Page 5 of Secrets at Seaside
It surprised him that she avoided the secret they’d buried so long ago, but then again, after that summer, she’d never said another word about it. And he’d let her get away with that, believing it was the only way she could survive what had happened. Just like him.
“Amy, it’s none of those things.” He didnotwant to have this conversation with her. He wanted to fold her in his arms and kiss the worry away.
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
Tony could handle a lot of things, but Amy’s tears melted his heart, and that he’d caused them was further proof he wasn’t the right guy for her.
“Then why, Tony? Just tell me once and for all. Why don’t you want me? I need to know so I can decide about taking this job in Australia.”
Tony opened his mouth to answer, but his thoughts were jumbled as he processed what she’d said. “Australia? I thought you said you weren’t taking it.”
She crossed her arms, and he hated knowing it was to protect herself from his rejection. Tony felt like a heel, but he knew that taking Amy up on her seduction would only dredge up bad memories and lead to hurting her. They’d spent a lifetime denying the past between them existed, even to themselves.
“I said I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.” She dropped her eyes to the floor, and he slid a hand in hers, as he’d done a million times before. It was a natural reaction. Taking care of her. Protecting her. Helping her feel safe. He knew it could send her mixed messages, but he just couldn’t help himself. His hand had already claimed its spot with hers.
“You’d give up everything you’ve built to run Duke’s resort? You’d move to Australia?” He had nothing against Duke Ryder. But the idea that Amy would change her life to help him just pissed Tony off.
She sank down onto the bed and buried her face in her hands.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and when she tried to pull away, he tightened his grip and kissed the top of her head.
“Amy, you’re sexy, smart, and everything a guy could want.”
She cocked her head to the side and narrowed her damp eyes. He felt like the biggest jerk on earth, and at the same time, his own heart was fighting tooth and nail against the space he was trying to maintain between them.
He scrubbed his hand down his face. “You are all those things, Amy, and so much more, but…”
“But you like me as a friend.”
He’d never seen so much hurt concentrated in one person’s eyes, and even if he had, it wouldn’t have compared to seeing it in Amy’s. He touched his forehead to hers, and he did the only thing he knew how to do without doing irreparable damage to their friendship.
His lie came in a whisper. “No. Iloveyou as a friend.”
He loved Bella, Caden, and the others. But what he felt for Amy was so much bigger than friendship, it threatened to stop his heart.
She didn’t say a word, just nodded, and Tony knew in that moment that she wasn’t drunk enough to forget what he’d said by the morning—and he almost wished she were.
Chapter Two
THERE WERE TIMES in a woman’s life when she needed to be anywhere but in her own head. This was one of those times. Amy stood on the side of the dance floor at Jamie and Jessica’s wedding reception, reflecting on all that had transpired the night before. Amy had spent the entire night trying to separate herself from her heart and trying to convince herself that she could live a perfectly happy life without Tony in it.
And she’d failed.
Miserably.
She was surprised her bed hadn’t fallen through the floor with the weight of her tears last night. Amy had no business trying to seduce Tony. She hadn’t a clue what she was doing. Did her friends really think that after all these years he’d suddenly look at her and profess his love to her?Did I?She must be a glutton for punishment.
He. Doesn’t. Love. Me.
It had taken Jenna an hour to cover every splotch and conceal the dark moons under Amy’s eyes. Before the ceremony, Leanna and Jessica had given her such good pep talks that she almost believed Tony was no longer worthy of her thoughts. Bella, however, hadn’t been quite as ready to let him go. She’d wanted Tony’s head on a platter.
At least they’d made it through the ceremony without any head chopping, and it turned out that Amydidhave more tears to shed. She’d cried when Jessica and Jamie exchanged their wedding vows. Jessica looked radiant in a chiffon sheath wedding dress with a sweetheart neckline and crisscross bodice. It was the perfect combination of elegance and simplicity. Jamie couldn’t have been more handsome in his dark tux with the look of love in his eyes so thick and palpable Amy felt like a voyeur.
The reception was half over, and so far Amy had successfully avoided saying two words to Tony. With Bella on the warpath, she was pretty sure that Tony was keeping his distance in order to save the wedding from a scene. She’d been busy keeping her distance from her father. She adored him, but he was so overprotective that she didn’t think she could stand his scrutiny on the heels of her very messed up seduction. Luckily, he’d been too busy talking with Jamie’s grandmother, Vera, and Leanna’s parents to track her down.
She allowed herself one small peek at Tony. She was annoyed at how her stomach fluttered at the sight of him. Holy mother of hotness, did he have to look so good in that tux? His shoulders seemed impossibly broad. Tuxes weren’t supposed to fit tightly, but heck if his biceps didn’t stretch that fancy material every time he lifted his drink. His hair needed a trim. His hair always needed a trim. Amy liked the way his sandy blond hair brushed his thick lashes. She found it even more attractive that he wasn’t perfectly manicured, as was all the rage.
She remembered all the summers their families had spent together at the Cape, the way she’d watched his body change over the years, hoping he’d notice hers. She thought of the tall and lanky boy he’d been the summer after high school and the way their young bodies had fit together like they were made for each other. She fought hard to push those intimate thoughts away again, thinking instead of the years when she’d been in college and he’d been surfing around the world, making a name for himself. He’d broadened and become muscled to heart-throbbing proportions over those years when they hadn’t seen each other much. They’d drifted apart, making it easier to allow their past to drift away, too. But her feelings had never changed. She’d loved him then and she loved him now. Even if he didn’t love her back the way she wanted him to.
