The warm water falls carelessly down my aching body. I’ve been running a lot the past couple days and my bones are feeling it. Did six miles down the beach yesterday. Let my thoughts run free. I thought about Taylor and how it is time for me to move on—how it’s okay to move on. Thought about Mira and how perfectly our bodies fit together. And, I thought about my family and how, deep down, I really did miss talking to them. It was also during that run that I realized Santa Monica is probably not the best place for me. Rina says I run from everything, and she’s right. I don’t like reminders of things that brought me pain. When someone wants a fresh start, they need to leave those reminders behind.
It’s crazy how after just a couple weeks, I developed such strong feelings for Mira. I was magnetically attracted to her. Just being around her gave me feelings that I’ve missed.
I grab a bar of soap and run it over every inch of my body then use my hand to lather it and wash it away. Once my hair is washed and I’m immersed in steam so thick that I can barely see the shower curtain, I shut the water off and get out.
Slapping my hand around on the wall, I find a towel and pull it then wrap it around me. “Rina,” I whisper-yell.
When she doesn’t respond, I can only assume she’s still talking to Mira. At this point, she’s probably getting the complete rundown of everything that happened.
I crack the door open again with my fingers, clenching the corner of the towel around my waist. “Rina, you in here?”
Nothing.
Creeping out to the room, I shuffle through my bag for some clean clothes. I’ve got them in hand and head back to the bathroom, when the door comes open. Staring back at me are a set of eyes that are not my sister’s. I freeze in place as Mira’s gaze trails from my legs up, finally meeting my eyes.
“I see my sister has given me up.”
Mira looks down at her feet with a nervous smile. “Seems that way.”
I’ve gone through so many different scenarios of what I’d say if I saw Mira again. Each one ended with me deciding I’d never see her again. Now that she’s here, I’m drawing a blank.
She looks up at me, sadness coating her emerald eyes. “Just five minutes? Please?”
My eyes close and I nod. “Ok. Let me get dressed.”
I go in the bathroom and close the door. My clothes drop to the floor, the towel topping them. I press my palms to the countertop and take a deep breath. Fuck. She’s so beautiful. I’ve never been good at resisting temptation and that girl out there is temptation at its finest.
I’ll just go out there and hear what she has to say for herself. I deserve answers. Once I have them, we can both get on with our lives. I’ll leave Santa Monica and she can stay here where her family is. She can continue living her life as Mira Glasson.
I tug my boxers up, then a pair of clean gym shorts, and pull on a plain white t-shirt. My fingers rake through my hair and I call it good. The mirror is still steamed up so I can’t even see my reflection.
When I go out, Mira is still standing at the door with it half-open. “You can come in,” I tell her.
I go over to the sink at the mini bar and turn the water on as she takes a seat on the sofa.
“First, I want to say I’m sorry.” Her voice is frail and full of remorse.
As I listen to her talk, I start washing the dishes. It wasn’t my plan, but I need to do something to keep my hands busy right now. Really don’t want to look at her either. There’s a good chance I’ll fall back under her spell if I do.
“After our night together, I tried to leave without waking you up. I really didn’t expect to ever see you again, so when you asked my name, I just fed you a lie. It was supposed to be harmless.”
The glasses clank together as I scrub and set them down on top of each other. I keep washing, refusing to turn around.
“When you showed up at my dad’s office, I was completely blindsided. If I had known you’d be working there, I never would have—”
Her words trail off, so I turn around and answer for her. “Never would have slept with me?”
“Never would have lied.” Mira’s eyes look past me at the running water. “Shouldn’t you shut that off?”
Reaching behind me, I slap the handle down to shut the water off. “Once you saw me again, you could have just told me the truth.”
“I wanted to, but then you started talking all this trash about my family—about me.”
My heart twinges. I did do that. My hands rise to my face and I rub aggressively at my eyes. I said a lot of awful things. “When I said those things, I believed them.”
“And now?”
I drop my hands and look at her. “I don’t know. I want to say that I don’t believe any of it, but you lied to me over and over again.”
There’s a tense moment of silence between us. Until I break it. “Two years ago, I lost my wife.” I swallow hard—the lump rising in my throat, my pride. “I ran a stop sign and we were hit. It was all my fault. Her name’s Taylor. She had the biggest heart and brightest smile.” I catch myself smiling at the picture of her in my head.
“Sawyer, I…I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. I just figured maybe it would help you understand that I never wanted to fall for you. Tried like hell not to, but then I did. Now it just feels like the war in my head was all for nothing.”
Mira stands up and takes slow steps toward me. “If I could take it all back I would. Lying to you was the biggest mistake I ever made.”
She comes closer and I’m trying so hard right now to put my walls back up, so she can’t get through, but the closer she gets, the farther down they go. Her scent lingers around me, intoxicating me. Her beauty blinds me.
Once she’s standing directly in front of me, she offers me her hand. “I’m Mira Glasson. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my past. I’ve been the center of a sex scandal, an affair, and had my name drug through the mud. I’ve also been a victim of social media lies. I’m not a homewrecker. I don’t behave like a spoiled brat...much. And, I have the best family in the entire world. A dad who loves me more than life itself, a brother who has my back, even when I’ve done him wrong, and I’m ready to show the world who I really am. But first, I want to show you.”
I look down at her hand. Placing mine in it would be acceptance and forgiveness. If I don’t, she might walk out of here for good and I’ll never see her again. That’s what I wanted, after all. Now, I’m not so sure.
Before I can make a decision, I need a few more answers. “What is Niles Tanner to you?”
She pulls her hand back and shakes her head in disgust. “Honesty?” She looks at me with a glum expression, as if she’s hesitant to tell me all about her past with the Tanner family.
I nod. “Yes.”
“Niles and I dated years ago. Our families were close and I think we were together because it was expected of us. They had planned to merge the companies and take over the bottled beverage industry. Once the bond was broken between our dads, everything went to hell. They became blood rivals. My dad’s company skyrocketed a year later, while Tanner Enterprises declined. Niles has been hellbent on us getting married so that when my dad passes away, he has a claim on the company. Of course, I’d never marry that scumbag or let him anywhere near the company. Doesn’t mean he didn’t try.”