Chapter Two
Dalton
I sat out on the balcony of the five-star hotel, best in Asheville, North Carolina. Being my casual self, I had nothing on but my boxers and looked over the early summer sun rising in the east. Stretching my long legs, I stuck a foot through the railings as I watched, for the first time in almost a decade, dawn chasing away the night. I saw many a setting sun in Los Angeles, but sunrises were special here. I ran my hands through my raven-black hair and leaned back.
A dark-haired beauty draped in a robe came to the French doors and lounged in the entryway.
“Dalton, why don’t you come back to bed.”
She walked out on the balcony and ran her fingers on my chest, toned from years in the gym and the physical work it took to build my businesses. Renovating and pulling out walls can do wonders for how you look. Construction workers really have it made in that department.
“We have some time before I need to leave,” she said.
I stood up, my six-foot-one physique towering over the petite and beautiful woman. “That is so very tempting, Kimmie, but I do have a funeral to attend.”
“Baby,” she pouted.
I took her hands in mine and kissed her fingers.
She frowned. “It’s Katie.”
I looked down at her and sheepishly smiled. “I’m so sorry, dear. Last night just put everything out of mind.”
Katie smiled in her pouty way. “I don’t mind. Maybe I can come by later.”
“I’ll call you if I have time.” I let her hands drop and leaned in to kissed her. “You are definitely someone I won’t forget.”
She smiled and headed back to the room. A few minutes later, she had taken off, and I forgot all about her. My mind was replaying a night over nine years ago. A night that both haunted and inspired me.
This was going to be so rough. Seeing Eric was just going to be all sorts of wrong. But I’d made a promise to Pops, my mentor, so I would do it. I sure as hell wasn’t going to like it, but I would do it. I had the funeral, graveyard, reception, and of course, the reading of the will, which I dreaded, because all hell was going to break loose. That was only two days away.
I looked over the small town below me like a king viewing his kingdom. At one time, it was. The top bartender in town, all the women I could screw, and I felt I was someone. Little did I know then, I was nothing. Like a phoenix, thanks to Pops, I was able to rise from the ashes of the life I had nuked. The promise I had made to Pops was not to come back until he called for me. And he’d finally called. Well, Peggy did. Pops was too sick to do it on his own. I never actually got to tell him goodbye.
Grief rose in me, and tears threatened. I swallowed them back down. Only Pops and I knew the real reason I was exiled from my domain. And those sea-green eyes of the boss’ daughter were to blame.
I walked back into the room, ordered breakfast from room service, and headed to the shower, stripping off my boxers. I glanced at the mirror. Early thirties, but I didn’t look it. Never would have thought I had done time. Small scar on my abdomen from someone who thought I had looked at him funny was my only reminder. Hitting the gym daily, more if I had a business issue I wanted to chew on and walls to break down. It didn’t hurt that I looked every bit the successful businessman I worked hard at being.
After the shower, I grabbed the towel and quickly dried off. The face looking back at me as I straight-razored my night’s worth of stubble showed the experience that wasn’t there years ago when I last graced the mountains of Asheville. That experience had helped me to amass a fortune in the nightclub industry on the West Coast and around the world. My bars were “the” scene in LA. Everyone who was anyone came to my places. Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Miami, Chicago. Overseas, we had Barcelona, Berlin, and Singapore. Now Asheville. This would be the smallest one, but it was the one closest to my heart.
Wonder what Eric would think?
I laughed. Eric would think I was a sellout. Maybe today would be calm and collected. A couple of nods in each other’s direction as a remembrance of who we meant to each other at one time. Brothers-in-arms.
I put the razor down and leaned over the sink.
The last words Eric had spoken to me after he shattered his hand on my jaw was that he never wanted to see my face again. I frowned. The sad thing was… Courtney didn’t mean a thing. She was just someone to use to get Taylor’s face out of my mind after our one and only kiss. A kiss that shook me to my soul.
I thought about Taylor, wondered how she looked. I’m not really one for the Internet and have people do my profiles and social media for me. I could have looked, but in my mind, she would always be my eighteen-year-old Taylor. Braces just off, contacts instead of glasses, and the kiss I had given her in the kitchen shortly after she had licked the cake frosting off the knife, while clearing up after her party. It gave the kiss a sweetness I had never known before. It was an impulse that shook me to my toes and rocked my world. She was so soft, innocent, and sweet.
Feeling myself starting to harden at the memory, I was glad for the knock from room service. Wrapped in a towel, I answered the door and tipped the nice lady who had brought me breakfast, smiling as I barely noticed the appreciative look from her.
A half hour later, the hotel phone rang. I picked it up.
“Your limo, Mr. Dobbins.”
“Thank you.”
I straightened out my shirt, adjusted the cufflinks, and headed off to pay my respects to the man who was more than a father figure; he was my friend. A friendship that flourished in secret. Because keeping in contact with the one man who broke both your son’s and daughter’s heart wasn’t looked very highly upon in the small town of Asheville. And the town had a long memory.