Page 5 of Rex's Honor
She continued to work for the Peace Corps in the recruitment office and occasionally took short assignments when needed.
Holding out the beer, she waited for Rex to take it and be the gentleman she knew he could be. But when he just stared at her, she shrugged her shoulders and easily twisted off the top. She’d developed a taste for beer in college, and it had never left her, but it always reminded her of the only man she would ever love.
“My father asked you to come? Why would he do that?”
“Because he’s not a selfish prick, like his son.”
“Swearing isn’t becoming of a lady.” Rex snagged another beer before plopping himself down on the back bench.
She laughed. “I’m not a docile little lady, and you used to think it was cute when I uttered the unexpected obscenity.”
“I’d be lying if you weren’t still, well… drop-dead gorgeous, but that doesn’t change the past.” He stretched out his legs,resting his feet on the cushion. “I’ll call my dad later and tell him you came, asked me to come home, and that I said no.”
“What is wrong with you?” She sat down on the chair across from him. The cruiser was more of a home than a yacht, so it wasn’t surprising that Rex had opted to live on it. He had always had a thing for the water. “Your mother is dying, and all she wants is to see her youngest before she goes. Your sister misses you. Your brother is a dad now and would love to have you meet your nephew. I don’t think that is too much to ask for you to return, to give a dying woman some peace, regardless of the past.”
“You called me selfish. Well, I must get that from my mother since all she thinks about is herself.” He didn’t look in her direction, keeping his head turned, facing the Intracoastal. He waved to a boat that eased by.
“I didn’t expect you to come home three years ago when my dad passed away unexpectedly, but Louisa is your mother, and she’s been heartbroken ever since you left.”
Rex laughed. “So heartbroken she couldn’t tear herself away from her lover to save her family.” Every syllable was laced with the same angry tone he had the day he’d found out about the affair.
“My parents were separated, and you chose to ignore the fact that your parents fought all the time and barely shared the same bed anymore.”
He snapped his attention to her, ripping off his sunglasses. “You didn’t come home and find your mother sucking face with the man you expected to be your father-in-law, not your stepfather.”
“I can’t believe we’re having this same argument. What’s worse is that you’ve held on to this all these years. Your father and siblings have forgiven her. They are at your mother’s bedside every day. Your father, and even his wife, Judy, werethere for your mother when my dad died. If you had stuck around long enough to work through what happened, you’d see how much better off everyone was.”
“That’s fucked up,” he said, dropping his feet to the floor and leaning forward. “My mother didn’t come to my matches because she was too busy screwing your dad. Your dad didn’t go to your games because he was holed up in some hotel with my mother. Have you forgotten those betrayals? Forgotten that their affair had been going on for years?” He stood and closed the gap, lifting her out of her chair, holding her gaze with fire in his honey eyes. “In the last ten years, I’ve heard from my mother only a handful of times, and each time all she’d cared about was explaining why it happened and how happy she’d finally been with your dad. She didn’t once care about me or how I felt. Only that I’d accept what she’d done and act as if it were the best thing since sliced bread.”
She swallowed. His fingers curled around her arms, burning their imprint into her skin like a cattle prod. They’d all been angry and upset when the truth came out. Tilly had told her father that she hated him. She’d cried for hours, feeling humiliated. But the worst part was that her boyfriend couldn’t, or wouldn’t, give her any comfort.
He tilted his head, leaning in, a scant few inches from her face. Licking his lips, he moved in for the kill, pressing his warm lips over hers, teasing her with his tongue.
Her body stiffened for a moment before turning into putty. Her chest rose, compressing her breasts against his hard body. Ten years ago, he’d been her world. Her rock. The only person who truly understood her. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders.
He snapped his head back, breaking off the tumultuous kiss. “My mother made her choice, and it wasn’t her family.”
“And you made yours, and it wasn’t me.”
He cocked his head, dropping his hands to his sides. “That’s rich. I begged you to come with me.”
“You ordered me, demanded I give up my education and never speak to my family again. I loved you, but I loved my family too. My sisters and brothers needed me. My mother needed me, and I needed you, but you”—she poked his chest—“acted like a spoiled brat, and when things didn’t go your way, you took off.” Her insides still shook from the earth-shattering kiss. Memories of their love affair collided with the pain he’d caused his entire family when he’d cut off all communication, blocking phone numbers, going dark on the internet, making himself a ghost.
But mostly, how he’d punctured her heart, leaving it with a gaping hole that, no matter what she tried, she’d never been able to fill the space he left behind.
His eyes narrowed to tiny slits. “Joining the Air Force, becoming a firefighter, and now working with the Aegis Network have been the best things that ever happened to me. I have no regrets.”
“Neither do I.” She swallowed the guttural sob that lodged in her throat.
“Good. Now get off my boat and go home.”
She folded her arms, sitting back down. “I’m not going anywhere until you agree to come back with me.”
“When hell freezes over,” he said.
Dark clouds rolled in off the ocean. The smell of salty rain filled the humid air that clung to her skin.
“I can wait,” she said defiantly.
