On the Outside (Caught Inside #3) (9 page)

He snorted and arched an eyebrow. “You say that now, but let’s see what you say in three or so months when he tosses you to the side like yesterday’s garbage.”

“That’s a lie. For one, Xavier told me he hasn’t dated in a long time. Are you telling me he’s some sort of player?” I quickly shut my mouth. Maybe Xavier didn’t want me spreading around his business, especially not to someone who obviously had it in for him for some reason.

Charlie lost his smile and shook his head in disappointment. “Say what you want, but I’ve seen countless girls pining for him, completely heartbroken because he wouldn’t give them the time of day.”

“That doesn’t mean he tossed them to the side.”

His jaw clenched. He was obviously not used to someone doubting him, let alone arguing with him. “Say what you want, but I’ve known him longer than you have. I think I have some authority to form an opinion about him. Shit, I know what I’m talking about.”

“Agree to disagree.”

Charlie sighed and shook his head. “You know what? Forget I said anything. I just thought I’d look out for you.”

Before I could reply, Charlie leaned over and planted a soft kiss on my lips. Startled, I took a step back and gaped. “What was that for?”

“We’re rehearsing, right? Gotta get these kisses down pat.” With that, he spun on his heel and walked nonchalantly down the winding path leading away from my apartment, leaving me staring after him in shock. When he was about ten feet away from me, he suddenly turned back and lifted his hand in a wave. “See you at shooting.”

Chapter 15

Xavier: Good news! I’m on my way home! I’ll be touching down tonight.

I read the text over and over again, ecstatic beyond belief. After Charlie’s surprise visit, I dove further into the depths of reclusiveness, ignoring his calls and any other calls that came from unknown numbers. Though I knew I was digging myself into a gigantic hole and possibly alienating the people I’d be spending every waking moment with for the next few months, I couldn’t help but feel wary of those Hollywood types.

You
are
one of those Hollywood types.

I shrugged off the thought and picked up my phone, typing away with a smile that stretched ear to ear.

Me: Awesome! I’ve been missing my surf instructor. When’s the next lesson?

“Perfect combination—excited, yet coy,” I commented to myself as soon as I sent the message off.

Almost immediately my phone chirped again.

Xavier: I hate to tell you this, but it won’t be for another week.

My stomach dropped. “Ugh, I hate this feeling.”

Me: How come? I thought you were coming home?

Xavier: I am, but my sister is coming to visit me. She’s meeting me at the airport. Haven’t seen her since she opened up her own restaurant.

“Oh, that’s nice…” I took a deep breath and sighed. “Well, there go your plans, Harper.”

Just as I was wallowing in self-pity, my phone went off again.

Xavier: Why don’t you join sis and me for dinner tomorrow night?

I blinked in surprise. “Okay, totally was not expecting that.”

Me: Really? Are you sure that’d be okay?

Xavier: Why not? I invited you, didn’t I?

Me: Won’t your sister mind?

Xavier: Nah. I mean, she can be a bit “difficult” at times, but she’s really personable.

I bit my lip, suddenly feeling uneasy. The same drop in my stomach reappeared and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was a sign of bad things to come. Regardless, I couldn’t fight the excitement of seeing him again.

Me: Are you really sure it’s okay? I don’t want to impose.

Xavier: Positive…just do me one favor?

Okay this got weird fast.
I typed quickly.

Me: And what favor is that?

Xavier: Try going to the beach on your own. Maybe if you’re brave enough you can paddle around by yourself.

I blinked in surprise and stared at his text. Leave it up to my Type A instructor to turn an invitation to dinner into a lesson.

Me:
We’ll see what I can do.

Chapter 16

The ocean waves were loud the next morning, almost drowning out the beating of my nervous heart. Well, I wouldn’t say nervous exactly. I was anxious—anxious to the extreme. Being an extrovert, I admit I used to be a bad attention whore. I never once felt nervous when it came to meeting new people and actually loved it. However, the thought of meeting Xavier’s sister scared me beyond belief. I couldn’t explain it, but deep in the recesses of my mind, I felt as if she would play a part in whatever happened to me and Xavier. Though as of now what I had with him was nothing more than unbearable sexual attraction, meeting a crush’s family was still really frightening!

I dragged my bright colored board to the shore and gulped as I stared out into the water. It wasn’t as calm as it had been in the past, and the thought of facing it alone scared me shitless.

“He won’t know if I actually went in the water or not,” I mumbled to myself as I watched a nearby surfer wipeout painfully. I winced when I spotted him limping back to shore, carrying the remaining two pieces of his broken board. “No, Harper, you can do this.”

Yet, despite my positive affirmations, I was still frozen in place. It was as if my muscles had taken on a life of their own, preventing me from sudden death.

“Oh my gosh, you will not die.”

Are you sure about that?

Thinking twice about it, I decided that for the first time in a long time I’d listen to my gut. Gripping the fiberglass board under my arms, I spun around to head back to the parking lot. “Yeah, we’ll just fib and say I went in for a while. Xavier will never know the difference.”

Ignoring the feelings of guilt that seemed to waken in my core, I stomped my way toward the tiny sedan that I’d finally rented. Having my “chauffeur” gone for a few weeks really did put a damper on my routine. As I struggled to secure my board onto the racks, I threw another nervous glance at the ocean and sighed.

“Why do I feel so guilty about this?” For some reason I couldn’t shake off the feeling that my actions would have some dire repercussions. It was as if I felt I was
fooling
Xavier and that karma would soon bite me in the ass. “No, you’re just being stupid, Harper. Just go home and rest. You’re already scared enough as it is to meet his sister. Don’t want to add an injury to the bill. Besides, if you did get injured, then you’ll lose your role in the movie. Can’t make Old Robbie mad again, can you?”

“Hey! Are you talking to yourself?” a male voice called out above the loud howl of the wind.

My cheeks blushed as I looked up, embarrassed to find a boy a few years younger than me scratching his head in confusion. I gripped at the collar of my wetsuit and laughed half-heartedly. “Uh, yeah. I do it when I’m thinking hard about something.”

The boy, who was decked out in a multi-colored wetsuit, shrugged his shoulders but still gazed at me as if I were an alien. “Just thought you were talking to me, but I don’t even know you and that’d be weird.”

Can’t have any more weirdness, can I? I’d hate for the media to get wind of a
Harper Montgomery Now Insane
headline.

I forced a smile. “No, I wasn’t talking to you. Have a nice day.”

“Whatever.”

Shaking my head, I retreated into my car, ready to get the hell off of the beach and back home.

Chapter 17

Seriously, why was time such a bitch? I spent all day pacing around, trying to ignore the nervousness bubbling in my stomach. By the time evening came I was more than ready to meet with them, having already changed my outfit three times. Finally deciding on a simple combination of jeans, a long sleeved black shirt, and boots, I headed out the door before I could change my mind about my outfit one last time, though I knew I’d be hella early.

“You will arrive at your destination in twenty-five minutes.”

I sat in my car and cringed at the GPS. “Twenty-five minutes? I didn’t think I’d be
that
early!”

I was about ready to jump out of my car and head back home when I realized something—being early was better than fidgeting in my apartment, albeit not by much. Picking the lesser of two evils, I placed the car in reverse and found myself halfway regretting that I’d turned down Xavier’s invitation to catch a ride with him and his sister. Given that our history of small talk wasn’t a good one—not to mention not knowing whether his sister was anything like him—I decided to forego the risk of an awkward car ride in the middle of California traffic. Who knew whether our dinner was going to include minutes of uncomfortable silence as it was.

Speaking of California traffic, there was actually none at all! It was a miracle, and not one that I wanted. I arrived a full ten minutes ahead of the GPS prediction, which made me a full hour early for our dinner.

“Well, you can down a glass or two of wine inside. It might actually calm you down a bit,” I mumbled to myself as I handed my keys to the valet. After garnering another weird look from the young man, I snapped, “Yeah, I talk to myself. So what? Don’t Californians ever do so?”

The valet held up his hands in mock surrender and jumped into my car, driving off before I could get in another word.

“Take that! Good job, Harper. Why thanks, good on you too, Harper.” Deciding that the boy at the beach had good reason to think I was the oddest one of the bunch, I quickly shut my mouth and headed inside.

The restaurant Xavier picked was beautiful! With its chandeliers, crystal vases, and candelabras, the restaurant was a bit classier than I would have expected from him.

Maybe you don’t even know him at all.

Charlie’s words echoed through my mind, further adding to my nervousness. It was so unlike me to feel so insecure about meeting someone new, and the fact that his
sister
could affect me this much really surprised me.

I rubbed at my forehead and sighed. “What the hell is wrong with me?”

Sulking slightly, I made myself comfortable at a back table and took out my phone as a distraction. To my surprise, it seemed Xavier was running a bit early too.

Xavier: You wouldn’t be able to come earlier, would you? We’re actually pulling up to the restaurant right now.

My heart skipped a beat as I read Xavier’s text. As middle school as it sounds, I couldn’t help but feel giddy. But hey, I’d take giddiness over vomit inducing nerves any day.

With a stupid smile on my face, I typed:

Me: I’m already inside. Saved a table toward the back.

“Being fashionably late is for suckers anyway.” I snickered, throwing my phone into my purse. I rolled my neck from side to side, relaxing my stiff muscles. Finally feeling more comfortable, I nodded my head and let out a slow breath. “This will be good. This
is
good. I’m putting myself out there, and if I make a good impression, maybe Xavier won’t just think of me as another job.”

What are you talking about, Harper? He wouldn’t have invited you if he didn’t think of you as a friend at least.

“At least…” I mumbled.

A cold breeze worked its way through the restaurant, shocking me as a shiver ran up and down my spine. I shuddered and rubbed at the goose bumps that tickled my arm. Besides the fact that I was
inside
a restaurant, it was summer and there was no explanation for cool wind.

“Maybe it was a ghost or…”

A bad omen.

“Shut up, Harper. You’ve dealt with the worst already. The karma gods have to be looking out for you now. Besides, what bad can happen to you here?”

His sister might hate you.

“Shut up,” I grumbled, flipping through a gigantic sized leather menu to distract myself.

“I see her. She’s over there.” The sound of Xavier’s voice brought me back to earth. It’s hard to explain, but somehow his baritone sent soothing waves through my body, instantly calming me.

Not wanting to be rude, I rose to my feet and plastered a huge smile on my face. From where I stood I couldn’t see his sister behind the tall wooden booths, but figuring she was close by, my heart continued its pounding beat.

All of a sudden I spotted a head of brown bouncing beside Xavier’s monstrous figure. At six-foot-two, he towered over my five-eight stature, but his sister was so tiny. She couldn’t have been more than a little over five feet!

The siblings rounded a corner booth and before long I finally caught a look at the infamous woman. It was hard not to see that the two were related. They both had the same big brown eyes, oval shaped face, and sharp features. Their parents must have been really attractive, because together the brother and sister commanded the attention of the entire room.

Xavier spotted me and lifted his hand up to wave. His smile wavered a bit when his sister stopped in her tracks.

“What’s wrong?” I heard him ask.

The woman looked at me—no
glared
at me with a ferocity I had never seen before. Frowning, I glanced behind me to make sure she wasn’t looking at someone else—
anybody
else. When I turned back around she had turned beet red and was shaking uncontrollably.

“What’s wrong?” Xavier repeated in a firmer tone. His thick eyebrows furrowed as he reached out to touch his sister, who merely slapped him away in annoyance.

Well, if this isn’t the worst case scenario then I don’t know what is.

Gulping, I mustered enough courage to walk forward and extend my hand. “Hi, I’m—”

“Fucking Harper!” she screamed before launching herself at me.

Okay, I take that back. This was definitely the worst that it could be. Shocked, I found myself on the floor before I could even blink.