At First Hate (Coastal Chronicles)

“Oh no,” I moaned. “Oh no, no, no, no, no.”

I’d kissed Derek.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Maddox had been right. I shouldn’t have gone out with him. He was single. I was single. There was nothing wrong. Except that everything was wrong with kissing him. Because I already knew how this would end, and still, my drunk brain had taken one look at the man I’d always wanted and said fuck it.

Fuck you, Brain.

He’d turned me down, thank God. As humiliating as that thought was, I was glad that he’d done it. We’d both be pissed this morning if it had gone further than that kiss.

And worse… I probably needed to apologize for how I’d reacted. Today was the fucking worst.

With a sigh, I dialed his number. He might be in church, if he still went. Catholic and all.

But after a few rings, he answered, his voice hesitant, “Marley?”

“Hey, Derek,” I said, resisting another sigh.

“How are you feeling this morning?”

“Hungover.”

“Yes, I imagine so.”

“I… actually wanted to apologize,” I said with a wince.

“Nothing to apologize for.”

That wasn’t true. We both knew it.

“I shouldn’t have acted the way that I did.”

“I didn’t mind the kiss, if that’s what you mean.” Genuine laughter came back into his voice. He was teasing me.

“I bet you didn’t. But… considering we are in, uh, a legal case”—God, I sounded dumb—“we should probably keep things professional. I crossed a line.”

“Right. Legal case. Professional. I get it.”

I cursed myself. “I could make it up to you with breakfast though.”

He was silent for a minute. “I’m about to walk out the door for church.”

“Oh yeah.” So, I’d been right. “I caught you at the right time then.”

“Yeah. I could meet you after?”

I swallowed. It was a bad idea. I didn’t know why I’d suggested it. Keep it professional, but come to breakfast with me?! Except that against all the odds and for all the ways he’d hurt me, I wanted to see him. Which should have been the main reason that I shouldn’t.

“Sure. Clary’s?”

“I’ll see you there.”

I was glad for the extra time to get ready. My hangover wasn’t completely gone by the time I made it into Clary’s Cafe, which had been in its downtown location in Savannah since the 1930s, but at least the headache was gone. I’d put on a simple green sundress and taken the time to diffuse my curls. They were just past shoulder-length right now and took considerably less time to dry than they had when I was in college.

Derek came straight from church, which meant three-piece suit and bow tie. I floundered for a second at the sight of him. Jesus Christ, the man could pull off a suit. I looked like a girl playing dress-up next to him. I should have thought about that.

But he smiled when he saw me. “You look great.”

“I… well…” I brushed my hands down the sundress. “Thanks. You do too. I feel underdressed.”

He laughed. “We’re at Clary’s. I’m overdressed.”

True. But damn.

The hostess seated us a few minutes later. I ordered the biscuits and gravy. They were the closest I’d found to Grans’ recipe. Derek got corned beef hash and a coffee. We managed small talk until the food arrived. It wasn’t actually something we were any good at. We’d spent too much time together to survive on the weather’s nice.

“So, what’s your plan while you’re here?” he asked.

“I don’t have one. Besides stopping you from winning your case.”

He snorted. “Yeah, besides that.”

“I’m serious.”

“I know you are.”

“I still can’t believe you took that case.”

He set his fork down and looked at me baldly. “I told my father I couldn’t do it because we’d been involved. And he said to me that if I didn’t take the case because I’d slept with the person, then I’d never have any cases in Savannah.”

I blinked, horrified. “He said that?”

“Yes.”

“Jesus, Derek.”

“He can be a dick when he wants to be.”

“Yeah, but he knows me. We met.”

Derek shrugged. “I don’t think he remembers. Or maybe he doesn’t care because he wanted me to take it.”

“Seems crazy but okay.”

“I’m happy to keep business and personal separate,” he said, meeting my gaze. “If you are.”

That seemed impossible especially where my mother was concerned.

“We’ve never been good at that.”

He smiled, leaning forward in the space between us. “I’m glad that you’re in town. I want to see more of you.”

“Derek, you’re representing my mom.”

“I know.”

“You know how I feel about her.”

“I do.” He sighed. “I didn’t know I’d be dealing with you directly in anything, Mars. I thought I’d primarily be working with the executor of the will. Maybe Maddox since he still lives in town.”

“And that makes it better?”

“I’m just doing my job,” he said defensively.

I sighed and returned to my food. “I know. I know you are. We’re not here to discuss that anyway. I wanted to make up for last night. That was stupid of me. I shouldn’t have gotten drunk like that and… all the rest. Thank you for taking care of me. For being a gentleman.”