‘A long time ago,’ he finished for her, lips compressing in a line, before he turned and stepped out of the golf cart, striding towards the flag and pulling it out of the tree.
‘Two down,’ he said, as he returned and took up a seat beside her.
‘And none are our own.’
‘Nah, not yet,’ he said. ‘But we’ve got all day, Mastrangelo. Let’s keep looking.’
8
It was the heat that made him suggest it. The heat that had started like a balmy warmth that morning had grown into sauna-like and suffocating, even as their golf cart clung to the coastal path, promising hints, occasionally, of a cooling breeze that never actually eventuated. He’d drunk a few beers, trying to keep cool, but if he kept ploughing through the bag, he’d end up starting even more asshole conversations with Sienna – who clearly didn’t want to rehash their past any more than he did. Or should have.
So why the hell did he keep bringing it up? Whatever happened to letting sleeping dogs lie?
He had 100 per cent left Ashbury Falls for all the right reasons. He’d had to get out of there. Not just for himself – and the quicksand that was Sienna – but for Blake and the anger management issues he was having, thanks to their father’s abuse. For their mother, who back then had no clue how to stand up for herself. She’d been mentally paralysed by years of living with fear. It was Aiden who’d had to be brave for them, who’d had to rip them out of that life and away from the home that was so chaotic and miserable.
Leaving Sienna had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done, but he’d told himself that the whole ‘clean break’ narrative would make it easier for both of them. Easier for her to cut ties with him if he made it obvious there was no future for them, after all. That he was going to be putting all of his focus on the game, and the opportunity he had to make a name for himself.
He’d been a coward.
He’d known that if he’d kept in touch with her, he would have weakened.
Quicksand.
Dynamite.
Whatever way you chose to describe their relationship, would probably hold water. For Sienna, he would have done anything. Given up anything.
And then what? He ends up in a relationship with a woman he cares about more than life itself, only to find out that he’s just like his father, and winds up hurting her? Aiden had learned from a young age that the way to make sure heneverwent down that path was to ice everyone out, all the time. To keep them at arm’s length. Somehow, Sienna had found her way through the cracks and nestled in there good and proper for over a year, until the thought that he might hurtherhad been like an anvil against his skull, non-stop. He’d needed to escape, not just the town, not just his father, buther.Everything about her.
Maybe if it hadn’t been for Blake, he might have questioned that, but he hadn’t had the luxury of listening to what he wanted. He and Blake were a package deal. Blake staying out of prison was all down to Aiden moving away with him. It had been a predicament with no winning solution; yet it had been one of the hardest decisions of his life.
So why the fuck did he turn to her and grin, like life was so freaking great and easy, and say, ‘How about we take a break from hunting down flags and test the water?’
No wonder she’d looked at him like he’d taken leave of his senses, her eyes widening as she slowed the golf cart to a stop, her gaze hitching to his, first, and then to the sparkling Med behind him.
As soon as he’d made the suggestion, he wanted to retract it. Swimming with Sienna right after admitting he should keep his distance from her had every single part of him screamingwithdrawwwww, soldier.But he held his tongue, and his breath, staring at her as her incredibly sparkly eyes seemed to swirl with a torrent of thoughts and considerations, before slipping back to his face.
‘That is kind of tempting.’
Tempting? She didn’t know the half of it.
‘Is that a yes?’
Her teeth pressed down on that full lower lip of hers, a habit she’d picked up since he’d left, a habit that would drive any red-blooded male to the point of insanity.
‘Sure,’ she said, looking down at their collection of flags – one or two of every colour except gold, which was proving elusive. ‘It’s not like the others can claim victory anyway,’ she said with a giggle that made his whole body tighten and teeter on the brink of exploding.
‘Greeaaat.’ He turned to look at the beach with a sinking feeling in his stomach. Then again, it was a beautiful day, a beautiful stretch of beach, and they were just going to go for a swim. It was hardly a commitment to marry, or anything even like it. He was a big boy, who’d spent a long time controlling his emotions, his libido, anything that might come close to a feeling, so he was pretty sure he could restrain himself even in the face of the temptation that was Sienna.
‘What are you waiting for?’ she asked, stepping from the cart and lifting her hands over her head in a stretch that made her shirt cling a little to her curves, so his pulse started to riot in his body.
‘Nothing.’ He grabbed the cooler as an afterthought, carrying it as he fell into step just behind her, away from the path and towards the beach, a hint of her sunshiney fragrance teasing his nostrils with every step.
The sand was hot underfoot, so Sienna laughed as she felt it and ran a little way down the beach, to where a large palm created spiky fronds of shade and offered some relief.
‘It’s like fire,’ she said with a shake of her head.
He placed the bag down and simply stared at her. The air seemed to pulsate with something heavy and sultry.
