23
Rick
Rick’s pulse throbbed in his temples as he punched down on the accelerator. Showing up at Aidan’s unannounced was a terrible fucking idea. But to find him with a woman in his arms, and that woman was—
Robbie. Fuck. It was like electric shock ear torture every time Aidan called her that. What the hell was going on between them?
Rick had accepted that they had a past. Fine. He had no reason not to take Robin at her word when she assured him her feelings for Aidan were now ancient history.
But that didn’t explain—or change—what Rick had seen.
Had the sparks between them reignited tonight? Or had she been carrying a torch for Aidan this whole time? He gripped the steering wheel tighter as he sped down the road, trying to outrun the image of the two of them wrapped in each other’s arms.
It didn’t make sense. The last few days with Robin had been incredible. From the moment she’d walked into Rick’s life, her verve, her wit, her glittering laugh had flipped the script for him. It had reinvigorated his own zest for life. She was unlike any other woman he’d known, being so young, beautiful, and exciting. Insanely exciting. The sexual chemistry was off the charts, but from the beginning, it had been about so much more than that. They’d clicked. Connected. They were so plugged into each other, she lit him up inside. She wanted him, and saw him in a way that few others ever had. Like he really mattered, and that she valued what he had to offer. In return, all he wanted to do was to make her happy, protect her, cherish her. To be the one to love her over and over again.
Was that too much to ask?
Traffic whizzing past in a blur, Rick rocketed down the highway with tunnel vision of Robin and Aidan. Dammit, he should’ve ended it the moment he realized they were friends. Why had he ignored every instinct he had to walk away?
He would love to know what the past few days had really meant to Robin. She’d led him to believe she was developing strong feelings for him too. Did she mean it? What if the whole time he’d been holding her close to his heart, dreaming of a future with her, she’d kept one eye on the door, biding her time until she could be with Aidan instead?
God, you are such a fucking old fool.
Did she tell Aidan that she’d been screwing his old man? That must’ve really given them both a good laugh, with Rick being the punchline tickling their pillow talk.
Wait a minute. She’d said she wanted to talk about consequences. Have you thought about the consequences of us being together? He could hear the question as clear as a bell. Holy shit. Had it been about them… or was her guilty conscience taking a toll?
Humiliation beat heavily into Rick’s chest and burned his eyes. He white-knuckled the wheel and floored the gas, the engine reaching a fevered pitch. Ignoring the speed limit and the scenery whooshing past, he sped up to escape the mocking voice in his head, along with lurid visions of the woman he could’ve truly loved romping in the sheets with his son.
His own fucking son.
Why should Rick be surprised that things turned out this way for him? He was always the last to know what a fool he’d been. Being cut from the team. Being cut out of his own goddamn business. Just like that, they were both gone. Instant heartbreak.
Now, he was about to be discarded by Robin, and once again, he was the last to know. And once again, instant heartbreak.
Bits of loose gravel pinged against metal, stones violently biting into the undercarriage of his speeding vehicle as it careened down the final winding stretch.
Suddenly, he spotted something moving up ahead. Oh shit.
A glow flashed in the darkness, a pair of eyes reflected in the headlights. A shadowy creature stalked out of the tall grass into the roadway. What the hell was it? A raccoon? A fox?
Rick stomped on the brakes, and his Jeep shuddered and swerved. The force threw him back hard against his seat. He clung desperately to the steering wheel, fighting to maintain control. The shrieking tires lost traction with the pavement and went into a skid.
His eyes widened with the realization of what was now directly front of him, frozen with fear as it stood motionless in the middle of the road with eighteen hundred kilos of steel, rubber, and glass bearing down on it.
Oh fuck. It was a dog.
24
Robin
From the time she started work at the crack of dawn, Robin worked hard breaking down boxes, hauling out garbage, and organizing heaps of clutter into smaller, neater piles at the back of the store.
It was good to keep her mind off the bigger things starting to stack up. How would the celebration of life turn out? Would it rain? The forecast now called for sixty percent showers that evening. There was no way they’d ever squeeze a hundred and fifty guests inside the Blue Canoe. She’d just have to keep an eye on the skies and pray that the weather gods were smiling.
And where was Rick? She hadn’t heard from him since the afternoon. How come he hadn’t answered any of her texts from the night before? This morning, she saw her previous messages were left unread. That was so unlike him. Hopefully, everything was okay.
“Whoa, slow down there,” Mrs. C cautioned. “You’re not a machine.”