Chapter Three

 

* MEGAN *

 

I tried hard not to gape at the prices on the menu, but it was difficult not to. I’d never been to a five star restaurant before, and I didn’t even know what half of the items on the menu were, let alone why each one cost more than my monthly electric bill. Well, technically my grandmother’s monthly electric bill, but I had started to think of it as mine. I was paying it these days, and I didn’t think my grandmother would be around much longer anyway. I winced at the thought and tried to focus on the menu again, but it might as well have been in a foreign language. I’m sure it didn’t help that I was still exhausted. Tonight was my one night off at the bar. Sunday nights were so slow that Joe didn’t need me. Usually, I caught up on sleep, but tonight I was being irresponsible. I was going out on a date with a man who lived way too far away from me for a serious relationship, but was also way too close of a friend for just a fling.

What had I been thinking?

I hadn’t been thinking. That was the problem. When Trent asked me out, and made it clear that he was asking me as a date, not as friends, I’d allowed myself to think for a brief moment that this might actually work. This might be my chance to get caught up in a whirlwind romance and lose my virginity to a billionaire in a spectacular fashion like my best friend Julia had. Okay, so I wasn’t sure if Trent was actually a billionaire, but he was certainly filthy rich. The fact that he wasn’t batting an eyelash at this menu told me that much.

But no matter how rich and handsome he was, I should have known better than to daydream about a fling with him. He was like a brother to me.

Wasn’t he?

I glanced up at his chiseled, tanned face and gulped at the way my heart flip-flopped in my chest. Perhaps he had been like a brother eight years ago. Now, it was impossible to look at him that way. He was way too damn attractive to be passed off as brother status. I could feel heat rising in my core, and I knew I was starting to go wet between my legs. I wanted him. I’d been waiting forever for the right person to share my first time with. Was Trent that person?

It was beginning to be borderline embarrassing that I was still a virgin. I doubt Trent suspected it, and I’d have to tell him if we did ever get to the point of making love. Which was a ridiculous thing to think about right now, wasn’t it? We hadn’t even ordered appetizers yet, and even though I’d known him for so long, this was still a first date. I was getting a little ahead of myself here.

“Do you know what you want?” Trent asked, breaking me out of my mental arguments with myself.

I looked up at him and felt myself blushing a bit. “Maybe you should choose. This menu is honestly a little overwhelming for me.”

I half-expected him to make fun of me, but thankfully he agreed. He leaned over and spoke in a low voice. “Don’t tell your buddy Logan, but his resort’s restaurant comes across as really snobby.”

He laughed conspiratorially, and I instantly felt at ease. What was I worrying about so much? This was Trent. Sure, he might have grown quite a bit richer and handsomer since the last time I saw him, but he was still Trent. He was still the mischievous, down-to-earth guy I’d known my whole life. I needed to stop overanalyzing whether I was going to lose my virginity with him before he left town again, and just enjoy the night. It had been forever since I’d actually gone out and done anything fun. Between the fact that my best friend was busy as heck with a two month old baby, and that I was busy as heck with trying to keep from drowning in bills, time to go out was nearly nonexistent. I deserved a fun night for once.

Trent ordered for both of us, rattling off to the waitress a list of appetizers and dishes that made my head spin. He also ordered a bottle of wine, after only a brief moment of complaining that the wine selection here wasn’t nearly what it was at most of the restaurants in California. When the wine did come, though, I thought it tasted ten times better than any glass of wine I’d ever had before. I was sure it had been insanely expensive, but I had to admit that whatever the price had been, it had been worth it. Trent made sure that my glass stayed full, and even though I knew better than to suck down the wine quickly—especially when I was so tired and hadn’t had enough to eat today—I couldn’t help myself. It was just that good.

Thankfully, the food started arriving, and I was able to get something on my stomach to keep me from becoming a total drunken fool. Trent explained to me what each dish was without my having to ask, and I was grateful that I could smile and nod as though I already knew exactly what everything had been.

So this is how rich people live. Technically, my best friend Julia was a rich person now. But even though Logan was one of the owners of this resort, Julia avoided the place as much as possible. She preferred the laidback vibe at local restaurants, and honestly so did I. But Trent seemed at home here in this fancy joint, and I had to admit that it was a cool experience. I pushed back the nagging feeling I had that Trent had become more of an outsider than I wanted to admit, and told myself that he just wanted to give me a nice, expensive dinner. That was hard to do outside of the resort. Local restaurants tended more toward the cheap, greasy fish and chips sort of thing. I loved that sort of food, but I did like going somewhere new and exotic, too.

“So, tell me what’s going on with your grandma,” Trent said as he settled into his seat and expertly swirled a glass of wine. Both of us were slowing down on eating at this point, even though the food seemed to just keep coming.

I looked down at my own glass, feeling a bit dizzy as I answered. “The doctors aren’t exactly sure. She was doing fine until recently, and then she had a stroke. It didn’t seem that the damage was that bad at first, but lately she’s been going downhill fast. I’ve hired someone to be there to take care of her during the day, but she really needs someone at night, too. It’s so expensive though. I’m there as much as I can be, but I work late a lot of the time. And she gets mad at me if I don’t go out. She says I’m young and need to enjoy my life.”

I sighed. My grandma might be rapidly losing her ability to do anything for herself, but she still hadn’t lost the ability to scold me about my social life. She was worried that I was going to end up an old maid. In fact, she was probably worried that I already was an old maid. Everyone of her generation was married with a couple of kids by age twenty-five.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Trent asked. He reached across the table and took my hand in his, and I instantly felt like my body had gone up in flames. Trent had probably reached to squeeze my hand reassuringly a thousand times over the course of our friendship, but I had never once had the reaction I was having right now. Something had definitely changed between us.

I looked up at his eyes and saw them filled with heat. He felt the change, too. Whatever he was feeling toward me was more than just friendship.

Naturally, this was the point where I panicked.

I had been on dates here and there, both with locals and with tourists who managed to catch my eye. But every time things got to the point where I could tell the boy wanted to start moving things forward, I would panic. Perhaps I should have felt more at ease with Trent since I had known him for so long, but if anything that only made my panicky feelings worse. What if I kissed him and then regretted it? What if things were ruined between us forever?

Not that there was much between us anymore. Yes, we’d been friends for forever, but we hadn’t been in touch since he left the island. I realized then that this was the perfect opportunity. I could have some fun with a man who I knew wasn’t a total jerk, and then he’d be back in California in a week or two. There were no strings, no expectations.

And yet, I knew my heart was only going to get broken here. I cared too much about Trent to be able to truly have a no-strings-attached fling with him. Besides, what was he doing, offering help with my grandma? Surely he wasn’t trying to offer financial assistance. He knew me well enough to know I would never accept that sort of thing. I took care of myself. I had always taken care of myself. Sure, I was lonely at times, and yes, money could be a struggle. But that didn’t mean that I wanted some knight in shining armor to swoop in and save me.

I lowered my eyes from his, and pulled my hand away. “Thanks, but I’m managing things.”

Suddenly, everything here felt like too much. The food, the wine, the general fanciness of the resort’s restaurant. I needed some fresh air. I looked back up at Trent and managed a bright smile. “I think, if you don’t mind, I’d like to skip dessert and walk off some of this food instead.”

Trent nodded, a relieved smile crossing his face. He must have sensed that something was very off in that moment, and he was happy for the chance to get a change of scenery. Not too many minutes later, Trent had paid our bill and we were outside, walking along the beach in front of the resort.

“I feel like a bit of a traitor for being here,” I mused as I looked around at the handful of tourists who were still hanging out in the sand, even though the sun had fully slipped behind the horizon. Trent followed my gaze, then looked back at me with a slight frown.

“Are the Evans brothers really that bad?”

“Well, obviously I don’t think Logan is that bad. He’s been really good to Julia, and he’s helped out the local businesses. His twin Zach, though, I don’t know. I’ve heard a lot of talk about how he just wants to expand the resort at any cost. But the city council won’t sell him the land directly next to the resort, so he’s been a bit stuck.”

“Hmm.”

“Hmm? Don’t tell me you’ve gone all soft on me and think the resort should expand.”

Trent shrugged. “I don’t have a strong opinion on the matter, either way. I don’t live here anymore, so I guess it doesn’t matter to me whether they expand. I honestly don’t see what the big deal is, though. The resort brings a lot of tourists to the island. I know no one wants to see the beaches overtaken with huge hotels, but it’s not like Zach Evans is trying to buy the whole island. It’s just one more beach, and a larger resort would mean more tourists to give all of you locals business.”

I gaped at Trent like he’d gone crazy. “Yeah, it’s one more beach now, and then another, and another. Logan is great, but Zach is one of these determined big city types who just wants to take over everything and make money for himself. He’d turn our whole island into some sort of giant resort.”

Trent remained silent, and I got the feeling he didn’t quite agree with me. The silence started to feel awkward, and so I changed the subject.

“Speaking of land, have you decided what you’re going to do with your dad’s land?”

Trent let out a long, tired sigh. “No. I have a meeting with my lawyer about it tomorrow. I want to just sell it and be done with it, but there aren’t many interested buyers. Not locally, anyway. The land here has just gotten too expensive, and my dad’s land is such a prime spot that selling it at any price even close to reasonable means only someone very rich could afford it.”

“You could always move back and live there.” I spoke the words in a hopeful tone, but I already knew what his answer would be.

“I can’t, Meg. I can’t stand the memories there. Besides, my whole life is in California now.”

I gave him a sour look. “All you’re doing is investing in businesses. There are plenty of businesses here to invest in.”

“It’s not the same and you know it.”

I bit my tongue. It wasn’t my place to tell him how to live, and I doubted he wanted my advice anyway. I suddenly felt foolish. I must seem so ridiculous to him. I was just a floundering artist who had to work two time-consuming jobs on the side to make ends meet. What right did I have to tell him about business or what to do with his land? I should just let it go and enjoy the moment.

Apparently, he felt the same way, because he let the matter drop and we walked in silence for a few moments. Then, to my surprise, he reached over and slipped my hand into his. I looked up at him with my heart pounding in my chest. The full moon lit up his face—a face so familiar and so strange all at the same time. He licked his lips and slowly started tilting his head downward toward mine. I knew he was going to kiss me, and my head screamed at me to stop this now before things got out of hand. But I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to know what it felt like to have Trent kiss me.

“Megan,” he whispered, his voice husky as he paused mere inches from my face. “You’ve grown into such a beautiful woman.”

My face heated as I blushed at his words. “Thank you. I must say you’ve grown up quite nicely yourself.”

He leaned in even closer, so that another quarter inch would cause our lips to touch. The fire in my body had become an inferno. I had kissed on the beach countless times in my life, but I had never wanted it as badly as I did in that moment.

But then, Trent paused and took a step back. He shook his head sadly.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, feeling confused and a little bit betrayed. How could he get so close to kissing me and then step back like that?

He shook his head again. “In another life,” he said, sounding sadder than I’d ever heard him.

“What are you talking about?”

“In another life, I would have stayed here on the island. I would have just ignored my dad, and taken on some sort of odd job here. Maybe opened a local business. I would have dated you and married you, and we would have had beautiful babies together—babies who looked just like you. But it’s too late for all that now.”

“What? Why? It’s not too late, Trent. You don’t have to stay in California. If you want to move back here, then move. Heck, you freaking have a house here now, on the best private land on the island.”

Trent shook his head. “I can’t live there. I know it’s a beautiful property, but there are too many bad memories for me there. I have to sell it. Which apparently isn’t all that easy to do, since it’s worth so much money. No one here can afford it.”

I felt like I’d been sucker punched. “You’re going to sell it to an outsider?”

He shrugged. “What else am I supposed to do, Meg? I can’t keep it. I can’t live there. And the only one willing to pay me what it’s worth so far has been Zach Evans.”

“You’re going to sell to Zach? To Evans Resort?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I’ve been putting out feelers in Miami to see if there’s anyone there interested, but there hasn’t been enough time for me to get much back in the way of responses.”

I felt a fire in me once again, but this time it was from anger, not from passion. “You know what? You’re right. You don’t belong here. You try to come back and pretend that you’re still one of us locals, but you’ve changed too much. You’re an outsider now.”

“Megan, please. It’s complicated.”

“No, it’s not. All of the locals know that selling land to the Evans resort would be unthinkable.”

“Julia freaking married one of the Evans brothers!”

“Yeah, but Logan is different. He’s helping expand the local economy. Selling to the resort itself means selling to Zach, and Zach will find a loophole in the zoning laws and build another hotel or resort or something on that land.”

Trent threw his hands up in frustration. “Honestly, maybe I have been away too long. There are miles and miles and miles of undeveloped beaches on Driftwood Island. What’s the big deal if one more beach gets developed?”

I stared at him, aghast. I couldn’t believe I’d almost kissed him. He was gorgeous, yes. But he was not the same Trent that had left eight years ago. That Trent would have found the idea of selling land to a resort unthinkable.

“I think I should go now. Thank you for dinner.”

I turned and started storming off up the beach. I was angry, not just at Trent but at myself. Why had I let my daydreams get so far away with me? I should have known better than to think there was a chance for anything with Trent. I should have seen how different he was from the moment he stepped into Joe’s Sandbar the other night. I’d told myself that he was still the same Trent despite his expensive clothes and despite the fact that he was staying at the resort instead of trying to get a room with me or one of his old friends. But no. He had changed too much.

I ignored him as he called after me, breaking into a run in response to his pleas for me to stop. I hailed a cab as soon as I reached the road beside the resort. I didn’t exactly have money for a cab, but at that moment I didn’t care. There was no way I was letting him drive me home right now. The thought of being stuck in a small space with him was torturous.

“Megan, wait.” He caught up to me just as I was trying to close the taxi’s door behind me. He caught the door and held it for a moment, and I fought to maintain my composure. I didn’t want to cause a scene or start crying in front of the cab driver.

“Please, just let me go.” I willed him to turn around and leave. I couldn’t handle it if he started arguing with me here and now.

“Sir, you heard the lady,” the driver said, giving Trent a stern look.

Trent sighed. “Don’t worry. I’ll let you go. But I’m not letting you pay for your own cab. Not when I’m the one who dragged you out here tonight and screwed everything up. Here.”

He pulled a handful of twenties out of his pocket and held them out to me. When I didn’t reach out to take them, he sighed again and tossed them on my lap.

“Trent, I don’t need your money.”

He ignored me and shut the cab door behind me, then spun on his heel and started walking back toward the beach. I stared down at the money in frustration. I did need cab fare. I just didn’t want it to come from the man who had proven himself to be a traitor to the locals.

“Shall I drive, Miss?” the cabbie asked.

I sighed and nodded, giving him my address. I folded the twenties carefully and put them in my purse, determined to return them to Trent before he left the island.

If there’s one thing I knew for sure after tonight, it was that I didn’t want to owe Trent Miller a damn thing.