Page 2 of Double the D
The heat and hardness of Drake pressed against me, coupled with Dane's expression threw me back in time. Back to that night.
Back to-
I pulled back from Drake and shifted towards Dane. I quickly offered him the same quick hug, willing myself to keep it together.
"Belle," Dane's words brushed the shell of my ear.
I took a deep breath, memorizing the feel of him against me, breathing in the scent of his aftershave and him.
I pulled back, quickly two-stepping away from both of them. I tucked a chunk of hair behind one ear, fighting overwhelming panic as I moved back to the register.
"Are you in town long?" I turned back to Joan, finally handing her my credit card.
"Bought the Jessup lot. Moved in yesterday."
Dane's low statement had me freezing in place. My head slowly twisted back towards them.
"You bought…" I hadn't heard a whisper about this development.
Why had no one told me?!
"We got out. Decided it was time to do something different."
"And you…" My tongue felt too big for my mouth. "You're going to run a kids summer camp?"
They both chuckled. "Nah, we're setting up a wilderness retreat. Scuba diving, hiking, that kind of thing."
"People pay for that?" The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. My cheeks warmed; hands now clammy.
"Megabucks, sweetheart," Drake said in a fake whisper. "God bless their city asses."
Behind them, a woman cleared her throat. "Well, if it isn't Drake and Dane."
While some of us had left high school behind upon graduation, Hannah Sharp remained firmly fixed in the past. She still ruled this town with cutting words, perfect blonde hair and heels that would easily crush you if she so chose.
While she distracted Dane and Drake, I paid for my things, making a break for the exit.
"Have a nice day, Blue," Joan called, turning to start her slow scan of the men's items.
I lifted my hand in farewell, ignoring the itch of awareness between my shoulder blades.
Please God, don't ever let me see them again.
In a town this size? My wish was as likely to be granted as Mr. Henderson was to walk on the moon.
Damn.
Chapter Two
Dane
"We let her slip right through our fucking fingers." Drake bemoaned the situation for the fifteenth time in as many minutes. "Hannah Sharp is nothing to us but now Belle's gone."
I kept silent. I'd long since learnt the best way to deal with Drake was to let him get his bitching out.
"So," he said, handing me a length of looped rope. "What's the plan?"
I hung the rope on the wall then made a note in the safety program on our tablet. We were starting from scratch with this adventure tourism gig. Everything had to be perfect before we even got customer number one signed up.
