Page 20 of All Night with the Cowboy
Tanner gave her a tight smile and walked away, leaving her with her dessert and an almost-finished glass of wine. Lauren took a deep, shuddering breath and turned her chair slightly to face the beach, not wanting to see if the other couples around them were giving her sympathetic looks. She wanted to call out that she was fine, that he wasn’t her partner and he hadn’t just walked out on her and left her alone at the table. Instead she stayed silent, eating every last bit of the cheesecake and smiling as she heard the squeals of young children. Soon they were running past, racing from torch to torch along the beach, and before long a woman came running too, chasing after them.
Lauren looked at Tanner’s dessert and decided to eat that, too. It wasn’t every day she was staying on a five-star resort with a world-class chef. And besides, she intended on spending her days here being active, swimming and paddleboarding and running. An extra slice of cake seemed like the least of her worries compared to the man she was charged with rehabilitating.
“Is everything okay here, ma’am?”
Lauren smiled at the waiter, thanked him for a lovely evening, then took off her sandals and decided to walk down the beach. The children were playing ahead, probably being naughty for their nanny, but she liked their idea. So long as a crab didn’t nip at her toes, it was the perfect way to spend the evening, with the sand beneath her feet and the sound of the water reminding her just how fortunate she was to be in Fiji. The brochures hadn’t been wrong—the island was blissful—it was her companion who was proving problematic. And the fact that she couldn’t get their past out of her head.
***
“Daddy, I love him.” Lauren had pleaded. She’d held her father’s hand and looked into his eyes, but by then, he’d already made his mind up.
“He’s not right for you, sweetheart. When you look back on this decision, you’ll know we were only looking out for you.”
“Mom?” Lauren turned, looking for support from her mother, but she’d received the same kind of blank stare there too. They’d conspired together, made a decision, and neither one of them was going to go back on it.
“Lauren, you’re at a crossroads here, and Tanner Ford is only going to hold you back. What does your future look like with him?”
“He’s from a good family,” she choked out. “And he loves me. We’re meant to be together.”
“You’re not even eighteen yet. What do you know about love?” her dad had insisted. “What happens when he leaves you for someone else, when everything falls apart, and you’ve got no college degree or career to fall back on? That’s not what you want and deep down you know it.”
Tears streamed down Lauren’s cheeks. “Hewantsme to go to college!”
“No, darling, he wants you on the back of his motorcycle to show off to his friends. He wants to drag you around to bull-riding competitions and rodeos, he wants to drink beer and get high. He doesn’t have any motivation to succeed.”
They were wrong. They were so wrong.
“You have until the end of summer, Lauren. We’ll pay your tuition fees, we’ll do whatever we can to support you into the career you’re dreaming of, but not if you’re still with the Ford boy. We’ve been patient, but enough’s enough.”
Lauren stood, wiping at her cheeks, knowing there was nothing left to say. She’d find a way. She’d finance her own college education. She’d do it without her parents. She wasn’t walking away from the boy she loved just because they told her to.
“The end of summer?” she asked. “You promise you won’t stop me seeing him until then?”
Her mom and dad exchanged looks before her mom answered. “Your normal curfew applies still, but yes, until the end of summer.”
Lauren nodded and walked away, slowly trudging up the stairs into her bedroom. She collapsed onto her bed, pillow stuffed against her face as she sobbed, her chest full of so much emotion she thought she was going to choke, to suffocate on her own tears.
There was no way she was giving up Tanner Ford without a fight. He was the love of her life, and she wouldn’t let anyone tell her what she could and couldn’t do, not even her parents.
Chapter 7
“RISE and shine,” Lauren said, knocking on Tanner’s door. She waited a few seconds before knocking again. Nothing. “Tanner?” She nudged the door, reluctantly peering into the room. It was identical to hers, except for the rumpled sheets and different suitcase. And it smelled different; there was that distinct smell of male in the room. She was used to it, she worked and traveled with men all the time, but the difference was that she wasn’t used to having a man in her bed.
Lauren went back through the house, into the open plan kitchen and living area, but there was no sign of Tanner. Was he working out? Swimming? She looked in the pool but there was no sign of him. The sun was already up, shining brightly and bathing the beach, as she opened the door and let herself out onto the deck.There he was.
Tanner was lying beneath a coconut tree, legs stretched out in front of him, wearing shorts and a T-shirt. She walked over, shielding her eyes with her hand when she finally reached him.
“Mornin’,” he said without looking up.
“Good morning. I’ve been looking for you.”
“I couldn’t sleep. The time zone thing is a bitch.”
She couldn’t say she felt the same. She’d been so tired that by the time she’d returned to her room, she’d fallen into a deep slumber and hadn’t woken until sunlight streamed through her open blinds.
“You want a moment to get ready before we start for the day? I want to begin with a deep tissue massage, then we can relax for a bit and do some more work this afternoon.”
Tanner didn’t move.
