Loving Eden (27 page)
Haven twisted her hair between her palms and squeezed the water from her hair. She didn’t want to go to work before the song had hit her like a blast of cold air from the freezer hitting her in the face, but now the thought of standing in the store all day made her grit her teeth. She needed to finish it. She
had
to. If she called in sick, her mother would stop by, setting off a chain reaction from her aunts that would last all day. If she tried to take the day off, her father would never cease with the lectures on responsibility and setting a good example for the other employees.
Good example
, she huffed. Her father’s every move was a bad example. It annoyed her to her core how self-righteous he was when she knew how he spent his nights and sometimes his afternoons. Just being in the same room with him made her sick.
He gave her one more reason to leave Perry Island. She wasn’t finished chasing her dream, and the longer she stayed, the more she had to put it on hold. Just like the lyrics on the back of that envelope.
She grabbed a towel and dried herself before stepping into a pair of khaki shorts and a fitted T-shirt donning the logo for the island store where she worked.
It was dark as she walked to the side of the cottage. It was an oversized beach house that had been divided into four apartments. Haven had one of the lower corner units. There was a view of the cove from the deck. Luckily, the last renter had left a hammock, and it was her favorite spot to summon the lyrics in her head.
It had been a battle with her parents to have her own place for the summer. They couldn’t understand why she didn’t want to live at home. She didn’t understand why they didn’t accept her adult status in life. Did everyone who graduated from college and was on the brink of turning twenty-three have to deal with this? It would have been completely unbearable living under the same roof as her dad. There was no backing down on her part; she fought until they both gave in.
She pulled a turquoise beach cruiser from the bike stand. The island was small. Everything was within riding distance. Haven rode to most places, enjoying the snippets of freedom the bike gave her. She threw her leg over the bike and pushed down on the pedal.
“G
ood morning, sunshine.” Travis beamed as Haven reached behind him for an apron.
He moved closer so that her arm grazed the firm muscles in his shoulder. The pair was almost eye level, and when he was this close, Haven could see deep flecks of amber in his dark eyes.
“Hey.” She stepped back, slipped the straps over her neck, and tied the strings tightly around her waist. Nothing was more unflattering than these canvas aprons her father made everyone who worked at Owen’s General Store wear.
“I’ve had better greetings,” the store clerk teased. He had stopped sweeping. He leaned against the broom handle with one arm while his free hand roamed Haven’s hip, resting on the curve of her waist. His palm felt warm through the thinness of her T-shirt.
Haven rolled her eyes. “I’m not a morning person. You know this.” She tugged at his wrist, working herself free.
“I wouldn’t forget something like that.” He smiled. She noticed he was overdue for a haircut. However, most surfers let their hair grow long in the summer. Travis wasn’t any different.
“Just stop with the chipper-chipperness.” Her cheeks flushed pink with the memory of waking up under Travis’s tanned arms. That had been two days ago. She glanced over his shoulder and read the clock above the register. 5:45. Even with rushing around, she was still fifteen minutes late. God, she had to get out of here.
Travis gripped the handle and turned his attention to the strokes of the broom across the store’s hardwood floors. “Got it.”
She hadn’t meant to snap at him. He was just being Travis, and she was doing what she always did—lashing out at him when he was only being nice. But, it was too familiar, too intimate. True, things had taken an awkward turn since they had made out after Ben Jordan’s bonfire party, but somehow Haven had convinced herself they could do those things to each other in the dark under the influence of too many red cups, and it would magically disappear when they worked together at the store. It didn’t go as planned. It never did.
“Trav, I’m—” Before she could complete the apology, her father barged through the back hallway. She bristled when he appeared.
“Haven? You late again?” The white-haired man avoided his daughter’s eyes and looked at Travis.
Unbelievable. This happened almost every morning and every morning Travis covered for her, but this time she didn’t deserve her ass to be saved. Her eyes darted toward the dark-haired boy as if to say, “It’s ok. I know I’m toast.”
“Haven was here, sir. Right on time.” Travis circled around, concentrating on the dust pile and not Haven’s wide eyes.
“Good. Travis, would you mind giving me a hand? There’s a delivery out back on the docks. Bait shrimp’s in.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Owen.” Travis winked as he handed his broom to Haven. “Maybe you could finish this for me.”
“Uh. Sure.” She took the handle and watched as the two men disappeared into the hallway’s delivery entrance.
Travis would certainly give her a hard time about the whole exchange; he always did. If he thought covering for her would lead to more alone time, he had the wrong idea about what happened between them. Haven couldn’t deny they had chemistry and the night at the beach was hot—hotter than it should have been.
Things had gradually escalated in the past month since she arrived home from college graduation. It started with an accidental kiss in the shadows of the employee parking lot after work, and then one night the kiss moved to the backseat of the car when Haven thought they had technically rounded second base. It was as if Travis had transformed into the hot new guy when she was gone last semester. Everything about his body was new to her.
She secretly admitted she liked getting to know this side of him, but the there was one thing about him that hadn’t changed. He wasn’t interested in stepping one toe off the island, and Haven didn’t want to keep one toe on it. No amount of flirting or hot kisses could change that.
Finding Haven
Available NOW!
Read other books by T.A. Foster
Thank you to all those readers who discovered
Kissing Eden
and encouraged me to write this sequel. Grey and Eden thank you too. Sometimes all it takes is a little nudge.
To my amazing family, thank you for being there for me through the late nights, early mornings, and all the crazy times in between. You make this all worthwhile.
Mary-Kathryn, my writing partner, your feedback is invaluable on every book.
A special thank you to the bloggers who supported
Kissing Eden. Loving Eden
wouldn’t exist without all the encouragement. Thank you!
T.A. Foster once spent a monthlong spring break on South Padre Island, where she soaked in the Texas sun, beach, and learned what real Texas country music is. Sometimes fiction does spring from reality.
She grew up catching rays and chasing waves along the North Carolina Outer Banks and now resides in the state with her adventurous pilot husband, two children, and two canine kiddos.
T.A. has an undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a graduate degree in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University. When she’s not chasing her two-legged and four-legged children or trying to escape for date night, you can find her reading, writing, or planning her next beach trip.
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