Payback (Summer Rush #6) Read online

  Payback

  Book Six in the Summer Rush Series

  Cheryl Douglas

  Copyright © 2019 by Cheryl Douglas

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, including photocopying, graphic, electronic, mechanical, taping, recording, sharing, or by any information retrieval system without the express written permission of the author and / or publisher. Exceptions include brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Persons, places and other entities represented in this book are deemed to be fictitious. They are not intended to represent actual places or entities currently or previously in existence or any person living or dead. This work is the product of the author’s imagination.

  Any and all inquiries to the author of this book should be directed to:[email protected]

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  About the Author

  Other Books by Cheryl Douglas

  Chapter One

  “Dump him.”

  Bella glared at the smug bastard who thought he had the right to tell her what to do just because they’d had one unforgettable night together over a year ago.

  She brought the wine glass to her lips as she tried to ignore her body’s reaction to his presence. She’d tried to avoid him whenever possible, but tonight was a special occasion. Her brother’s birthday. And since Loran was his friend and teammate that apparently earned him an invite.

  “I don’t take orders from you, Loran.”

  “You don’t take orders from anyone,” he muttered.

  “One of the perks of being my own boss.” She’d busted her butt to become a sought-after architect and now that she’d relocated to be closer to the people she loved she was broadening her horizons, exploring a new market.

  “What about the perks of dating a loser like that,” Loran asked, eyeing Bella’s date. “Can’t imagine there are many.”

  “You don’t even know him.”

  She knew Loran was just jealous that she’d had the audacity to show up with a man on her arm. Their fling had been brief but intense, ending with a huge argument after they slept together because Loran was convinced she’d left his room in the middle of the night to pick-up some random guy in a bar.

  He couldn’t have been more wrong. The intensity of their night together rocked her. She’d gone to the bar looking for a stiff drink to right her world, not another man to erase Loran from her mind. Fourteen long months she’d been trying to erase that man from her mind and nothing seemed to work. Not even the sweet guy watching her from across the bar who seemed intent on making her happy.

  “And I don’t want to know him.”

  She looked at Loran out of the corner of her eye, trying not to focus on how handsome he was. It wasn’t fair that he had it all when other men had so little going for them. He was a pro baseball player with a huge contract, natural talent, and a face and body that routinely graced the covers of sports magazines. Most women’s dream man. And he’d become her nightmare. The man she couldn’t forget, no matter how hard she tried.

  “Why not? You might like him if you gave him half a chance.” But Bella knew he wouldn’t like the new man in her life any more than she’d like the new woman in his.

  “Not likely,” he said, reaching for his beer. “Men aren’t wired that way. If some dude has what you want you hate his guts. It’s instinctual.”

  His not-so-subtle way of telling her that he still wanted her. Bella knew that shouldn’t make her tingle, but damn it, it did.

  “Has he met your folks yet?”

  “That’s an odd question,” Bella said, watching Loran beckon the waitress who’d been flirting with him all night. The rest of their party was up dancing, leaving the two of them alone to finally clear the air.

  “Not really.” He ordered another drink for each of them before he said, “Isn’t that how you tell whether a woman’s serious? If she introduces a guy to her parents she’s in it for the long haul, right?”

  “I’ve never introduced a man to my parents.” She didn’t want to analyze what that said about her. She already knew she was a commitment-phobe.

  “I’ve met them plenty of times.”

  “As my brother’s friend,” she corrected. “Not my boyfriend.” And her parents loved him, which irritated Bella to no end. They weren’t supposed to like a player like Loran. They were supposed to warn her to stay away from guys like that.

  He stared at her long enough to make her uncomfortable before he said, “That’s the first time I wanted that you know.”

  “What?” Though she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

  “To be someone’s boyfriend.”

  He leaned in close enough for her to catch a whiff of his spicy cologne, triggering an onslaught of dirty memories. Like the taste of his salty skin right before he pleasured her…

  “I wanted to be yours,” he whispered in her ear, making her shiver. “I still do, Bella.”

  He’d made no secret of the fact he wanted to hit the re-set button with her. But she couldn’t let herself go there. What she felt for him scared her and she’d never experienced that kind of fear before.

  She closed her eyes as she brought the wine glass to her lips. But that only made it worse. Images, memories, flashed behind her eyes, reminding her why this man was impossible to forget. He was an incredible lover, but it went beyond that. He got under her skin, became a part of her the night they spent together.

  “We shouldn’t be talking about this. I’m here with someone else.”

  She watched her date, an engineer she’d met on a business trip before she’d moved to the area to be closer to her family. He was chatting with her brother, but his gaze kept drifting back to her and Loran. She’d never told him they’d had a thing, but she suspected it was obvious just watching them together. They had that inexplicable something. Chemistry. That sent the message to everyone in the room that they’d either slept together or were one drink away from sealing the deal.

  “I’ve been watching you two together.” Loran stared at the man in question until he took the hint and turned his back on them. “He means nothing to you.”

  “How do you know that?” Sadly he was right, but she was curious how he could be so sure.

  “You don’t look at him the way you look at me.” He brushed her long hair over her shoulder. “You don’t tremble when he touches you.” He stared into her eyes. “You don’t look hypnotized when he looks at you.”

  She wet her lips, drawing his attention. “You don’t lick your lips like you want him to kiss you.”

  He had it all figured out and she hated him for being able to read her so easily.

  “You think every woman wants you,” she said, trying to play it off.

  “No.” His finger grazed her cheek as he watched her trying not to react. “But I know you do. What I can’t figure out is why you’re so determined to fight it. Why not just give in to it?”

  Her best friend and sister-in-law, Grace, asked her the same question and she didn’t have a logical answer for her either. But deep down she knew. Loran was the kind of man a woman never go
t over and she didn’t want to be the one left behind. So she’d left him before he could leave her.

  “I can’t believe you waste any time thinking about me.” She turned her phone over in her palm, checking the new text message from her assistant about an early morning meeting. “You must be too busy with all those other bed warmers.”

  “That’s all they are you know.” His tone was low and intimate, as though they were all alone. “Just bed warmers. You were the real deal.”

  His acknowledgement that he was sleeping around hurt a hell of a lot more than it should have. “One time,” she said, clearing her throat. “It happened one time. You need to get over it.” And she needed to take her own advice.

  His fingertips skimmed her forearm and he watched with a smug smile as thrill bumps rose on her skin. “It was more than once, but I’m not talking about the sex. It was the weeks leading up to that. The way we talked and laughed. Secrets we shared. I’ve never had that with another woman.”

  She’d never experienced that before either, which was the crux of her problem. She’d tried convincing herself Loran was just a player who got off on using women. But he wasn’t. With her he was someone else. And if her brother’s take was accurate, Loran hadn’t been the same since their time together.

  “I don’t know what you want me to say,” she said, rubbing her forehead in frustration. “It was fun while it lasted. Now it’s over.”

  “But it doesn’t have to be.” He sighed when she didn’t respond. “Why did you really move here? And don’t tell me it was because of your family because we both know that’s not the only reason.”

  “Jeff’s transfer had a lot to do with it.” But that was a lie because her engineer had put in for the transfer from Chicago only after she told him she was moving to Kansas City.

  “No, it didn’t. That guy means nothing to you. You sure as hell wouldn’t uproot your whole life to be with him.”

  It irked her that he could uncover her lies so effortlessly. “You don’t know what I’d do. Maybe I’m finally willing to settle down and I think Jeff might be the guy for me.” Lies, all lies.

  “He’s not.”

  She finally met his gaze, hoping she wouldn’t see… exactly what she did. Loran wasn’t infatuated with her. It went way deeper than that. She could see it in his eyes, feel it in his touch, hear it in every deliberate pause.

  “I had no business getting involved with you.” She knew she had to try and explain herself. An explanation was long overdue. “You’re not my type. You’re the complete opposite, in fact. You’re everything I despise in a man.”

  Instead of appearing offended, he smiled. “You know my past choices don’t make me who I am.”

  “You’re still sleeping around! You admitted it!” And the fact that she was getting so upset about it proved that she cared. Too much.

  “And that bothers you.”

  “No—”

  “Yes, it does. Just like it bothers me that you’re sleeping with him.”

  Her intimate relationship with Jeff was nothing to write home about. Another reason for her to end it. She needed a man who could rock her world… like Loran.

  “Would you have me take a vow of celibacy?” she asked, rolling her eyes. “Would that make you happy?”

  His eyes travelled over her body, dipping to the deep V-cut of her black dress. “I don’t want you to be celibate, Bella. I want you to be mine.” He leaned in closer, his warm breath ruffling her hair. “I want you to share my bed, no one else’s.”

  “Huh, but I suppose you’d be free to bed-hop just as you always have, right?”

  His expression was dark, laced with warning when he said, “You really believe that? Don’t you know that I’ve just been killing time with other women, waiting for you to come to your senses and admit we belong together?”

  Grace had said the same thing countless times, that she couldn’t shake the feeling Loran and Bella belonged together. But she was wrong. They were both wrong.

  “I’m better off alone,” she said, clearing her throat. “I’m not even sure I’m capable of being faithful and I know you’re not.”

  “You really think if I got another chance with you I’d be stupid enough to blow it by banging some random chick who meant nothing to me?” He sounded irritated, making Bella question everything. “And I know…” He curled his large hand around her wrist. “For a fact that you’d never want another man as long as you had me. I’d make sure of it. Every. Single. Night.”

  Cue the shivers. “You’re not around every night,” she said, forcing herself to look him in the eye so he wouldn’t think he had the upper hand. “You guys go on long road trips during the regular season. How do you know you could trust me?”

  “That’s how we ended up here, isn’t it? The fact that I couldn’t trust you? I was so sure you were in that bar, flirting with that guy…” He shook his head. “I was an idiot. I can admit that now. After what we shared in that hotel room there was no way you could have been interested in anyone else.”

  “Then why did you overreact?” Bella had tried to step between Loran and her newfound acquaintance but his blood still spilled all over the floor. “I seem to recall you calling me some choice names, telling me that I could fu—”

  “Damn it, I know what I said!” He winced. “I’ve tried to apologize to you every way I know how. Flowers, gifts, voice mail messages, texts, emails.” He released a deep breath. “But I’ve never had the chance to say it face-to-face before.” He curled his thumb and forefinger around her chin. “Bella, I’m so damn sorry I hurt you. I never meant to offend you. And I sure as hell never wanted to give you an excuse to walk out on me.”

  ***

  Loran had been waiting for some face-time with Bella for over a year and he was sure when he got it he’d be able to convince her to give him another chance. But things weren’t going as planned. Instead she was dancing with her engineer and he was knocking back beers with her brother.

  “Did you two talk?” Ethan asked, giving him the side-eye.

  “You know we did,” Loran muttered. “You saw us talking.”

  “Yeah, but did you get anywhere?” His gaze drifted to his sister. “Since she’s with her date and not you I’m guessing not.”

  Loran scowled. “You’re a genius, man.”

  He didn’t mean to take his bad mood out on his friend, but it was finally starting to sink in. The only girl he’d ever really wanted was the one he couldn’t have and he didn’t know what the hell to do with that.

  “Maybe it’s not you,” he said, shrugging. “Maybe she’s really into this guy.”

  “You don’t believe that any more than I do.”

  Ethan watched his sister for a minute before shaking his head. “You’re right, I don’t.”

  “Which means it is me. She just doesn’t want me.”

  Chuckling, Ethan said, “She wants you. Anyone can see that. She just doesn’t want to want you.”

  Ethan’s wife, Grace, returned to the table and dropped a kiss on his lips before re-claiming her seat beside him.

  Loran felt an unfamiliar ache when he watched them. They were so solid, so comfortable with each other. He wanted that too… with Bella. Only with Bella.

  “I should head out.” He smiled at Grace. “I know you didn’t invite me to your husband’s birthday party so he could listen to me whine and complain all night.”

  “Oh, don’t go!” Grace reached across the table and gripped Loran’s forearm. “Please. We’ve barely had a chance to talk.”

  “Fine,” he said, prepared to indulge one of his favorite ladies. “What do you want to talk about? Baseball? Your beautiful kids? The weather?”

  “Smart ass,” she said, slapping his hand. “You know what I want to talk about! I saw you and Bella talking. How did it go?”

  Loran knew Bella’s best friend was in their corner, trying to convince her to give Loran another chance, but even that didn’t seem to be helping his cause. “Hon, I
appreciate you trying to bring us together tonight, but I think it might be time for all of us to just accept it. It’s a lost cause.”

  “No!” Grace was wide-eyed when she said, “You can’t give up now. Not with you two finally living in the same city, hanging out in the same circles. This is the time for you to step up your game, not back off.”

  “I’ve tried everything with her, you know that. There’s nothing left for me to do.”

  Grace scowled at him as she twisted her hair into a top knot and secured it. “Huh, never pegged you for a quitter. But if you’re ready to quit on my girl already you clearly don’t deserve her. She needs a man who’s willing to fight for her.”

  Loran’s jaw dropped. “You can’t be serious. All I’ve been doing for the past fourteen months is trying to win that girl over.”

  “Yet she’s been living here for three months and you didn’t get any alone time with her until someone else arranged it. Doesn’t sound to me like a man who's motivated.” She slipped her arm through her husband’s. “What about you, E?”

  Ethan tipped his beer back with his free hand before he said, “If that were you and me I’d have been beating your door down, demanding you listen.”

  Grace’s gaze drifted to the dance floor. “And you sure as hell wouldn’t sit back watching me dance with another guy.”

  Ethan chuckled. “Yeah, that definitely wouldn’t happen.”

  Loran got the message. They were trying to light a fire under him. And it was working. “Message received, guys. You can stop now.”

  Getting across the crowded bar wasn’t easy with baseball fans stopping him for selfies every few seconds, but he was happy to oblige. Their fans were the reason he loved going to the ballpark every day, because he knew they were as invested in every game as he was.

  Bella gave him a warning look before he tapped her date on the shoulder, but Loran ignored it. Grace and Ethan were right. It was time for him to be more aggressive and let this guy know he was in for a fight if he thought Bella would be going home with him tonight.