Risking the Crown (The Crown 2)

“Perfect. See you soon.”

I hung up. I already had a feeling I wasn’t going to like one fucking thing about this conversation.

19

Kaitlyn

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I couldn’t keep pacing in my room. This wasn’t good for me. My heart was about to beat out of my chest. Cole had been gone for hours. I didn’t really know where he had to go on the mainland and I wasn’t exactly sure where that was. It was over the bridge, but other than that, it was like a big geographic black hole.

I pulled open the drawer. Inside the bedside table was a yellow writing tablet. I scribbled a note and crossed the parking lot to shove it under Cole’s door. Everything had happened so quickly with us that it never occurred to me to swap phone numbers. This must have been what my parents felt like when they met. They loved to tell me stories about dating in the age before email, cell phones, and social media. How did anyone ever meet up or know where the other person was? I folded the note in half and slipped the corner under his door before tapping the rest under the threshold.

If Cole made it back to the Dunes before I did, at least he would know I was at Peabody’s getting some dinner. I wasn’t sure why I bothered to tell him, but I wanted him to know I was worried—that it mattered, that he mattered.

He had shown me that much when I went to Bottoms Up.

A Jeep full of grads passed before I crossed the street and trekked through Peabody’s parking lot.

I pushed open the door to my new hangout. There was something comforting about one of the bar’s cheeseburgers. I had skipped lunch altogether, but there was no way I was going to skip dinner too. Comfort food was exactly what I needed.

“Look who’s here.” Hank smiled sheepishly from behind the counter. He fidgeted with the towel over his shoulder. He seemed uncomfortable to see me, but I brushed it off, knowing I was hypersensitive at the moment.

“Hey, Hank. I could really go for a margarita and one of those burgers that are so good.” I slid into the first open seat.

The cowboy next to me smiled. Unlike Bottoms Up, I felt comfortable here. I knew I didn’t have to worry about assholes trying to paw at me. I would not be going back to the club scene the rest of the week.

“Sure thing, Kaitlyn.” Hank looked over my shoulder. Something was off with the bartender. I was certain.

He typed in the order for my cheeseburger and reached for the tequila. I watched as he rimmed the glass with lime then a heavy dose of thick salt.

“Here you go. That burger will be right up.” There it was again. Hank was focused on something or someone behind me.

I took a full sip of the drink before spinning on the stool. The end of Peabody’s was an open wall, completely exposed to the sound and marsh sprawling along the island’s west side. The sunset was blinding, but I squinted through the orange rays until my eyes landed on two figures at a far table. What in the hell? Was this really happening to me again? Clearly, I must be a magnet for guys who have no problem hopping from one girl to the next.

I picked up my margarita and began the painful walk to the patio tables. I sidestepped the waitress whose arms were loaded with beer mugs. I stopped in front of the table closest to the water. The one with arguable the prettiest and most romantic view on the entire island. Sunset lovers camped out all afternoon just to get that table.

“I thought you were out getting supplies.” I was trying not to grit my teeth, but holding back wasn’t my best trait.

A strange territorial nature came over me.

“Oh, hey. I didn’t see you come in.” Cole smiled.

He seemed more relaxed than the last time I had seen him, only last time he wasn’t sitting with a cute brunette, in a short dress and five-inch-heels.

“Oh, hey?”

I pushed down the queasy feeling in my stomach. Was this the part of the fling where I was supposed to play it cool, like we didn’t actually know each other and hadn’t spent all night skin to skin? I didn’t think I could do it, especially not now with Cole sitting so close to someone else.

She was holding out her phone and they were looking through pictures. I wasn’t close enough to see what made them so happy.

“Kaitlyn, this is Amber. Amber, Kaitlyn.” He glanced between the two of us before tipping his beer bottle back.

“Amber?” I could feel the trembling in my ankles. Oh my God. How was this happening? This was Amber. As in, mother of his child, Amber.

She looked nothing like her brother, Lance, other than the fact that she was thin, perfect super-model thin. We could not be more different. Her long pink nails clutched a glass of white wine. She took a deliberate sip and smiled at me.

“So nice to meet you, Kaitlyn.” She even had a sweet Texas accent. She fluttered her eyes back to Cole and looked at him with consuming intensity. I thought I was going to be sick right there on Peabody’s patio.