Slow Burn - a Novel: The Elite (7 page)

Regardless of what I’d told Aaron, Holly—and dammit to hell—even myself, I couldn’t pretend that I didn’t like this man—or the attention.

We’d reached the first weekend since Alesha and Nick had arrived in town, and I wasn’t sure what to expect as I let myself in the back door and flicked on the lights. It was still dark and chilly outside, so I’d dressed in warm, cozy layers, knowing that as I got busy working, I’d want to strip them off. I very rarely ran the heat in the building. Mostly because my industrial sized oven more than took care of the job.

Alesha was still sleeping when I’d checked in on her before leaving. She’d been out late the night before with her new friends—doing God only knows what—and while I fully planned on asking her about it, I was relieved to have the shop to myself that morning. When Alesha worked with me, she had the tendency to run her mouth the entire time. Rarely did she have any topics that interested me. Most of what she talked about was clothing, her friends back home, and her new obsession with gel eyeliner.

The silence of the coffee shop this morning was more than welcome.

I quickly slipped into my normal—before Alesha—routine, and went about firing up the oven, prepping a few trays of premade scones and muffins to pop in the oven once it reached the correct temperature, and then turned my attention to stocking the case and making wraps, sandwiches, and salads while everything baked. Closer to opening, I went out front and started the massive coffee pot to made the house blend and the carafe of decaf. Turned the espresso machine on to get it warmed up and humming. And lastly, went to check that the bathrooms were stocked and cleaned.

While a lot of people would complain about working on the weekends, I actually preferred the weekend shifts. The shop opened an hour later than during the week which left me with more time to get ready and I could take things a little slower and more relaxed. The energy of the guests was different as well. Everyone was more relaxed and at ease, soaking up their laid back weekend, and most people were more patient and easygoing since they weren’t in their normal rush off to work.

A tap on the back door pulled me from the beat of music I’d been lost in, and I went to open it, brushing my hands off on my apron as I went. Alesha was standing on the back steps, shivering like a purse-dwelling Chihuahua, in nothing but a pair of denim cut off shorts that were so short the liners of the pockets hung down an inch below the hem and she’d paired them with a crop top halter tank that displayed at least three inches of her stomach.

I crossed my arms and stared at her. “I’m not a prude, Leash, but what the hell are you wearing?”

She rolled her eyes and pushed past me. She went to stand near the oven, warming herself as though it were a fireplace. “I just came by to tell you that I’m not going to be able to work today.”

“Oh really?” I closed the door and went back to the work bench.

“My friends are going paddle boarding in Stallion Bay.”

Stallion Bay was a very hoity-toity resort town a few hours up the coast. “Is this gonna be like last time when you quote, unquote went surfing and ended up stoned out of your mind on the Santa Monica boardwalk?” I asked, my tone pointed as I turned to look at her.

She scoffed and threw her hands in the air. “That was a year ago, Carly. You have to let it go sometime! I’m just going out to have some fun. Hanging around here with you all day is getting old!”

Her words stung, but I masked the lash of pain and stared at her. “I know it wasn’t your choice to come out here for the summer. I get that you’re pissed about it and working through some stuff right now. But, Dad left you under my care, and I’m not going to let you run all over and do whatever the hell you want. Even if that would make me your
cool big sis
. I care too much about you to not worry and ask questions. So deal with it.”

Alesha sighed. “I just don’t get why you don’t trust me…”

“Alesha,” I said softly. I didn’t want to unpack all her transgression. We’d been there, done that. It would only make her angry. “I want to. Okay?”

“Then let me go with my friends.”

I considered her for a long moment, mentally weighing my options. If I refused to let her go, I’d have to send her back to my house, since she’d just sulk around the coffee shop and bring down the good weekend vibes. And if she was at the house, I couldn’t keep an eye on her, anyway.

“All right. Let’s start with a clean slate then. You can go with your friends, but you have to promise me that you’ll keep your cell phone on you. And be back by ten. And if anyone starts drinking or smoking pot, you are to call me right away and I’ll come and get you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay,
mom
.”

I ignored her barb and picked up a still-warm muffin and handed it to her. “Here, take something for breakfast.”

She waved off the offered muffin in my hand. “No. I already feel fat…”

“Fat?” Both of my brows shot sky high and I gave her another once over. She was probably a buck ten soaking wet. How could she
possibly
think she was overweight?

She pressed her hands to her flat stomach. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just bloated. Too many carbs around here.”

I rolled my eyes and broke off a piece of the muffin and popped it into my mouth. The buttery cinnamon flavor burst on my tongue and I held back a moan of delight. “Have a good time,” I said around the last of the bite. “I’ll just be here in carb heaven.”

She rolled her eyes and stalked from the room, back out into the crisp morning as the sun started to rise.

“Oh, Leash, please don’t make me regret letting you go…” I muttered into the empty kitchen.

Nick

“Let’s call it a day, Adams. I got a very hot date waiting at home for me,” Aaron said, tossing down the last of the tools in his hands.

I glanced up from the blueprints that detailed the engine specs and nodded at him. “No arguments here. It’s been a long ass day.”

“Especially for a Saturday…” Aaron commiserated. He came over to where I was working on taking some notes and threw himself down in the chair beside the desk. “Sorry about having you come in on the weekend.”

“Nah, it’s all right. I just hope we can get her ready in time…” I gave the F-4 an appraising glance. Aaron had received an offer to have a showpiece in an aerial show in LA and he’d decided that he wanted to get the F-4 in flight condition for the event in honor of his dad.

“We will.” Aaron lifted up from his seat and started for the door between the hangar and the museum warehouse. “You wanna lock up for me?”

“Sure,” I replied.

“Thanks. Don’t stay all night.” He flashed a smile and sauntered out the door, leaving me alone in the large space.

My first week at the museum had been a success. Aaron and I continued to bond and were becoming fast friends and now that there was a time crunch to get the F-4 rehabbed, we were working on the project together. He’d told me he’d honor our 90-day contract one way or the other, so I wasn’t worried about the job ending prematurely, and it was fun working on it together. We’d spent the entire day tearing everything apart and putting things back together one by one to determine where all the issues were after spending most of the week on a wild goose chase going from one theory to another without much success.

I’d overslept my alarm this morning, and didn’t have time to go to Carly’s before coming to the museum. I’d driven by the strip where her shop was nestled, on my way out of town, and had contemplated pulling in anyways. I doubted Aaron would care—especially if I brought him a coffee too—but had resisted the pull. I didn’t want to push my chances of getting an extension on my contract. The longer I stayed in Holiday Cove, the more money I’d make and a better chance at getting to know Carly.

I folded up my papers, tucked them into the large folder Aaron and I had been using to compile all of our testing notes, and then grabbed my keys and phone from the counter where I’d dropped them that morning. I flipped off the lights, set the security code, and locked up. I made it halfway to my truck when my cell phone started ringing. I fished it out of my back pocket and saw an unknown caller.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Nick!” The voice belonged to my younger brother, Nate. He was currently stationed with the Marines over in Japan and called every few months. Usually when he’d had a little too much to drink and got all sentimental.

“Hey Bro, what’s up?” I continued on to my truck and hopped inside to keep warm. The sun was getting ready to dip down over the ocean and there was a slight chill in the air.

“Not much. Just bored.”

“You stayin’ out of trouble?”

“More or less.”

I pressed my eyes closed. Not the answer I was looking for.

“You do realize you have a lot of eyes on you right now, right?”

Nate groaned. “Nick, I didn’t call you to get a lecture. If I was in the mood for one, I would’ve called Dad. He’s better at chewing my ass than you anyways…”

“Maybe you should listen sometime. Then you wouldn’t be in your position,” I growled.

“This was a mistake. I’m gonna go.”

“Nate, grow up. Don’t hang up just ‘cause you don’t like what I have to say. You fucked up, little bro, and you’re gonna have to live out the consequences.”

Nine months ago, he and some buddies got drunk, crashed into a General’s car with the rental they were joyriding in. He was lucky to still be in the Marines. He’d been punished, but in my opinion—he’d gotten off way too easily. Likely because one of his buddies was the son of a high powered officer. He had undoubtedly pulled some favors to get the entire fiasco glossed over and put away.

But, if Nate made one more wrong move—it would cost him his career.

Not that he seemed to care.

“I know! I know! Damn! I’m keeping my nose clean.”

I was skeptical, but he was thousands of miles away and there wasn’t anything I could do about his choices anyway. It didn’t stop me from worrying though. If anything, I worried more because I wasn’t there to bail his ass out like I was when we were kids.

“Glad to hear it,” I replied. “Have you talked to Mom and Dad lately?”

“No. Every time I call, Dad gets on and bitches at me. So I stopped calling.”

I set my jaw. That was the major difference between the two of us. Nate liked to run and hide from his problems. Whereas I preferred facing things head on, taking my hits, and moving on—lesson learned. He was nearly seven years younger than me though, and my parents had definitely babied him as a kid. At least in comparison to the way I’d been raised. Although, now that Nate had gotten into trouble, I think they were finally seeing that maybe that wasn’t the best route and my dad in particular seemed to be wanting to make up for lost time by swooping in and breathing fire on Nate anytime he stepped out of line.

Ten years too late, Dad.

My ear perked at the sound of bawdy cheers and ruckus in the background. There were some muffled sounds, as though Nate were holding the phone against his chest to block the sound. I heard him say something, but couldn’t make out all the words. It sounded a lot like a warning to hold it down for a minute.

“Listen, I gotta get going…” Nate said, returning to our call.

I rolled my eyes. “Something important from the sound of it. What is it? Last call coming up?”

“Goodbye Nick. Maybe next time when I call you can be less of a dick.”

The line went dead and I tossed the phone into the passenger seat. I blew out a forced breath as I started the engine of the truck, shaking my head with leftover irritation.
Damn it, Nate.

We’d been buddies all throughout growing up, even with the age gap, and I hated that we’d lost that somewhere along the way. From the outside, we appeared to have everything in common. He was a Marine, I’d recently gotten out, and he was my spitting image. Hell, we even drove the same brand of truck and dated similar looking women. But that was where it ended. While being a Marine had taught me discipline and responsibility, Nate was using it as a cover to run around, act like an idiot, and had fallen in with a very different crowd than the friends I’d made during my time in the Marine Corps.

There was a chance he’d grow up and pull out of his juvenile antics, I hoped it would happen soon, before he fucked something up that couldn’t be fixed.

* * * *

As I drove back through town to my rental, I passed the strip of shops that were nestled beside
The Siren
, and saw that the lights were still on inside the small coffee shop. I’d never bothered to look at the official business hours, but as I slowed and turned into the lot, I couldn’t help but wonder if Carly ever left the damn place.

I parked in front and spotted her at the counter, her head down, focused on something on the other side. I went inside and she didn’t even register the soft tinkle of the bell on the door. She was scrubbing furiously at a spot on the counter and appeared completely lost in her own world.

“Hey there,” I said, approaching cautiously, like a person approaching a loose tiger. I had no idea what she was upset about, but the tension was palpable, and I knew that I didn’t want that fire directed at me. “Everything okay?”

Carly jerked up at my question, a look of surprise on her face. “Oh, Nick. Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“No worries. Are you all right?”

She nodded, but the lines around her mouth were tense and tight. She dropped the sponge and it landed with a wet plop on the counter. Suds from the cleaner flicked up on to her apron. She scowled down at her front and brushed away the bubbles. “Perfect,” she growled.

“What’s going on?”

Carly heaved a sigh and abandoned her mission to wipe away the suds from her apron. “Nothing.” She rolled her eyes, seemingly at herself. “Okay, not nothing,” she admitted.

“Hey, I get it if you don’t want to talk.” I pocketed my hands in the front of my jeans and shifted my weight to one side. “But if you do, just know that I’m here.”

Her jewel-toned blue eyes flashed to mine, as though startled by my simple offer to listen. I wondered if she ever let anyone in. From what Aaron told me when I first asked about her, she didn’t share personal details freely. But it was hard for me to imagine she didn’t have at least one friend that was a confidant to her.