look away and couldn’t. For a few moments during lunch, she’d almost felt as though she belonged here, in Eddie’s world. Talking to him, laughing with Frank, watching the same mothers roll the same strollers back and forth down the sidewalk, she’d almost felt a niche begin to carve itself out. In the last few weeks, she’d begun to know her way around Paradise. She’d begun to understand the flavor of the people who lived here. And part of her—a big part of her—had begun to like it.

But one look at this woman reminded her how far she was from home.

“Aw, get off him, Cass,” Frank said. “Can’t you see he’s got a friend here?”

For the first time, the woman turned toward Ash. A long look up and down, through heavy-lidded eyes drenched with mascara, and her smile disappeared. Without saying a word, she tossed her hair again. This time, though, the motion held less flirtation and more simmering jealousy.

“So? I can’t stop by and say hello to my boyfriend during his lunch break?”

Eddie stuffed his baseball cap back onto his head as he stood. “I’m not your boyfriend, Cass.”

Sidling up to him, she wound one arm through his and leveled an unmistakable look at Ash. “Maybe not at the moment, sweetheart. But even the best lovers need some time apart, hmm?” Her chin lifted, and she stood on tiptoes until her lips brushed his cheek. Her next words were a stage whisper, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

“Don’t forget who was there for you that night. Don’t forget who held your hand when the doctors told you there was nothing else they could do. And don’t forget what you told me the morning after. Take as much time as you need. When you’re ready, I’ll be here.”