"I'd like to challenge that statement," Chloe chimed in. "My little sister can be one bratty mama."
"Shut up!" Serena knocked Chloe with her shoulder. "Don't let Chloe's sharp clothes and sweet pixie haircut fool you. She may be elegant, but beneath that polished exterior are the fangs of a viper and the claws of a wolverine."
"Psst!" Chloe made clawing motions with her hands, and they all laughed. "I'm not that bad. But feel free to tell that hot surf instructor of yours that I'm spicy! That man has got a body that won't quit."
"Brody Brewer?" Serena couldn't hide her shock. "Are you kidding? You always go for suit and tie guys. Brody acts like he's forever twenty-one. I'm not sure he'll ever grow up."
Serena spotted the guys jogging up the path toward the inn. Matt was with them today, and they were all shirtless, their bodies glistening from their efforts. Drake's eyes locked on hers, sending her emotions reeling. She was vaguely aware of the girls talking, but she was captivated by his serious expression, like he was trying to keep his emotions in check. But which emotions was the question. Was he struggling to be friendly? Or was he fighting to keep from letting their attraction get the better of him?
They jogged into the yard, and Drake looked away from Serena.
"Hey, gorgeous." Matt bent and kissed Mira's cheek, then her burgeoning belly. "Hello, baby."
Serena's heart would have melted if it weren't beating so hard she thought she might pass out. Drake pulled his phone from his pocket and focused on that, while Rick and Dean kissed their fiancées and sat down beside them.
"Suit and tie guys are great," Chloe said, and it took a second for Serena to realize she was responding to her earlier comment. "But every once in a while you've got to cut loose with a boy toy."
"Cut loose? We like ties," Emery said, snuggling up to Dean while eyeing Serena.
Oh geez, please let me evaporate into thin air.
"Whoa. What conversation did we walk into?" Rick asked.
Drake grabbed a glass of water and guzzled it down, pacing instead of sitting down. Violet reached for another pancake, her gaze moving between Drake and Serena.
"I disagree about the cutting-loose thing," Mira said, reaching for Matt's hand. "From my experience, one ex-professor is better than any boy toy could ever be."
Violet dramatically sniffed the air, and all eyes turned on her. "Do you guys smell that?"
Everyone sniffed.
"What?" Dean asked. "I don't smell anything except Emery's sweetness."
"Nope. Not that." Violet walked behind Serena and sniffed the air. Then she moved toward Drake and did the same. "Yup. That's the distinct scent of sexual tension."
All eyes turned to Serena and Drake.
Drake looked like he was chewing on glass.
He shifted his gaze to Serena, and she searched for a hint of a joke or a shred of happiness to hold on to. In her eyes, he would always be the perfect mix of shirt-and-tie guy and sexy, fun boy toy. But when he ground out a curse and stormed out of the yard, she knew she'd never experience either one, and she wondered if their friendship could ever recover.
AFTER AN EMOTIONALLY grueling day, Serena gathered her things, taking the cards she'd bought for each of her bosses out of her purse. The office was too quiet. Rick and Dean had left for a meeting, promising to see her at her goodbye party at Undercover later. Drake had gotten a call from someone named Sterling and had left when she was on the phone without so much as a goodbye. She had no idea if he still planned to drive her to the party-or if he'd show up at the party at all for that matter. He'd managed to avoid her for most of the day, except for brief interactions after each interview, when he'd shake his head, shrug, and mumble an excuse for why the applicant wasn't right for the job.
She left Rick's and Dean's cards on their desks, and her stomach knotted as she went into Drake's office, remembering the first day she'd joined them. They hadn't even set up desks yet. Drake lived upstairs from the office, and his apartment had been as bare as the office. She'd quickly remedied both. She'd known how much Drake missed his father, and he'd told her many times that he felt closest to him on the water. For that reason, she'd decorated the office and Drake's apartment in rich woods with nautical undercurrents throughout.
Clutching the envelope, she headed upstairs to his apartment. It had been a struggle to keep her emotions in check when she'd helped decorate his apartment, wondering if she was choosing sheets and pictures for other women to enjoy. But she'd never actually seen Drake bring any women home. She knew he dated, but as far as she knew, he'd never been a player or the type of guy to hook up with random women. She hadn't thought about that too much recently, because Drake had made it clear that she was only a friend, but now, knowing what she did, she wondered about his personal life. Was her impression of him skewed by wishful thinking?
She'd dated a few guys over the past four years, but they'd all left her wanting something more. Only she didn't know what more was. It was like an itch she couldn't scratch. Had Drake had his itches scratched? Had women spent the night at his apartment and he'd been careful to shoo them out before she arrived at work?
She ran her fingers over the blue envelope, tracing the white rope and anchor over the hard ridges of the key to his apartment she'd put inside. Why hadn't he ever asked for it back? She opened the old-fashioned mail slot on the door and hesitated. This might be it. Our final goodbye before I leave town.
Well, if this was it, it was his choice, wasn't it? His loss.
She slid the envelope into the slot, and then she hurried out to her car and drove away from the office. At a time when she should be celebrating her future, all she could do was cry. She didn't even try to stop, because at this time tomorrow, she'd be far away in a new city, making the fresh start she'd always dreamed of.
Her mother's voice, the voice she rarely heard anymore, whispered through her head. What you wish for today may not be what you truly want tomorrow. She and Chloe had been young, wishing on the dried seeds of dandelions, and in a rare moment of parenting, their mother had doled out that truthful piece of advice. She'd gone on to explain that she'd always wished she would become a mother, but she hadn't realized it would be so hard. It was one of those eye-opening moments when Serena's little-girl heart had ached so badly she'd gotten on her bike and pedaled straight over to Mira's house. She'd seen Drake in the yard, and rather than let him see her tears, she'd pedaled all the way to the creek, almost two miles away. Drake had shown up on his own bike a few minutes after her, and when she'd asked how he'd known where to find her, he'd said, Anyone who knows you would know where you were going.
She pulled into her driveway, and all that sadness turned to frustration. She had sworn she wasn't going to let this thing with Drake lead her astray, and here she was, completely entrenched in thoughts of him. No way. This could not happen. She couldn't afford to be sidetracked when she started her new job.
My new life.
A sting accompanied the thought, but as she'd learned to do years ago with her mother, she buried the sadness that came with her leaving and told herself that whatever Drake did or didn't do tonight should have no impact on her. She had a car and could drive herself to the darn bar. She just wouldn't drink much.
She went inside and walked directly past the sealed boxes, into her bedroom. She showered, taking her time to meticulously apply Nair everywhere just in case she found someone worthy of distracting her from Drake. She dried her hair, then took extra care applying her makeup. If Drake wanted to shun her because it was too hard to face what they shouldn't have, that was his business. She was going to celebrate her fantastic friendships and the start of something new.
She'd packed most of her nice clothes, but tonight she wasn't looking for nice. She dressed in the white eyelet crop top she'd bought right after college, when she'd moved back to the Cape. She hated strapless bras, so decided to go without one, which turned out to be a good thing because, as she laced up the top, she noticed it was a little tighter now. She pulled on the matching miniskirt with a lace hem, leaving her midriff bare, and slipped her feet into a pair of cute strappy sandals. Then she checked her phone for messages, reading one from each of the girls telling her how excited they were to see her tonight-and tried to ignore the sting at not finding one from Drake.
Forget it.
She put on a pair of gold dangling earrings, a matching necklace, and a handful of bangles. Then she grabbed her keys and headed out to her car.
Chapter Six