basket, setting it back on the table.
“It’s a problem for me,” Roger said with a chuckle. “I really wanted another roll.”
For his mom’s sake, Grady suffered through another thirty minutes of small talk, but then he helped clear the table and made a beeline for his room, where he’d stashed the six-pack he’d picked up from the lone surviving liquor store. It’d been a madhouse, and Grady couldn’t say he blamed folks for wanting to drown their sorrows in a bottle.
He’d managed a whole five minutes of nursing a beer while studying the manual on the new dive computer he’d soon be using when someone knocked on his door.
“Come in,” he hollered.
Only after Jessie entered, closing the door behind her, did he get the bright idea that he should’ve faked sleeping. A fact that shamed him back to grade school. The guys on his SEAL team would laugh their asses off to see how pathetic just a few hours spent around her had made him. Hell, on base, the guys called him Sheikh, on account of him having a virtual harem of women trying to get his ring on their fingers. What his friends didn’t know was that Grady hadn’t wanted any of them.
Jessie was his only girl.
He downed the rest of his beer and opened another.
“We need to talk.”
“I’m sleeping.”
“Don’t be stupid.” She hefted herself up to sit on the low, sturdy oak dresser. Not a good thing, considering she wore a denim miniskirt and tank top. When she crossed her legs, he caught a peek of yellow panties.
He took another drink, then covered his fly with his binder.
“All right.” She tucked her long, distractingly gorgeous blond hair behind her ears. “So this whole setup pretty much sucks for both of us, but let’s cut the tension and get through it like adults.”
“How?” Especially when that tank’s hugging your curves like paint and I remember you riding me with that hair of yours hanging all loose and wild?
“Come on, Grady. The statute of limitations has long expired on breakup hard feelings.”
“Says who?” He shoved an extra pillow behind his head. “From where I’m sitting, I’m still mad as hell.” He downed his second longneck and went in for a third.
She had the gall to cross her arms and roll her eyes.
“You think I shouldn’t still be pissed? I asked you to marry me. You accepted.”
“Almost a decade ago!” She smacked the dresser top. “Get over it. That’s ancient history.”
“The hell it is.” He sprang from the bed, planting his hands on either side of her, pinning her in, but not touching her—not giving her the satisfaction of him touching her. “Give me an honest reason, and I’ll let it go. More than anything, I want to let this—you—go, but you’re stuck in my head.”
“Sorry.”
“I need a reason, Jess.”
She raised her chin. “You know the reason.”
“Oh, right—you don’t love me.”
“Of course not. It’s been forever since I’ve even seen you. You’re a stranger. I’m happy without you.”
“Which is why your eyes are dilated and you can’t stop licking your lips?”
“I need ChapStick.”
“What was up with the leg crossing? You must’ve flashed me those pretty yellow panties a half-dozen times.”
“Oh, my God, since when did you become such a perv?”
“What’s perverted about me being a trained observer?” His gaze zeroed in on the erratic pulse in her throat. He tipped his beer to her. “Consider it a sign that your tax dollars are hard at work.”
“You know what I mean...” Her eyes pooled with tears as she pulled in a deep breath.
“Damn straight, I do. But tell me, Jess, if you’re so happy, why aren’t you married with four kids, so no one has to ride alone on roller coasters? Isn’t that what you always wanted? What we wanted?”
Her expression hardened. “Don’t go there.”
“Why not?”
“You’re an ass.”
He shrugged.
Yes, he was. But she’d hurt him so damned bad. Up until joining the Navy, all he’d ever wanted was to buy his own ranch, marry Jessie and start their family. He’d never sought wealth or glory—she was all he’d ever wanted. And that fact killed him. Hell, he’d been back in town less than twenty-four hours and already he felt crazy. It was downright embarrassing.
“What do you want from me?” she asked.
Everything. But mostly, the truth. “All I want is for you to finally be straight with me. Why did you break things off? I get it if you thought we were too young, or you fell for someone else, or I just didn’t do it for you in the sack, but this is a small town. Folks talk. My own mother has told me you’ve never been serious with another guy.”
“Just like you’ve never been serious with another girl?”
“Exactly. I’m the logical sort. Every day I deal with black-and-white facts. Look at us—we have jobs, all our teeth. Why haven’t we moved on? Haven’t you ever asked yourself that question?”
She looked away. “No.”
Sighing, he took a step back, holding up his hands in surrender. “Fine. If that’s how you want to play it.”
“Grady...”
“What?”
“You know how much I care for you. You were my best friend. Why can’t we just go back to that?”
“No, thanks.” The friend card had long been off the table. Didn’t she remember all those lazy summer days down by the creek? He’d kissed every inch of her, and it wasn’t just his ego telling him she’d liked it. “For the sake of our parents, I’ll be polite, but you can’t go back in time and erase what we shared. I’ve been with other women since, and it wasn’t the same.”
She paled. “Gee, thanks. Good to know you’ve slept around.”
“Can you honestly tell me you haven’t?”
Again, she avoided his gaze. “You don’t have to make it sound so dirty, but yes. I—I’ve had a few other committed relationships that turned physical—if that’s what you mean.”
“And...” He urged her to get to the heart of the matter. Had she shared a fraction of the chemistry with those other guys as she had with him? Obviously not, or she’d be with
