Page 7 of Secrets at Seaside
“I know you do, Bella. I’m talking to Duke tomorrow to find out a few more details. But honestly, Tony made his feelings, or lack thereof, very clear to me last night. I think I just need to accept it and move on. And maybe moving on means not seeing him for eight weeks every summer.”
They turned back to their friends as Jamie swept Jessica out to the dance floor. Caden and Pete were right behind them.
“Babe?” Caden held a hand out to Bella and nodded toward the dance floor.
Bella turned compassionate eyes to Amy. “Ames?”
“I’m fine. Go.” She watched her friends wrapped in their loved ones’ arms. Even Blue and Sky were dancing cheek to cheek, just friends or not. She’d like to be dancing cheek to cheek with Tony.I love you as a friend.Could she accept his honesty and still have the same friendship they’d always shared? On some level she knew that just because she now had her answer, their friendship shouldn’t change. If anything, it should get stronger. Now that she clearly understood its constraints, she should be able to remove the hope and anticipation of ever having more.
She watched the couples on the dance floor and smiled at a friend of Jessica’s dancing with his teenage daughter. Tony passed behind them, and suddenly the sight of that teenage girl threw Amy off-kilter, sending her mind back to when she and Tony were teenagers.
Tony turned and their eyes locked. Her knees weakened. This was too much. He was too much.
Who was she kidding?
He wasn’t just too much.
He was everything.
TONY WATCHED AS Amy lowered herself into a chair and shifted her eyes away, but not before he saw the look in her eyes. Maybe she hadn’t buried the past so deeply after all.
She’d been avoiding him all day, and he hated that as much as he hated the idea of her being with anyone else. She looked stunning in her blue strapless dress, but no amount of makeup could hide the pain he’d read in her eyes. Her eyes never lied. Not when she was a teenager and not as an adult. Not even last night, when they’d been full of love and lust and when they’d clouded over with hurt. He needed to apologize for hurting her. He wished he could save himself from the pain, too, but that was his cross to bear.
While he was busy mulling over the line he’d drawn in the sand, Duke joined Amy at the table. Duke had about two inches on Tony. All of the Ryders were six three or six four, with athletic builds and a look of determination in their eyes. Duke reminded Tony of every surfing competitor he’d ever had: savvy, always sizing up his surroundings. But beneath that carefully devised exterior, he had a friendly nature, and he was always talking about his family. He was a good man, and he’d make a good boss for Amy. And Tony knew by Duke’s protectiveness over his own sister that he’d watch out for Amy.
Duke sat beside her and leaned in close, talking about who knew what. The job, probably. Amy was smiling, but it wasn’t the same smile Tony knew and loved. It was forced, and it never reached her eyes. He wondered if Duke could see that, too, or if he was oblivious the way new employers usually were.
“Hey there, handsome.”
Tony clenched his jaw. Cher Worthington was Jessica’s friend from work, a clingy brunette with big knockers and an hourglass figure. There was never a shortage of attractive women wanting to accompany Tony in a night of no-strings-attached sex. He could have his pick of jailbait to cougar, groupie to celebrity. Since Tony had long ago built a fortress around his heart, the whole no-strings scenario had always suited him just fine. But at thirty-four, he was no longer interested in overenthusiastic twenty-three-year-olds, lecherous cougars looking to ease the pain of aging, or anyone in between.
“Hi, Cher.” He walked toward Amy and Duke. Over the last few summers, as Tony watched his friends at Seaside fall in love and move toward the altar, his interests had narrowed. So much so that they were heading backward.
Cher draped her hand possessively on Tony’s shoulder. Her breath brushed against his ear. “Help a lady ease her loneliness? Dance with me?”
Amy lifted hopeful eyes to Tony as he headed her way. Her gaze slid to Cher, hanging on Tony like a second shirt, and all that hope evaporated as if it had never existed. What the heck was wrong with him? This was just one reason why he couldn’t be with Amy. Inside he was pining for Amy, tearing himself up over hurting her and wanting her more than he’d ever wanted another woman—and he hadn’t thought to shake Cher off. He’d become so used to attention from women that he’d ignored it and had inadvertently hurt Amy again.
This was so messed up.
He glanced at the dance floor. Caden was gazing into Bella’s eyes. Pete and Jenna were smooching, and Jamie and Jessica, well, were they ever not lusting after each other? And Kurt and Leanna? Those two emitted love from a thousand miles away.
Like Amy.Sweet Amy. She looked at him with more emotion than any of their friends looked at each other. If he had a sliver of a chance of being the man she deserved, he’d give up everything else in his life just to be with her.
“Excuse me, Cher.” He stepped away and closed the gap between him and Amy. He would give up surfing, motivational speaking. He’d give up breathing if he could be good enough for her, but he wasn’t even sure he knew how to own his feelings anymore after repressing them for so long.
“Hi, Tony.” Duke nodded, smiled. “I caught your competition in the spring. Nice win.” He had deep-set eyes, a jaw that could chisel granite, and a strong voice that commanded attention.
As Tony shook his hand, he noticed Cher giving Duke a lascivious leer.Better him than me.
“Thanks, man. It was a good year.”
“Well, now that I’ve got the Australia resort, why don’t you stay there when you compete out that way? I’ll make it a point to be there, and we can celebrate together.” Duke smiled at Amy. “And if I’m lucky, Amy’ll be running the conference center operations, so she can join us.”
“Sounds great,” Tony said more gruffly than he’d intended.
“Excuse me, Amy. I’ll give you two some privacy.”
Tony nodded in response, unable to find his voice. He wondered what was going on in Amy’s mind. Was she thinking about how much she hated him after last night? Did she have any hope left that he’d come around? Because if she did, that was a dangerous thing for both of them. How long was a man expected to ward off the only woman he really wanted? His mind was tangled up in all that couldn’t be—and all that he’d become. He maintained a bit of a player lifestyle. It kept him from getting hurt, and Amy had the power to slay him. This he knew firsthand…She’d done it once—no, he wouldn’t go there.
