Just Married! (13 page)

She swallowed. Damn.

Colton St. John. Too good for her—because he was the good boy, the boy next door, who had aspirations that didn’t include her.

She should walk away. Put some distance between them. But she stayed put. “Colton, we’d never…”

“We wouldn’t, would we?” He moved a little closer still. In that moment, Vivian realized two things—

Colton St. John was about to kiss her.

And she wasn’t going to stop him.

K
ISSING
Vivian was like coming home. Like falling into the place where he was always meant to be. His hands reached up, tangling in her auburn locks. Heat rose in the shared space between them and Colton leaned closer, moving to deepen their kiss, to taste even more of the woman he had so long been denied. She was sweet and hot, and everything he’d dreamed of in those years after she left.

She broke away first, each of them breathing a little harder than they had been a moment before. “That’s…not dancing.”

“No, it’s not.”

What was that? A bad idea, for sure.

But one he wanted to repeat. Instead he started dancing with her again, trying to make some sense out of a nonsensical decision.

Vivian had made it clear she didn’t want a relationship. That she had no intentions of staying in
town. He should be glad for that. If he was smart, he’d be concentrating on launching his campaign to run for governor, not on launching a relationship with the one woman he knew who defined complicated emotions.

Not to mention, he knew the dangers of trying to combine a relationship with a political career. He couldn’t have it all, and he shouldn’t even try. It wasn’t fair to him—and especially wasn’t fair to Vivian.

Then why did his pulse kick up when he danced with her? Why did he become hyperaware of the undertones of her perfume, the curve of her body against his, the brush of her long hair against his shoulder?

A smile curved up her face. “Close quarters, huh?”

“Just a little.” He clasped her free hand in his, then brought his cheek to her ear. The scent of jasmine teased at his senses. She was wearing a short, form-fitting black dress. Viv had always been partial to black, curve-flattering outfits and this one was no exception. Colton liked it. Very much. “Too close?”

She shifted against him, and everything that had been simmering suddenly went into a full boil. Colton tightened his hold on her waist, wanting only one thing, thinking not of their friendship, not of how they were wrong for each other, but only of having her next to him.

And most of all, of kissing her again. And again
and again, until he couldn’t remember where their friendship ended and something more had started.

Vivian inhaled, and her chest brushed up against Colton’s. She turned, bringing her cheek to his, almost kissing him—almost. “Not too close at all.”

He hadn’t been the only one who’d enjoyed that kiss, that much was clear. The problem was—what they were going to do about it.

Temptation coiled tighter in his gut. The room dropped away, and all he could hear was the music, the pound-pound-pounding of the music, echoing the insistent beat of desire in his head. His hand ranged up and down her back, and his breath whispered against her neck.

“We should…” she said, then stopped.

“Yeah,” Colton said, but didn’t move.

“Because we’re just…” Another breath in, then out, the warm air raising his awareness.

“Friends,” he finished. Friends didn’t kiss each other. Friends didn’t date. Friends never crossed that imaginary line.

Except the lines had blurred a moment ago, and Colton couldn’t seem to get them straight again.

The music pounded, the people around them danced. The world went on, but neither he nor Vivian noticed. “Just frien—”

He silenced her words with his mouth. Vivian curved into him, her body hot against his.

“Hey, Viv! Long time no see!”

Vivian broke away from Colton, and turned toward the voice. Lana Milton, who had graduated with them from St. John’s Cove High, stood to the side, with a few other high school friends. “Hi, Lana.”

Colton tamped down his annoyance at being interrupted and muttered a hello to Lana. She returned the greeting. “Hey, Colton. Can’t believe you became mayor. You’re doing a great job, though.”

“Thanks.”

“My mother says you’re the best mayor the town’s ever had. And if you knew my mother, you’d know that’s saying a lot.” Lana laughed, then refocused her attention on Vivian. “I didn’t even realize you were in town! It’s been so long since I’ve seen you! We should get together.” Lana reached forward, gave Vivian a light jab in the arm. “Hit a few of the old haunts, stir up some trouble.”

“Yeah. We should.”

“Can always count on you for trouble, huh, Viv?”

A smile skittered across Vivian’s face. “Of course.”

“How long are you hanging around St. John’s Cove?” Lana asked.

“Just a couple more days. I came in for Amanda and Charlie’s wedding, then ended up staying for Samantha and Ethan’s. But now I really need to get back to L.A.” She let out a little laugh. “I never was much for staying in this little place.”

So she definitely wasn’t staying in town.

Why was Colton surprised? Vivian had nothing tying her to St. John’s Cove.

Still after she’d stayed all these weeks, he’d hoped…

Hoped, what? That they could pick up where they’d left off? Maybe rewrite a history that had never had a chance to get past the introductory pages?

“We should do something tonight then.” Lana grabbed Vivian’s arm, and a wide, devilish grin spread across her face. “What do you say, Viv? Ready to set St. John’s Cove on fire? Gotta live up to your reputation, right?”

A second passed, one where Colton was sure Vivian—the Vivian he had always known—would say yes. She’d opt for the good time, running off from this party to that. He started to step back, to let her go, when Vivian shook her head. “Maybe another time, Lana.”

Confusion raced across Lana’s features. “Uh, okay. Catch you later then?”

“Sure.”

“And be sure to give me a call next time you come into town.”

“I will.” Vivian gave Lana a quick hug, then the two said goodbye.

Once the other woman was gone, Colton turned to Vivian. “You don’t have to stay with me. You’re only in St. John’s Cove for a few more days—you might as well see whoever you can while you’re here.”

“I’m fine.” But she sounded distracted, not like herself at all.

He put a palm against her forehead. “You must be sick.”

“Me? Not at all.”

“For Vivian Reilly to pass up a good time, either the world has turned upside down or you’re deathly ill.”

“Maybe I just grew up. All of us do, you know.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I could have become all traditional on you in the last few years, you never know.”

“You?” he scoffed. “Never.”

“Miracles do happen, Colton St. John.”

“Then what was that about over at Hardisty’s pool last night?”

“That…that was about trying to see you without a shirt on.” A tease lit up her eyes, and the shadows that had momentarily filled her gaze disappeared. “Too bad my plan didn’t work out.”

“Was that all?” Hope rose in his chest, a stubborn bobber at the end of the hook she’d always had on his heart.

He was kidding himself if he thought it had ever really gone away. The last few days had proven that. Hell, that kiss had proven it.

“Of course.”

Disappointment curdled in his gut. Why had he expected different? Expected things to change? She hadn’t been in love with him then—

She wasn’t going to instantly fall in love with him now.

Still, Colton had a sense that Vivian had changed, which kept that little bobber of hope from disappearing altogether.

The crowd had merged to the center of the floor, caught up in the frenzy of the beat of a fast-paced song. Vivian and Colton slid to the side, and found themselves tucked in a corner of O’Reilly’s.

“What’s up, Vivian? You’re different,” Colton said. “At first, I thought it was just that you’d changed a little, you know, gotten older. But there’s more.”

She raised one shoulder, dropped it again, the move seeming casual, yet Colton read a note of tension. “I’ve just gotten older, like you said. But like Lana said, I’m still the same Vivian. Exactly the same.”

Except her words lacked the edge they used to have. “No, Viv. There’s more to it than that. What’s happened in the years since you left? What’s happened…” He paused. “To us?”

“We better get back to our table before someone tries to steal it.” She spun away from him.

Colton grabbed her arm and hauled her back. She collided lightly with his chest, bringing her mouth within inches of his. Desire roared again within him, and he wondered why he had ever let Vivian out of his life.

What if he had argued with her? Refused to let her go?

He’d never had just friendly feelings for her, and pretending otherwise anymore was a waste of time. “Why did you really leave town?”

She opened her mouth, closed it, clearly surprised by the question. “I hated St. John’s Cove. You know that.”

He shook his head, then traced along her jaw, watching her eyes widen, her pulse tick in her throat. “You
ran
away. Left an actual dust cloud in your wake. There’s a difference.”

“I—”

“You ran away from your family. Your friends. From…” He reached up and caught a tendril of her hair, and decided too many years had passed without asking the question he should have asked back then. And finally, the one word came out. “
Me.
”

The word escaped with a hard edge, no more being cavalier about the topic, as if the event had been a blip in the radar.

There. He’d said it. For five years, he’d wondered about Vivian, about where she’d gone—but more, why she’d left. The whole thing had been too sudden, the way she turned from acting like she loved him to suddenly cold and distant.

Just like that, one September morning, she’d turned to him and told him it was over. She’d found someone else. She’d never been in love with him. It had all been a summer fling, a crazy temporary crush on a friend.

Friend.

The dreaded six-letter word that Colton had never thought he’d hear again to describe their relationship.

Two days later, Vivian had left town on the back of Jack Hunter’s motorcycle, leaving devastation in her wake.

It wasn’t just about losing a woman he’d cared deeply about, a woman who had been one of his best friends. It was about the hole in his life, the unfinished chapter in the book. They’d started something, and before it could be finished—

Vivian was gone.

With another man.

And damned if that pain didn’t still twinge.

“Why did you do it, Vivian? And don’t give me the answer you think I want to hear.” He met her gaze. “This time, I want the truth.”

“I had plans, Colton, you knew that. I was going to make it big in California and Jack was going that way. So…” She shrugged again, as if this was all no big deal, water under the bridge.

Let it go, forget it. It’s over.

We’re over.

That’s what she’d said back then.
We’re over, let it go.
Just like ripping off a bandage, she’d ended the relationship they’d had—if he could have even called what was happening between them a relationship.

Just like five years ago, Vivian wanted Colton to let the subject drop. Except he couldn’t, not this
time. Because the questions had been raised, and they refused to die without an answer.

The real answer, because he suspected he wasn’t getting that. What was she hiding? Why?

“We had plans, too, Vivian,” Colton said softly. “Don’t you remember?”

Had she seen the way his heart had broken that day? Did she know? Or did she not care?

“I’m not here to resurrect old ghosts, Colton. Just let it go.” Then she broke away from him, disappearing into the sea of people. Leaving him behind—just as she had five years before.

V
IVIAN
leaned against the brick facade of O’Reilly’s, and took in a deep breath. The warm night breeze whispered over her skin, as if trying to soothe her frazzled nerves. It was no use.

Why did you really leave town?

The question still lingered in Vivian’s mind, as if Colton were standing beside her, whispering the words again and again.

If only he knew the truth.

Yeah, well, if he did, it would upset the apple cart of his life. Change the trajectory of his future. And she—of all people—wasn’t about to do that. Because first and foremost, Vivian Reilly was Colton St. John’s friend, and friends didn’t ruin other friends’ careers, not over something as crazy as a momentary infatuation.

She wrapped her arms around herself, even though she wasn’t cold, and started walking down the sidewalk. Was that what had really been between her and Colton? An infatuation?

Or something more?

She closed her eyes, and in an instant, was back in his arms on that dance floor, his lips on hers, hot, tempting and oh, so, so good. A heady rush of desire erupted inside her every time Colton touched her, which told her nothing between them had died. Far from it. The years apart had only seemed to intensify her reaction to him.

What was she doing here? What game was she playing? She couldn’t fool herself into thinking everything was over between them. Not after that kiss.

That meant Vivian had only one choice from here on out—

To make sure she and Colton returned to the status quo. Friends only.

“Vivian!”

She turned. As if her mind had conjured him up out of sheer want, Colton stood behind her on the sidewalk. “I’m…tired, Colton. I’m going to catch a cab and call it an early night.”

Before I’m tempted to head back inside and pick up where we left off.

“Are you ditching me?”

Yes.

“No.” She slapped a smile on her face. “Just have a lot to do before I head back to L.A.”

He caught her hand with his, and the resolve she had worked so hard to build began to slip. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t go back. Stay here. What’s the West Coast got to offer that St. John’s Cove doesn’t?”

“My job, for one.” Except that was sort of a lie. Her job was technically here. Or could be, if she wanted it to. She could very easily stay and run her ice cream parlor, watch those teenagers’ lives transform, see her customers’ faces when they enjoyed a double scoop of chocolate mint, instead of hearing all of it secondhand from Kelly. “My apartment, for another.” Not that her apartment was much to speak of. She’d been meaning to decorate it for months, years, really, and never quite found the time. The rooms still had that empty, impersonal feeling.

“Both of those are available here.”

“My friends.”

“You have five good ones right here.”

True friends. Five of the best she’d ever met lived right here in St. John’s Cove, and every time she saw them, it was as if no more than an hour had passed since they’d last been together. And then there was—“Colton…”

“Stay, Vivian. And finally do what you should have done five years ago.”

“What?”

He reached up and cupped her jaw. In the dark, his blue eyes had the depth of a stormy ocean. Oh, how she wanted to just fall into his gaze and never look back.

“Stop running for a minute,” he said, his voice as dark as the night, “and give us a chance.”

It was the only thing she couldn’t do. Vivian left Colton, before the tears brimming in her eyes slipped down her cheeks, and made a liar out of her.