Crushed (Crystal Brook Billionaires) (22 page)

He smiled. “I would have said yes.”

I laughed. “But you’re busy.”

He nodded. “Yes. How long will you be here?”

“Um, it’s not really determined. At least until the wedding.”

His head cocked. “That’s long. When did you get here?”

“A few weeks ago.”

He blinked and looked at me. Nothing needed to be said for me to know he was probably wondering why I didn’t get in touch with him days before.

“I didn’t know if you wanted to see me,” I explained into the silence.

His face twitched, and he looked at a spot above my head. “I get that… I would be happy to hear from you though. Any time. I always wonder how you’re doing.”

I clutched my bag tighter. “Do you want to hang out sometime?”

I didn’t exhale after the question. Inviting him to dinner with my whole family was one thing, but hanging out one on one was another beast entirely. There was a good chance he would say no.

“Yeah,” he said. “Sure.”

I finally let my breath out. Okay. So maybe we could do this. We could be friends.

“How about tomorrow night?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I’m around. Did you have anything in mind?”

“No, but I’ll think of something. Now that you’re a citizen of Crystal Brook you need to have the full North Carolina experience.”

He started to say something but then seemed to reconsider it. Instead, he just closed his mouth and nodded. “Great. I’ll text you.”

“Okay.” I nodded as well. “Uh, bye.”

Though my feet seemed glued to the spot, I got them moving. Past Owen and along the bottles of white wines I went.

I’d done it. I’d begun repairing things between the two of us. It was all falling into place, and I wasn’t even trying.

So then why did I feel so… off? Like I was doing the wrong thing?

Because what my body thought was the right thing included turning back around and running into Owen’s arms. It was kissing him until we were both senseless.

It was insanity.

*

The next evening, I drove slowly to Owen’s house, dropping my rental car’s speed by a couple miles every block or so.

As excited as I was to see Owen, I was also terrified. What was I doing, really? What was my plan?

To be friends, I reminded myself. That was it. I’d already fucked things up enough by jumping into bed with him then running away. Owen was a good man, and I was damned lucky that he didn’t hate me for fucking and running.

I hadn’t told anyone where I was headed, not even Gwen. I couldn’t handle the questions. I needed to get time alone with Owen, time not judged by anyone else. I needed to try and build an actual friendship.

That last part would be hard, considering how deeply attracted I was to him. I’d known I would likely run into him at some point or another, but nothing could have prepared me for seeing him in the grocery store. My body had practically cried over the need to be touched by him.

I took in a deep and calming breath and pulled into his driveway. It wasn’t even seven yet, so there was plenty of daylight left. I put the car in park and inspected the house in front of me. The paint still peeled, and from what I could see, the same old rickety porch was in place. There were some signs of progress though. Some of the windows on the top floor seemed to be taped over, and various construction tools sat near the front steps.

I flipped down the visor and did a quick makeup check. I’d worn just enough to still look decent while hopefully making it seem like I wasn’t trying too hard. Since we hadn’t made definitive plans for the evening, I’d dressed in a short, floral patterned skirt and a short sleeved button up. Hopefully, the outfit teetered on the line between casual and dressy.

Semi-satisfied with my appearance, I grabbed my purse and headed for the house.

Halfway up the steps, the front door opened. Owen smiled down at me, his hair damp and his face clean shaven.

“Hi.” He grinned, those dimples flashing at me.

“Hey,” I answered, sounding a little too giddy.

The whole thing already felt like a date, which was ridiculous. Considering what happened between us the last time we were in that house, giddy was the last thing I needed to be feeling. Guilty was better. Remorseful, yes. That was a good word too.

If I go into that house, I’m going to jump right on top of him.

I knew it right then and there. I hadn’t been able to control myself the last time I was in his house, and I wouldn’t be able to the second time either.

“It’s nice out here,” I said, stopping right where I was and taking a seat on the steps.

Owen looked at me oddly. “Yeah, I suppose… it’s kind of hot.”

I forced a grin. “I guess I’m just used to it.” I pressed my knees tightly together and placed my hands on top of them. “So. What would you like to do tonight? Have you ever been to a drive-in? Or we could go bowling. There’s a place right on the edge of town. Have you ever been there? My dad used to take us all the time when we were kids. It’s kind of old and smells a bit musty, but it’s a lot of fun, I swear.”

Owen stared at me. Immediately, I bit my tongue. I was talking too much, and way too fast. The time had come to can it.

Owen came and sat down on the step next to me, only a foot away. “Those sound nice. What do you want to do?”

I shrugged. “I don’t really care. What do you like?”

His eyes fell to my mouth, then he quickly turned away, looking out across the yard. “I was thinking we could just stay home and hang out. But it’s up to you.”

My stomach lurched. Stay home and hang out… and then have sex. Hot, sweaty sex.

Perhaps it wasn’t part of Owen’s plan for the night, but there would be no way to fight it once we got alone. No. We needed to be out in public, around other people.

“Uh, that sounds nice,” I managed while struggling to find some kind of excuse.

“Or not,” Owen added. “If you wanted to go out somewhere, we can.”

“Yes!” I said. “That sounds great. I haven’t eaten yet. How does dinner sound?”

I bolted up from the steps and bounded into the grass. “Let’s go somewhere.”

Owen stood, a slight smile on his face. “All right.”

I clapped my hands together. “Great. So, where to?”

Owen pursed his lips and looked thoughtful. “How much time do you have?”

“All night. I’m done with work for the day.”

He smiled. “Can I take you somewhere special? As a surprise?”

“Sure. Let’s go.”

He nodded. “Let me go inside and grab my stuff. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Okey-dokey.”

I cringed at my awful word choice as he turned and went back into the house.

While I waited, I ambled around in the grass. So far, so good. I may have been talking like I’d just stumbled out of a fifties’ sitcom, but at least I wasn’t humping Owen’s leg.

After a few minutes, he came back out. “I’m ready. I can drive.”

“Are you sure? I can.”

He waved the offer away. “No, this is part of the surprise.”

I looked at him with hesitation. “I’m not sure how I feel about a surprise.”

“I can blindfold you if you like.”

“Hell, no.” I studied his face. “Wait. Were you being serious?”

He grinned. “Only if you were.”

Something sparkled in his eyes that did something to my nether regions. Quickly, I turned from him and headed for the driveway. “Definitely not.”

We climbed into Owen’s car. He rolled his window down, and I did the same, then he navigated his way around my own vehicle and out into the street. The houses went by, then the outskirts of downtown.

“So we’re not going downtown.” I eyed him. “Are you abducting me and killing me?”

He laughed. “What?”

“I’m just asking, because if so I need to text my friend Radha and let her know she was right.”

His face crinkled. “Again… what?”

“She’s a safety freak,” I explained.

After a few more minutes it became obvious that we were headed in the direction of the interstate. I bit my tongue and refrained from making another joke related to kidnapping and the use of interstates in getaways.

“So we’re going to a different town,” I said instead. “Or city.” I looked at him, but his face remained passive, without any clues whatsoever.

“How long can you stay away?” he asked.

“Hold on,” I joked. “Let me just call my mom and see if my old curfew is still in effect. You know, come to think of it, my parents never officially ended it. So yeah, I should probably be back by ten.”

Owen chuckled. The sound put me more at ease. When in doubt, use humor. When uncomfortable, use humor. Really, it worked in every kind of situation. I’d figured that much out years ago.

“Didn’t you already ask me how much time I had?” I inquired.

“Yeah,” he slowly said. “I guess what I really meant was… how far from home are you willing to go?”

I glanced at his profile. “Huh? Are we driving to the beach?”

“Do you want to?”

“Well, that’s kind of a big question to throw out there.”

“Okay, how about this?” He licked his bottom lip. “I take you to where we’re going, keeping it a surprise, but we’ll make this agreement. Any time along the way, you can say no. And if you do, I’ll take you back home. No hard feelings. No questions asked.”

I stared at him, my throat feeling thicker by the second. Half a dozen jokes were forming in my brain, any of which I could have made, but all humor seemed to have drained out of me.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I asked.

He looked at me, seeming to not understand. “What?”

The words were hard to get out, but I did it anyway. “After what I did… why don’t you hate me?”

Owen sighed. “You’re talking about that night.”

“Yes. That night.”

Owen cleared his throat. “That hurt me. I’m not going to lie.”

“Owen. His name came out as a groan — not because I was surprised, but because talking about it proved to be more painful than I had anticipated. “God… I’m so sorry.”

“I know. And I held onto it for a while. I tried to not be angry. I tried to not be hurt… but it was hard.”

I stared at the dashboard. “You’re not still holding onto it? It doesn’t still hurt you?”

A long silence followed. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Owen, couldn’t bring myself to take stock of the damage I’d done.

“Don’t answer that,” I said quickly. “You don’t have to answer that.”

“I was going to. Eventually.”

I smirked, though it was probably wrong to find anything about the situation humorous. Of course he still hurt over what happened. I’d probably made him feel like he wasn’t good enough, like he’d failed even in the simplest of ways. Like he’d been used and discarded.

“So why?” I asked again. “Why the kindness?”

He just looked at me like the answer was supposed to be obvious. “You need some kindness, Claire. We all do.” His next breath came out labored. The knuckles on the steering wheel turned white. “It doesn’t matter what happened between us.”

Yes, he was definitely hurt by it all. I nibbled my lower lip. Was there really nothing that I could do to make it up to him?

Never seeing him again was probably the best answer. With zero interaction, the chances of me hurting him also remained at that level.

Too late for that.

I stared out the window, ashamed and angry at my own selfishness. Why was I even in the car with Owen? What had I hoped to give him? What had I even hoped to gain for myself? Things were already fucked up between us. I should have just accepted it and walked away.

For so many weeks, I’d managed to steer clear of him, and then suddenly I couldn’t keep away. I had to be near him, even if there was no satisfaction whatsoever to be gained.

Really. What was wrong with me?

“Do you want me to turn the car around?”

My head whipped towards him. “Is that what you want?”

“No, but I asked what you wanted.”

“No… I don’t want to do that.”

“Okay. Good.”

His words were nearly flat, impossible to read. I went back to alternating between staring at the dashboard and staring out the window. The exits flew by, and with each one we didn’t take, I became more and more curious.

I bit my tongue, though, and stopped myself from saying anything. If Owen wanted to give me a surprise, then I would let it happen.

After a while, he signaled to take the exit for the airport. I sat up a little straighter.

“Wait. Hold on. Why are we going here?”

There was nothing near the airport but a strip mall. Had Owen driven me all that way for bad Mexican food?

“Didn’t you want it to be a surprise?”

I didn’t say anything. The car took the turn to the right, and we glided in the direction of the airport then down into the main entrance.

Owen looked at me, the slightest hint of a smile there.

I had to speak up. “So we’re going to watch planes take off?”

“Do you really want an answer?”

“We’re going to watch planes land?”

Owen just kept driving, which was fine. At that point, I’d come to thoroughly enjoy the whole mystery of the adventure.

By the time we had parked, gone inside the airport, gone down a hallway I’d never noticed before, had Owen show some ID to a few workers, and begun walking again, I had to start asking questions.

“Owen,” I began, just finding the question itself preposterous. “Are we getting on an airplane?”

He grinned at me. “Are you sure you’re ready for an answer?”

We stopped at the entrance to a plane tunnel, and he showed his ID to the attendant waiting there.

“Yes,” I answered with conviction. “I think now is about the time I should go ahead and start asking questions.”

The smiling, female attendant spoke up. “Right this way, Mr. Burke.”

She removed the red velvet rope from the entryway. Owen spread his hand, suggesting that I should go ahead. With a stagger, I did.

“Where are we going?” I whispered into the air.

“Do you want to know?”

I opened my mouth to say yes but then considered it. So far I was having what was perhaps one of the craziest adventures of my life. Did I really want to spoil it by finding out what was next?