Lovers at Heart(22)

“Go ahead. I’ll catch up!” Treat heard someone yell. He blinked away the memory, rose to his feet, and headed down the beach toward the first bonfire. Might as well get this over with.

A few minutes later he heard his name from behind.

He turned, expecting to see Chuck. Smitty stood where he’d just been sitting, carrying an armful of blankets. He walked back through the dense sand and took the blankets from Smitty’s arms.

“Smitty!” Treat embraced his old friend. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Oh, you know Vicky. Any excuse for a party.” Smitty’s white hair looked almost gray in the moonlight. “Are you with our bonfire tonight?”

“I don’t know. I’m looking for Chuck and Bonnie Holtz.”

Smitty shook his head. “They’re not with our group.” He scanned the people closest to them. “Isn’t that them right there?” He pointed to a couple roasting marshmallows around the nearest bonfire.

“Your eyes are better than mine. I think you might be right.”

“Treat!”

Amanda. Treat groaned. How was he ever going to make it through the evening?

“Looks like you have a lady friend waiting for you. Here. Give me the blankets and you go join your party.” Smitty reached for the blankets.

“That’s okay. I’ll bring them to your bonfire.” Anything to avoid Amanda.

Smitty yanked the blankets from his arms, eyeing the woman who was heading their way with a determined look on her face. “That one’s not taking no for an answer. We’re the last bonfire down on the left. Stop by later, and bring your friend if you’d like.”





Chapter Twenty


MAX PULLED THE top layer of a roasted marshmallow off and put it in her mouth, then licked the sticky sweetness from her fingers. It had been ages since she’d roasted marshmallows, and she was having a wonderful time talking with Vicky and her friends. This was just what she needed. A little time to de-stress and pull herself together. And to get over Treat’s newest girlfriend.

“Guess who I ran into?” Chris asked when he joined the group.

“God himself?” Vicky teased.

“Sort of. Treat Braden.”

Max choked on her marshmallow. Treat? Did he say Treat Braden? Of course he did. How many other names sound like Treat Braden?

Vicky patted her on the back. “Get her a drink, quick, Chris.”

Chris handed her a bottle of wine, which Max chugged, and when she stopped choking, she chugged some more, until she’d downed half the bottle.

“Max? A little thirsty?” Vicky said with a coy smile.

“Sorry. Thank you, Chris. Do you mind?” She pointed to the bottle. Treat. Jesus, he’s everywhere.

“Go for it.”

Before he finished answering, Max was already guzzling more wine. She lowered it from her lips with a loud, “Ahh.” She couldn’t drink fast enough. She sucked down another gulp and wiped a drip from her chin.

“Did you say Treat Braden?” she asked.

“Yeah, you know him?” Chris asked.

“Yeah, I know him.” Max looked down the beach as she sucked down more wine. “Tall guy, handsome as the day is long?” Long as the day is handsome! She finished the bottle of wine and plopped into a beach chair with a loud sigh. Shoot me now…No…give me another bottle of wine first. The alcohol warmed the ache and anger that had turned her flesh to ice.

“He’s got a place right in Wellfleet. I’ve known his family for years.” Chris laughed. “He still calls me Smitty, like his pop did. It was a nickname I had as a younger man.”

“A much younger man,” Vicky teased.

“Did you meet Treat here?” Chris asked.

Max shook her head. I made out with him a few times, and I’m in love with him. Oh, and he keeps breaking my heart.

Vicky planted herself in the chair beside Max. “I’ve been around a long time.”

Max stared at the fire, feeling the alcohol chipping away at her defenses and washing away her inhibitions.

“If I didn’t know better, and if I’m reading that empty bottle of wine correctly, I’d think that Treat might be the reason you’re here.”

Max looked at her without answering, then pushed herself to her feet, swaying from side to side until Vicky grabbed her arm and she found her footing. “I’m just gonna go to the bathroom. It’s in the parking lot, right?”

“I’ll go with you,” Vicky said.

“No, I can manage. Thank you, though.” She started for the dunes, then turned back. “Vicky, you’re a really nice friend.”

Max stumbled toward the dunes, mumbling beneath her breath about blond women and tall men. She stumbled up the sandy ramp to the parking lot and found the small cinder-block bathroom. Inside, she flicked on the light and stood in front of the mirror, staring at her drunken, glassy eyes. Why did I do this to myself? Fly halfway across the country in search of a man who doesn’t even want me?

She removed the elastic from her hair and fluffed her long tresses over her shoulders, surveying herself in the mirror. She turned her face one way, then the other, narrowed her eyes, and then opened them wide again. I’m a pretty girl. Pretty girls are supposed to have happily-ever-afters. Kaylie got hers. Danica got hers. So why is the blonde getting mine?

She went to the bathroom, washed up, and headed back toward the beach. From the top of the dune, she scanned the beach for Treat. She spotted his height first, and her hand flew to her heart. Look at him. She bit her lower lip at the tug in her chest. The blonde stood beside him, and she kept touching his shoulder. “Don’t touch him,” Max said aloud.

She started down the steep incline and fell to her butt on the hard, packed sand of the ramp. She looked at Chris and Vicky’s bonfire, where all those nice people were smiling and laughing; then she looked up toward the bonfire where Treat was. More goddamned happy people. Max couldn’t take it anymore. She’d finally given herself up to a man—and she couldn’t even do that right. Here she was, alone, cold, and sitting on a hard sandy ramp. She gave in to the tears that had been begging to be set free for two full days. She didn’t wipe them away or cover her face. She didn’t care who saw her. She honored her sadness, allowing herself to feel the pain, like her heart had been beaten and tossed away only to be gnawed on by a mangy dog and walked all over again.





Chapter Twenty-One


TREAT HAD TO get away from Amanda. She was clingy and vile, offering to do all sorts of dirty things to him and refusing to accept his gentlemanly denials. She was so persistent that he half expected to hear, All that for a cool five hundred dollars. He was on the verge of telling her flat out, I will not sleep with you—ever. He’d never had to go that far before. Then again, he’d never been so in love with one woman that he’d turn down another.

Max. He had to find her. Even the thought of Max seeing him with Amanda standing this close to him turned his stomach. His only hope was that it really hadn’t been Max, and that she was safe at home in Colorado.

“I’ll tell you what,” Amanda said as she guzzled another beer. “If you’ll take a walk with me—one walk.” She leaned in closer, her breath warming his ear, and whispered, “I promise you, I’ll rock your world. I’ll be your treat.”

Treat closed his eyes against his boiling anger. It would be so easy to take her—down the beach, at his bungalow, where didn’t matter. He could have a string of nameless, faceless women if he wanted them. That part of my life is over, and I’m never going back to it. Not now that he knew what it was like to feel more than lust, to look into someone’s eyes and want so much more than sexual gratification. To want a lifetime of smiles and handholding, breakfasts, and yes, saucy, sumptuous, scorching hot nights of making love. When he opened his eyes, his decision was easy. Enough was enough. He spotted Chuck and Bonnie by the dunes.

“Excuse me,” he said.

“Chuck, I had a great time. Thank you for the invitation, but I really have to run. I’m still catching up on my sleep.”

Chuck winked. “Taking Amanda with you?”

“No and, Bonnie, you know I think the world of you, but I’d never give a woman like that a second thought. I’m sorry, but she’s a bit aggressive.”

Bonnie flushed. “I know. I’m sorry. I guess I thought that a guy like you was used to women throwing themselves at him and that she’d just fit right in.”

It surprised him that she would think of him like that, or rather, that she’d think he might act on it if they had. “Yes, but have you ever seen me with any women since you’ve known me?”

“Well, no,” she admitted.

He put his hand on her shoulder and kissed her cheek. “Then please don’t underestimate me.” He patted Chuck on the arm. “Thanks, buddy. We’ll catch up soon.”

“Are you leaving town again?” Chuck asked.

“Thinking about a trip to Colorado.” Treat headed down the beach toward Smitty’s bonfire, thinking about Max. If it hadn’t been her on that shuttle, then he’d make damn sure that if she’d give him another chance, he’d never be in a situation where his actions could be misconstrued again. Hell, he never wanted to be away from her again.