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“Where’s home?”
“A little town in Georgia called Peachtree Hollow.”
“Really. What brings you all the way up to Maryland?”
The smile on Samantha’s face brightened even further. “I spent a few days in Baltimore, dropping my son off at college. He’s working on a degree in… shoot.” Her nose scrunched up. “I can never remember what it’s called. Some fancy degree that has to do with computers and medicine. Anyway, he’s in the last year of his master’s program at Johns Hopkins for whatever it is.”
Shannon felt her eyes widen. “You have a son in college? You’re like thirty, tops.”
“I wish,” Samantha said with another bright, happy laugh. “I just turned forty. That’s what happens when you let the captain of the football team sweet talk you in the back of his car on your sixteenth birthday.”
“You had a kid at sixteen, raised him to not only go to college, but get accepted into one of the most prestigious schools in the country? All before you turned forty? I’m in the presence of greatness.” Shannon made a show of bowing deeply, making Samantha laugh again.
“Thanks. I can’t take all the credit. You know the saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it’s absolutely true in Peachtree Hollow. Even if my parents had wanted to kick me out when I got knocked up, the town never would have allowed it. I had more support than I could handle half the time.”
“That sounds lovely.” And it did, although Shannon was somewhat certain she’d have gone crazy with that kind of interference.
“It is. Frustrating, annoying, even infuriating at times, but lovely all the same. Well.” Samantha stuck her arm out for another handshake. “It was wonderful to meet you, Shannon. Thanks for riding with me.”
“You, too.” They parted ways and Shannon wandered the park for a bit, trying to find something else to catch her interest. But nothing really sparked any excitement in her, not after the rush she’d just had.
And, dammit, she was missing Bryant. As much fun as it had been to make a new friend, some part of her still wished it had been him beside her, sharing in the screaming, stomach-dropping thrill of flying through the air.
It didn’t seem to matter how much she lectured herself that she didn’twanthim there in the first place, her heart seemed to have developed a mind of its own.
Stupid heart.
Popping the last bit of the ice cream cone she’d treated herself to into her mouth, she tossed the wadded-up napkin into the trash and headed for her car. Maybe if she spent enough time with Bryant, her stupid, stubborn heart would realize what a colossal mistake it was to fall for a man like him. Which was the only reason she was going back to the house instead of enjoying an afternoon exploring her favorite summer spot.
Yeah, even she didn’t believe that.
Dammit.
CHAPTER8
He wasn’t there.
The asshole had left her a note on the island, letting her know he’d gone out for a bit and should be back by five. It had been four-thirty by the time she’d walked through the front door, and she’d spent the last twenty minutes fuming over the fact he’d gone somewhere without her. And then being pissed at herself for even caring.
Forcing Bryant and the feelings she definitely didnothave for him aside, she jogged up the stairs to grab her yoga mat from her bedroom. Some stretching and meditation on the back deck was exactly what she needed to relax.
Standing in the middle of her mat, she closed her eyes and lifted her arms high. A soft breeze teased her skin as she moved fluidly from one position to the next, providing some relief from the late afternoon sun beating down on her. August could be brutal, even as it melted into September, but she was grateful for the warmth. She hated being cold.
The memory slammed into her, nearly knocking her out of her warrior pose. Freezing and aching all over, the harsh stench of disinfectant invading her nostrils as she pretended to sleep. She was pretending because if she woke, her mom would fuss, and the only thing worse than her injuries was seeing the worry and grief in her mother’s eyes.
“You’re not there anymore,” she reminded herself, her voice a hoarse whisper. “You are safe and healed and nobody will ever hurt you again.”
The ‘safe and healed’ mantra had been provided by the therapist she’d been seeing since she’d moved back to her house. She’d tacked on the last part, and found it gave her strength on days when even leaving her house seemed an impossible task.
It was that truth she clung to now, as she lowered herself to the mat and focused her attention inward on her breathing. In addition to the therapy, she’d been taking self-defense lessons, and hadn’t she already proven she could handle herself? When those jerks had grabbed her on the sidewalk the night before she hadn’t even panicked. She’d just reacted on instinct and put them both down.
No, the panic hadn’t really set in until she’d turned around and found Bryant staring at her, an odd mix of determination and fascination in his stunningly blue eyes.
Because Bryant was capable of hurting her on a completely different level. And there were no classes she could take to defend herself against him. He was already under her skin, a constant itch she knew she’d never be able to scratch, not the way she truly longed to.
