Fearless Heart, page 3
But none of it mattered in their eyes because I wasn’t a petite size six like my mom. Because I hadn’t dated the quarterback. Because I’d never been prom queen or on the homecoming court. Because I was in my thirties and hadn’t yet snagged myself a handsome husband.
Because I’d dared to want something more for myself than to be a shadow of my parents’ former selves or someone’s arm candy.
I was nothing more than an embarrassment for them, and they weren’t shy about reminding me every chance they got.
I’d thought I’d be able to come back to Starlight Cove without their constant judgment since they no longer lived here, but I’d failed to account for the ties they still had to this town.
Well, fuck them.
At one time, their words would’ve been enough to send me into a downward spiral that would have taken my therapist and me months to get out of. Now, they only served to fuel my fire. I grabbed a tissue, dabbing the corners of my eyes and refusing to let any tears fall. Those assholes didn’t deserve them.
But their words, as hateful as they were, were an excellent reminder of why I did what I did. Why I pushed on even when it was difficult. Why I wore my armor like a shield, not letting them see how much they got to me. Why I’d worked so hard to become the woman I was.
I’d been dealing with people like them my whole life, had fought and clawed my way to the top of a male-dominated field without letting anything stand in my way.
I had no intention of changing that now.
CHAPTER THREE
FORD
My sister was a force to be reckoned with, and this last-minute festival she’d helped Beck throw together was proof enough of that. She’d also somehow talked two dozen eligible bachelors—only three of whom were her brothers—into donating their time for the auction, and she’d enlisted all the unattached parties in town to attend and spend their hard-earned money on us.
Unsurprisingly, Starlight Cove showed up in droves. But that was what this town did when it came to a good cause. And since the proceeds were going to Everly Bowman—a new-ish Starlight Cove transplant and my twin’s complete obsession—in the hope that we’d raise enough money so she could rebuild her vet clinic after a tragic fire, that fit the bill.
On Addison’s orders, Beck and I stood in the grass behind the gazebo as other auctions carried on to the excitement of the crowd. My sister was running this like a military boot camp, barking orders to anyone who would listen—and even those who wouldn’t. She was barely over five feet tall, but she still managed to have grown-ass men eating out of the palm of her hand. Except for Brady and Aiden, anyway. The former had gotten out of this because he was already spoken for, and Luna wouldn’t stand for someone else going on a date with her man. The latter…if I had to guess, I’d say he had something to hang over Addison’s head and threatened to use it if she made him take part in the auction.
Unfortunately, the rest of us McKenzies didn’t have an out.
Levi had already sold his soul to the devil and then gotten the fuck out as soon as possible. That only left Beck and me.
“I’m going to kill Addison for making me do this,” he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as he split his attention between glaring at our sister and staring out at the crowd, no doubt searching for Everly.
“I figured you’d be a lot less grumpy, considering this is all for your girl.”
“That’s exactly the problem,” he said. “My girl is out there thinking I’m up here for a date. All because Addison decided that was how it was going to be. Apparently she didn’t get the memo that I’m not an eligible bachelor.”
“No one got that memo, man. You aren’t exactly transparent about your and Everly’s…situation.”
“Oh, so it’s my fault Everly’s standing out there thinking I’m selling myself off to the highest bidder, all because I didn’t tell Addison I’m in love with my best friend?”
“I thought I was your best friend.”
He slid his gaze to me, his lips pressed in a thin line, and I didn’t even try to hold in my laugh.
“It’ll be fine,” I said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “She’ll find out soon enough the only thing they’re bidding on is your blueberry scone recipe, and the only woman you’re interested in is her.”
He gestured toward the crowd where Everly stood, looking a bit lost. “And in the meantime, she’s thinking the worst.”
“Nah, man. Going straight to the worst is your wheelhouse, not hers. She’s fine.”
“She better be. I should’ve…”
“What? You were the one who wanted to keep it a secret.”
“That was before I realized Addison’s sole purpose in life was to piss me off.”
“You just now realized that?”
“Oh, relax, Beck,” Addison said from behind us, the eye roll clear in her tone. “Everyone who’s bidding on you knows the only thing they’re getting is your recipe, so your virtue is safe. You can unclench. And I promise Everly will forgive you when you tell her we’re actually raising money for her.” She tucked her clipboard under her arm, planted two hands on his back, and shoved him toward the steps of the gazebo. “Now, get your grumpy ass out there and earn her some money.”
After shooting a scowl at Addison over his shoulder, Beck climbed the steps of the gazebo and walked out to the excitement of the crowd as the auctioneer introduced him, carefully explaining exactly what the bidders would be getting without cluing Everly in on the secret.
“You’re the last one. You ready?” Addison asked without looking up, too busy making notes on her clipboard. She just needed a headset and she’d be totally in her element.
“Born ready.”
She tapped the corner of the clipboard against my chest. “And that is why you’re my favorite brother today.”
“Just today?”
She lifted a single shoulder. “It changes on a whim.”
“I figured Levi would be your favorite right now, considering how much cash his auction brought in.”
She hummed, tipping her head side to side. “Don’t get me wrong—I’m thrilled with his total. But don’t think I don’t know that you two have a bet going about who’ll earn the most tonight. And don’t think I also don’t know that you’ve already lost one bet this week, so you’re certainly not going to lose another.”
I shot her a grin, no longer surprised when my sister knew even the most minuscule goings-on of our family. She was like a bloodhound with any tiny detail, especially if it concerned us. She may have been the youngest, but she mothered us to death. And by that, I meant she bossed us around like she had a doctorate in it.
“It’s a good thing you’ve decided to use your powers for good,” I said.
She nodded once. “I could make your lives a lot worse than I do, it’s true. The five of you should remember that.”
“I am well aware.”
The auctioneer banged the gavel, calling sold for Beck’s offerings, which meant I was up.
“How much do I need to beat?” I asked, stepping up to the back of the gazebo as I cracked my neck, eyes on the prize.
“If you get to a grand, you’re golden.”
“Consider it done.”
If I had to whip off my shirt and pull a little Magic Mike action to make it happen, I was going to have this crowd eating out of the palm of my hand before I walked off the stage. There was no fucking way I was leaving before I hit that grand. Not when the consequence of losing to Levi was another body modification. My dick didn’t need any more jewelry, and I wasn’t interested in getting my nipples pierced.
The auctioneer glanced back, and a grin spread across her face as she gestured me to step forward. “And the last bachelor up for auction tonight is none other than Starlight Cove’s favorite flirt, Ford McKenzie.”
I strolled down the makeshift aisle, one hand in my jeans pocket as I shot a smile at the crowd. This was exactly what I needed. An escape. A distraction. A little something to forget a certain blonde bombshell with curves for days and a smart mouth I wanted to put to better use. The one who’d infiltrated my thoughts and haunted my dreams. Who’d somehow turned my own dick against me like the she-devil siren she was.
Well, no more. I was tired of jackin’ the beanstalk every night, and this was my comeback…the shake-up needed for my dick and me to finally be on speaking terms again.
“You know him best for shooting a salacious grin and a wink your way,” the auctioneer continued, “but he’s also good with his hands, if you know what I mean.”
The crowd whooped, and I played into it, giving them exactly what they wanted. Exactly what they’d come to expect from me.
Bidding started with a frenzy, several women calling out dollar amounts and rocketing the total into the mid-hundreds within seconds. The two who were now locked in a bidding war were stunners—a brunette and a redhead with looks on their faces that said they were all too willing to spend our time horizontal.
And neither one of them did a damn thing for me.
It was official. My dick and I were in an all-out war.
The stubborn fucker couldn’t even muster up a yawn at the women’s enthusiasm, despite the fact that they were both objectively gorgeous.
Well, that was just great. Especially when I needed to sweet-talk whoever won this into joining me at my ex’s wedding. Maybe by that time, my dick would finally agree to be attracted to someone other than the one woman who hated my guts, and I could finally fuck out some of this bottled-up tension.
The bids crept toward a thousand and then slowed. I was so damn close to beating Levi… Maybe now was a good time to take off my shirt? I just needed a little—
“Two thousand dollars!”
I snapped my head in the direction the voice had come from and narrowed my gaze. Even if I hadn’t been able to see her—which I could, plain as day, as she stood wearing jeans that should be illegal, considering what they did for her full ass and those thick thighs I wanted to sink my teeth into, and a black top that swept over her curves and dipped low enough to make my dick perk up, the disloyal bastard—I’d know that voice anywhere.
Quinn, my oldest rival and the woman who loathed me and made it her mission to make my life as difficult as possible, just spent two grand to go on a date with me. She also just took away any chance I had of fucking out this pent-up tension that’d been building up inside me, all thanks to her.
What—and I couldn’t stress this enough—the fuck.
CHAPTER FOUR
QUINN
Besides the fact that my parents were no longer here, nothing much had changed in Starlight Cove in the fourteen years I’d been gone. It still had one of the most beautiful beaches I’d ever seen. Everyone in town still knew everyone’s business. And Ford McKenzie was still an insufferable ass…and hotter than any man had a right to be.
And I’d just paid two thousand dollars to go out on a date with him.
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.
The phrase had started running through my head since the second I’d called out my bid, and it hadn’t let up in the time since. Not when Everly had gasped and asked what I was doing. Not when she’d excused herself to go in search of Beck after I couldn’t come up with a plausible reason why I’d lost my mind. Not when one of Addison’s helpers had come over to collect the ungodly sum of money I’d bid. And it only increased now as my gaze locked with Ford’s from across the park as he stalked toward me.
He looked hot, as usual. Though that was to be expected. I couldn’t recall a single time this man had looked anything less than gorgeous, and it was truly unfair. There should’ve been some kind of rule that your nemesis looked like a haggard old troll rather than a model peeled straight off the pages of a magazine. The bastard hadn’t even had the decency to go through that awkward, cringeworthy stage in fifth grade like the rest of us.
His dark hair, cut close on the sides and longer on top, was in careless disarray. Enough stubble covered his sharp jaw that I definitely never wondered what it would feel like on my skin, and his full lips were curved in their perpetual state of amusement. He wore a pair of threadbare jeans that hugged his ass perfectly—not that I’d been looking—and a T-shirt that showed off the muscles he worked hard for at the fire station and being the handyman at his family’s resort.
Yeah, no. This interaction wasn’t happening. There was no way I was talking to him tonight. He wanted answers. I could see it in the determined set of his eyes, focused on me. But considering I didn’t even know why I’d just done that, I had nothing that would satisfy his curiosity.
I spun around, set on heading straight for my car and getting the hell out of here, but I nearly ran into Mabel in my haste to leave.
“Quinn,” she said, phone pointed in my direction like she was recording. Her phone case was bright pink, large sparkly letters proclaiming Ask me about my favorite toy scrawled across the back. “So glad I caught you! Mind having a quick chat with me for my watchers?”
Mabel and her fucking Facebook Lives. I’d become well acquainted with them since moving back, considering I was renting a room from her and her husband because the rental game in a town this size was abysmal. I’d hoped the reason for my first broadcast would’ve been when the clinic got transferred over to my name, but no. Of course not. It had to be me, looking harried as I attempted to escape the man I just spent a fortune to go on a date with. Like I couldn’t get one by any other means.
Regardless if it was true or not, that was exactly how my parents were going to see it, and I couldn’t wait to hear about it. About how my doing that looked for them. And there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that this would get back to them, even all the way in Florida.
And now that fact was going to be forever immortalized on the internet. Fantastic.
“Actually, I—”
“Great!” She smiled sweetly at me, but she wasn’t fooling anyone. She may have been Starlight Cove’s Grandma—if your grandma was a horny old woman—but she was a piranha out for blood. “The viewers at home want to know what your plans are for your date with the devastatingly hunky Ford McKenzie.” She waggled her eyebrows. “The views shot up when word got around about your bid.”
“When word got around—” I pressed my fingers to my temples and closed my eyes. “That was ten minutes ago.”
She shrugged. “Spread like wildfire. It’s not every day we see a pairing like this of two people so volatile together. So tell me, what are you thinking? Going to make him scrub our toilet with his toothbrush?” She tapped her finger on her chin, her expression contemplative. “I wonder if they make a French maid’s costume for men. If they don’t, you could just make him walk around shirtless and—”
“Mabel,” I interrupted, absolutely not needing that visual in my head. I glanced over my shoulder, noticing Ford was far too close for my liking. I needed to get out of here, and I needed to do it quickly. “I’m late for another engagement, so you’ll have to excuse me.”
Without waiting for her to reply, I left her sputtering behind me and took off at a brisk walk. I might’ve been wearing heels, but I’d perfected the no-nonsense walk eons ago. I could run in these things if I needed to. I had half a mind to do just that, but that would only call more attention to me, and I certainly didn’t need that. Especially when Ford was behind me, calling out for me to wait and drawing the gazes of everyone around us. But nope. No. Absolutely not. I was not going to have a conversation with him right now. Not after the day I’d had.
But, like everything with Ford, it didn’t matter what anyone else wanted. When it came down to it, it was all about him.
He grabbed my wrist, his fingers brushing the delicate skin and sending a shiver down my spine, and tugged me to a stop.
“Jesus, woman, are you training for a marathon?” he asked, not even having the decency to be out of breath after jogging to catch up with me. “You have earbuds in or what? I’ve been calling your name.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and sniffed, glancing to the side and planning my escape. “I heard you.”
“Heard me and just decided to, what? Ignore me?”
I glanced up at him—he had to be at least 6’3” because he still towered over me, even when I was wearing heels—and simply raised an eyebrow in response. Because, yeah, clearly that was exactly what I’d been doing.
“What the hell was that all about?” he asked.
“What was what about?” I could play dumb with the best of them.
He huffed out a laugh and gestured behind him to where swarms of Starlight Cove residents still milled about, far too many of them pretending like they weren’t watching us like hawks. “Uh, the whole you just paying as much as my first car to go out on a date with me. If you wanted me so badly, all you had to do was say so. I’m sure we could’ve worked something out.”
I ground my teeth together, my lips pressed in a tight line. “I didn’t come here for you. Everly is my friend, and I promised your sister I’d support this festival.”
“So you decided your best option to do so was to bid on me?”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself. I got here late. You were literally my last option. Now, are we done?”
Without waiting for him to answer, I stalked off, forcing myself to act as dignified as possible and not like I was running away from the big, bad wolf. Except I hadn’t gotten even three feet when my heel caught in a crack on the sidewalk. My ankle rolled, a sharp snap sounded—my shoe, thankfully, and not a bone, though it still hurt like a motherfucker—and I went tumbling backward on a gasp.
“Son of a—”
“Jesus.” Ford lurched forward, catching me before I could fall to the ground, his thick arms wrapping around my waist to steady me. “You all right?”
“I’m fine.” Ignoring the feel of his solid body against mine, I jerked away from him and reached down, snatching my broken heel off my foot.
