No Vacancy Page 8

  “Trust me, I’m never alone.” I nodded to where Jordan was taking another order with a new waitress shadowing her. Business was heating up, and two more waitresses were set to start this week. That was the kind of thing that filled me with joy when I wasn’t so damn distracted.

  “Dominic is relentless enough. He doesn’t need help.”

  “He’s a good friend who’s looking out for you, not just busting your balls. Life is more than work.” He peered at the clock over my shoulder. “I better head back.”

  “You came all the way out here to drive back the same day?”

  He shrugged. “Gotta do what you what you gotta do, right? I don’t like spending a night away from Bella if I can help it. We’ll be back out to visit soon.”

  He rose from the chair and pulled me into a goodbye hug. “Remember what I said,” he whispered in my ear before slapping me on the back.

  I always remembered what he said. Only this time, I had no idea what to do with it.

  12

  Caterina

  I sat at the breakfast nook—yes, this swanky rental had a breakfast nook—nursing an iced coffee as I waited for my friends to arrive. I was able to pick up the keys and settle into the house on Saturday and check out of the Anchor early, promising Lou I’d let him or his wife know if I needed anything.

  After catching up on some work emails and letting my mother know I wasn’t in a strange hotel anymore, I had a relaxing day to myself, stocking the kitchen with plenty of food for the week for all three of us. I even tested out the grill with a hamburger last night, pairing it with the red wine I grabbed at the liquor store on the way back from the supermarket, relishing my last moments of solitude and trying to get my head screwed back on straight from the past four days.

  The whole point of coming out here alone was to have time to myself to figure things out, but now it was getting lonely. I’d had a few moments of clarity last night before I dozed off on the couch after polishing off a pint of ice cream, non-alcoholic this time.

  By tying all of my self-worth into my career, I let everything else in my life fall to the wayside: my friends, my family, and my relationship. Trent had been looking for an excuse to cheat—I realized that now. But I’d made it far too easy. Even though what he’d done was deplorable, he forced me to open my eyes and finally see the crappy path my life had taken.

  The rental had already given me a little peace. At the very least, it prevented me from peeking across the street at Joe’s restaurant, trying to not try to spot him.

  A sting of disappointment washed over me last night when I realized I wouldn’t be able to smell Joe on these sheets. He was a blip: a beautiful, sexy, wonderful blip and my friends would get me through this limbo I’d fallen into. The memory of blue eyes, a sweet smile, and the best sex of my life would become more and more distant. The attraction between us had been palpable, but the timing was off, and I had nothing to offer him now. No matter how real our connection seemed, in real life, we lived three hours away from each other. Working out a plan on how to extract Trent from my life and my apartment in the quickest and most painless way possible—if that way even existed—would take up most of my time upon my return.

  But, I was supposed to be on vacation. I’d deal with Trent when I had to and not let him ruin one more second of my time while I was here.

  “Anybody home?” Claire’s voice boomed through the open windows as she banged on the door.

  I popped off the stool and headed for the door. The second I opened it, my best friends tackled me with a hug.

  “We are so glad you’re here!” Claire gushed. Megan let go, but Claire still had me in a death grip. I sputtered a cough as I pushed back from her embrace.

  “I’m glad I’m here, too. Kitchen cabinets are stocked, we all have our own bedrooms, and the backyard is sick. This is an awesome house.” They set down their bags and beamed at me. Another one of Trent’s taunts echoed in my head as guilt poked at me. I was lucky to still have friends that wanted me around after neglecting them for all these months.

  “Thank you for including me.” My voice cracked as I looked between them. “I know I’ve been sucked into work, but all of that is going to change. I promise to never take you for granted ever again. The single life is good for me, so far.” I hoped they’d miss my watery eyes. Epiphanies were taxing.

  Claire pffted before lifting the handle of her suitcase. “Life without that asshole will be great, and we’re going to have a blast this week!” She kissed my cheek before heading upstairs.

  “Now that whatever you had with Trent is over, Claire unburdened herself and told you her true feelings.” Megan squeezed my arm before lifting her own bag. “And I agree, life without that douche will be spectacular, and, tonight, we celebrate! Give us some time to freshen up, and we’ll head out.”

  “You just drove for three hours, and you want to head out already? Don’t you want to relax tonight and go out tomorrow?”

  “Hell, no! We’re going to celebrate being young and being alive this week. Thirties are the new twenties. Claire found this cool bar-restaurant on Yelp, not too far from where you were staying. The Beach Pub, I think it’s called? The food and the night life are supposed to be great. Come on, Cat. Let’s go out and live a little.”

  Fuck. I was going to tell them about Joe, once I did the whole breakup information dump, but I wasn’t ready to talk about him yet. I missed him. There. I finally admitted it. I missed a man I hardly knew and already had regrets for pushing him away. I thought once my friends came, they’d provide me the distraction I needed, not lead me right back to him.

  I trudged up the stairs and headed to my bedroom, pulling out the silky black off-the-shoulder blouse I’d bought months ago in hopes of a fancy date night that never happened. I pulled my ankle length skinny jeans up my legs and stepped into a pair of high heeled sandals. After I fixed my hair and makeup, I gazed at my reflection and rolled my eyes. I was dressing up for Joe, and that wasn’t right. I’d said goodbye—twice—but fate was once again putting me back into his path. Maybe staying home and faking an illness would be the noble thing to do, but Megan and Claire would never let that fly. Plus, despite pushing him away, I wanted to see him. And even though I acted as if I wanted him to move on and forget me, I took my appearance up a notch tonight so he’d remember. A disgusted groan erupted from my throat. I was ashamed of my actions and the mixed signals I sent to this nice man who’d done nothing but help me since I’d met him.

  As I waited for my friends, I looked up The Beach Pub on my phone, feeling an odd surge of pride when I stumbled across an article.

  Joe Hunter, 30, is the sole owner of The Beach Pub. Renovating the former Red Oak and introducing a brand-new menu, the establishment has quickly become a local seasonal favorite in the two years since its opening. Calling ahead for dinner reservations is recommended, especially in late July and August.

  Maybe Joe wouldn’t notice me in the crowd. I could pretend and try to ignore all I wanted, but there would be no way I wouldn’t notice him. This was going to be a long night.

  When we were seated at a table after a fifteen-minute wait, I was relieved when a waitress I didn’t recognize sauntered up to the table.

  “I’m Maureen. Are you getting food and drinks or just drinks?”

  “Both,” all three of us answered at once. Maureen giggled at us before handing out menus.

  “We have three kinds of sliders, and the macaroni and cheese bites are my favorite. There’s a sampler with all of that plus chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks to share. Usually works in a smaller group, but depends on how hungry you are.”

  “How about a bottle of red for us to share? And all that stuff, too.” Megan glanced across the table as Claire and I nodded in agreement, ignoring the wave of sadness at having mozzarella sticks not specially made for me like the last time. I was so pathetic, I was getting on my own nerves.

  “We can work all of it off on the beach. We’re close enough to
go for a run in the morning.” Claire was the pain-in-the-ass fitness nut of all of us, but I’d been doing enough stress eating since Thursday to let her push me out the door at the ungodly hour she would awaken and drag me to run with her.

  “So, tell me, Kit-Cat, what have you been doing since Thursday?” Megan’s brows shot up as Claire shifted in her seat, both awaiting my answer.

  “Not much, really. I worked a little on Friday, sat by the pool, went to this food festival for a bit.” I shrugged, omitting the mind-melting sex I’d had with Joe on Thursday night and falling into Joe’s bed, tipsy off my ass, on Friday night.

  Megan fell back in her chair, narrowing her eyes at me.

  “She’s hiding something from us,” she whispered to Claire with her suspicious gaze still centered on me.

  “She’s totally hiding something,” Claire agreed before Maureen came over with our wine and set the glasses in front of us.

  I glared at the both of them while Maureen poured.

  “She is sitting right here, guys.” I pursed my lips and tapped my finger against the side of my glass. “There is nothing to—” My mouth went dry when I spotted the man I’d hoped in vain I’d be able to avoid. Joe was behind the bar with Dominic, laughing and leaning over to whisper in a beautiful redhead’s ear. At least, I thought it was a redhead. The lighting was dim, but there was no mistaking Joe’s easy smile. God, he was beautiful. Instead of a T-shirt, he wore a button-down with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. I wasn’t sure if it was regret or jealousy nauseating me: regret at walking away from what could’ve been a great thing because of circumstance, jealousy for the lucky woman who basked in Joe’s attention and could allow herself to enjoy it.

  I exhaled a long breath and brought my wineglass to my lips for a long pull. It was easy to gravitate toward Joe, and I was sure this woman was one of many in this town who vied for his attention, but it stung like a bitch to watch.

  “What are we looking at?” Claire’s head swiveled around to where my eyes remained glued. “Ooh, he’s hot. She tapped my hand. “You look amazing tonight.” “Go talk to him. Start the Trent cleanse.” She shoved my shoulder.

  I scanned the room for a quick exit. My mouth was dry, and I swallowed to mask my gasp for air. The beach behind the restaurant was now open for customers, and I needed to sneak outside to regroup before I spilled what I’d really been doing since I’d arrived.

  “I need a little air. I’ll be right back.”

  I shot up from my chair and rushed over to the back door, inhaling deeply as I clasped my hands behind my neck.

  My gaze drifted toward the waves crashing onto the sand in the distance. The ebb and flow of the water was soothing, yet sad, bringing back memories of Joe’s anecdote about chaos and swimming against the current. He’d called me brave, but I was the exact opposite. Becoming involved with Joe was as messy and chaotic as it could possibly get, but it would be the good kind of chaos. The best kind.

  Sure, we could just enjoy things for now, but that wasn’t how I was wired, no matter how hard I’d been fighting to go against the grain and be different and daring. More time with Joe meant more certainty of getting hurt when it inevitably ended. And, as much as I wanted to take a chance, that fear paralyzed me from acting on it.

  “Why didn’t you come over to say hello when you came in?” Joe’s voice startled me out of my thoughts. His beautiful blue eyes shot me an icy glare, and I could only shrug in response.

  “You were speaking to someone. I didn’t think you noticed me, honestly.” The clipped edge of my voice surprised me.

  “I always notice you. I was talking to a friend of mine. Just like we're friends, right?” He motioned between us with his finger, taunting me.

  “You don’t need to explain. None of my business—”

  “You weren’t jealous, were you?”

  I didn't know whether to kiss or slap the smirk off of his face.

  “No. Of course not.”

  “There’s no shame in admitting it. I sure as hell didn’t like all these guys gawking at you when you walked out here.” He crossed his arms, a hint of a smile contradicting the feral gleam in his eye.

  “No one was gawking—”

  “I didn’t like it.”

  The husky, possessive dip in his voice made me shiver. He had no right to sound like that, and I shouldn’t have liked it so much. But I did. My eyes fell to his lips as I avoided the singe of his heated stare. The fantasy of him claiming me with his mouth in front of everyone like he had in my motel room played out so vividly in my brain I took a step back on instinct, terrified I’d want it bad enough to let it play out in real life.

  Fantasy was where it needed to stay.

  “I know why we can’t … go back there.” He ate up the distance I’d attempted to put between us in one step. “But I can’t deny wanting to. And neither can you. At least you can’t very well.” He choked out a laugh before heading back.

  My heels sank in the sand, Joe’s words pinning me to where I stood. I wanted to call him back, but when my mouth opened, I couldn’t find the words.

  “And Caterina?” Joe called to me before pushing the door open.

  “Yeah?” My voice was a shaky whisper from all the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

  “You’re gorgeous tonight.” My breath caught from the electricity pulsing between us. “Fucking gorgeous.” His blue eyes darkened as they caressed my body, my skin tingling along the path of his gaze before he disappeared inside.

  I bent over, clutching my knees in an attempt to even out my breathing.

  I couldn’t run from something that kept finding me every time.

  13

  Joe

  I never doubted that Caterina and I would cross paths again while she was here. The main attractions of Ocean Cove were too close together, and the restaurant was in the middle of it all. I wasn’t sure if she’d ever come back here, but I’d run into her somewhere, that much I’d known. My plan was to be cordial but not attach myself to her side—the exact opposite of what I’d done since the moment I met her because I couldn’t help my damn self. When I’d spotted her, looking so goddamn gorgeous, I couldn’t stand it, my plan had flown right out the window. There was no way I couldn’t notice her, with her perfect ass poured into those skin-tight jeans and her bare shoulder teasing and torturing me. She’d stalked outside on fuck me heels, and, once again, my need for this woman trumped any sense of reason or self-preservation. Unable to fight against this ridiculous pull between us, I’d followed her.

  But now, the rest was up to her. She was just another customer tonight, and I’d ignore her and the countless guys I’d caught staring in her direction. I had a business to run. While I couldn’t deny I still wanted her and had to fight every cell in my body not to grab her by the neck and kiss her until she gave in, I wouldn’t. The restaurant was too busy for me to waste time pining over a woman who was afraid to want me back. The struggle to shift my priorities to where they’d always been was new. Eventually, I’d be able to peel my eyes from her table and pretend she wasn’t even there. That would take some work, but the frustration building since Friday morning fueled my incentive to at least try.

  “Joe?” Jordan asked, tearing me away from my thoughts and reminding me I was the boss around here. “Can we put three tables together? The guys in the back are asking.”

  “No, not when it’s this busy. If they give you a hassle, let me know.”

  I glanced toward the crowd Jordan was referring to and recognized one of the guys at the far end of the table. When Caterina had walked outside, he’d openly eye fucked her. The possessive idiot in me hoped he’d get rowdy, so I’d have an excuse to throw him out.

  “Are you all right, Joe?” Jill asked me from where she sat at the bar, studying me with a confused gaze. We’d dated for a couple of months before we decided we were better off as friends. She managed one of the newer hotels along the beach, and we had a mutually beneficial business relationshi
p that I was thankful I hadn’t fucked up. She was a good friend, but, every once in a while, I’d catch a flash of regret in her green eyes.

  “I’m fine.” I turned my gaze back to hers. “Busy, new staff starting tonight. It’s a good stressful, but you know how it is.”

  “I do.” She nodded, her fingers drumming on the bar. “But you thrive on busy. Ever since you rushed outside, you’ve been like a different person.”

  “I’m not …” I started but trailed off. Jill knew me well enough to see through my hollow denial. “It’s stupid. I’m a big boy.” I shot her a grin. “I’ll get over it.”

  “For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve never looked at anyone the way you’re looking at that brunette over there.” She regarded me with a wistful smile that never made it to her eyes. “She’s lucky.”

  “She’s not interested.” I attempted to cover my disappointment with a shrug. “What we had was short if it was even anything. She’s only here on vacation.”

  “Seriously? The poor thing is going to give herself neck cramps if she keeps turning her head this way. I don’t know her, but I’d bet she’s very interested. The kind of tension I’m sensing between the two of you doesn’t come from indifference.”

  I stilled and grabbed the edge of the bar, hating the defeated tone in her words. This was why I didn’t date. I didn’t have much in me to give, and I always ended up disappointing someone. Jill was a good person, and she deserved better than what I had to offer, which was nothing at the time. But with Caterina, it was already different. I was already different. She wasn’t an afterthought. Hell, lately, she was my only thought. But right now, I had no choice but to walk away.

  “Joe?” Maureen, one of the new waitresses, asked me from behind Jill, “do we have the right to cut customers off? They’re on their fifth bottle of wine, and they’re getting a little loud, but they’re insisting on more.” She grimaced and motioned to another loud table near the back door.