Read Online She's the One (Lowcountry Lovers Series Book 2) by Kim Boykin - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kim Boykin
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such a big part of my dad. It was my dad. When I got older, I started to resent him, but I still loved the music. Weird, huh?”
“Not weird. Just sounds complicated.”
“I’ve always been happy here. My mom says I put down roots on the island the day I was born. She’s right; I’ve never wanted to live anywhere else”
That was fine by Shane. He loved the island, too, and since the market had begun to rebound, he’d thought a lot lately about selling his place in Old Mt. Pleasant and buying a house on the beach. Not a McMansion, but something he could either add on to when he had a family or tear down and build something really special.
He’d had his eye on an oceanfront place on Palm Boulevard. It had changed hands three times just in the eight years he’d lived in the Lowcountry. It was a cute, grey house with a red, metal roof, white trim, and fig ivy that framed the double garage. Melissa always pointed out the houses she loved when she was with Shane. She’d called that one everything from the Red Roof Inn to perfect. And if the place wasn’t perfect, he’d make it that way for her.
“Okay, you’ve heard my life history by now. But you’ve never told me much about yours.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Start at the beginning.”
“I’m the youngest of four. Born in St. Louis. We moved to Carbondale, Illinois when I was five. My dad built us a really cool house out from town; we all played year ’round sports. Rode dirt bikes during the summer and snowmobiles during the winter.”
“So your dad was a builder?”
“Electrician by trade, but he knew how to do everything. Got me interested in the business. I thought I wanted to be an architect when I enrolled at Georgia Tech. I liked school, but really liked the business classes I was minoring in more. I still wanted to build things, just didn’t want to sit hunched over a drawing table all day. Before I changed my major, I’d learned just enough about design to be useful or dangerous, depending on how you look at it.”
“Dangerous, definitely dangerous,” she laughed, and man, that was such a pretty sound. Then she looked away from him. “So, where did you meet Cassie?”
Aw, hell, this was the last thing he wanted to talk about, but she obviously did.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” She said it like he was the one who’d gotten hurt. And maybe he had a little.
Shit. “She went to Tech too. We got together early, beginning of sophomore year. She was—” What? Uber-rich? Gorgeous? Crazy-making? Definitely all of the above. “We were serious, did the date-our-way-through-college thing. Didn’t even question the next step, but we should have. We didn’t have much in common.” Except an incredible physical connection.
Melissa nodded like she’d heard his thoughts.
“Her dad owns half of Charleston. He had big plans for me after graduation, setting me up with one of his construction firms. Cassie was on board; neither of them understood that I wanted to build homes. I didn’t like him trying to strong-arm me and Cassie was a shrew when she didn’t get her way. I broke it off, she moved to Atlanta. We saw each other occasionally, but I haven’t been with her in years.”
“Did you love her?”
“Yeah, as much as anyone can; she’s not easy, that’s for sure. But I don’t feel that way now, Melissa, I haven’t for a long time.”
End of story. The wine was gone, so was the food, and it was getting dark. He wanted her to say something. Say she got it now, that she’d been wrong about him and Cassie because she had been wrong. But she didn’t. The waves were lapping closer and closer to their beach chairs, and damn if that didn’t make him feel like she was slipping away from him with the tide.
“Do we need to pack up?” Melissa motioned to the tent.
“The guys are going to tear it down for me, but we can stay as long as you want.”
Melissa Bliss was beautiful, but by
“Not weird. Just sounds complicated.”
“I’ve always been happy here. My mom says I put down roots on the island the day I was born. She’s right; I’ve never wanted to live anywhere else”
That was fine by Shane. He loved the island, too, and since the market had begun to rebound, he’d thought a lot lately about selling his place in Old Mt. Pleasant and buying a house on the beach. Not a McMansion, but something he could either add on to when he had a family or tear down and build something really special.
He’d had his eye on an oceanfront place on Palm Boulevard. It had changed hands three times just in the eight years he’d lived in the Lowcountry. It was a cute, grey house with a red, metal roof, white trim, and fig ivy that framed the double garage. Melissa always pointed out the houses she loved when she was with Shane. She’d called that one everything from the Red Roof Inn to perfect. And if the place wasn’t perfect, he’d make it that way for her.
“Okay, you’ve heard my life history by now. But you’ve never told me much about yours.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Start at the beginning.”
“I’m the youngest of four. Born in St. Louis. We moved to Carbondale, Illinois when I was five. My dad built us a really cool house out from town; we all played year ’round sports. Rode dirt bikes during the summer and snowmobiles during the winter.”
“So your dad was a builder?”
“Electrician by trade, but he knew how to do everything. Got me interested in the business. I thought I wanted to be an architect when I enrolled at Georgia Tech. I liked school, but really liked the business classes I was minoring in more. I still wanted to build things, just didn’t want to sit hunched over a drawing table all day. Before I changed my major, I’d learned just enough about design to be useful or dangerous, depending on how you look at it.”
“Dangerous, definitely dangerous,” she laughed, and man, that was such a pretty sound. Then she looked away from him. “So, where did you meet Cassie?”
Aw, hell, this was the last thing he wanted to talk about, but she obviously did.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” She said it like he was the one who’d gotten hurt. And maybe he had a little.
Shit. “She went to Tech too. We got together early, beginning of sophomore year. She was—” What? Uber-rich? Gorgeous? Crazy-making? Definitely all of the above. “We were serious, did the date-our-way-through-college thing. Didn’t even question the next step, but we should have. We didn’t have much in common.” Except an incredible physical connection.
Melissa nodded like she’d heard his thoughts.
“Her dad owns half of Charleston. He had big plans for me after graduation, setting me up with one of his construction firms. Cassie was on board; neither of them understood that I wanted to build homes. I didn’t like him trying to strong-arm me and Cassie was a shrew when she didn’t get her way. I broke it off, she moved to Atlanta. We saw each other occasionally, but I haven’t been with her in years.”
“Did you love her?”
“Yeah, as much as anyone can; she’s not easy, that’s for sure. But I don’t feel that way now, Melissa, I haven’t for a long time.”
End of story. The wine was gone, so was the food, and it was getting dark. He wanted her to say something. Say she got it now, that she’d been wrong about him and Cassie because she had been wrong. But she didn’t. The waves were lapping closer and closer to their beach chairs, and damn if that didn’t make him feel like she was slipping away from him with the tide.
“Do we need to pack up?” Melissa motioned to the tent.
“The guys are going to tear it down for me, but we can stay as long as you want.”
Melissa Bliss was beautiful, but by
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