Lane
My sweaty hair fell in my face as beads of perspiration rained down my forehead, running into my eyes and dripping off my nose as I ran along the beach. I’d been back in Florida for a week, and since then I’d either been working my ass off or exercising like I was training for the Olympics.
Unable to get her out of my head, feeling fucking ridiculous for my whole silly and foolishly elaborate good-bye scene, and raging an internal war over whether to contact her or not, I was unrecognizable to myself.
I basically asked the girl to visit me after pondering another trip back to that shitty weather. Unable to stop thinking about the sheer insanity of it all, and wondering what the hell was happening to me, I continued to punish myself with my brutal workout.
“Hey, Lane! How are you?” I heard someone say from behind me, then felt a pat on my ass.
Turning, I took in the redheaded beauty and said, “Hey, Christie, how’s your run?”
Although I didn’t slow down, she lengthened her stride to pace me and kept up. “Better now that I caught you! Where you been?” she asked with a salacious smile, her words coming out winded and breathy.
A few weeks ago, I would have gotten hard over the combination of her tone and her meaning, but not today.
“Working, honey,” I said, barely needing to overexert myself with my own words.
“Well, you look good,” she said, holding her line.
“You too!” Nodding my chin toward the road, I said, “There’s my ride. Time for me to cool down. See you around, Christie.”
With another grab of my ass, she was gone. “Hope so. ’Bye, Lane.”
Needing to cool down, I slowed my pace. Without considering why, I moved my hand back to my ass, brushing off the memory of Christie’s unwanted touch. I pulled out my earbuds and hit the STOP button on my pacer watch while I caught my breath. Typically, I alternated running with yoga.
Yoga, of course.
Bess, my head screamed as loud as my muscles. Yoga only reminded me more of the woman I’d now officially met under false pretenses, yet still hadn’t been able to dislodge from my brain.
Of course, for the last seven days, yoga wasn’t possible for me. There was no way I could slow my thoughts enough to relax into the poses, let alone wrap my head around what the whole damn class symbolized.
Inner peace, of which I had none. Because of her.
Well, maybe not just her. My shell was starting to crumble. I was alone. No parents or grandparents, just a brother who was a full-time babysitting gig. And a stable full of girls with names like Candie or Missy who wanted nothing more than to be seen with one of Florida’s most eligible bachelors.
As I walked in circles with my hands on my hips, taking deep gulps of air while I came down from my runner’s high, I couldn’t help but glance at the Florida sun setting, its light reflecting off the water. But I couldn’t enjoy the sight.
Why did I have to lie to Bess? I should have told her the truth. This wasn’t me; I wasn’t a liar. The lie was eating me alive, but I didn’t see any way out of it. All those years I’d duped girls for my brother made me despise lying, yet here I was doing it again. This was probably some kind of sick payback for playing the bait-and-switch routine for Jake, as well as everything else I did for him that I never wanted to do in the first fucking place.
Stopping and stretching for a second, opening my quads, I contemplated if there was any way of righting this mess I’d made for myself.
No.
The WildFlower deal was done. My lawyers had just signed off this morning on the final paperwork. There was no longer the cover of checking into the inner workings of the resort; I had no reason to stay in touch. The only clients I ever kept an eye on were the ones in major cities, the ones I liked to visit—Vegas, Chicago in the summer, Los Angeles. Not the middle of freaking nowhere.
My chance was gone.
Kicking up sand, I made a beeline for my car and my life as I knew it.
“Hey, Randi, how are you?” I asked into the phone stuck in the crook of my neck as I toweled off from my shower.
“Hey, baby, I’m great. Just back from an assignment in the Bahamas, a swimsuit shoot. You?”
Dry now, I paced my massive bathroom. “All good. Wish I’d been somewhere warm, but I just got back from the wet wilderness of Pennsylvania.”
“Ooh, you poor baby,” Randi purred into the phone, and her voice affected me like nails dragged across a chalkboard. A shiver ran up my spine, and I had to lean on the counter.
Staring at my despicable self in the mirror, I asked, “Want to grab some sushi?”
“Sure! I’d love to. When?”
“Now.” I didn’t want to leave myself room to change my mind. Randi was a smart choice for distraction. The control was always in my hands with her.
“Oh, cool. I need a little time to freshen up. Do you want to pick me up or should I meet you?”
Staring down at the black countertop, unable to watch my own actions anymore, I said, “I’ll grab you in an hour?”
“Perfect. ’Bye, Lane. See you soon, hon.”
I swiped my finger across END CALL without another word, sealing my evening’s fate.