At First Hate (Coastal Chronicles)

“I want this too.”

His smile could have blinded someone. “Then, that settles it. You’re mine.”

“I’m yours?”

He dropped another kiss onto my lips. “Mine.”

26

Savannah

Present

I hopped out of my car at the marina. It was a cloudless day with the most perfect October either of us could have asked for. The sun was shining, the water was calm, and Derek was shirtless. I had no idea what Derek was doing on the dock, but if he was doing it shirtless, it was a goddamn blessing.

“Whoa,” I whispered as I approached the docks.

He glanced up as if he could hear my muttered gasp. His smile brightened, and he waved. I punched in the code he’d texted me and headed out on the dock.

“Upgraded, I see,” I said, trying not to stare at him and instead focusing on the sailboat. It was twice the size of the little thing he’d had the first time he took me sailing. Bigger than the sailboat he’d had in Boston too. This was all sleek and gorgeous.

“Yeah,” he said with a self-deprecating laugh. “Decided I wanted something a little bigger.”

A little bigger was an understatement.

“This is practically a party boat.”

He shook his head. “No way. Ash has a yacht. That’s a party boat.”

“Fair.”

He finished whatever he had been doing and straightened up. My eyes fell over to the hard lines of his abdominals. The six-pack that was still on full display and the V that dipped down into the low-slung blue shorts.

He coughed softly, and my eyes jumped back up to him. A flush coated my cheeks.

“You ready?”

I nodded and stepped onto the sailboat. Derek pulled his white button-up back on over his exposed body. It was both disappointing and a relief. I couldn’t concentrate with him like that, but also… damn, he still looked the same.

I needed no instruction this time. Even though we hadn’t been sailing together in years, I remembered how to handle myself on the boat. We got her out in the water and down the river as seamlessly as possible.

“Damn, I forgot how much faster it is when I have help,” he said with a laugh. “It’s been years since I took anyone out but my cousins.”

“Your wife didn’t come out here with you?”

His face darkened. “Wasn’t her scene.”

I swallowed. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“It’s fine,” he said, tying off a line. “She was more a yacht kind of girl.”

“I see.”

“What about you? Any terrible relationships?” he asked with a grin in my direction.

“How do you know I only had terrible relationships?”

“Because you’re still somehow single,” he said cheekily. “And you kissed me.”

I blushed again. “That I did, I suppose.”

“Well?”

“Two,” I admitted. “Thomas Northcott was in my program.”

“Why does that name sound familiar?”

“You probably met him at Harvard.”

Derek thought about it and shrugged. “Must not have been memorable.”

“He wasn’t. We dated for a year and a half. He got a job in Idaho and wanted me to move with him. I declined. It ended.”

“And the other one?”

I shrugged. “I started online dating.”

He laughed and turned to face me. “That doesn’t seem like you.”

“It wasn’t, I assure you. I gave up very quickly and had only messaged a few guys. One of them messaged me, and we hit it off and started dating. For a while, he liked that I was smart and had a great job, and then it began to devolve into the usual you’re not that smart and the worse when we have kids, you’ll stay home to take care of them.”

Derek practically cackled. “So, he was intimidated by you and didn’t understand you at all.”

“Yeah. Pretty much. What happened with your ex?”

He turned away again, as if just talking about it upset him. “She changed.”

I waited for more, but it turned out that was all the explanation he was going to give. If what Amelia had said was any indication, Derek had started the divorce proceedings, and she’d been totally bonkers. I couldn’t blame him for still being upset.

“You know, thanks for not tipping off my mom that we knew each other,” I said to change the subject.

“Yeah. I didn’t think that would be smart.”

“For a second, I was worried that she’d remember that she met you at Gran’s after Gramps died.”

He winced. “I thought about that, but it was so long ago and she only saw me for a second.”

“Yeah.”

After a moment, he added, “She’s… not the easiest client.”

“I bet. She’s not the easiest mom.”

He frowned. “I remember.”

I wanted to ask how he could fucking represent her if he remembered all the shit she’d put me through, but what was it going to change? He’d taken the job for his dad. He wanted to move up in the company, and this was a way to do it. He’d made that clear. My mom was a means to an end. Which wasn’t any different than she was normally treated.