Page 2 of Sweet Surrender
His scent wrapped around her. Fresh, clean cotton with a hint of mint, he even smelled like a Goody Two-shoes. Okay so it was a nice smell and she wanted to breathe it in but she wouldn’t. She would hold her breath and die if she had to, just to avoid it.
“Imayhave mentioned that you murdered someone with your bare hands.”
His eyebrows practically hit his hairline. “What the fuck, Taylor!”
“I think you mean to say, you’re welcome. If she’s going to be scared off by a little thing like that then how loyal is she, really?”
“Are you serious right now? Why did you do that?”
She shrugged. “Because it was fun.”
“You’re twisted, you know that?”
“Hey, your ego is so overinflated you’re going to be up in the clouds at this rate. Someone needs to bring you back down to earth, and luckily for you I’ve made it my mission to do just that. I’m the happy pin that gets to pop you.” She smiled at him sweetly, knowing that would piss him off even more. He raked his hand through those chocolatey soft locks, glaring at her.
“You’re so damn lucky that you’re my best friend’s little sister,” he muttered.
“Why? What would you do if I wasn’t?” she taunted eagerly, loving and hating their verbal sparring. He was the only man who ever matched her energy. She knew she needed to pump the brakes; her mouth tended to run away with her but she liked getting under his skin far too much and hey, she had to have some flaws, right?
He stared her down, his pupils flaring until all the deep warmth was gobbled up by chilling black. “You think you’ve got one over on me, but I can still turn this date around. Trust me, sweetheart,” he replied smugly.
Her stomach dropped at his confidence. He would do it too. Not that she cared, of course.
“Whatever, and don’t call me that,” she muttered, turning away. Seething as she handed him the victory in their little skirmish. She heard his boots clomp across the wooden floor towards the exit.
“Oh, and when you come to clean my room tomorrow, be sure to bring a whole bunch of fresh sheets, I’m gonna need them.” He smirked at her, his luscious mouth full of spite and then he was out the door. She flung a glass at the wall in anger, the shards tinkling around her when it shattered.
Sometimes their verbal sparring gave her a crazy high, higher even than sex. But sometimes, like tonight, it left her hollow.It’s your own fault,she chided. But she couldn’t help it, it was a reflex to dig at him. To prod and poke at him and show him how little she thought of him. It had been this way between them ever since…no, don’t go there, not when you feel shitty.
She swept up the broken glass, annoyed at herself for her reaction and wasting a glass she would now have the expense of replacing. Maybe she should add it to Beau’s bill? No, she couldn’t do that. She was a lot of things, but she would never take advantage of a customer like that, even if she hated him with every fiber of her being.
She finished cleaning up the bar and cashed up the register before locking up. Once outside, she stepped off the porch, the cool evening air signaling that fall was on its way. The wind swirled around her, dancing her hair across her face. The scent of citrus teasing her nostrils, so strong she could almost taste it. She loved this place, the scents, the scenery, the beauty of it worked its way inside your veins. She could never imagine leaving this town the way some of her friends had. It was home.
She walked around the side of the bar and headed for her cabin, the light on her porch calling her home. Movement drew her attention to the porch of the cabin next to hers and she saw Beau standing there, opening the door and stepping back to let his date inside.
The bastard actually did it…
When he spotted Taylor, he smiled wide, smug from his win and gave her a little pinkie wave before heading inside. The door shut with a resounding click that echoed on the breeze through the quiet night.
Her mouth dropped open and her stomach dipped. She just hoped they were quiet so she didn’t have to listen to their cries of ecstasy all night. The thought tangled around her throat, halting her breath.
“Enjoy your night of boring, polite sex,” she muttered to herself. Much like most things she didn’t know about Beau, she assumed he was a dud in the bedroom department. He was Mr. Perfect with all those perfect manners and perfect façade, not to mention his perfect breath. He didn’t exactly screamwild nights, ugh, not that she ever spent hours thinking about it or anything.
She should have refused to rent him the cabin. He’d been staying at the Inn for a few months now while he was having renovations done on his house. He had bought the house from Christy, Taylor’s best friend, who had run away fifteen years ago, leaving town and leaving Taylor to continue life without her.
When Christy’s father passed away last year, Christy had come home to clear the house and sell it. Taylor had been ecstatic that her friend was finally home after all these years, she’d hoped it would be to stay, and that Christy would decide to keep the house moving home permanently.
What no one expected was Christy falling in love with Dean, Taylor’s stepbrother. Taylor had known they had a thing for each other when they were teenagers, not that they ever would have admitted it at the time. Now Christy and Dean were living together and soon to be married. Taylor smiled as she thought about the two people she loved most in the world finding happiness together.
Beau had started renovating the house, but Taylor had never asked him what he was doing with it. Have a normal conversation with him?Never!Still, she’d overheard a few things. It sounded like he was creating some kind of gym or spa thing for the elderly. Which wasnota nice thing to do. Not at all.
She would have refused to rent him the cabin but Dean had stepped in and talked her into it.Dean was her only family, she loved him fiercely, would give him anything he asked for and he knew it.
Her father was a cheater through and through. He cheated on her mom so many times that eventually her mom couldn’t take any more and she left, not stopping to say goodbye or even take Taylor with her. When her dad met Dean’s mom, Iris, hope bloomed in Taylor: maybe she would finally have a mom again. Their parents had married, combining families like the Brady Bunch, except then her dad did what he always did: lied and cheated over and over again until Iris couldn’t take it anymore and she left too.
Taylor not only lost her stepmom that day but also lost her hope that love was enough to make people stick around. Iris struggled to keep a relationship with Taylor after everything that her dad had done, but eventually they lost touch. Her anger at her father and the hurt she felt at Iris abandoning her still burned bright to this day, but her relationship with Dean had gone the distance, and that was a blessing.
Taylor shivered in the evening air, hurrying to her cabin, grateful it was only a short distance. She glanced around her, making sure no one was watching her. Her ex-boyfriend, Dale, had been hanging around lately, wanting a second chance with her and each time he didn’t get it, he started causing trouble.
