Honor

Chapter 55

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

E vie

“Don’t get in an accident,” I say while holding the keys to the rented SUV just out of Reid’s reach. “Lottie only listed me as a driver when we picked the car up.”

Snatching the keys from me, he laughs. “I’ll have it back in one piece within the hour.”

Since I have no idea how far away the store is, I sigh. “Did you research where the nearest store is, or are you going to drive aimlessly until you spot a place where you can get condoms?”

His gaze drops to my robe before it levels back on my face. “I remember a gas station not far from here. If nothing has changed in the past twenty years, they sell condoms.”

I do the mental math before I poke a finger into his arm. “Are you saying you were in that gas station when you were twelve?”

He grabs my hand before I can move it out of his reach. “I am saying that.”

“You’ve been here before?” It’s obvious he has, but I’m so surprised by that the question pops out of me.

“Randall and I have known each other a long time,” he explains, shoving the keys into the front pocket of his jeans. “Our families took a vacation up here together years ago.”

I have a million questions about that, yet I can’t get one past my lips.

“We actually stayed in this house.” He looks past me to the bed and the twisted linens that are evidence of what we’ve been up to all night. “I never thought I’d step foot in it again after that trip, but I’m glad I did.”

“I’m glad you did, too,” I whisper.

The urge to ask about his childhood is strong, but this isn’t the time. I’m not sure there will ever be a right time to do it since I still don’t know how things will be between us once we’re back in Manhattan.

“When are you and Charlotte heading back to the city?” he asks.

I’ve wanted to ask him that same question since we woke up in each other’s arms twenty minutes ago as the sun was cresting in the sky and its light was flooding the room.

“Tomorrow.”

He nods before he glances toward the window that overlooks the water. “Basil was going to pick me up this afternoon. I’ll delay that until tomorrow. You’ll drive back with me.”

“I can’t.” I shake my head. “I need to drive the car back to Manhattan. Lottie doesn’t drive.”

He pats the keys through the denim of his jeans. “She can head back on the party bus with Randall and company. I’ll head back with you.”

The idea puts an instant smile on my face. “If Lottie is okay with that, I am.”

“Good,” he says, his gaze again falling to the front of my robe. “I’ll go get condoms now. I’ll pick up a couple of cups of coffee while I’m out.”

“There’s coffee here,” I remind him of the elaborate coffee maker on the kitchen counter next to a basket filled with an assortment of ground coffee.

“Randall will take on the job of brewing a cup for everyone.” He chuckles. “His coffee making skills are on par with his tea making skills.”

I stick out my tongue and make a face. “Understood.”

His gaze never leaves my lips. “I want that tongue on me later, Evangeline.”

“Tonight,” I promise. “After everyone has gone to sleep.”

“Everyone is going golfing before lunch.” He tugs on my hand. “That’s when I’m going to finally fuck you.”

My breath hitches. His statement is so brutally raw and leaves me feeling bare in the best way possible.

“You still want that,” he says, not questions.

“I do,” I whisper.

He brings my hand up to his lips to kiss my palm. “I’ll be back soon.”

I’ll miss you sits unspoken on my tongue. Instead, I nod before he leaves my room and shuts the door quietly behind him.

“You’re sure you don’t mind if I go golfing with the guys?” Lottie asks as she adjusts the waistband of her cute white skirt.

Judging by the outfit she’s wearing, her plan all along was to crash Randall’s golf excursion meant for his best man and friends. The fact that she’ll take Reid’s spot on the green is perfect. Kyle already told me over breakfast that he doesn’t golf, but he’s going along for moral support.

“I’m sorry Reid is making you work today, Evie,” Randall says with a shake of his head. “I thought he’d let up on the reins of the company out here, but there’s no rest for the driven.”

I smile and sigh since Reid sent me a text message shortly after he left the beach house telling me he was bowing out of the golf game with the excuse that we needed to work. He hoped that would result in Lottie tagging along with the guys to the golf course. It seems his plan worked out.

“It’s all good,” Lottie answers for me. “We’ll have a nice dinner altogether tonight. Are you sure you can’t hang around one more night, Jimmy?”

Jimmy glances toward where we’re standing. He’s been sitting on a bench near a bank of windows since I came out of my room to find everyone gathered in the dining room. “I can’t.”

Surprisingly, Lottie doesn’t push for more. “Too bad.”

I look at the screen of my phone. Reid promised he’d be back within the hour, and it’s already sailed past the two hour mark. Either that gas station is closed, or he’s stuck in a long coffee line.

I gave in and indulged in two sips of an espresso that Randall made for me. Reid wasn’t kidding when he said Randall should stick to anything but preparing brewed beverages. He doesn’t have a future as a barista.

“I got the picture!” Randall announces in a loud voice. He gets up from where he’s been sitting by the dining room table. “Look, Charlotte.”

Lottie rushes over to her fiancé to fling an arm around his shoulder before leaning down to get a clear view of his phone’s screen. “Look at you two. You haven’t changed a bit. Reid, on the other hand, has.”

That piques my attention enough I take a step closer to where they are. I don’t ask to see, though, because knowing Lottie, I’ll get a peek at in within the next ten seconds.

My prediction comes true as she snatches the phone out of Randall’s hand and sprints toward where I’m standing near the entrance to the kitchen. “Evie, look at what Randall’s mom sent him. It’s a picture of him and Reid when they were here years ago.”

Eager to see, I meet her halfway and bow my head to gaze at the phone’s screen. Two boys are standing side by side in the sand with the ocean as their backdrop. They both need haircuts, and they’re wearing matching striped blue and red swimming trunks. The boy on the right is slightly taller, his shoulders are broader, and he’s not smiling with the same exuberance as the boy on the left. I immediately know my boss is the boy who is radiating sorrow.

“Wow,” I manage to say.

“That’s a blast from the past.” Randall chuckles as a door slams in the distance. “It sounds like Reid is back. I can’t wait to show him the picture.”

Not more than a few seconds later, Reid rounds the corner and comes into view, holding a cardboard tray with two cups of coffee, a pink box tied with white string, and a dozen beautiful pink roses.