Page 7 of For the Promise (The Raider Brothers #2)

“I’m making a tactical withdrawal. It’s not the same as giving up.” ~ Blossom

A month later

Blossom

“W hy are we doing this again?” I ask Dakota as we fit a sheet over a bed at the Mermaid Motel.

“I don’t know why you are doing this. But I’m doing this because housekeeping is short-staffed.”

We finish making the bed before I have the guts to say the next part. “But you’re dating a millionaire now. Surely, you don’t need two jobs anymore.”

To no one’s surprise, Rhett wore down Dakota’s resistance to him and the two are now a couple. A solid, sweet couple I’m not envious of at all. Nope. Been down that road and was launched off the cliff when the road ended without warning.

She sighs. “You remind me of Rhett. Quit your job, Dakota. I’ll take care of you.”

I giggle. “Your imitation of Rhett is horrible. ”

She blows me a raspberry. “Probably because I’m not a controlling man.”

“You love that man.”

She sighs and I swear cartoon hearts appear in her eyes. “I do.”

“Have you told him you love him?”

Her nose curls up. “Why would I do a foolish thing like that?”

I don’t question her further. Dakota’s former husband screwed her over bad when he died. I can’t blame her for being reluctant to share her feelings.

I glance around the hotel room. “What next?”

She consults her phone. “New water glasses and towels.”

I open the door to grab our supplies and nearly run smack dab into Sadie, the manager of the motel.

“I found more cleaning staff. Jada wasn’t answering her phone because it’s her day off and she went to the Bootlegger last night and met a sexy pirate.

Her words, not mine. They proceeded to drink entirely too many moonshine shots before being kicked out of the bar for trying to sing a duet.

” She shakes her head. “Everyone knows Mermaid karaoke is for single women only.”

“In other words, we’re done,” I summarize. You never can tell with Sadie.

“Yep. You can go. We’re covered. Thanks for coming in. Especially you, Dakota. After working until six this morning.”

Dakota flicks her hand. “It was no trouble. I got five hours of sleep before you came pounding on my door. ”

Sadie grimaces. “Sorry. I may have panicked.”

I snort. “May have?”

She pushes me toward the door and into the breezeway. “Go on. Get out of here. Go follow your mermaid dreams.”

“I don’t have any mermaid dreams.”

She plants her hands on her hips. “No dreams about a certain nerdy Raider?”

I scowl. “I’m done with Jaxon.”

She rubs her hands together. “Do tell.”

I flick my hair. “There’s nothing to tell.”

Except he kissed me like he needed me more than his next breath before retreating the next day. And in the month since, he hasn’t responded to any of my overtures.

Dakota winds her arm through mine and drags me down the breezeway. “There’s more to the story.”

“Why are you leaving me hanging?” Sadie hollers after us.

“Because you’re the biggest gossip on the island,” Dakota yells back at her.

“And this is bad because?”

Dakota stops and whirls around to confront Sadie. “Do you want to explain why you practically pee yourself in excitement whenever you get a letter?”

“I don’t pee myself. I have excellent bladder control.”

Dakota huffs. “Do you want to explain your excitement over your letters?”

“No,” Sadie grunts.

“There will be no more gossip about our love lives until you reciprocate. ”

“You’re boring,” Sadie pouts.

A woman with long black hair stumbles down the breezeway toward us. “I’m here.”

Sadie grins. “You can tell me all about your night while you clean,” she says as she nudges the woman toward the motel room.

“Phew.” Dakota runs the back of her hand over her brow. “You’re lucky Jada showed up. Sadie is seriously the biggest eavesdropper on the island.”

“I reflect that comment!” Sadie shouts from inside the motel room.

I giggle. “She apparently also has excellent hearing.”

“Don’t I know it,” Dakota mutters as we arrive at the elevators.

“Now.” I rub my hands together. “What are we going to do with the rest of your day off? Rollercoasters at Mermaid Mystical Gardens? Drinks at Bootlegger or Rumrunner? Lunch at Smuggler’s Cove ?

Miniature golf at Mermaid Mini Golf? Horse riding at Sirens & Stables?

Visiting the animals at Barnacles & Barnyards ? ”

She sighs. “I’m exhausted listening to the options, and there isn’t even a festival this weekend.”

I study my friend for a moment. I should probably let her get some sleep. Working two full-time jobs is exhausting. Especially since her job as the personal assistant for a billionaire is more than full-time.

“If you want to get some sleep, I’ll understand.”

We walk outside the motel and stand in the sunshine. “I don’t want sleep. I want to know why you went from chasing Jaxon to avoiding him.”

I scowl. “I don’t want to discuss it.”

She barks out a laugh. “Too bad.”

I cross my arms over my chest and stick out my bottom lip in a pout. “I don’t pressure you to tell me everything you and Rhett get up to.”

“Because you work in the same building as me and get all the gossip from his brothers.”

“Not all his brothers,” I mutter.

“What do you want to do today?”

“Go horseback riding at Sirens & Saddles. I’ve never been horseback riding before, but it’s on my bucket list.”

“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll go horseback riding with you if you tell me what’s going on with you and Jaxon.”

I snort. “There’s nothing going on.”

“I amend my previous deal. I’ll go horseback riding with you if you tell me why there’s nothing going on with you and Jaxon.”

I open my mouth to say because Jaxon is a scaredy cat who doesn’t realize what he’s missing but she holds up her hand before I can speak.

“ And you have to be truthful about whether you want him or not.”

I glare at her. “You drive a hard bargain.”

“I work for a billionaire, and I’m dating a control freak. What do you expect? ”

I hold out my hand. “You have a deal, but horseback riding better be awesome.”

“There are horses. Of course, it’ll be awesome.”

“You and your obsession with animals,” I mutter as we get situated in my car. I drive toward Sirens & Saddles , which is on the other side of the island near Pirate’s Perch.

“Out with it. Why have you gone from chasing Jaxon to avoiding him?” Dakota asks before we’re out of the parking lot.

“I wasn’t chasing him. I wouldn’t chase a man. I’m done with men, remember?”

She lifts her eyebrows. “Are you going to tell me why you’re done with men?”

And reveal what an idiot I was for falling for a man who was a liar, a cheat, and a thief? Yeah, no, I pass.

She sighs. “The reason you’re done with men is off the table. For now. Back to why you stopped chasing Jaxon.”

“I wasn’t chasing him.”

She giggles. “Did you forget how I caught you standing outside the men’s bathroom waiting for Jaxon to exit?”

“He was in there thirty minutes. I was worried about his health.”

“What about the time you blocked his car in? He couldn’t leave until you moved your car.”

“It was an accident.”

It wasn’t an accident and Jaxon did leave before I moved my car. He got a ride home with Kai, who was mad at me for gifting him a calendar. Okay, it was five different calendars. And a watch. And a stopwatch.

“And then there was the time you disabled the Wi-fi from the entire distillery, thinking he would come out of his office to check what happened.”

He didn’t check what happened. He used his phone as a hotspot. Doesn’t he know how much it costs to use your phone as a hotspot for the entire day?

“But the best was when you switched off all of the electricity for the entire distillery.”

I didn’t switch off all of the electricity. I would never endanger the beer or whiskey.

“Rhett and the rest of the Raider brothers had a bet going on how long Jaxon would stay in his office before he realized the electricity was out.”

How was I to know Jaxon has a mini-generator for his office?

“Who won the bet?”

Dakota shakes her finger at me. “Don’t try and get me off the subject. Why are you giving up on Jaxon?”

“Seriously? You have to ask after listing all the ways I tried to get his attention and all the ways he managed to ignore me. The poor man would rather have hemorrhoids than speak to me. Case closed.”

“But you seemed really into him.”

I was. I still relive our one kiss every night in bed. It gets me all hot and bothered every time .

“I thought he could be my rebound man,” I say instead of admitting how embarrassed I am to admit the man who I wanted to strip naked and taste every inch of ignored me the following day.

Dakota pats my hand. “I thought Rhett would be my rebound.”

I grab onto the change of subject. “But he’s not. He’s your forever man.”

“Yeah.” She sighs.

I pull into the parking lot of Sirens & Saddles and find a spot. I’m actually terrified of riding a horse. But I figure being terrified will get my mind off of Jaxon. I can’t be scared of being bucked off a horse and breaking my neck while daydreaming about his lips, can I?

No one’s that good of a multitasker.