I unpacked and lay around my bedroom, glad to be home. As much as I was dreading it, as soon as I walked into the familiar foyer, I felt instantly better. There was just something about home that could make things a bit better.
As much as I wanted to deny it, Lacey was right. I was in a rut, but I was also still hung up on him. I probably could have found a faster way to get divorced, but I just didn’t feel all that motivated. Sure, I went out and met people all semester, but nobody felt right, not since Cole.
I just couldn’t stop thinking about the first time I met him.
It was night at the resort, and Lacey had already disappeared with her lawyer guy, or maybe he was a movie producer. Either way, I decided to walk down the beach.
The moon was bright and full, which should have helped with my visibility. Instead, I was too busy looking up at the beautiful view to notice the huge rock down at my feet.
As I hit the sand face-first, he appeared.
Cole. Tall, covered in tattoos, grinning this knowing smile like he could tell what I was thinking about him. He appeared at my side, his strong hands on my arm.
“Are you okay?” he grunted in my ear.
“What? Oh, yeah, totally fine,” I stuttered as I got to my feet.
I was so fucking embarrassed. When was the last time I had actually tripped on something? It was like out of some horrible romance novel where the girl was just a dumb, empty klutz and was obsessed with her shiny boyfriend. It took me a second before I really got a good look at him, but when I did, he took my breath away.
“Careful out here,” he said softly. “Those rocks are vicious.”
“Uh, yeah. Sorry.” Why was I apologizing?
Probably because he made me feel like I couldn’t speak in complete sentences. His cut jaw and laughing blue eyes were enough to send me into spasms, but his tall, muscular frame and tattoos just made him all the more delicious.
It was completely unreal.
“What are you doing out here alone?” he asked.
“Friend ditched me, so I’m going for a walk.”
“Mind if I join you?”
“Yes.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Okay then.”
“I mean,” I said quickly, “yes, please join me.”
He laughed and offered me his arm. “For protection from large rocks.”
I smiled and slipped my hand around his ripped bicep. Holy shit, is it the ocean or am I already soaked? I thought.
“I’m Cole,” he said as we started to walk.
“Alexa.”
“Do you make it a habit to walk alone on strange beaches?”
“Ah, it’s not a strange beach. We’re in a resort.”
“True. Still, you managed to land face-first.”
I could feel myself blushing. “I’m really not a klutz.”
“I bet.”
“It’s just this place,” I said quickly. “It’s really beautiful.”
I could feel his eyes staring into me. “Yes. It really is.”
I couldn’t remember anymore what we talked about after that, but we did talk for a while. Eventually we ended up in this little outcropping of trees on a hammock, our bodies shoved together.
I didn’t think I’d ever felt more tension in my body before or since. And of course it was right around the moment when I was about to throw myself at him that Lacey found us and dragged me off.
But after that first night, I kept seeing him around. It seemed like everyone was his friend, everyone knew Cole.
And then after everything that had happened between us, he disappeared into thin air. My husband, the stranger.
I sighed, stretching, when suddenly I heard the front door open.
“Great. Show time,” I muttered to myself.”
“Honey?” Dad’s voice called out. “Are you home?”
I opened my door and headed downstairs. “Hey, Dad!” I called out.
“Alexa.” He smiled hugely and hugged me as soon as I found him in the kitchen. “Glad you’re home.”
“Me, too, Dad.”
Once he let me go, I saw her standing over by the table, smiling. I recognized her from the pictures, but she was even more stunning in person. Cindy had long blond hair, bright blue eyes, and was dressed expensively but conservatively.
She didn’t look like Dad’s usual type. She was age appropriate, for one, and she wasn’t showing more skin than she was covering. Instead, she exuded grace and poise, even from the very first second we met.
“Alexa,” Dad said, “this is Cindy.”
“My new stepmom,” I said.
Cindy laughed. “Just Cindy, please. It’s really good to meet you. I’ve heard lots of good things.”
We shook hands and I instantly forgot about all the negative things I had read about her in the press. Maybe she was the Ice Queen, the dominating woman warrior, but I didn’t care. In my kitchen, she seemed like just a regular person.