First thing in the morning, before anyone else was up, I took Betsy in my arms, feeling sad I’d have to head home so soon. I stepped out onto the beach, inhaled a lungful of the sea air and let it out, trying my best not to think about the night before. It was a fucking disaster. I was furious, both with myself and with Claude for intervening in what should’ve been a perfect night.
I giggled when I thought of Claude catching the two of us making out on the beach. I hadn’t told him where I was going, and he must’ve come looking for me. I knew he would. I just hoped he’d arrive after the hot-and-heavy make-out session on the beach.
Betsy trotted behind me in the sand, obviously hoping to run into her morning friend, but it was way too early for him to be out yet. At least, I thought it was, until she went barreling across the sand toward a swiftly approaching figure.
I hurried across the sand toward him, thrilled to have one last chance to see him before I left. He came to a stop, ran a hand through his thick hair and leaned down to greet Betsy.
“You’re out earlier than usual,” I remarked, and he shot me a playful look.
“I was home a little earlier than I expected last night,” he teased.
“Yeah, I’m sorry about all of that,” I muttered. I was embarrassed, even though I shouldn’t be. He had to know who I was by now, and things like what happened last night came with the territory. Better he knew now and got away from me if he couldn’t handle it.
“It’s cool.” He shrugged, and he seemed to mean it. “These things happen, right?”
Well, no, I answered him in my head. They didn’t just happen. But he was acting so calm about it all. I really needed to Google this guy and figure out what his deal was if he didn’t seem bothered by what had happened. Looking at him, I would’ve thought he was a movie star, but there was no one in the industry I didn’t at least have a passing acquaintance with, so why didn’t I know him?
“So.” I let the word hang in the air between us, not sure how I wanted to finish the sentence.
He cocked his head at me. “So, what?”
“I had a great time last night,” I admitted. “I’m sorry it was cut short.”
“I’d like to try and get a full evening with you at some point,” he said as a grin crossed his face. “Maybe once you’re back home?”
“Sure,” I promised and meant it. All of this felt too fateful and important to be a coincidence, and I wasn’t going to walk away from whatever was happening for anything or anybody.
He took a step forward and slipped his hand around my waist. My breath caught in my throat. I wanted to look around and make sure we weren’t being watched, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from his. Then, he leaned down and kissed me.
It felt as though the world came crashing to a stop as soon as our lips met, and I relaxed against him, grabbing his face and pulling him into me, needing him, determined to commit as much of him to memory as I could before I returned to LA.
I wasn’t sure how long we kissed on the beach, but it was long enough that when he pulled back, it took me a second to open my eyes and return to the real world.
“We’re going to see each other again.” He looked down at me and smiled, his cockiness coming off him in waves. I returned the smile because he was too cute to resist.
“Yeah, we are.” I nodded and glanced down at my watch. “But I need to get back in and pack my stuff.”
“I won’t keep you.” He held his hands up. “Well, maybe just for a second.”
He darted in and pressed another brief kiss against my lips, and then he finally stepped away from me.
“Okay, okay,” he said. “Now, I’m actually going.”
He half-laughed, and I blinked a couple of times as I tried to center my brain. How was it his touch could send me spinning out like this? It had never happened before, and I was already forming an addiction to his kisses. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.
“See you soon.” He looked at me intently, as though the words were as much a promise as a farewell, and then he turned and carried on down the beach. I watched him for a second and then turned to head back into the house. My smile was a mile wide. The day had started off better than I thought it would, and now I was looking forward to what else it might bring. Until, of course, I stepped back inside the house and found Claude there waiting for me. I fought the urge to roll my eyes, sighed, and looked at him anxiously.
“What’s up?”
“You were up earlier than I thought you’d be,” he remarked. “I just wanted to check that everything’s okay.”
He peered over my shoulder, back down the beach, and scowled. I wondered if he could see Elliott or if his jog had taken him far enough away to be invisible. I sincerely hoped for the latter. The last thing I needed was the first guy I’d ever really felt something for to end up seared into the memory of the one man meant to keep me away from the real world.
As soon as I stepped back inside my room to pack, my phone buzzed on my bed. I picked it up, and my dad’s face flashed on the screen. I let out a sigh and lifted it to my ear. I supposed he deserved an explanation by now for everything that had happened.
“Hey,” I greeted him, my voice almost comically full of exhaustion. Before I could offer any apology, he dived in with an explosive rant that practically ripped my ear all the way off.
“Do you have any idea who the man is that you were with last night?” he demanded.
I opened my mouth to ask how he knew I’d been with anyone, but before I could get the words out, he continued.
“Elliott Marshall.” He spat the words angrily at me, and I recoiled, not sure what that name was supposed to mean to me.
“You know who the Marshalls are, don’t you?” he snapped. “They’re the worst kind of people, Aria. The worst kind.”
“Wait, what are you talking about?” I stopped him just long enough to squeeze a word in edgewise.
“You really don’t know?” he asked. “I thought you must’ve gone and sought him out specifically to put my blood pressure through the fucking roof.”
“No, I don’t know who he is. Why should I?”
“Marshall Real Estate?” he prompted me, as though the name should’ve meant anything. “Doesn’t ring a bell?”
“No, it seriously doesn’t,” I said, getting pissed. “Now can you tell me what the hell you’re so mad about?”
“I worked with his father years ago,” he snapped. “I’ve told you about him. How could you forget? We were in business together in New York. On our way to make millions and then he embezzled from the company. Ruined me. I’d have taken him to court but he cooked the books. Denied everything, Aria. He basically took the company away from me and forced me out of town.”
“Oh?” My ears perked up.
“I’m sure that’s the reason your mother left. She couldn’t take the stress.”
I rolled my eyes. He had so many reasons for my mother deserting us. The business with the Marshall’s happened before I was born. I didn’t believe it had anything to do with my mother. He was just using it as another reason to control me.
“I need you to listen to me, Aria. You can’t have anything to do with that boy.”