Tangled Love on Pelican Point (Island County Series Book 3) (6 page)

“Here is my extra special ghoulish mocha with raspberry.” She placed the cup in front of me and sighed. “Now, what’s going on? Why haven’t you answered at least one of Anthony’s texts? Weren’t you the one touting the simplicity of texting when I was on the fence about Cole?”

I glanced at the clock. I could spare ten minutes.

“The short version is that while I’m sure Anthony is an absolutely fascinating human being, I don’t feel like dragging him into my world. The view from down here has not been pretty lately. And beyond you two pushing him toward me, I don’t see why he’d be the least bit interested in me.”

Natalie’s brows shot up, and she shook her head.

“That’s not the Sophie I know. What’s going on?” She slid two stools over and took a seat in front of me.

“Things haven’t gone exactly how I planned recently.” I bit my lip, debating what all to tell Natalie. She was fresh off an engagement she’d waited a lifetime for, and I didn’t want to burst her bubble and weigh her down with my troubles only days after her amazing news.

“When do they ever?” She gave me a sympathetic grin. “Is it your dad? I thought he was doing better.”

“No, he is. But I think I’ve hit my wall, financially and emotionally.”

Natalie nodded and let out a sigh.

“Right now, I should be doing better than ever. My rent is affordable, I got a modest raise at the Loxxy, and I even had a nest egg built up until last year.”

Natalie nodded and clasped my hand. “It’s hard seeing the ones you love suffer, and I know you want to help any way you can.”

“It is,” I agreed. “But as of Sunday, I came to the realization that there’s a fine line between helping and being taken advantage of, and I’ve apparently slid into the latter category. Not by my dad, but by Cindy.”

“What’s your stepmom been up to?” Natalie scowled.

“Apparently more than I realized. After your party, Anthony drove me home, and I got a text from her that she needed help because my dad wasn’t doing well. I got to my dad’s house, and she went to help an elderly friend with some sort of heating issue during the storm—or so the story went. Come to find out, she was at the bar buying everyone drinks and had to be driven home. I’d just bought the amount she’d spent at the bar in groceries for them, not to mention paid part of another one of my dad’s medical bills.”

“I’m so sorry, Hun. You do not deserve this.”

I shook my head. “That’s not the worst of it.”

Natalie’s brow shot up.

“The man who was called to pick her up from the bar was someone I’ve had a hunch about over the last while.”

“A hunch?”

“I think she’s cheating on my dad.”

Natalie flinched in disgust and pulled her hand back.

“Oh, Sophie. You’re kidding.”

“I wish. So to say I didn’t feel like texting Anthony would be an understatement. I can barely hold my own head above water, and it certainly wouldn’t be right to pull him under with me. I’m just not into the whole dating thing.”

The shop phone rang, startling me, and Natalie held her finger to shush me while answering it.

“Yes, she is,” Natalie spoke into the phone. “My guess is another few.” A pause surfaced as she avoided my gaze. “I don’t think that’s the best idea.” Another pause. “You’re not my brother-in-law yet.” Her eyes landed on mine. “Suit yourself.” And she hung up.

A thrill ran through me at the realization that Anthony had been on the other end of the line. I hopped off the stool and glanced out the window, not seeing any sign of him.

Natalie groaned. “Don’t kill me. We can still fix this, but I happened to mention to Cole that you’d be by this afternoon to pick up Loxxy’s arrangement, and word travels fast between those two.”

I rolled my eyes. “You are impossible.”

“In all fairness, I had no idea what’s been going on.” She smiled. “But you’ve got a few minutes to flee before Anthony gets here. I’ll carry the arrangement out to the car for you so you can safely hold your drink.”

“Thank you,” I muttered, strapping my purse across my shoulder. “I’m just not up for any more problems in my life.”

“I understand,” Natalie said, picking up the arrangement. “But maybe one of the first things you should do to make a change is let yourself have a moment where you can push everything out of your mind with no distractions.”

I pushed open the door as Natalie carried out the flowers. “That’s the problem. I don’t think I can put this out of my mind. And let’s not fool ourselves. There are always complications.”

I unlocked the car and Natalie crawled inside, securing the vase to the front seat with the seatbelt.

“When do you get off from Loxxy?” Natalie asked, pulling herself out of the car.

“Six.” I gave her a quick hug.

“I’ll be at your place a little after six then. We need to hash this out.”

“What about Cole?” I asked, not wanting to whisk Natalie away from her fiancé.

“He’s a big boy. He’ll be just fine.” She smiled, but her expression fell as her eyes focused on something over my shoulder.

I didn’t need to turn around to know. Anthony was close. I could feel his gaze on the back of me, and every single thing I’d been telling myself over the last few days came barreling through my mind.

“He’s here,” I whispered.

A hidden smile filled Natalie’s gaze, and she nodded before whispering a quick apology and leaving me to stand alone on the sidewalk.

“You’re not very good at responding to texts.” Anthony’s voice coated me like a piece of candy I wanted to nibble, and I held in a groan of frustration at my lack of willpower. It had never been a problem before, but then again, I’d never met someone who could hold the attention of forty thousand screaming fans before either. He obviously had skills. “Funny thing is, I know you got the messages because there’s this handy little feature that lets the sender see when the receiver has read it. If you want, I can show you how to turn that feature off. It might save my ego a bit.”

He was standing directly behind me, yet I stayed securely fastened with my gaze directed at Natalie’s flower shop. I felt every inch of him hovering, and my body wanted to respond in a way that wouldn’t be good for either of us, so I stayed put.

“I doubt your ego needs saving. From what I’ve read online, a little humility could do you some good.”

“I thought silence was more of a weapon than words, but I think I might have been wrong.” He took in a deep breath, and I felt the oxygen get sucked from all around me as my resolve to stay steely around him vanished. The charm he exuded belonged exclusively to the Hill brothers.

“I don’t mean to be cruel. I’m just not any good for you.” I turned around to face him, and his chestnut colored eyes locked on mine, sending my thoughts of restraint out of the atmosphere. The depth behind his gaze was startling, and the smile that slowly spread across his luscious lips could have been my undoing, but I had bigger problems in my world.

“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?” he joked.

I couldn’t help but laugh and shake my head.

“I’m sorry for not returning your texts. Things have been crazy since you dropped me off at my dad’s, and I’m just not quite there yet.”

“Where’s
there
?” Anthony asked, his head cocking slightly as he studied me. A charge ran between us that nearly swept me off my feet, so I took a couple of steps back, which only made his smile deepen.

“There?” I asked, confused. He seemed taller than I remembered from the weekend as I looked up at him.

“You said you’re not quite
there
yet. I wanted to know where
there
was. There, as in you’re not ready to return my texts? Or not ready to hold up your end of the deal?”

“What do you mean my end of the deal?” I asked, walking slowly around the back of my car.

He studied me carefully as I leaned against my car door, waiting for his answer.

“You don’t remember?”

I shook my head, taking a sip of my mocha. I really didn’t have time for this, but I saw a wounded look flicker through his expression before he pulled it back in.

“You’re really going to make me say it?”

“Afraid so.”

“I offered you a ride in exchange for a dinner, and I’m not going to be on Fireweed for that much longer, so . . .”

I felt like such an awful person. Who would forget that they agreed to have dinner with a rock star?

Me.

I would be the one person in life who could manage to make empty promises to a person who had everything and then tear him down in the process.

“I’m so sorry. I swear I’m normally more on top of it. I just—” I stopped, realizing I’d already begun pulling him down into a rabbit hole of complexity he didn’t deserve. “Dinner would be great before you leave Fireweed, but I’ve got to get back to Loxxy. Why don’t you plan something with your brother and Natalie and shoot me some dates? Then we can all get together before you leave town.”

For a brief second, I thought I caught a hint of devastation, but he reeled it in so quickly I must have been mistaken. He tapped the top of my car as a wry grin traced his mouth.

He took a step back and nodded. “Sounds good, Sophie. Take care.” The way his words delivered his message made me wish I hadn’t been so . . .

What?

Hadn’t been so what?

He was a guy who was on the island and wanted to pass his time, and I wouldn’t be his entertainment. I had enough games to play and balls in the air for any one human being. He was probably feeling all nostalgic and romantic since he was an artist and his brother just proposed. I slipped my key in the ignition and watched him give me a slight wave as I pulled onto the street, silently scolding myself for giving him a second glance.

But as I looked in the rearview mirror, I spotted him watching me drive away. The way he stood on the sidewalk all alone, with no real place to go, made me do a double take. The guy behind me didn’t resemble the man I’d read about in the tabloids. There was something about Anthony that was full of contradictions, or maybe it was the world he lived in, which was so unlike Fireweed that it drove home the differences.

I slowed at the stop sign and watched him shove his hands into his pockets as he kicked a stone into the street. He looked like a little boy wandering around the neighborhood looking for friends, and my soul tugged a bit at the innocent gesture that revealed more about the enigma that was Anthony Hill than I wanted to admit.

I set out a tray of cheese and crackers on my coffee table just as the doorbell rang. I’d felt unsettled since I’d left Natalie’s shop. I’d only gotten out a quarter of what I’d intended to tell her. Not to mention, the image of Anthony standing in the street kicking around rocks got to me in an unnerving way, and the only thing that would make me forget my worries was my favorite worn pair of pajamas and a night gabbing with my best friend.

I bounded over to the door, excited to have some of the girl time I apparently needed, and flung open the door only to let out a horrified gasp as Anthony stood at my door with the largest bouquet I’d ever seen.

“You’re not Natalie,” I blurted, eyeing Anthony and the bouquet suspiciously while attempting to tug down my pink thermal shirt over my flannel boxers. My favorite pajamas suddenly didn’t seem like such a great idea for the night.

“Nope,” he said with a grin as I stared at him. “Were you expecting her?”

“She’s not coming tonight, is she?” He knew full well she was supposed to be the one ringing my doorbell. I narrowed my eyes at him and noticed that he’d changed clothes since this afternoon . . . and he’d shaved.

So, while I stood here in a grubby pair of pink and white boxers, he looked incredibly gorgeous and put together.

Perfect!

“Nope.” Anthony shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his eyes dropping to my pink bunny slippers before bringing his gaze back to mine. I wanted to slam the door in his face, but instead, I stood gawking at the lead singer of Crimson Strings. It wasn’t until I watched his lips curve into a beautiful
o
that I realized he was speaking.

“So I can either just hand you these and split or—”

“Oh, brother. Sorry. I don’t know what gets into me around you,” I said, shaking my head before motioning for him to come inside. He let out a soft chuckle, and it only took him one step before he was squarely inside my apartment.

“I’ll take that as a positive.” A smile flashed across his lips as if I’d spoken the magic words for the night.

I brushed up against him as I closed the door behind us, and my breath caught in my throat. To throw him off, I cleared my throat and pointed toward the couch.

“It looks different in here. Did you change something?” he asked, looking around my living room with the flowers still firmly in his clutches.

“Well, electricity probably helps a lot, and I did move the chair from one side of the room to the other.”

“That’s what it is. It looks great by the window. It opens up the room.” His smile was genuine and there was something oddly appealing about him. “Do you have a place for these?”

“Sorry. Yes. Let’s put them on my coffee table,” I said, still amazed he noticed anything about my apartment.