Page 15 of Secrets at Seaside
“I have to go.” Amy moved from under his arm.
“Don’t you want to talk about this?” He held her steady gaze as emotions washed over her face. Worry filled her eyes, then morphed to sadness, drawing her lips downward. Her eyes followed.
“I’m sorry, Amy. I never wanted to hurt you.”
Amy lifted cold eyes to him. Her mouth closed tight. But her determined mask faded fast, unlike the night in her hotel room, when it had threatened to slaughter him. She was putting on a brave face, and he respected her for it, but of all times, did she have to pick this moment to be strong? He’d selfishly hoped that she’d look at him like she used to and maybe his resolve would melt.
“You did me a favor.” She rose to her feet. “I could have spent the next ten years pining over you.” She laughed, a sad little laugh that drove his pain even deeper.
A favor. That’s exactly what he had thought he was doing when he’d told her to take the job, but now he wasn’t so sure. Was he doing himself a favor by making her move so far away that a relationship would be impossible? She might be out of sight, but Amy Maples was never far from his mind. Why did it take the threat of her leaving the country for him to realize how much he didn’t want to lose her?
“Would it have been so bad to keep liking me?” he said lightly. He rose and draped an arm over her shoulder, intending to walk her home.
She shrugged him off and took a step away. “Honestly? Yeah, probably.”
“I’m sorry.” He reached for her hand. “I’ll walk you home.”
“It’s okay. I need to get used to this.” She shoved her hands in her pockets and headed across the grassy quad toward her cottage.
He almost wished she’d had too much to drink so he could carry her back to her cottage and put her to bed. How was it possible to miss someone who was right there in front of him? And how could it hurt so much? It hadn’t exactly been easy all these years to keep his feelings for Amy at bay, but it had been doable. He’d dated enough women to satisfy his carnal needs, and Amy had always been right there during the summers, across the gravel road. The possibility of her not being there was beginning to settle in, and it felt wrong and painful.
On the way to his cottage he passed Leanna’s bedroom window and heard Leanna giggling.Stupid windows. Listening to Leanna and Kurt make love was a running joke around Seaside. They always forgot to close their windows. Usually he could laugh it off or ignore it. Tonight, as Leanna’s giggle turned to a low moan, it only made him miss Amy more.
Chapter Seven
MIDNIGHT CAME AND went, and Amy was tired of staring at her stupid clock. She’d wanted to climb into Tony’s arms and fall back into the closeness they’d had before her seduction-gone-bad, when he’d revealed his true feelings for her. But there was no going back. She was in love with an incredibly smart, handsome man who was a numbskull for not seeing her for who she was. She tossed off her blankets, stripped off her favorite pajama top—the one with a kitty lying on its side like Marilyn Monroe, propped up on one elbow, legs crossed, with the wordsLet me show you what purrfect feels like—and peeled off her underwear. She stomped into the bathroom, grabbed a towel, and secured it around her naked body, then headed outside to her deck. The cold air sent shivers up her body. She didn’t care. It was a dark, moonless night, and she needed dark. She felt dark. The water would be cold, but that was okay, too. She needed to shock her system to rid it of Tony again.
She stepped off her deck and onto the driveway. Darn it. She’d forgotten her flip-flops. Oh well. Bare feet beware, because Amy Maples was on a mission. She walked on her tiptoes across the gravel road to Leanna’s bedroom window and prayed she and Kurt were done with their frisk-fest. All was quiet on the bedroom front, but Amy wasn’t tall enough to see in, and she worried about waking Pepper, so she tiptoed over to Jenna’s back deck and went to her bedroom window instead. The inside of Jenna’s cottage was always immaculately organized, as was the house on the bay where she and Pete spent half their time. The interior was painted white with orange, black, androckaccents. Jenna had a wicked rock obsession, and she kept rocks she’d hand selected from the beaches over the years in every room. A quick glance inside confirmed that she and Pete were sleeping. Pete was lying on his back with the sheets bunched around his waist—thank goodness—and Jenna was draped over his chest. Joey, their female golden retriever, was sprawled across her doggy bed in the corner of the room.
“Jenna,” Amy whispered.
Jenna didn’t budge. Joey lifted her fuzzy head.
“Jenna,” she whispered louder. Joey yawned, put her head back down, and closed her eyes.
“Amy.”
Startled, Amy squealed. Bella covered Amy’s mouth and they dropped to the deck like lead.
“Shut up.” Bella was also wearing a towel and she’d remembered her flip-flops. Her tangled and messy hair had that mattress-romp look.
Had everyone but Amy had sex tonight? She sighed and pushed Bella’s hand from her mouth.
“You scared the life out of me.”
“I was coming to get you,” Bella whispered. “I thought you could use some cheering up.”
“Yeah, well, great minds think alike.”
They got up on their knees and peered into the bedroom. Jenna and Pete were still zonked.
“They both sleep like logs.” Bella put her mouth up to the screen and whispered loudly, “Jenna.”
Jenna lifted her head and blinked several times. A smile formed quickly as she slid from the bed and ran naked to the window. “Chunky-dunking?”
“Heck yeah, and don’t wake Pete. We’ll go get Leanna.” Bella took Amy’s hand and dragged her off the deck and across the grass.
“Ouch. Slow down. I don’t have my flip-flops.” Amy clung to Bella’s arm as Jenna darted off her deck and across the quad with a towel clutched to her chest.
