Fated (5 page)

Chapter Three

Watching Candace’s shapely body as
she stalked toward the same chair, Reece decided it was time.
Time to cut to the chase and put all of his cards on the table.
What was the worst thing that could happen? He’d spent time getting settled
into the job, establishing himself and finding out everything about Candace
that he could after she’d put him in his place that day in her shop. Watched
her continue to make a place for herself in Barrister while remaining aloof and
separate, most likely still as alone as ever, and lonely. She’d only ever had
Sinclair Renton to call friend, and Sinclair had been away at school for years.
Despite how she pretended he no longer existed, Reece hurt for Candace. She’d
changed, but some things remained the same.

Buying a little more time, he went
into the kitchen and picked out another beer for himself and a Cherry Coke for
her. The surprise on her face was quickly wiped away, as he set it down with a
smile. He’d forgotten nothing about her.

Taking his own seat, he took a swig
and put the bottle down. When she finally met his gaze, he spoke. “I came back
to Barrister for you.”

Blue eyes suddenly appearing too
big for her face, Candace paled and flinched back. A tiny shake of her head
appeared to be her only response.

“Put my time in, came home. It was
never my career choice, but served me well, got me this job. But I was coming
anyhow, if just to find out why you reacted the way you did. Knew you never
married, weren’t serious about anyone people could tell, so I figured—”

Her thin response was like a slice
of pain, and he wasn’t sure who it cut deeper. “You arrogant prick.”

She jumped to her feet, and
all of that
cool, aloof demeanor fell away. Fists clenching,
she spoke further through gritted teeth. “You kept tabs on me? Thought I was so
hard up you’d waltz back in and pick up where you left off? You get updates
about this…” Gesturing at her body, she tossed her head, and her hair mussed
further. His body responded to her obvious fury, a major turn-on.

Visibly swallowing, she then took a
breath, so deep her breasts heaved. Despite the less revealing shirt she now
wore, Reece couldn’t help but admire their roundness and obvious heft as they
moved freely beneath the material. But he was quickly distracted by her
continuing tirade. Her words packed a solid punch to his gut. The pain and
anger unleashed then flayed him.

“And if I’d let myself go? Eaten myself
into oblivion? Wasn’t the same naïve girl you fucked and so kindly relieved of
her virginity? What then? Or would my daddy’s money make up for it?” Her full
lips were set in a sneer, the ugly move belied by a faint tremble.

“Fuck me, Candace! I loved you. I
told you why I had to go. Your daddy’s money has nothing to do with anything.”

Although
it was a major factor seven years ago, if not in the way you think, darlin’.

Sinking back onto the chair, she
stared at him and began the process of getting herself back under control. Her
eyes shuttered, and she visibly slowed her breathing. He couldn’t allow that,
and without another thought was in front of her, yanking her to her feet and
tight against him. She gasped and struggled, but he took her lips with his own,
and set about breaking down those defenses.

Soft and sweet as he remembered, Candace’s
mouth flowered open under his determined, tender assault. He delved inside with
his tongue, tracing
along her own,
and relished the
way she fit in his arms, full breasts flattened against his chest, hair
spilling down her back to wreath over his wrists. He worked one hand into the
tangled mass of waves to anchor her head, and then stole her breath.

When her body was pliable and soft,
he released her mouth and lifted his face from hers. That flawless, dewy skin
was flushed with desire, lips swollen and pouting, and when her eyes fluttered
open, long lashes drifting up and wide to reveal those dark, baby blues, he
felt himself falling—deep. Like the first time he’d had her, finding a private
place near the crick that ran through the hay meadows to ensure their privacy
and protect her reputation. Taking that fancy duvet his mother chewed his ass
over, to give Candace a soft, beautiful bed to lie on. He told himself,
fiercely, that it wasn’t too late, that not too much time had passed. That she
hadn’t shut him out. That he could forgive her rejection.

A single tear welled up and escaped
the corner of her eye, falling free to catch in the hair at her temple.

“Darlin’?
You okay?” Becoming aware Candace was
trembling,
he
caught her up and swiveled to stride to the couch, sitting with her on his lap.
His Candace didn’t cry that he remembered, hiding those emotions behind repartee
and sarcasm, and she’d polished her skills over the years. So
that single tear
unmanned him, and he awkwardly ran his
hands over her shoulders and upper arms before tucking her even closer. She
curled in, but he could tell she was fighting her response, a certain tension
filling her body.

He tried again. “Candace, you need
to tell me what’s wrong.”

A shuddering sigh left her, and she
sat up, trying to pull away.

“Nope.
You
aren’t going anyplace but right here. I’m not giving you a chance to hide
behind that shell you’ve perfected.”

Using her fingertips to tuck a
wayward strand of hair behind one ear, she studied him. They were so close he
could see the flecks of gold starring the blue iris and each individual pale,
shimmering eyebrow. He was still in deep, and as much as he longed to let his
body do the talking, he knew women, particularly this woman, needed more. So he
held her gently and waited.

“Why did you come back, then?”

“I told you. I came back for you. I
proved myself, and now I’m
here,
and gainfully
employed. Like I said I’d do, even though you didn’t give me any hope.” He
didn’t care that his last words came out bitter. She had to know how rejecting
him
by simply not responding had impacted his life.

She tilted her head, eyes
narrowing.
 
“You felt you had to prove yourself
… and you thought … you thought I was impervious somehow?”

Tugging on her hair, he nodded.
“Your actions spoke louder than words.”

With a move he hadn’t anticipated,
Candace slipped off his lap, and aside from yanking her hair out of her head,
he had to let her go. She rolled sideways across the cushion and was on her
feet, staring down at him. It was like a replay of her earlier fit of temper,
except she was so very pale. When he made to rise, she fixed him in place with
a simple gesture,
then
inched backward until her legs
came up against the chair. The leather whooshed as she fell into it.

“Let’s get this straight. You left
the day after graduation and signed up. Wrote me a note with exactly seven
words scrawled across the page, didn’t even sign your name. I had to find out
you’d enlisted from your
friends
.”

Shaking his head, he met her eyes.
“I broke a promise leaving you even that much, but it seemed worth the risk. I
thought you’d understand, believe in me.”

The faint purr of the fridge was
the only thing audible in the sudden silence, if one didn’t count the roaring
in his head. She looked incredulous, and the puzzle pieces began to move into
place.

“Goddamn it, Reece. You thought a
teenage girl would hang onto a cryptic, fucking
note
and wait for you?” The Cherry Coke fired his way like a
missile, and he blessed his quick reflexes. Candace had deadly aim, whether by
design or because of her outrage. The bottle maintained its integrity and the
cap stayed on somehow when it hit the wall.

“Before you throw anything else,
darlin’, what about all the other cards and letters? They were hardly cryptic.”
Writing them and finding a way to express himself hadn’t been the easiest task
for a man like him, but while in basic training and then being in the field had
been a hardening experience in many ways, it had also opened up his softer
side. Having someone back home to look forward to seeing again, to being with,
had been the glimmer in the darkness that was the desert hell. Until he’d come
to understand she wouldn’t reply.

With one fist pressed to her mouth,
she blinked, and he could visualize how her brain was ticking over. Candace had
always been quick.
A bright, smart girl despite her father’s
indifference in so many matters where she was concerned.

“I didn’t get any cards or
letters.” The words were flat, but she didn’t call him a liar.

It couldn’t be that simple. Life
didn’t conspire that way, although certain people did. “I sent them to my mom,
darlin’,” he said quietly, taking care not to give any evidence of a certain
building fury. “She mailed them to you from here.”

“I didn’t get them.” There was a
line of white around her lips.

 
“Candace.”

“Tell me why you left.”

Resting his elbows on his thighs,
he rested his chin on his
steepled
fingers.
“Long version or short one?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“I’ll sum it up, answer your
questions later.” If he didn’t keep his fingers clasped he was
gonna
fly apart, maybe choke a certain man. “Your daddy
found out about us. That we weren’t just friends.”

At her start and tiny gasp, he
nodded. “I don’t know how, didn’t ask, but he came here a day before
graduation. My mom was just leaving for night shift, and I was watching the
kids. He pretty much laid it out, Candace. I leave you alone or he’d make life
difficult for my family—and you.”

“But … why?”

“Because I wasn’t who he wanted for
you. He had plans for you to marry somebody in the company when you got old
enough.”

She grimaced.
“
Murray
Knox.
One of the managers.
Never happening.”

“Well, your daddy had plans, and
they sure didn’t include a no-account like me.
Single mom, my
siblings with a different father, no money or social standing.”

“That didn’t matter to me.
None of it.”
She whispered it, but the truth was there, and
it shored up his defense against his building rage.

“He told me I’d be in trouble for
being with you. Statutory rape was mentioned.” He nearly closed his eyes
against the memory of his mother’s pained expression. “He said he’d send you
away to some kind of home for wayward teen girls.”

“I was sixteen, Reece. You were
seventeen.”

“And then you were seventeen and
me, eighteen.”

“Bullshit. You were eighteen for
what, a week? Before you left?”
Before you left me
echoed in the room as if she’d spoken it.

“He had the power to make it stick,
darlin’. He meant it. He told me to get gone and vanish from your life.
Or else.”

Her head bowed and her shoulders
shook. Reece hustled over and knelt beside her, taking one of her hands in both
of his.
“
Shhh
, darlin’.
It’s
okay.”

“It’s not okay. Daddy sent you away
and I … I fell apart, and he didn’t even notice. I tried to erase and forget
what we had by … doing things that—”

Tugging her to the floor, he
sprawled with her, rubbing her back and murmuring against her hair. “I know.
It’s okay. It’ll be fine.”

Pushing up onto her elbow, she
squinted past the tears. “How can you say that? We’re not the same people,
Reece.”

Brushing the moisture from her
cheeks, relieved she didn’t flinch from his touch, he said, “Maybe not quite
the same, but my feelings haven’t changed for you. Matured, grown maybe, but
they are there, as strong as ever.” And the relief, now he understood the
truth, actually made him lightheaded.

She pulled away and sat with her
back against the chair, drawing her knees up, wrapping her arms around them.
From behind the makeshift fence she peered into his eyes. “He made sure I
didn’t get any correspondence from you.”

Noting she hadn’t reciprocated his
feelings, he wondered, not for the first time, if it was too late. “I negotiated
with him, Candace. Eighteen year old kid or not, I knew the score. I agreed to
leave without explanation, stay clear for six months and give you the chance to
recognize
infatuation
as your daddy
termed it.”

“But you left a note.”

“I told Bradley to leave it for
you.” His little brother had carried out the request as though it was like one
of those spy movies the kid liked. And it was Bradley who had kept Reece up to
date about Candace over the years, along with a couple of other friends.

“I thought it was a kiss off. That
you’d kicked me to the curb on your way out of town.”

He’d never made it a secret that
Barrister wouldn’t likely hold him, and he could see how she’d feel that way.

“It was the best I could come up
with and not cross your father any further. After training was over I wrote
you.”

He’d excused her lack of response
by rationalizing. He had given her the six months without his influence as he’d
promised, and then figured she’d been pissed enough to ignore him for a few
more. Receiving mail over there had been sketchy at best, and he and his squad
had moved around in ops that weren’t termed covert, but were anyhow. But after
well over a year of not hearing from her, nothing in response to those missives
he’d penned while lying up in a rocky scrape in the ground, he’d reached out to
his friends and family.

Only the apparent fact she had no
one else in her life, at least not in Barrister, and had settled down after
throwing over the traces for a time, had given him hope she was waiting for
him. Maybe pining, as he was for her. He’d then written from the military
hospital in
Germany
,
receiving nothing back, although she was still in Barrister, having opened her
own business. The fact she hadn’t responded to him then, after receiving a
letter that made reference to the medical reason for his discharge … even that
hadn’t dissuaded him.
 
He had taken the
job as Sheriff to scope things out and determine the lay of the land, but he’d
told her the truth. He’d come back for her, just like all his correspondence
had pledged.