Nox, page 1
Chapter One
Carter
I’m not a betting man, and I don’t have a lot of faith in things like fate or serendipity. Everything happens for a reason, not because of some big cosmic plan, but because we shape our lives with our thoughts and our actions.
That’s what I thought.
Until I ran into someone I went to high school with, thousands of miles away from home at a remote tropical destination.
I moved here after my original plan didn’t work out. I got my athletic training degree from a reputable school—but the jobs just weren’t happening. I ended up on Ember Island in the hospitality field, working with my hands.
I loved my job.
The pay was great, and the clientele was ever changing and plentiful. I loved the island. But it wasn’t the place you ran into people from your past. Especially not people from back home.
Especially not her.
The one that got away.
I never thought I’d see Kara Elliot again in a million years. Yet there she was, walking with a blonde friend like she belonged here. She laughed at something the other woman said.
Laughing. I’d always loved the sound of Kara’s laugh. And it was the same now, just a little deeper. A little older.
The last time I saw her, she was crying, but that was a long time ago.
My afternoon was clear of appointments and for that I was grateful. Normally I was booked solid and had a waiting list, but I cut my availability this week so I had afternoons free. It was the closest I ever came to taking time off.
Was I a workaholic? Maybe, yeah.
But it kept my mind busy. It kept the memories at bay and helped wrangle the loneliness that I’d never been able to shake.
This morning, I’d stopped for coffee on the boardwalk since the little breakfast shack by the coaster had some of the best beans on the island. I’d grabbed a dark roast, and a lemon filled pastry. Luckily, there was one left, considering they usually sell out by nine o’clock.
Today must be my lucky day, I thought as I licked lemon curd from my thumb where it had oozed out of the fluffy pastry.
That’s when I saw her walking towards me, looking fucking beautiful after all these years. I just stood there gawking like a dumbass with my thumb in my mouth.
Our eyes met, and I knew she recognized me. I could tell by the way her gaze widened as she got closer.
Then closer still.
Until she walked right by me without even slowing down. Like I wasn’t even there. I practically felt the breeze from her passing as she swept right by without a second glance.
I do not fucking think so.
“KK?” I called after her, forming a question with her old nickname even though I knew damn well who she was. I’d at least give her a chance to save face after being so rude.
She didn’t turn around. She ignored me even as her friend looked back, her eyes full of questions. She said something to Kara that I couldn’t hear, but they didn’t stop walking. And… did her footsteps move a little faster?
Oh, for crying out loud.
“KK, it’s me, Carter.” Remember me? The guy you said you hated like fifteen years ago?
I jogged after the two, still juggling my coffee and pastry. Eventually, they stopped, and Kara turned to face me.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know you.” Her pretty little mouth turned down at the corners, like she was genuinely sorry she wasn’t who I thought she was.
Bullshit.
I could see the tattoo she got without her parents’ permission when she was sixteen years old. The little heart on her back left shoulder. The one that hurt a lot more than she thought it would. I saw it peeking out from her sundress when she blew past me. How could I not recognize it? I drove her to the tattoo shop to get it for fuck’s sake.
“You don’t know me?” I laughed but it was void of humor. “Carter Standon. Eagle Elementary, Eagle Middle, and West Eagle High School? You don’t remember me at all?”
She pulled a pair of oversized sunglasses from where they’d been hanging on the neckline of her dress, my eyes subconsciously drawn to her cleavage. Holy hell. Those had gotten even bigger since the last time I’d seen her. I didn’t think it was possible. Damn.
“I’m sure,” she said, breezily. “I’m not who you think I am, sorry.” Then she popped the sunglasses on her face and grabbed her friend by the arm. “Come on Hel, let’s go. I have an appointment to keep.”
As they walked away, my feet grew roots that spread into the boardwalk, keeping me from moving an inch.
After all this time, she was really going to be like that? Sashay past me—someone who used to know her better than anyone else—and act like I was the crazy one?
Well, little miss pink wristband, you won’t be that hard to find again.
Each resort on the island used different color wristbands for guests. It acted as their pass to all the attractions related to that resort and also served as their room key. Only one resort used the pink wristband.
I’d run into her again. And I’d make her admit the truth about me.
Oh, yes. Me and Kara Elliot were going to have a conversation about why she could ignore her former best friend.
***
My irritation apparently gave me amnesia, because despite having cleared my books for the afternoon, I went to work on autopilot. It wasn’t until I walked through the frosted glass door of the resort spa and saw the receptionist that I realized where I was.
I hoped to make an about face before anyone saw me. Beat it out of there and go loaf on the beach somewhere so I could come up with a reason to run unto Kara again.
But I couldn’t be that lucky.
“Carter! You came to save me. I knew you would, you big muscular savior, you.”
[1]“No, James.” I held up my hands to ward off the whirling platinum tornado headed towards me.
“Carter, please, you have to help. I overbooked. You know it’s easy to do. Even if I had an extra set of hands, I can’t be in two places at once. Unless I had a clone. Which I do not.”
I shook my head but only got my mouth open before he stopped me.
“What are you doing here anyway, if not to help your best friend and coworker in the whole entire universe?” He stood in front of me, pleading like a child. A six foot four child with platinum spiked hair and neon teal fingernails.
“No James.” I repeated firmly, walking backwards and reaching for the door handle behind me. I never took time off. I deserved time off.
“Carter, please, I’ll be your bestie forever.”
Dammit.
“You’re already my friend and that will not change because you overbooked knowing I had scheduled time off.”
James sank to his knees in front of me and put his forehead directly on the ground in front of my feet. Cheryl, the receptionist, didn’t even look at us. James was a bit of a drama queen. It was part of his charm, but we were all used to his antics by now.
The phone rang and Cheryl answered it, completely nonplussed by the scene in front of her.
I lost count of how many times James had begged me for help because he overbooked. It’s why we hired Cheryl in the first place, and yet he still couldn’t keep organized.
“James,” she called, “one of your afternoon appointments is on hold, confirming her booking. A Kara Elliot? Since you’re overbooked, do you want me to reschedule her?”
Kara Elliot.
No way.
“Yes.” James said woefully from the floor without even lifting his head. “With my most humble apologies. If she can re-book, I’ll double her time even if my poor aching hands fall off.”
Again, this really was my lucky day.
“I’ll take her.” This was better than any idea I could have come up with lounging on the beach. It was almost too perfect.
“Really?” James sprang up from the floor, almost head butting me in the chin in the process, but I couldn’t be mad at him. Even if things wouldn’t have worked out this way, he would have worn me down into helping him. He always did.
“Yes, really. But just this appointment. I’m keeping the rest of my day clear. Now what time is she scheduled for?”
Chapter Two
Kara
“Kara, are you okay?”
“Sure. All good.” I plastered a smile on my face, hoping Helena would believe me.
“But… are you sure you don’t know that man?”
“Did you see him?” I scoffed. “I think I’d remember a man like that.” Lying was stressful. “He was hotter than the beach at noon.” There, that was some truth.
Avoiding all of Helena’s questions after I dragged her away from our earlier encounter was also stressful.
“True,” she agreed. “But he seemed so sure…”
“Hey, I have something I need to take care of before my massage. Why don’t you meet me in a couple hours at that little beach bar we were talking about?”
Helena frowned. “Okay. Sure.”
I smiled as she waved and hurried down the walkway to our resort. Only when she was gone, did I let the full force of panic hit me.
Carter Standon.
Carter motherfluffing Standon was here, on Ember Island.
Thankfully, I’d perfected the art of an expressionless face. A skill I’d gained over many years and with much practice, because I’d been shocked out of my damn sandals when I saw him.
I collapsed onto a shaded bench and pressed my hands to my flushed cheeks.
Carter. Wow.
As if I wouldn’t have recognized him. He looked exactly the same as he did in high school. Maybe a little more tan with a few more lines around his eyes, but those shoulders were still broad as ever and those hands.
I’d always been obsessed with Carter’s hands. Maybe it was because of that one time when he held mine behind the school gym after a basketball game. I’d been crying about something—I couldn’t even remember what—and he’d swooped in to make me smile.
But I’d never forgotten the way his hand felt as it enveloped mine. Strong but tender. Like he really cared about me.
We had been friends since elementary school, he wasn’t wrong about that. Being two years older than me wasn’t that big of a deal when you grew up in a small town. Everyone knew everyone and kids of all ages grew up close.
Carter was the source of a lot of my joy growing up. We spent our youth laughing about dumb stuff and getting into scrapes with the other kids.
He was also the source of my greatest and most traumatic humiliation. Something I’ve never been able to forget after all these years. Even after he went away to college and disappeared into the sunset.
Even after I did the same.
I practiced some deep breathing like my therapist taught me, and eventually the world stopped spinning out of control.
Lifting my face to the sun, I let the breeze wash over me as I stared out at the waves.
I’ll never forget what happened back then, even if everyone else did. I didn’t have any real reason to act like I didn’t know Carter. Enough time had passed that I was sure he didn’t think about me and the things that went down between us.
It was just such a shock to see him that I didn’t know how to react. What was the right face to make? So I chose nothing. Feigning ignorance in the face of an uncertain confrontation. I couldn’t even say hello to an old friend in an unexpected place.
How pathetic.
But that was me. Pathetic, misguided Kara. No matter how the Chub Club tried to help us become more confident creatures, or how well I faked it, I knew.
I’d always be Kara, the screw up.
I watched the ocean as it rolled in, dragging sand and seashells back out with it. Oh, how I wished the mistakes of my past could be washed away so easily.
Damn, my back hurts—my massage appointment!
A glance at my phone told me I had ten minutes to get to the salon. Grabbing my stuff, I hurried down the boardwalk and made it there with four minutes to spare.
The doors to the salon were a welcome sight, and I sighed. I’d been looking forward to this for days.
This place was one of the most touted businesses on the Ember Island travel guide website. The reviews were off the charts for quality of services and friendly staff. And when Maisy suggested I do something kind for myself, it was the first thing that came to mind.
“It’s vacation,” she’d said. “Live it up, Kare Kare!”
So while she and Gia were off spending time with their true loves, and probably planning springtime weddings, Helena and I were striving to make this vacation worthwhile.
I could hardly believe Maisy and Gia found romance as soon as we arrived. It sounded like a made-up story for spicy romance novels, except it was true. And enough to make even the most die-hard critic swoon.
I couldn’t deny the hopeful feeling that had fluttered to life in my gut seeing each of them so happy.
But it would not happen for me.
I didn’t lead a charmed life. Not even semi-charmed.
And it certainly wouldn’t happen for Helena if she stayed glued to my side the entire rest of the vacation where my bad luck could rub off on her.
Really, I was doing her a favor.
I know who I am. At least I had that going for me.
I’m not a cheerful person. I’m Eeyore, she’s Piglet.
It was like I was incapable of accepting that anyone might fall for me.
Only once.
Just that one time. And I destroyed that delicate flower before it could even bloom. Crushed it under my feet, and ruined a friendship in the process.
One event so long ago set the tone for the rest of my doom and gloom filled love life, and I couldn’t seem to reset to normal.
I didn’t need that to rub off on sweet Helena, of all people. I might have worn a happy mask, but underneath, I was a writhing mass of indecision and self-doubt. Helena was just a nervous nelly. As long as she didn’t turn into a complete Eeyore like me, she’d be fine.
I sighed. Hopefully, this massage could rub some of the sad and dreary out of me. Like a bummer eraser. So I could be a better friend. A better me.
Inside, the salon was a picture of serenity, brightly lit and cheerful. Even the lobby smelled nice. My heeled sandals clicked on the polished tile floor as I made my way to the desk. The receptionist greeted me warmly, and I smiled, already feeling better.
This wouldn’t solve all my problems, but it would definitely help. That was all I was asking for.
Help me get through the rest of this vacation.
“I’m Kara Elliot, I have a thirty minute massage scheduled.”
“Welcome, Kara. I’m Cheryl, and if you just let me scan your wristband, I can get you checked in.”
I’d almost forgotten I wore it. Such a small thing that held so much information. Every hotel and resort on Ember Island used them, and I had to admit it was way more convenient than carrying around money and ID. One scan of the wristband and I was checked in.
“If you follow me, I’ll take you to your room, but I do need to inform you that your thirty minute massage has been upgraded to an hour long hot stone treatment. Is that okay with you?”
Is that okay? Double the time and hot stones? I knew what that cost, which was why I didn’t book it.
“Sure. But why was I upgraded? That sounds like a lot.”
Cheryl smiled like she understood. I was certain she knew the price range of the services better than most.
She stopped at the end of the long hallway and opened a heavy wooden door before answering.
“Our masseur does that from time to time. He says he has a lot of good luck so he likes to ‘pay it forward’ occasionally.”
“That’s amazing.” Maybe my luck was taking a turn for the better.
The room was small, but not cramped, with a large massage table in the center. Beside it, was a round stool on wheels, and nearby, a countertop and small sink. Across the space was another chair paired with a table. An empty basket sat on top.
“Please take your time and disrobe. You can put your clothes in the basket on the table. When you’re ready, lay face down on the massage table and cover with the sheet if you like. Our masseur will be in shortly.”
With a nod, Cheryl exited the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the sound of gentle water filtering through the speakers.
I disrobed carefully, folding my underwear and bra up into my sundress before tucking it into the basket. I was going to lie naked on a table in front of a complete stranger, but had to hide my underclothes from anyone who might see them, like some sort of contraband.
It made little sense, but I didn’t care.
The smell of some sort of essential oil, lavender maybe, or tea tree, lingered in the air. The covering on the table was warm, and I realized as my eyes drifted closed, it was heated. My massage hadn’t even started, and I was already nodding off. If that wasn’t a glaring sign of my sad state, I don’t know what was. I was so ready for a little relaxation.
Sooo ready.
A light tapping interrupted my thoughts, and I heard the door slide open smoothly. A slight whoosh of air moved as someone entered the room, and suddenly, the entire atmosphere shifted.
“Hello, Miss Elliot, I’ll be your masseur for this afternoon. My name is Carter, I hope you’re ready to relax.”
Chapter Three
Carter
She didn’t even flinch. And it would be obvious if she did, considering she was lying on her stomach, on my table, in her birthday suit, with nothing but a sheet pulled up to her waist to cover her naked body.
I did my job best without barriers between a customer’s skin and my hands. Nudity was a non-issue in my profession. And being a professional, I did not get boners while working.
A nude Kara, however, was a totally different issue.
Don’t look at that side-boob, Carter. This is a recon mission. You’re only here for answers. For the resolution you’ve waited long enough for. I had plans to put a nice and final period where there had always been a question mark.
