Welcome to Paradise: Welcome to Paradise, Book 1 (12 page)

“That’s not true—”

“Yes, it is. You were trying to find a way to get rid of Charlotte from the second she got back to town.” He chugged some more tequila. “Well, you did it. Charlotte is gone. Me and her are through. You have me all to yourself now, baby.”

Shock filled her delicate features. “I was just trying to look out for you,” she protested.

“Yeah, fucking right. You were jealous that Charlotte had taken some of my attention away from you.” His fingers curled over the neck of the bottle, squeezing the glass tight. “But you know, Lex, you didn’t need to be jealous. I’m still your friend. I’ll always be your friend. And I would have stayed your friend even if I was with Charlotte.”

“How is this about me?” she sputtered. “
She’s
the one who was plotting your demise.”

The reminder made his stomach clench. “Yep, she was, and I ended it. So, yay, we’re all winners, aren’t we?”

A strained silence stretched between them. He knew he was taking out his hurt and anger on Lexie, but a part of him blamed her for this entire mess. She’d sat there in his backyard, listening to him lay his feelings on the line—something he
never
did. He’d told her how he felt about Charlotte, and instead of supporting him as a friend should, Lexie had sprinted off, looking for a way to destroy his happiness. Then again, if she hadn’t forwarded him the email, he would have never known what Charlotte was up to. Although, right about now, he kinda wished he were still in the dark. Anything beat this heart-wrenching pain assaulting every inch of his body.

“I actually thought we had a second chance,” he found himself mumbling. Another sip of tequila, this one searing his throat. “I thought we had a future.”

“Nate…” She moved closer and cupped his chin with her hands. “I really am sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.” He swallowed. “I was happy again, Lex. When Charlotte left town all those years ago, she took a part of me with her. The things I said to her… Christ, you can’t imagine how badly I ended it. I just…wanted her to live her dreams, y’know? But even though I knew it was the right thing to do, I was still empty.”

He shrugged Lexie’s hands off him and lost himself in some more tequila. When he met his friend’s eyes, he saw the sympathy and remorse flickering there. “I don’t think I’ll ever love anyone else,” he said roughly. “And now she’s gone again, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to be alone for the rest of my life. I know I can’t be with her after the way she lied to me, but I can’t live without her either. How fucked up is that?”

Lexie didn’t say anything. Instead, she just sighed and grabbed the bottle from his hands, taking a long swallow of her own. She winced afterward then handed it back to him. “Maybe…” Her voice wobbled. “Maybe we’re just destined to be alone.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he muttered. Biting the inside of his cheek, he met her eyes and exhaled a heavy breath. “Now, if you don’t mind, I want to get started on that. The being alone thing.”

With a sad nod, Lexie leaned up on her tiptoes and brushed her lips over his cheek. Then she let out a breath of her own and walked out of the room.

Lexie’s heart ached like crazy as she killed the engine of her BMW and stared at the dark, sprawling house up ahead. The irony of the location didn’t escape her. Her house sat proudly on the former land of the woman she’d always considered an enemy. The woman who’d purposefully come to town with the intention of hurting Lexie’s best friend.

Except… Charlotte hadn’t been the one to hurt Nate, had she? Nope, it had been her.
She’d
hurt him by sending him that email. Sure, he’d needed to be aware of what Charlotte was up to, but maybe she should have gone about it another way. Told him in person or, hell, just confronted Charlotte and ordered
her
to tell Nate the truth.

Instead, Lexie had opted for shock value, and now, with the memory of Nate’s ravaged face flashing across her mind, she regretted it.

Fighting back tears, she got out of the car and headed up the limestone path toward the house. She unlocked the front door, walked inside and drifted into the living room without bothering to turn on the light. Maybe sitting in the darkness for a bit would clear her head, help her figure out what to do next. Because she knew, without a doubt, that she couldn’t just stand by and watch Nate suffer. She might have caused the pain he was currently in, but she was equally determined to erase it.

“Hey.”

The low male voice made her jump. Just as she opened her mouth to unleash a piercing scream, something rustled and then Cooper stepped out of the shadows. The shriek died in her throat, replaced by a burst of anger that had her glaring at him.

“What the
fuck
are you doing here?” she demanded over the loud pounding of her heart. “How did you get in?”

He had the decency to look contrite. “The patio door was open. I figured you wouldn’t mind if I came in and waited.”

Her heartbeat slowed, but the anger stayed strong. In the darkness, Cooper looked even deadlier than usual. His all-black clothing blended into the shadows, and the razor-sharp stubble dotting his strong jaw lent him a dangerous edge. She would’ve been frightened, if not for the uncharacteristic softness of his coal-black eyes.

“What are you doing here?” she repeated.

“I just…fuck…I guess I came to do this.”

Lexie gasped as his mouth came down on hers. Hard. In a harsh, hungry kiss that contained zero tenderness and one hundred percent passion.

When they broke apart, her heart was pounding again. “Is that your idea of an apology?” she muttered.

He gave a lop-sided grin. “Yeah.”

“Well, screw that. I don’t accept.”

“Come on, Lex.” His voice went gruff. “I don’t do the whole sharing of the feelings shit. But I know I acted like a total asshole yesterday.”

“Yup.”

“And I’m sorry, okay? You and me…we’re good together. In the sex department, anyway.” He shrugged. “I don’t want to stop what we’ve been doing.”

Her nostrils flared. “Gee, how romantic. You don’t want to stop fucking me. I guess I should be flattered—if you hadn’t kicked me out the door after I sucked you off!”

A pained expression scrunched up his face. “I really am sorry. Like I said, I’m an asshole.”

Damn it. He was giving her that little boy grin now, the one that never failed to curl her toes and make her heart flip around like a stupid dolphin. Why did she have no willpower when it came to this man?

“So…forgive me?”

Without answering, she brushed past him and moved to turn on the light. A yellow glow bathed the spacious living room, making the off-white furniture gleam. “I can’t do this right now, Cooper. Seriously. I’ve had a really shitty day and I’m not in the mood.”

He raked a hand through his thick dark hair in frustration. “Fine, if you’re not ready to forgive me, at least tell me about your shitty day.”

“No.” To her shock, tears prickled her eyelids.

“Are you crying?”

“What? No.”

He was at her side in an instant, those big calloused hands cupping her chin. “Fuck, you
are
. I told you, I’m sorry—”

“This isn’t about you,” she interrupted, swiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her silk blouse. “I just…I messed up today, all right? I messed up, and I have no idea what to do about it now.”

There was a pause, and then Cooper gave a ragged sigh. “Okay. Well. Why don’t you tell me how you screwed up, and we can come up with a way to fix it.”

Shock jolted through her. In all the time she’d been sleeping with this man, he hadn’t once offered to help her out with a problem.

She wondered if Satan were ice-skating down in hell…

“Fine,” she finally murmured. “I’ll tell you. But only because my only other friend isn’t really speaking to me at the moment.”

Even though Charlotte had been back in Manhattan for twenty-four hours, the pain of losing Nate was still fresh. Her heart still felt like it had been shattered into a million pieces. And each time she tried to sing a note, her throat tightened up, making it impossible to get out a single sound. When she’d walked into her big, empty loft, the first thing she’d done was pick up a guitar and start strumming. Music had always been her safe haven, what she turned to when things got bad, but even that couldn’t numb the ache in her chest.

With a sigh, she set down the instrument and pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them. Resting her chin on one knee, she wondered if she could have done something differently, said something else to convince Nate she truly did love him. But she’d been too flustered, too shocked by his uncharacteristic burst of anger, and if she were being honest, she didn’t think there was anything she could have said anyway. Nate’s relationship with that awful-sounding Evelyn had ended because the woman had lied to him. And then Charlotte had gone and done the same thing. She’d been foolish to think he’d be able to forgive her. So she’d let him walk away. And then
she’d
walked away, just as she had fifteen years ago.

When a knock came on the door, she was tempted to ignore it, just pretend she wasn’t home and sit here to wallow in her misery. It was probably Georgia anyway, and right now, she didn’t feel like talking to her assistant. It wasn’t Georgia’s fault that she had decided to go along with her ridiculous plan. She’d let wine and bitterness convince her that it was a good idea, and she had nobody to blame but herself.

The knock came again and again, and finally, a voice she never thought she’d hear again shouted, “I know you’re in there. Your doorman told me so.”

Lexie Price.

Charlotte cursed under her breath. What on earth was she doing here? Hadn’t she done enough damage already?

Ready to tear into the woman, Charlotte stumbled to her feet, raced across the hardwood floor and threw open the door. “Can’t you just leave me alone?” she demanded in lieu of a greeting. “You came all the way to New York to gloat? What is
wrong
with you?”

Lexie made a frustrated sound. “Why does everyone think I want to gloat about this?” Shaking her head, she met Charlotte’s infuriated eyes and asked, “Are you going to let me in or what?”

“Why should I?”

“Because I don’t particularly want to apologize out here in the hall.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Oh, that’s rich. You ruined my relationship with Nate and now you want to apologize?” Still, she stepped aside so Lexie could come in, mainly because she was curious about where the hell this was going.

“First of all,
you
ruined your relationship with your dumb plan to break Nate’s heart.” Lexie strode into the loft, glancing around with an impressed look. “Nice place.” She paused then tossed out a curveball. “Why didn’t you want to go shopping with me?”

Charlotte blinked. “
Huh
?”

“In junior year,” Lexie clarified. “I came up to your locker and invited you to come shopping, and you laughed at me and flounced off.”

Considering she was a performer, Charlotte wasn’t speechless often, but right now, she couldn’t utter a single word. The hurt in Lexie’s blue eyes was equally hard to fathom.

“Are you kidding me?” she finally burst out. “You waltzed up to me, insulted my taste in clothes then gave some fake invitation to go shopping at the fanciest freaking store in town when you knew I could never afford it.”

“It wasn’t a fake invitation,” Lexie said in a quiet voice.

Charlotte was beyond stunned.

“Seriously,” Lexie insisted, evidently taking her silence as a sign of disbelief. “I was trying to be nice. I thought it would be fun, hanging out together. And even after you acted like a rude bitch, I tried again, idiot that I am. Remember, I invited you to that movie, the one—”

“—about the stripper,” Charlotte finished. “Because you were trying to make a jab about my mom!”

“Because it was the only movie out that weekend,” Lexie replied in frustration. “Wow. The whole world revolves around you, doesn’t it, Charlotte? I asked you to go shopping to make fun of how poor you were, I suggested a movie to insult your mother. Are you listening to yourself?”

She was, and for the first time in a long time, Charlotte forced herself to revisit those moments, ones she’d associated with anger and embarrassment. Had Lexie really been trying to be
nice
to her? Offering her hand in friendship? Charlotte had been so wary of everyone in school, always anticipating the next attack. Had her suspicious nature actually caused her to distort her encounters with Lexie?

Feeling winded, she slowly sank onto the couch and met the other woman’s eyes. “I honestly thought you were insulting me, that the invitations were another cruel joke.”

“You were wrong,” Lexie said flatly. Then she sighed and joined her on the couch. “I always thought you were pretty cool, at least before you went total bitch on me.”

“You did?”

Lexie gave a faint smile. “Silly me, huh?”

“I…I guess I jumped to conclusions back then,” Charlotte admitted. “I just assumed everyone was out to get me. I figured you were no different.”

“I was out to get you this week. When I saw that email, I forwarded it to Nate.” Lexie frowned. “He deserved to know the truth.”

“I was going to tell him.” Charlotte swallowed. “The moment I realized I still loved him, I knew I had to tell him the truth.”

The blonde looked surprised. “You were really going to tell him?”

“Of course.” She sighed. “I might’ve come back to town with bad intentions, but that changed once I spent more time with him. Everything that happened between us, what I
thought
happened, ended up being a lie. I’ve spent all these years thinking he was a heartless jerk, but once I found out why he did what he did, revenge wasn’t on my mind anymore.”

Charlotte noticed Lexie biting her bottom lip, looking thoughtful, as if she was working something over in her head. The blonde was quiet for so long that Charlotte finally said, “What are you thinking, damn it?”

The corners of Lexie’s mouth lifted in a smile. “Just wondering how on earth we’re going to fix this.”

“Fix it?”

“Yep. Because it’s obvious you love Nate, and trust me, he loves you too. I saw him yesterday and he was absolutely dismal.”