Summer at the Shore (Seashell Bay Book 2) (7 page)

Morgan had always fought for financial independence. She’d been self-sufficient since she was old enough to hold down a summer job, so flirting with financial calamity scared the hell out of her. So did being in debt to people who wanted to help her, even people who were friends.

But given the situation and her responsibilities to Sabrina, she simply couldn’t say no, at least not right now. All she could do was make a solemn, silent vow to pay back every cent, even if Golden Sunset didn’t survive. It would take a while, especially if she had to drag her sister back to Pickle River and support her there, but she’d do it.

When Ryan waved a hand in front of her face, she realized she’d missed the last several moments of the conversation.

“Well, how about it, Morgan?” he asked. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

She mentally regrouped. “I’m sorry, guys. I kind of zoned out for a moment while I was trying to figure out how I could repay you.” She smiled as brightly as she could manage. “Now, what were you saying?”

Roy gave an amused little snort that drew an elbow in the ribs from Miss Annie.

“Aiden and Lily want us to go to the Sea Dogs game
with them tomorrow night,” Ryan said with a hint of a smile. “Aiden’s got free tickets, and Lily will take us all into town in her boat.”

“That’s what I came over to ask,” Aiden added. “We’d love it if you and Ryan could make it.”

Was this idea supposed to be a double date? “Um, well . . .” Morgan scrambled to come up with an answer. She wasn’t a sports fan, and minor-league baseball didn’t exactly turn her crank. And then there were all the potential complications of spending social time with Soldier Boy.

“Come on, don’t make me be the third wheel,” Ryan said.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” Roy butted in. “If she’s going to pass up a free ticket, I’ll go.”

“You’re not the fourth Aiden had in mind, Roy,” Miss Annie said. “Anyway, buy your own damn ticket if you want to go.”

They all laughed, including Morgan. And, heck, she actually did want to have a fun night out with her friends. Take in the game, have a drink afterward, and then head straight home to bed. It should be no big deal.

Except, of course, when your date happened to be Ryan Butler.

T
hat was one hell of a play,” Aiden mumbled.

Since his friend was currently stuffing his mouth with a Sea Dog Biscuit, a calorie-laden concoction of vanilla ice cream and two big chocolate chip cookies, Ryan could hardly understand a word he said. He, however, had steered clear of the junk food and headed directly past go to the beer. “Yeah, the kid’s got game,” he said.

They’d just watched Portland’s young left fielder make a leaping grab of a ball that would have been a home run. The Sea Dogs were already down by three to the Trenton Thunder, and a three-run homer might have put the game out of reach.

“I don’t recall ever seeing you make a catch like that,” Ryan added, ribbing his friend.

Aiden snorted. “Yeah, well, how about we talk about the fact that you set the record at Peninsula High for most errors in a season by an outfielder?”

“Long since broken, as you well know. But okay, since we’re taking a walk down memory lane, how about the home run record I broke in my senior year?
Your
record, as it happens. And my mark still stands, last I heard.”

Aiden polished off the ice cream sandwich in one massive bite. “Too bad your batting average never made it past two-sixty, and you ran like a wounded water buffalo.”

Sadly, Aiden wasn’t far wrong. Ryan had been a good high school player with fearsome home run power, but he’d lacked the kind of all-around skills that would have taken him to the big leagues. He’d swallowed that bitter pill early on and had rejected a couple of baseball scholarships at small colleges, preferring a future in the military to a slog in the minors.

Still, he felt the occasional twinge of envy that Aiden had carved out a solid pro ball career and then a retirement that enabled him to continue working in the sport he loved.

“Anyway, the girls are sure missing some great action.” Morgan and Lily had hiked off some time ago to check out the stadium’s souvenir store. When they were still gone two innings later, Ryan suspected they were probably nursing microbrewery beer in the concourse and talking about subjects that had nothing to do with sports or souvenirs. “I’m not holding my breath waiting for them to come back, are you?”

Aiden shook his head, intently watching the pitcher as he struck out the next batter. Then he flicked that intensity in Ryan’s direction. “Can I ask you a question?”

Ryan mentally sighed at the familiar sensation he got whenever somebody was about to pry into his life. It almost always started with asking if it was okay to ask him a question. What was he supposed to say—no, mind your own damn business?

Not when it was Aiden, that was for sure. Though they didn’t see much of each other and didn’t keep in really close touch, Ryan regarded Aiden as a very good friend. “Shoot,” he said.

“Look, man, I don’t want to get all up in your grill, but something’s been bugging me about why you left the service. Like there’s more to it than what you’ve been telling people.”

Ryan had given Aiden the same story he’d given everybody other than his parents. He couldn’t lie to his mom and dad, but as far as he was concerned, it was nobody else’s business. Still, Aiden’s instincts were right. The last thing Ryan wanted to do was keep bullshitting his best friend.

“Like I said, I needed a new challenge. And the money was part of it too.” He paused a moment, still thinking about how much he should say.

“And?” Aiden prompted.

Ryan gave a little shrug. “Okay, let’s just say my last command sergeant major wasn’t the president of my fan club. The guy made it just about impossible for me to stay in the unit and still keep my sanity. I figured, if I didn’t leave, I’d end up in a court martial after I slugged him.”

There had been moments when Ryan thought he’d happily face military justice so he could give that prick Strohmayer what he deserved. But that had just been his testosterone talking, and he’d managed to avoid a physical showdown.

Aiden’s brow furrowed. “What the hell was his problem?”

“I was . . . uh, well, a special case for him.” Ryan said. “We were just two people who weren’t meant to coexist in life, much less in a tight fighting unit.”

Ryan didn’t want to get into any of the stupid details
with Aiden—details like the fact that the reason for Strohmayer painting a target on his back had nothing to do with Ryan’s service and everything to do with the lies that Strohmayer’s niece, Callie, had spun to her family. Ryan had been with Callie for more than two years. He’d thought he loved her, and she loved him. But near the end of his final tour in Afghanistan, Callie had sent him an e-mail—a fucking e-mail—with a six-line message that said she’d fallen in love with one of his best friends, a civilian who worked on the base. Her final sentence had asked him to respect her decision to want a different kind of future. He’d respected her decision, all right, but he hadn’t respected her lies.

After he’d gotten over the shock and the hurt, he’d tried his best to move on. But Callie wasn’t done with fucking up his life. She came from a steadfast military family who’d all liked Ryan and approved of him. Lacking the guts to come clean with her parents that she’d been screwing around on him while he was deployed, Callie had told them Ryan had been unfaithful to her.

He hadn’t. Never.

“I had some asshole managers in my career, so I can relate,” Aiden said. “But couldn’t you have transferred into another unit?”

“That’s where timing came in. I had a couple of Spec Ops buddies who’d gone to work for Double Shield. When they told me DS was on the hunt for new operators, it just felt right to make the move. I was ready.”

“You went with your gut.”

“Best way to go, right?”

“I went through something like that last fall,” Aiden said. “I had to decide between heading out to California
to play or to retire here and coach at USM. I’d been pretty desperate to land a spot with some other team after the Phillies dumped me so, when I got an offer from Oakland, it should have been a no-brainer. But I went with my gut and stayed here, and I’ve sure got no regrets. You don’t find this way of life in very many places.”

Unlike Aiden, who’d hated Seashell Bay because of his abusive father, Ryan had grown up happy. He’d just never seen a future for himself on the island as a lobster fisherman. “You decided to stay because of Lily, didn’t you?”

“Actually, she was ready to come with me to California.”

“Are you serious? Lily without her boat and lobster fishing?” Ryan shook his head. “Man, she really must love your CFA ass.”

“I sure as hell hope so, since we’re getting married. But I think I can safely say that the good people of Seashell Bay no longer see me as a Come-From-Away. Believe it or not, it feels like home now.”

“I guess people just needed to know that you weren’t a stuck-up asshole with your big-city celebrity ways. Even though you are, of course,” Ryan joked.

“Some celebrity,” Aiden scoffed. “That’s why I still have to work for a living.” Then he elbowed Ryan in the ribs. “Let’s go grab another beer and track down the girls.”

“Something tells me they might not appreciate us horning in on their conversation. Especially since I’m thinking I might be the subject at hand.”

“Yeah? Are your ears burning?”

Ryan grinned. “Hell, they’re on freaking fire.” And as far as he was concerned, that was a damn good sign.

The Commercial Street bar was jammed, the rock music from a local band was frenetic, and Morgan was well on her way to getting more than tipsy. She’d downed two beers at the ball game and was finishing her second in less than an hour at the bar. Ryan and Aiden were way ahead of her and yet didn’t show any visible effects, which figured since they were such big, brawny guys.

And it also didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why she was tempting fate with alcohol. She was feeling sorry for herself, and she really, really hated it.

Lily, of course, was understandably and boringly sober, allowing herself only one ball game beer. She was the designated boater, and Lily Doyle never screwed around when she was at the wheel of
Miss Annie
. The safety of her passengers meant she’d stuck to mineral water at the bar even though it would probably be a while before they’d make the return journey to Seashell Bay.

“Not to be an old lady,” Lily said as she and Morgan headed to the restroom, “but I’m not sure it’s smart for you to be blitzed when you and Ryan get back to the B&B tonight.”

Morgan pushed the door open and glanced around the restroom to make sure they were alone. “Come on, Lily, can’t I have some fun for once? I’ve earned a night off.”

At the stadium, Lily had gently grilled her again about her feelings for Ryan as they sat near the concessions. She knew Lily was concerned about her, but the only thing their little chat had done was ratchet up her anxiety about all the ways her friendship with Ryan could go off the rails.

Her pal frowned. “You sure don’t look like you’re
having fun. You might fool the guys, but you know you can’t fool me.”

“Not having fun? Am I not laughing hard enough when one of the guys tells a joke?” She winced, knowing that sounded bitchy. She reached into her bag and rummaged around for lip gloss.

Lily lifted skeptical eyebrows.

Morgan heaved a sigh. “Okay, this little outing is a wee bit harder than I thought it would be. It’s like the four of us are on some goofy double date.”

Lily gave her an encouraging smile. “Keep talking.”

Morgan could read between the lines—
Before you get truly drunk and do something stupid, like screw your brains out with Soldier Boy
.

“I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed, is all.” Morgan faced the mirror, trying not to notice the slightly manic look in her gaze. Grimly, she swiped a little more gloss onto her lips. “My life is so up in the air right now, what with the mess at the B&B.”

“It’s not just the B&B, honey.”

True, but how could Morgan tell her best friend that it made her totally jealous to see Aiden and Lily all over each other while she had to keep a safe distance from Ryan? How high school was that? Never had she felt more aware of her single status, especially since the bar they’d chosen was basically a hookup hangout.

“Look, I’m being an idiot,” she finally said. “You should just ignore me.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “I get it, honey. I know it’s hard to be with Ryan without jumping his bones. But you can’t let that keep you from having fun. God knows you deserve it. And Ryan looks like he’s enjoying himself.
You two should just kick back and have a few laughs, like old pals.”

“Old pals?” Morgan huffed out a laugh. “From what I’ve been seeing over the past couple of days, I’m guessing he’d totally be up for a booty call.” She could get so down with that, but what an epic mistake it would be.

“We talked about that, didn’t we? You two have enough sexual energy to light up the town, and now you’re staying in the same house. You just have to find a way to deal with it.” Lily frowned. “He’s not pushing you, is he?”

Morgan leaned against the wall, next to the hand dryer. The tile felt cool on her overheated skin. “No. But I could have sex with Ryan in a New York minute. He’s making me crazy. But I know exactly what it would be for him—a fun little fling and then good-bye.” She frowned. “And then I look at you and Aiden, and all I can think about is
that’s
what I want—a real relationship with a good guy who loves me. Not just some dumb summer fling with a man who’s going to basically forget about me as soon as he steps onto the damn ferry.”

Lily just patted her shoulder. After all, what could her friend say? Facts were facts, and whining about them wouldn’t change a thing.

The beam from Portland Head Light stood out strong and bright against the inky darkness of the water and sky. It was a warm, still night, the stars were out, and the bay waters were gentle. Feeling no pain, Ryan relaxed as he hung out with Aiden on the port rail of Lily’s boat.

Morgan, on the other hand, huddled close to Lily at the wheel and still looked wound up. Less than an hour ago, the women had returned from the bar’s restroom looking
pretty grim, and within minutes, Lily had started talking about how she needed to call it a night. That made sense, given that she had to be up and out on the water at dawn, but Ryan had the feeling something else was going on.

Something with Morgan.

His cute little innkeeper had been sending him mixed signals all night. She’d been fairly flirty early on, but then she’d pulled back, focusing on Lily or Aiden. And he got where she was coming from. Like him, she was feeling the heat that was building between them. But unlike him, she was trying like hell to deny it.

On that score, nothing had changed since last year. She wasn’t the kind of woman to want a one-night stand, or even a summer fling. He respected that.

But man, he wished she would go for it. He’d have to be dead from the neck down not to want to get gorgeous Morgan Merrifield between the sheets. And he figured he could handle a summer fling without getting bent out of shape about it, especially since sporadic sex with no involvement had been all he’d known over the past few years.

But Morgan obviously wasn’t there, and he’d begun to think she never would be.

So he’d adjusted his attitude, trying to just be friends. He’d given her lots of space—a hell of a lot more space than Aiden had given Lily tonight for damn sure. Those two couldn’t get enough of each other. Ryan had felt a few twinges of envy as he watched them. That, unfortunately, had led to a few semidrunk lapses on his part, where he’d slipped his arm around Morgan and pulled her close. The second time it happened, she couldn’t shimmy away from him fast enough.

Man, she looked so damn hot in a little white tank top that revealed plenty of soft, creamy white cleavage. The sexy top with her skintight jeans and her high-heeled sandals had done a real number on him all night, and he hadn’t been the only guy at the ballpark and the bar giving Morgan a lust-filled eye.

Still, it felt like more than just lust. She’d been his friend since she could walk, and what was now happening between them felt pretty earthshaking. Sure, good friends sometimes turned into lovers. He had personal experience with that. In fact, it had bitten him in the ass seven years ago when Callie, the girlfriend he’d cared a lot about, had gotten it on with one of his buddies during one of Ryan’s deployments.