Page 85 of Fighting the Tide
“I don’t know what she did with Sean and if he actually is your father.”My admission has her pulling the bottle away from her mouth as she looks at me with concern.
“I’m not your daughter.”She sounds so fucking sure of herself and I want nothing more than to believe her because I can feel something brewing between us, and right now, it makes me feel ill.
“I need proof,” I insist as I grab the bottle from her.“Did he sign his name on your birth certificate?Was there already a DNA test done when you were born?”I take a few gulps, letting the liquid burn a path down my throat.
“No.”She shakes her head as she looks out over the water.“She told my grandparents that he was the father, but she wished it were you.”Her words make me drop the bottle of tequila, spilling it onto the sand between my legs.“That’s what they told me and they believed her.I believe her, Nolan.”
“That only proves that I could be right,” I groan as I push up from the sand, the world spinning on its axis.“She was protecting me from being trapped here in Chatham, and that only proves that she never listened to a fucking thing I said.”I stumble then right myself as Colette struggles to her feet.“I would’ve dropped everything to be here with her and she’d still be alive.We would’ve been a family.”
“You do still love her.”She’s looking at me with anger, her face pinched and her eyes narrowed.“She loved myfather,Sean Clark, not you.”
I take a deep breath, knowing I have to diffuse the situation.This beach is a dangerous place to be when you’re drunk and hurting.I should know.“I don’t love Brooke anymore,” I admit, and the confession is freeing.“I stopped loving her when I finally convinced myself that she loved someone else.It was the day of her funeral.”
“Because she was with my father when he died?”She steps into my body, the warmth from hers seeping through my clothes and caressing my skin.“Is that what convinced you?”
I reach up and brush back the hair that’s escaped her ponytail, the light brown pieces filtered in gold from the moonlight.“Yes,” I confess, my chest expanding for what feels like the first time since I was sixteen years old.
“I’m sorry she broke your heart,” she whispers.“And I’m sorry she’s still doing it through me.I’ll take the test for you.”Her face curls into my hand that’s still resting against her cheek, and I bite back a groan.
“Thank you.”I pull her the rest of the way into me and wrap my arms around her shoulders, letting her ocean scent wash over me.This is wrong, completely insane, but I can’t resist it.Her face lands in the crook of my neck, her warm breath making the hairs along my nape stand on end.
“You’re welcome,” she says, her lips brushing along my sensitive skin.
“Let’s get you home.”I pull away just as my body begins to betray me and I suck in a deep breath.“I’ll call you a cab.”
“I don’t want to go back there alone,” she mumbles and turns to look around her.“Jeremy can take me home.”It’s as if someone doused me in pure gasoline and lit a match because jealousy rears its cruel head once again.
“No!”I snap and grab her hand, dragging her behind me back toward my cottage.“You can stay at my place.”
“Really?”she breathes out, her tone doing nothing to deflate the problem in my pants.
“In the guest room,” I clarify.I may be inebriated, but I’m not that far gone.
“Okay.”She keeps up with my pace as we leave behind the music and laughter of young adults.
When the cottage comes into view, I release a sigh of relief, my body automatically relaxing.Colette is safe and with me, not in the arms of some drug addict who likes to drive fast on rain-slicked roads.My throat swells with irrational fear as I let go of her hand and take the few steps up to my back porch.She is not Brooke.I turn to look at her just as she stumbles on the second step, her body flying forward.I rush to catch her and help her up the stairs, my arms winding around her waist.
Once she’s safe on the porch, I look down to find her face inches from mine, her luscious mouth so close that I can feel her panting breath against my lips.Her eyes become hooded as her head tips back with obvious intention.She’s offering herself to me and I’m teetering on the edge of saying fuck it all and taking it.
My hands flatten against her lower back, my fingers teasing the top of her ass as she moans, arching into me.Sean is her father.It’s like a mantra playing in my head as I suck in a breath and curl my fingers into her flesh.
The shrill ring of my phone knocks me back to reality as I stumble away from Colette, my lips and fingertips tingling.Shit, that was close.I point to the door and growl, “Get inside.The guest room is at the front of the house.”
She huffs but thankfully listens and heads inside as I swipe the screen open on Monica’s name.“Hey.”
“Is everything okay?You sound out of breath.Oh god, please no.Tell me you’re not fucking Cassie O’Brien right now.”I groan into the phone as I hear a loudWhat?!in the background from Avery.
“No.I didn’t bring her home.I was coming back from a walk on the beach.”She expels a breath at my answer and then chuckles, the sound bringing a smile to my face despite what I have waiting for me inside the cottage.
“How did it go?”Monica asks.“I’m putting you on speaker because Avery is having a conniption.”
“It was quick because she was worried about her fiancé catching us.She didn’t have much to say that I didn’t already know.”I begin to pace the porch, hoping the cool breeze sobers me up a bit.
“I’m surprised she didn’t try to hump you in the middle of the restaurant,” Avery adds, making me laugh.
“Monica, I convinced Colette to do the paternity test.When’s the earliest we can come by the hospital?”
“Really?”they both say at the same time and then Monica adds, “The day after tomorrow.I will book you in.”
