Break My Fall

2. Evie

Chapter Two

Evie

Dawson Marsh was warm, tall, and strong. My pulse skittered out of control, and I could barely pull my thoughts together.

I was also annoyed as hell with myself. For two long years, even though I thought Dawson was oh, so tempting, I swore I would not fall for his charms. He was a master flirt and tease, and I didn’t need that.

By some miracle, I managed to string together a few words. “What was that?”

When I looked up at Dawson, I expected to see his sly smirk. Instead, he looked as stunned as I felt.

“Hell if I know,” he finally said, a wondering laugh slipping free.

That laugh pissed me right the hell off. Just what I needed.

I shimmied out from between the truck and where he stood, stalking away. “Thanks for the ride home,” I called over my shoulder.

The sound of his truck door closing carried to me with his footsteps jogging across the gravel next. “Evie!” he called.

Turning, I watched as he approached me, stopping a few feet away, almost apprehensively.

“What?” I asked, resting a hand on my hip. I was relieved that it was mostly dark. My face was hot, and I didn’t need this to get any worse with him noticing.

“I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Have you been taken over by an alien?” I sputtered.

Dawson slipped his hands in his pockets, his lips kicking into a smile. “Not that I know of. You?”

“Definitely not. Anyway, let’s forget that ever happened, okay?”

I didn’t wait for his reply before I turned, striding quickly toward my cabin. I thought I heard him say something behind me and could’ve sworn it was, What if I don’t want to?

I had no answer for that. Even the possibility of him saying that had flutters twirling in my belly, so I kept walking.

Letting myself into my cabin, I closed the door quietly, leaning against it and taking several deep breaths. Looking down, I sighed. I’d completely forgotten why I left the fundraiser early. My pretty new dress was ruined. Red wine had dried in a giant splotch smack in the middle of my chest with streaks running all the way to the hem.

“f**k,” I muttered.

I kicked off my boots, the hardwood floor cool under my feet as I strolled across the room and into the bathroom. I faced the full-length mirror mounted on the wall by the shower and frowned. I looked like I’d partied hard and straggled home. Walking closer to the mirror, I took stock.

Unconsciously, I pressed my fingers against my lips. They were still tingling from Dawson’s kiss.

“I don’t know if it counts as a kiss,” I said aloud to myself.

Well, what else is it called when two people’s lips press together? My internal snark snapped right back.

“Fine, it was kind of a kiss.”

Although I certainly thought Dawson was handsome—who wouldn’t?—I knew I wasn’t his type. I’d seen his type. Dawson liked to play the field. He was quite shameless about it, in fact.

He liked his women willowy and classically beautiful, preferably not expecting a damn thing from him. Definitely not thin, I had curves aplenty. I gave my plump a*s a little smack.

I wasn’t ashamed of my body, but I was realistic, brutally realistic. My dark hair was straight and usually in a ponytail. I’d worn it down tonight for all the good that did. The only man who noticed me had been a total a*s.

Lifting my arm, I eyed the bruises forming where that a*s had grabbed me. He startled me so much, I didn’t even remember what I said that set him off. I could be flippant and probably said something that annoyed him.

Dawson’s presence had been a relief when he cut in like he was some kind of a protector of mine. My confusion about Dawson only spun tighter the more I thought about our kiss. We were friends and had an ongoing teasing relationship. But I’d made myself a promise it wouldn’t go any further.

I could be epically stupid when it came to men. With a sigh, I turned away from the mirror to peel out of my ruined dress and toss it in the laundry basket. I couldn’t quite bring myself to throw it away just yet. Maybe Dani knew some trick to get that god-awful stain out.

A hot shower later, I toweled off and put on my most comfortable pair of flannel jammies. When Dawson strolled into my thoughts, I kicked him out. Again. But I couldn’t stop thinking of what couldn’t have been more than one minute between us. The feel of his hard body and the brush of his lips on mine were branded in my memory.

Sleep teased me for most of the night with Dawson filling my thoughts despite my protests.

* * *

“Here you go,” I said, deftly placing a plate on the table. I was serving a group of college guys at the lodge restaurant.

As I set down the next plate, the guy glanced up at me and winked. “Thanks, sweetheart. Don’t suppose you can join us for drinks later?” he asked.

Despite his teasing tone, I suspected he was quite confident I would preen under the compliment contained within his request.

The guy in question appeared to have forgotten I knew who he was. Johnny Simpson and I actually went to high school together. He ignored me most of the time back then. Well, except for when he went along with one of his entourage girls when they teased me. Because he was that guy—the one who had girls trailing him in the halls.

I smiled tightly, not caring to refresh his memory. “No, thanks. Anything else I can get for you guys?” I asked as I slid the last plate onto the table.

“I’m all set,” one of the guys said.

Johnny appeared to be about to reply to my dismissal, but another customer nearby conveniently saved me when a man raised his empty coffee mug. Casting a quick smile around the table, I added, “Just let me know if you need anything else. I’ll check back shortly.”

Spinning away, I continued with my shift. It was busy tonight at Stolen Hearts Lodge, but I preferred it that way. The tips tended to be generous here, and I didn’t like to stare at the clock.

Unfortunately for me, Johnny didn’t give up his flirting. After his group departed, he waited by the table, standing with his thumb pressing the credit card tightly against the bill tray. With his friends gone, I was stuck dealing with him without an audience.

“Now, I hate when a girl says no,” he said with what I thought was an attempt at a charming smile.

I decided Dani Love, my boss and friend, would probably forgive me for what I was about to say. “Johnny Simpson, are you going to hold that bill hostage until I agree to have drinks with you?”

A look of surprise flitted across his face. “You know who I am?” he asked, his tone only slightly cooler, still cajoling and still paired with that fake charming smile.

“We went to high school together, Johnny. I’m Evie Blair,” I said, my tone short.

It took him a few seconds, and then his eyes widened. “Evie Blair?”

I ignored the flash of embarrassment likely creeping up my cheeks. High school sucked for me. I was awkward with nothing quite fitting together on my face. I also had the worst summer of my life the year before ninth grade. My twin sister died, and I felt as if half of me had literally died with her.

Blessedly, I had a supportive family, but high school was what it was, and it’d been miserable.

Johnny didn’t seem to pick up on any cues, a slight gleam entering his gaze. “Well damn, Evie, you sure have grown up.”

I eyed him for a long moment. “Pay your f*****g bill, Johnny. There’s no chance in hell I’m going anywhere with you. You were an asshole in high school, and maybe you’ve changed, but somehow, I doubt it.”

“Okay, okay,” he drawled. “When have I ever been an asshole?”

I stared at him, resting a hand on my hip. “Maybe the time you laughed when one of your girlfriends dumped her drink over my head. Or perhaps when another one teased me because my twin sister died? Which one was it? I can’t recall, but maybe you can.”

For a moment, I thought he experienced a hint of guilt. Then he laughed. “Don’t be so uptight.” He tossed the bill tray on the table and walked out, sliding his credit card into his wallet. Yeah, he was that kind of asshole. He was going to leave without bothering to pay the bill. All because I hadn’t given him what he wanted.

My chest was hot, and my skin felt tight. Turning, I scanned the restaurant wildly. I found Dani a few tables away, quietly loading the remnants of a finished dinner and dirty plates on a tray.

I approached her, the empty tray in my hand hanging at my side. “Hey Dani, let me…” I began to say, but she looked up and shook her head.

“No need to apologize. Johnny Simpson’s always been an asshole. Now I have a good reason to turn him away the next time he shows up.”

Dani had been a few years ahead of me in high school, just like Johnny. I met her eyes, the tension bundled in my chest easing quickly. “Thanks, Dani. In case I forgot to say it this week, you’re the best boss ever.”

Dani smiled, lifting the full tray of dishes from the table and nudging her chin over to the table where Johnny and his friends had been. “Clean that table. Let’s finish tonight.” At the last minute before she turned away, she glanced back at me. “I just hate assholes.”

I did too. But then, not everyone learned the painful lessons of high school when you didn’t quite fit in. I’d gained plenty of confidence since then and enjoyed flirting and teasing just as much as anyone else. Confidence aside, I didn’t think I would ever enjoy the company of men like Johnny.

As I gathered the plates from the table, Dawson strolled into my thoughts. He was nothing like Johnny. In fact, I couldn’t imagine him standing by when someone was cruel to anyone for any reason. He was a tease, but he was always kindhearted and harmless.

Yet I didn’t doubt for a second that Dawson had been at the top of the social heap in high school. He hadn’t grown up around Stolen Hearts Valley. He was from some town on the coast of North Carolina. No doubt, he’d been a surfer. With his easy looks and quick charm, he probably had his own entourage of girls hanging on his every word back then.

He certainly did now when he hit the town. With a mental eye roll, I reminded myself that was why it was crazy for me to think he liked me. It didn’t matter that the brief brush of his lips against mine had sent a thrill through my body and still made my lips tingle whenever I thought about it.