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CHAPTER EIGHT

SUTTON

Even plying Laurel with brunch before we’d hit the road hadn’t been enough to get myself in her good graces.

If there was anything worse than driving hours in a car with a sullen teenager, I hadn’t yet found it.

No, that wasn’t true.

Driving hours with a sullen teenager with the reminder of my night with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Grumpy anytime I so much as twitched in my seat was definitely worse.

There was no denying I’d had fun, but my pussy was an unfortunate casualty of the whole affair.

At least Laurel had finally decided to give me the silent treatment, allowing me to reminisce in peace.

It was slightly better than the ranting I’d been subjected to the first hour of the car ride.

I didn’t blame her for acting like a complete shit.

I was pretty sure I’d acted a lot worse for a lot less when I was her age.

Of course, I’d also been dealing with overbearing, ultracontrolling parents—something I’d sworn I’d never be to her.

I preferred to run our two-person household as a democracy.

We both got a vote, neither more important than the other.

Essentially growing up together had forged a bond between us most people didn’t understand.

A bond that this move was testing.

Especially because the move had been the result of my pulling the Mom Card and overriding her up-until-that-point equal vote.

I’d signed a six-month contract to work with Dr. Quinn McKenzie—though I’d known her as Quinn Cartwright in college—at the Starlight Cove Clinic.

After that? Who knew what would happen or where Laurel and I would go.

But I wasn’t about to invite trouble and tell my daughter that.

After almost three years in Atlanta, she’d just started to put down roots, and I’d yanked that away from her.

Shoved her to a place that was completely unfamiliar.

To both of us. Moving to a town that was basically the size of our old neighborhood?

It was going to be an adjustment.

It didn’t matter that it was directly along the coast and also bordered a lush forest. Didn’t matter that the downtown looked like we’d somehow traveled to a Hallmark movie.

Didn’t matter that I’d be able to work fewer hours because the cost of living was so much cheaper here.

Laurel hated it on principle.

And I couldn’t even blame her.

I remembered all too well what it was like to be sixteen, to think your entire life was ruined because of one decision.

To believe with absolute certainty that the friends you had were the only friends you’d ever have.

But she’d survive. I knew because I’d survived a hell of a lot steeper challenges—at least she wasn’t knocked up by a worthless idiot who’d leave her in the lurch.

I hadn’t been so sure at the time, but that worthless idiot was the best thing that had ever happened to me, whether he left or not, because he gave me her .

“Hey, Lolo, help me look for 1425 Meadowbrook Lane.”

She huffed and rolled her eyes so emphatically I was surprised they didn’t fall straight out of her head.

“Old age taking your eyesight already?”

“Watch it,” I said, though my words lacked heat.

Despite her snark, she set her phone down and lifted her gaze for the first time in three hours.

My hope that she’d suddenly spark an interest after taking in her surroundings was definitely nothing more than a pipe dream if the curl of her lip and disgust rolling off her in waves were anything to go by.

“Oh my god , Mom. I can’t believe you moved us here.” She said here like I’d driven us straight down into the sewer, and we were bunking next to a family of rats.

“There is literally nothing to do. No mall, no movie theater. And what the hell is that? Is that a goat crossing the road?”

It was, indeed, a goat crossing the road.

And a woman running after it, arms flailing.

“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad.” I glanced around, seeing the town not through the eyes of a teenager but through the eyes of a mom.

As much as Laurel liked living in a bigger city, I didn’t like the life I’d had to manufacture in order to make that possible.

She was going to be a fully fledged adult in two years, and time was slipping away faster than I wanted to admit.

I didn’t want to spend her last couple years at home working doubles just so I could pay rent.

“And when was the last time you went to a mall anyway?” I asked dryly.

“At least I had the option!”

“Well, you also have the option not to be a complete brat, but you didn’t take that either.”

She huffed and sat back in her seat, shooting me a glare.

“Do you blame me? I don’t get what you thought was going to happen. We lived in Atlanta for almost three years. And then you tell me a week ago we’re up and moving to this tiny shithole in Maine. How am I supposed to respond?”

I blew out a long breath, my shoulders sagging even as I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.

I wished I could park this freaking car so I could look at her to have this conversation.

But we still hadn’t found this stupid, fairy-tale-sounding Meadowbrook Lane, and I wasn’t going to let this sit any longer.

“Look, I get it. I know you were feeling settled in Atlanta, and it sucks we had to leave. Believe it or not, I don’t want to make you feel this way. But I didn’t have a choice. My contract was up, and there weren’t any other positions available in the area. We couldn’t have stayed there, even if I wanted to.”

What I hadn’t shared with her was that being a traveling nurse had more downfalls than just the constant moving.

My last toxic working environment was proof enough of that.

For once, I didn’t want to worry about what I was walking into.

And working with an old friend, whom I’d always clicked with, was about as much of a guarantee as I was going to get.

Plus, splitting my time between Quinn’s clinic and one day a week at the high school as their nurse meant I’d actually have regular hours for once.

“Yeah, but what about the position in Boston? At least there, I’d have something more to do than tipping cows or whatever the hell they do here.”

I blew out an exasperated sigh.

“Like I’ve told you eleventy billion times, I didn’t get that job. I got this job.” I glanced over at her, her jaw set, brow furrowed.

My beautiful, stubborn girl.

“I love this fire in you, and I never want to stifle it. But I’m doing my best here, Lolo. I know you don’t think so right now, but Starlight Cove is a good option for us. I’ll be able to work less, so we can hang out more. Plus, I have a friend here, and I haven’t been able to spend much time with Quinn since college.”

“Yeah, well, I have zero friends here.”

“That’s not true. Your best friend is here.” I reached over and jostled her shoulder repeatedly.

The move earned me another eye roll but not before I saw a tiny quirk of her mouth.

“After this move, you’re definitely not my best friend anymore.”

“No? Well, maybe I’ll earn back the title after I bribe you with pizza, ice cream, and a scary movie tonight.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Laurel grumbled.

After what felt like years, Meadowbrook Lane finally appeared around a bend, and I turned down the scarcely populated street.

It held a handful of homes, all of them set back far enough from the road on plushly landscaped lawns that I couldn’t even see the houses.

A rich-person neighborhood if I’d ever seen one.

“Finally,” I grumbled under my breath, turning down the driveway of 1425.

Thank god we’d gotten here early enough that it was still light outside.

If I’d had to navigate this in the dark, I wasn’t sure I’d want to travel down this incredibly secluded driveway.

That was how horror movies started.

Finding a rental in a town that had basically zero available at any given moment had been a feat I hadn’t been expecting when I’d accepted the job.

Luckily, a friend of a friend of Quinn’s had a place they weren’t using but also hadn’t gotten around to renting out.

Even better, it was a third of the cost my rent in Atlanta had been.

As we drove down the long, winding path, I glanced over to find Laurel’s face a replica of mine—pinched brow, pursed lips…

an eternal skeptic.

“Where the hell are we?” she mumbled.

“Getting murdered our first night here will only prove my point, you know.”

“We’re not going to be murdered.” Probably.

“Don’t be so dramatic.”

“I’m sixteen, Mom, it’s pretty much a prereq—holy shit .”

“What?” I asked, whipping my head around to where she was staring.

And then I saw it.

“Holy fuck is more like it,” I murmured.

A house the size of the governor’s mansion loomed ahead, just through a copse of trees.

When Quinn had told me this rental was a guest cottage, I’d been expecting a large main house.

I hadn’t been expecting this .

A winding, brick-lined path led to a huge, two-story Craftsman.

It looked both modern and rustic, with its dark gray siding and stone facade surrounding the front door.

A covered porch housing a pair of Adirondack chairs was framed by timber supports matching the exposed beams in the peaks of the roof.

Our quaint little cottage—a miniature replica of the main house, complete with its own front porch—sat tucked into the back corner of the lot, the ocean as its backdrop.

“At least the house is cute. And look—it’s right on the beach,” I said.

She rolled her eyes, but it wasn’t the overdramatic gesture of just a few minutes before.

Which meant I was making progress.

I’d take any small step I could get.

“Why don’t you make sure the door is unlocked?” I told her.

“I’ll start cleaning up and then we can unload.”

With attitude dripping from her pores, she slunk out of the car and headed for the cottage’s front door while I began picking up the disaster that was the inside of our car.

A minute later, she opened the passenger door, sank into her seat, and pulled out her phone, not saying a word.

“Um…hello? What’s up?”

She lifted a single shoulder in a shrug.

“It’s locked.”

I blew out a sigh.

“Of course it is.”

Quinn had set all this up for us—something I was eternally grateful for—and this was the first snag we’d hit.

I didn’t want to spend time running around looking for this key.

I just wanted to move in as much as possible before it got dark, get some pizza and that ice cream I’d promised Laurel, and relax after three days of driving.

“All right, I’ll go to the mansion and see if anyone’s home to give us our key.” I stepped out of the car and headed toward the main house, hoping Quinn had squared everything away and my new landlord knew we were arriving today.

I climbed the porch steps, rang the doorbell, and waited.

And waited. Annnnd waited.

Just my freaking luck—an empty house, which meant nowhere for Laurel and me to go.

We could explore town, but we were both exhausted.

Giving it a final try, I rang the bell once again just as a man grumbled from inside, “Jesus, I’m coming.”

The door swung open, and I came face-to-chest with an absolute beast filling up nearly the entire width of the doorway.

I slid my gaze up and up…

and up…to a tense jaw covered in a short, thick beard, a pair of full lips, and a stern brow drawn down over whiskey eyes.

Whiskey eyes I was very familiar with.

The last time I’d seen them had been when I’d kissed him, thanked him for the whopping eight orgasms, and headed back to my room and my daughter.

What I hadn’t done was wake up next to them, despite how much I’d wanted to.

But we’d both known what our time together was and what it wasn’t.

Just a single night of fun, nothing more, nothing less.

And I hadn’t realized exactly how much I’d needed it.

Thanks to my most recent dating disaster, I’d practically sworn off men.

But if I was going to do a round two—or three, as it were—Mr. Tall, Dark, and Grumpy wouldn’t be the worst choice.

Except… fuck .

“I’ll call you back,” he said into a phone I hadn’t even realized he’d been holding.

Probably because I’d been too stunned.

Not anymore, though.

The reality of the situation was slamming into me, pieces my brain was too slow to pick up on finally clicking into place.

My savior from the hotel bar was nowhere to be found.

In his place was this man who was somehow scowling even harder than he’d been last night, and I hadn’t thought that was possible.

Worse, he was standing in the main house on the property my daughter and I were renting.

Fuck me. I’d had a one-night stand with my landlord.

Because of course my first foray into the land of book-worthy sex would be with someone I shouldn’t have slept with.

But it didn’t have to be a big deal.

Maybe it wouldn’t be a big deal.

We were both adults.

And there’d been no false pretenses of what our time together had been.

Maybe he’d shrug it off.

Maybe we could laugh about the coincidence of it all.

Maybe?—

“Are you stalking me?” he snapped, his voice whip-sharp, eyes even sharper.

His words were so unexpected, it took a moment for them to register.

When they finally did, I could only huff out an incredulous laugh as I stared up at him.

“Excuse me?”

His jaw ticked as he shot a glance behind me, before sweeping his gaze over me from head to toe.

Except this time, there was only derision behind those eyes.

Nothing like the heated looks he’d given me last night.

Nothing like the gazes that had set my soul on fire.

“How do you know where I live?” he demanded.

“Did you go through my wallet when I was in the bathroom? Do you even have a daughter, or was that a line?”

“Okay, wow ,” I said, dragging out the word.

I was used to people making snap judgments of me and my life, but this was a first. A stalker ?

Like, what, I just hung out in hotels, waiting for unsuspecting men to fuck me into a stupor and then followed them home because I had nothing better to do?

“Look, buddy, I hate to apparently be the first one to break this to you, but your dick isn’t that good.”

Lie .

It was absolutely that good, and the vaginal orgasms he’d given me were proof enough of that.

But he wasn’t getting that info from me.

“How arrogant do you have to be to think a woman would drive 250 miles just to get another ride? I’m not sure if you know this, but you’re not the only dick in town. I could replace you with a single stroll down Main Street. Hell, I have a battery-operated friend that’ll get me there just as easily as you did last night. So, in case it wasn’t perfectly clear, I’m not here for another orgasm.”

His brow pinched even more, his scowl somehow deepening.

“Then what the hell are you here for?”

“My key.” I flashed him my teeth in what absolutely would not pass for a smile.

“Looks like things might be a little awkward at the backyard barbecue, neighbor .”