Chapter Five

 

* JULIA *

 

I pulled onto the dirt road of my favorite beach, relieved to find that the parking lot was empty. I hadn’t really expected anyone else to be here, since on a Friday night almost everyone would be downing beers over at Joe’s Sandbar. But this beach was a favorite of many of the locals here on Driftwood Island, so you never knew when it would randomly be full of people.

Tonight, I didn’t want to be around a bunch of people, and I wasn’t in the mood to throw back beers with Megan. I just wanted to be alone. The day had been long and confusing, and despite the fact that I’d sold out of my inventory at the Conch Shell Café for the first time, I didn’t feel happy. I felt angry at Logan for whatever game he was trying to play, and I felt angry at myself for being attracted to him.

“Go ahead, Decaf,” I said as I hoisted the giant Lab from the backseat of my beat up old coupe and set him down on the ground. “You can head to the beach. I’ll catch up in a minute.”

Decaf wagged his tail and started hobbling toward the path to the beach. We’d been here hundreds of times before, so he knew the place well. It broke my heart to see him in so much pain, and yet still so happy. How did dogs do that? It’s like everything could be going wrong in their lives and they still found the strength to wag their tails. I wished I could be more like Decaf.

I glanced quickly up and down the road to make sure no cars were coming, and then I quickly stripped out of my work clothes and into my favorite red bikini. I tossed the clothes onto the front passenger seat of my car, grabbed my beach tote that contained a towel and a large water bottle, and started heading down the same path Decaf was walking down. It was about seven p.m., but the summer sun was still fairly high in the sky. I had about two good hours of daylight left, and I planned to stay out here and enjoy those two hours to the fullest.

Decaf walked just ahead of me as we slipped through the gap in the rocks that led to the beach, and I closed my eyes for a moment to breathe in the fresh, salty air. This place was heaven. When I opened my eyes again, I froze.

Halfway across the beach, a man stood, stripping off his t-shirt. A man who looked very much like Logan Evans. I had no idea how he knew about this place, or how he’d gotten here without a car, but I did know one thing: I did not want him to see me here. I didn’t want to talk to him, and I didn’t want to share a beach with him. I was bummed that I’d have to sneak away from my favorite beach, but it was fine. There were plenty of other amazing beaches on the island. Beaches that would truly be empty, with no obnoxious billionaires to ruin my mood.

“Decaf,” I hissed. My overly friendly dog had spotted Logan and was hobbling toward him as fast as he could, tail wagging furiously at the sight of a new friend. I sighed. Usually, I loved how friendly Decaf was, but right now that friendly streak was about to get me in trouble. If Logan turned around and saw me, I’d never be able to get out of here without talking to him. It’s not like I could even run back to my car and drive away, because Decaf wouldn’t be able to run with me. He was slow, and there was no chance I could carry him that far. Lifting him out of the car was enough of a struggle as it was. “Decaf! Come back. We have to go.”

Decaf’s ears pricked up, and he turned back to give me a confused look. He was probably wondering why I was whispering. He must have thought it was some sort of game, because he wagged his tail at me, and then—horror of horrors—he barked.

My heart sank as I saw Logan turn toward the sound. I tried to retreat back into the rock passageway before he saw me, hoping that there was still a chance to get away. After all, he didn’t know Decaf was my dog. Maybe Decaf would follow me and Logan wouldn’t bother to come after the random, hobbling dog.

“Julia?”

I groaned. No such luck. Logan had seen me. Decaf was looking at me uncertainly now, wondering why I was holding back from the new friend waiting just across the beach.

“Come on, Decaf. We have to go,” I insisted in a low whisper. Decaf stared at me another moment, then barked again and turned to hobble back toward Logan as fast as his legs would take him. Which admittedly wasn’t that fast, but it didn’t matter. As long as Decaf was heading toward Logan instead of away from him, my plan to try to escape was ruined. I took a deep breath, gritted my teeth together, and followed my dog. I would just have to exit this awkward situation as quickly as possible.

“I’m sorry,” I called out as I caught up with Decaf and grabbed his collar, tugging on it to pull him back toward where my car was parked. “I didn’t realize that there was anyone else out here. We’ll just be going, then. I don’t want to disturb you.”

I tugged on Decaf’s collar again, and that stubborn beast refused to move. “Decaf, what is wrong with you?” I hissed in a low voice so Logan hopefully couldn’t hear me. “Of all the times for you to decide to be a stubborn ass! Trust me. We need to get out of here.”

Then I made the mistake of looking up at Logan. Shirtless Logan. Shirtless Logan with the blazing afternoon sun shining down on his perfect, sculpted chest. I felt my knees go weak, and any words I was trying to form in my head immediately turned to gibberish.

“I…I…” I gave up and stared at the man god in front of me. How was it possible for any human to look that good? That fluttery feeling in my stomach was back, and I once again felt myself growing wet between my legs. Oh, good lord. I really needed to get out of here. When was my body going to get the memo that Logan might be the most attractive man I’d ever met, but he was also completely off limits?

Despite my efforts to think of all the reasons I hated Logan, I found myself imagining lying down on the sand with him right then, tearing off our swimsuits and losing ourselves in each other. These thoughts only made the warmth in my belly worse, and I was pretty sure my cheeks were flushed a bright red at this point. Logan, meanwhile, seemed totally unflustered and completely at ease.

“This is your dog?”

I nodded dumbly. “This is Decaf.”

“Decaf?” Logan laughed with delight at the name, and I couldn’t help but smile. It might seem a little cheesy, but it fit. Logan seemed to think so, too. He reached down to scratch behind Decaf’s ears. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Hip dysplasia,” I said sadly. “He needs surgery but…” I let my words trail off. I wasn’t about to stand here talking to a billionaire about my money problems. He would never understand what it felt like to have nothing. To my surprise, though, Logan finished my sentence for me.

“But it’s expensive, huh?”

I glanced up, my eyes widening. “Yeah. Really expensive. But I have a plan for paying for it. I just entered this cake sculpting contest at the Summer Fair. If I can pull off first prize, the money will be enough to cover the amount I’m currently short for the surgery.”

I wasn’t sure why I confided in Logan that I had just entered the cake sculpting contest. I guess I was just so excited about the possibility of the prize money that I wanted to tell someone, and Megan was already off at the bar, letting all the local boys buy drinks for her even though they all knew she wasn’t going to let any of them come home with her tonight. Megan was like me—she wanted a man, but not one of the locals who we’d known since we were all in diapers.

Logan was staring back at me now with a slightly confused look on his face. “Summer Fair?”

I bit back another sigh. Of course he didn’t know what it was. The Summer Fair was only the biggest event of the year around here, but why would he care about it? He only cared about his resort and its profits. “It’s just a big fair we have at the end of June every year. No big deal, I’m just excited about the potential prize money. Anyway, I’ll just be going. I don’t want to bother you. Decaf, come on!”

Decaf ignored me, choosing instead to lie down on the sand by Logan’s feet. Logan laughed.

“You’re not bothering me. And it looks like Decaf is quite comfortable here. Stay. Please.”

“Mr. Evans, really, I’m trying to be polite but—”

“Logan. Call me Logan. When you call me Mr. Evans it makes me feel so old. And look: I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I promise I’m not trying to take over your café. I just genuinely liked the coffee and pastries there. And, if I might be so bold as to say so, the employees don’t look half bad either.”

He let his eyes slip down from my face to my body, and I suddenly felt horribly self-conscious. I’d been prancing around town in tiny bikinis like this one my whole life, but I’d never thought much about how I looked because no one had ever looked at me besides the local boys, and I didn’t really give a shit what they thought of me anyway. But now, under Logan’s intense scrutiny, I found myself feeling a bit shaky. I knew I should put my hand on my hip and indignantly tell him that I worked at the café to sell coffee, not to be on display for the local billionaire asshole. But I couldn’t quite bring myself to speak. Not when his eyes were sending fire through my whole being. Besides, it’s not like I wasn’t checking him out, too. His chest was impossible not to stare at.

Decaf thumped his tail against the sand in a very self-satisfied wag, and I turned to glare at him. That dog had known exactly what he was doing, dragging me out onto the beach next to Logan. The hip dysplasia might keep Decaf from running as much as he used to, but he was still just as much of a rascal.

“Logan, I should go. Really. It’s been a long day and I really just want to be alone. I know a dozen more beaches just down the road from here. It’s no trouble for me to leave.”

“It’s no trouble for you to stay.”

Something in his voice sounded strangely authoritative. Like he was ordering me to stay, without explicitly doing so. The effect was strangely sexy, and I found myself pausing and looking up into his eyes.

Oh my. Those eyes were intense. The blue was unlike anything I’d ever seen, and I’d seen a lot of different shades of blue in my lifetime. Living around the ocean meant I’d seen both the sky and sea in just about every possible blue hue imaginable. But there was something different about the blue in Logan’s eyes. It was so deep, and it was flecked with spots of honey gold, something I hadn’t noticed earlier today. The shaking in my body intensified, and I found my eyes inadvertently dropping to his lips. I had never wanted to kiss anyone so badly in my life, but this was wrong. All wrong. Wasn’t it? Logan was an Evans. He was the enemy. And he was a bit too self-entitled, thinking he could just give my café a little business and then order me around.

But damn it, his body was so undeniably irresistible.

And when he leaned in for a kiss, I did not resist. Instead, I let myself melt into him. I closed my eyes as his palms reached up and cradled my cheeks. I breathed in deeply, relishing the way the scent of his aftershave mixed with the scents of salty sea and sun baked sand. For a moment, there was no one else in the world but him.

He slipped his tongue past my lips and let it dance with my tongue, and any hope I’d had of cooling down the warmth in my core was lost in an instant. Fire spread from his kiss to every part of my body, and I could feel my bikini bottoms quickly becoming soaked. If this was so wrong, why did it feel so right?

But no. No, no, no. I couldn’t do this. I had spent my whole life being taught to hate outsiders. Us Driftwood Island locals had to stick together. And here I was, making out on the beach with the biggest outsider of them all. An Evans brother! It was okay to have a summer fling with a tourist, but not with an Evans brother. Had I lost my mind?

Apparently I had. Pulling away from his kiss was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life, but I did it. I reached up to push his hands down from my face, and I took a step back. Every cell in my body protested. I wanted him like I’d never wanted anyone, but I could not have him.

“Julia,” he said, his voice low and husky. I nearly groaned at the sound of it. There was so much desire in his tone. So much passion. I had no doubt that if I really wanted to right now, I could have my fantasy of losing my virginity to him right here on this beach, with a brilliant azure ocean as the backdrop. But I had to be strong. I had to step away.

“No,” I said, my voice barely more than a hoarse whisper. “No. I can’t.”

“Why not?” he sounded exasperated. “Do you already have a boyfriend or something?”

“No, but it doesn’t matter.” My voice was growing stronger as the spell of his kiss began to fade slightly. “You’re an Evans, and I’m a local. You don’t care about us, or our island, or our businesses. How could I ever trust you to truly take care of me? To truly respect me?”

“Julia, look. I don’t know exactly what my brother has done, but—”

“Don’t blame your brother. Your name is on the resort just as much as his. And we’re done here.”

Before he could answer, I turned around and began to run. I didn’t bother waiting for Decaf. I knew my dog would catch up eventually. I just needed to get to my car and close the door behind me. I didn’t put my clothes back on over my bikini. I just hopped into the driver’s seat and locked the doors, waiting for Decaf and cursing the fact that the poor thing couldn’t run. I knew Logan would easily keep up with the dog, and would probably follow him up to my car. I vowed to just ignore anything Logan said or did, and drive off as soon as I managed to help Decaf into the car.

When I looked in my rearview mirror and finally saw Decaf, though, I couldn’t keep my heart from melting a little bit. Logan was indeed coming toward me with Decaf, but he wasn’t following along as Decaf hobbled. Logan was carrying Decaf. My giant Lab, who weighed over eighty pounds, was nestled in Logan’s arms like a baby. The sight was so sweet that for a moment I was tempted to let go of my anger a bit, and give Logan a chance.

But no. I couldn’t do that. If I started any sort of romance with Logan, no matter how fleeting, the whole town was going to hate me. And rightly so. Logan might have a bit of a nice side, but that didn’t change who he was, or the fact that his property conglomerate was trying to take over the island. I had to be strong, and remember that I was a local.

With a determined grunt, I unlocked the doors and got out of the car. I opened the back passenger door, and pointed to the backseat, where a plush blanket was spread out. “You can put him there. He likes to lie down in the back.”

Logan nodded and gently set down Decaf, who gave him a friendly lick on the face. I gave Decaf a look that said “traitor!” But Decaf only gave me a wag of his tail. I guess I couldn’t blame the dog for loving Logan. It wasn’t often that anyone had the strength or patience to carry around a big Lab.

“Julia,” Logan said, reaching out for my arm.

I pulled away. “Don’t,” I said. “Thank you for carrying my dog, but this doesn’t change anything. I think it’s better if we stay away from each other. I appreciate your giving business to my café, but even if you do have the best of intentions, you don’t realize how it looks to everyone I know.”

“What? It looks like you’re hanging out with the ‘enemy?’” His voice sounded hurt, with a tinge of anger.

“It’s complicated. It’s just better this way, trust me. Now I really have to go. I really should be working on my ideas for a sculpted cake, anyway, instead of hanging out at the beach.”

I got back into my car and shut the door, revving the engine and pulling away before he could try to say anything else to me. When I looked in the rearview mirror, though, he wasn’t trying to chase me down. He was just standing there with a scowl on his face.

Whatever. Let him be angry. Things would be easier that way. Having a handsome billionaire around only made my life so much more complicated. And I definitely didn’t need any more headaches right now. I had enough going on as it was, trying to keep the café afloat while trying to get Decaf the surgery he so desperately needed.

No time for distractions. I was going to make the best damn sculpted cake Driftwood Island had ever seen. How hard could it be?