Her last night in Sweet Breeze Bay. She’d promised to stop in at Clarion Call tomorrow and say goodbye to Riley, but tonight her only company was the feline kind. She ate a late dinner with Velvet sitting companionably on the chair next to hers, taking a break while the kittens napped.
“You’re such a good mama,” she told the little cat.
Velvet winked back, but said nothing, watching the steadily shrinking piece of salmon on Jacinda’s plate. Jacinda gave her a little piece, and she daintily licked it up, then started to wash herself.
“I might have been a good mama too, you know.”
Velvet jumped down and walked away, flicking her tail.
“Fine, whatever.” She sighed, and got up to rinse her empty plate and put it in the dishwasher. Then she put on a long, light cardigan over her mini and t-shirt, took a blanket from the hall closet, and grabbed the Jack Daniel’s from the coffee table.
One last night. She knew where she wanted to spend it.
She went barefoot down the alley past Liam’s place. There was a light on inside, but she was pretty sure that even if he saw her go by, he wouldn’t be coming to look for her. He hadn’t wanted to see her this morning, after all.
She walked along the beach a little way and picked a random spot to spread out the blanket. Then she sat down, wrapped the cardigan around herself, and opened the bottle. One last night under the South Pacific moon and stars. One last high tide to fill her up, before she walked away. She’d be back in the real, unreal world of LA soon—but for now, with the bottle in her hand and the warm, salty air in her lungs, she could let herself lose track of time. Whatever had happened between her and Liam last night, she’d move on. Two messed-up people added together could never equal something whole—his dead-of-night exit proved that. They’d each have to figure out their own way to heal from that one distant summer. She leaned back and looked at the star-scattered sky, and tried not to think about him.
“Jacinda?”
A voice interrupted her thoughts—pleasantly Jack-hazy by now—and she twisted around to see who it was. Standing above her were two tall, broad-shouldered men, with familiar faces. She got to her feet, putting the lid back on the bottle.
“Oh my God, look at you. Hi.”
“You look great,” Dane said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
She smiled. “Thanks.”
Connor shifted the box of beer he was carrying to his other hip and gave her a kiss too. “Good to see you.”
“You too,” she said. And it was—not just because they’d both grown a foot taller and transformed from slightly nerdy teenagers into seriously handsome men.
“We’re going to see Liam,” Connor said. “Come with us.”
Uh, no. “Thanks, but I won’t.”
He frowned. “We can’t leave you sitting here drinking by yourself. It’s unsociable.”
She bent down to gather up the blanket. “That’s okay, I was just about to go home anyway.” She sure as hell wasn’t going to explain why she wouldn’t go with them. “I have a flight tomorrow.”
“All the more reason to enjoy your last night then,” Dane said.
Before she could think of an answer, Connor shoved the beer at Dane, then took her free arm and tucked it into his. “Come on. Don’t be a snob.” And he started to lead her back up the beach, Dane alongside.
“I really don’t—” she began as they went down the alley, but Connor interrupted her with a shout.
“Liam,” he bellowed, breaking the night-time quiet. “Liam Ward! Get out here.”
“Honestly, though,” she said, as they drew relentlessly closer to Liam’s gate. “It’s so nice to see you, but I really should get home.”
Connor just grinned. “No way. We don’t get to hang out with a superstar every day.”
Oh, great. Word was out. “I’m not a superstar.”
“You’re the closest thing we’ve ever met,” he said.
Dane reached over and unlatched the gate. “Come on. For old times’ sake.”
“Hey, Liam!” Connor shouted again, propelling her through. “Look what we found on the beach.”
Shit. This definitely wasn’t part of her plan for the night.
As they reached the bottom of the deck steps, Liam came to the door. When he saw her, his face twisted for a second, but then he grinned and shook his head.
“You guys are a menace.”
As he laughed, her morning humiliation washed over her again. His voice had the rough, joking tone that guys only seemed to use with each other, but she’d seen that flash of discomfort as he avoided her eye. Well, good. Let’s see how uncomfortable he’d feel with her in his house again.
She laughed too, and started up the steps. “They wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
He was gripping the sliding door, and for half a second she thought he’d close it in her face. But then he pushed it open and stood back, his unease obvious.
“Surprise,” she said as she stepped in. Then she smiled sweetly and stood by as the men shook hands and slapped backs.
“Amazing what you come across on the beach some nights,” Dane told him, gesturing to Jacinda.
“Yeah, amazing,” he said, looking directly at her now. “Nice to see you again.”
She couldn’t help herself. “Is it?”
But he didn’t reply, just leaned in to kiss her cheek. She bit the inside of her lip and ignored the flicker of heat that sprang up when the stubble on his jaw grazed her skin. Her eyes closed of their own accord as he stayed there just a millisecond longer than the standard friendly kiss. Was he breathing in…breathing her in? She broke away and went to sit on the sofa, her heartbeat skittering.
If Dane and Connor noticed anything off, they didn’t let it show. Dane sat next to her, and Connor and Liam took the oversized armchairs opposite. Lit only by lamps, the room was cozy—unlike the vibe running between her and Liam. Bottles of beer were passed around, and she accepted one too, leaving the Jack on the table. No more of the hard stuff for her tonight. She curled her legs up and sipped slowly from her bottle, listening to the jokes and jibes shooting between the others—the years they spent growing up obviously provided a ton of material. She glanced at Ethan’s guitar, still standing in the corner. No one mentioned him.
“So what brought you back after all these years, to mingle with the common people?” Connor asked her, tempering the question with a wink.
“Stop it now,” she told him.
“Just wondering. It’s a long way from the bright lights.”
She nodded. “Exactly. I just needed a break. So…can you keep it on the down low? Not tell anyone? I’m trying to keep Cin Scott under the radar for a while.”
“Sure,” Dane said.
Connor leaned forward. “Your secret’s safe with us. It must be full on in that business.”
“Thanks. And yeah, some of the stuff that goes on…it’s sink or swim.”
“I’m not cut out for fame,” he said, stretching back lazily in the chair. “Fortune, though…I’m fine with that.” He grinned.
“What kind of stuff?” Dane asked her.
Ugh, this wasn’t where she wanted the conversation to go. But okay, since he asked. “Like…they want me to take it up a level. You know—be sexier.”
Suddenly all three men were looking anywhere but at her, and she tried not to laugh. Well, they had gone there.
“Apparently sex sells,” she added, looking at Liam, who kept his eyes fixed on the opposite corner of the room. “You might have heard.”
Dane rubbed the back of his neck and concentrated on his beer, clearly sorry he asked.
“That’s nuts though,” Connor said. “Look at you. How much sexier do you have to be?”
Liam took a swig from his bottle, apparently riveted now by something out the window.
“What about you?” Connor asked him. “You’re a sexy guy. Keen to see your name in lights?”
Dane laughed, the tension broken, but Liam shook his head. “Not me.”
“You’ve got some decent talent though,” Dane said. “You wrote—”
Liam shut him down with a narrow glare. “No. It wasn’t me who had that dream.”
There was a sudden silence in the room, and Liam looked at Jacinda. “He would’ve killed for the chances you’ve had. For the things you’re complaining about. Sounds like a charmed life to me.”
“They weren’t chances,” she told him, her blood pressure instantly rising. “I’ve worked for everything I’ve achieved.”
“Lucky you. Some people never had that opportunity.”
“So I should’ve never done anything ever again? Thrown my own life away?”
He shrugged, not meeting her eye, and took another shot of his beer. She wanted to slap it out of his hand, but she kept her voice steady, and put her drink down on the table. “I didn’t even know what had happened. You know that.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the other two look at each other, and Dane gestured to Connor.
“Ah…so, we might go, I think,” he said, standing up.
“Yeah, better make a move.” Connor cleared his throat and stood up too. “It was nice to see you, Jacinda.”
She looked at Liam, expecting him to protest, but he didn’t try to dissuade them, just got up and went to the door. So she got up too and said goodbye to them both, ignoring Liam as they each kissed her on the cheek. How he managed to have such nice friends was a complete mystery.
“So…we’ll see you tomorrow, maybe,” Dane told him.
He nodded. “Yeah. Sounds good.”
Then they went out, each of them giving him a slap on the arm as they went. Without saying anything, she started to follow them. She’d come in ready to stand her ground, but that was enough. She wasn’t going to apologize for her entire life. Not to him. Not after that. And not after last night.
But he grabbed her arm, and slid the door shut.
She shook him off. “What are you doing?”
He stood in front of her, his expression dark and unreadable. “I have no fucking idea.”
Then he took her head in his hands, and kissed her.