Searching for Love: The Complete Story Read online

  I guess you made your decision. Leave now, before he has a chance to convince you otherwise. Before your heart becomes even more open to being crushed.

  With a heaviness in her chest, Reese stored the rest of her things, then went outside and filled her freshwater tank before unhooking the hose from the faucet and stowing the hose in her storage compartment. Then she unhooked the power cord from the electrical box.

  Her cell phone chimed a message. Since no one ever texted her, she immediately knew it was from Brody.

  It’s only noon, so what does he want?

  Reaching for the phone, which was tucked in her back pocket, Reese hesitated.

  Do I want to know what he has to say? Will it sway me?

  Worried that it would, she pulled her hand away from her pocket and continued her task. Several minutes later, as she locked the side panel on her RV, her phone chimed another message, then a few moments later, another.

  Maybe they’re from Seth. Maybe I should check, just in case.

  With reluctance, Reese lifted her phone from her pocket, then sat on the picnic bench beside her RV. After staring at the screen, which didn’t reveal who the texts were from, she swiped the screen to unlock it, then tapped the message icon.

  All three messages were from Brody.

  With her finger hovering over the option to read the messages, she read the snippet that was visible. It said On my way.

  A sense of foreboding washed over her, and she tapped the icon to bring up the messages, then quickly read them.

  Brody: Hello, Reese. Thought I’d come a little early and see if you wanted to grab some lunch before we go to the store.

  Brody: I’m parked at the entrance. Are you there? Should I come to your RV?

  Brody: On my way

  Reese’s head whipped up, and then she saw him. Walking straight towards her.

  Crap, crap, crap.

  Stuffing the phone into her back pocket, she leapt from her seat and began striding toward him, wanting to head him off before he reached her RV.

  What’s the point, Reese? He can see your pitiful home. No way to hide the truth now.

  A small frown formed on her mouth.

  Maybe you can pretend how much you love your little home.

  Her frown deepened.

  But I do love my little home. I just don’t want him to know that it’s my only home. And to see how woefully inadequate it is, especially compared to his gorgeous beach house.

  When she was nearly to him, she pushed a smile onto her mouth.

  “Hi there,” Brody said when Reese was only a few feet away. She looked even more beautiful than he remembered. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and her perfect features seemed to glow.

  “Hello,” she said. “I, uh . . . I wasn’t expecting to see you just now.”

  He stopped in front of her, across the road from what appeared to be her RV. He focused on her face. “I know. I’m early.”

  “Yes.” She smiled, but it seemed strained, and he wondered if something was wrong.

  “Have you had lunch?”

  “Actually,” she said, “I had a late breakfast, so I’m not hungry.”

  “Okay. We can go ahead and get our groceries. Is this a good time to go to the store?” He glanced toward her RV, then met her gaze.

  She bit her lip and seemed to hesitate.

  “If you’re in the middle of something,” Brody began, “I can come back later.” Although he hoped she wasn’t. With her within arm’s reach, he didn’t want to leave. Not unless she was by his side.

  Now that he stood right in front of her, Reese’s indecision flared back to life. His blue-green eyes drew her in, his masculine presence gave her a sense of security, and his warm smile filled her with comfort.

  “No,” she said. “No, that’s okay. This is a good time.”

  What are you doing, Reese? You were all set to leave.

  She silenced her inner voice with a It won’t hurt to spend a little time with him before I leave.

  “Great,” he said, his smile bright.

  “I, uh, I just need to get my purse and lock up.” She glanced at the RV behind her.

  “I’d love to see where you live.”

  Ohhh no.

  Evidently he noticed her hesitation. “It’s only fair, after all the time you’ve spent at my place.”

  He has you there.

  “It’s,” she began, “it’s not very big.”

  “That’s okay. I’d still love to see it.”

  Maybe seeing the hovel you live in will take away the sting when you leave him without saying good-bye. Maybe he’ll even be glad to see you go.

  The thought saddened her, although she knew it would be for the best. “All right.”

  His smile grew, and he gestured in the direction of her RV. “After you.”

  Reese nodded, then turned and began walking to her RV with Brody falling into step beside her.

  Twenty-Eight

  “You have a fantastic view from up here,” Brody said as he stood on the edge of her site and looked out over the ocean. He turned to her with a smile. “I’ll bet you’ve gotten a lot of great sunset pictures from this spot.”

  “A few, but I like the ones I got from your balcony better.” Did I just say that out loud? And what did I mean by it? You’d better clarify before you give him the wrong idea.

  His eyebrows rose. “Is that right?”

  “What I mean is, your place is right on the beach. With no obstructions.”

  He nodded. “Right.” Then he turned to her RV. “This looks pretty vintage.”

  What he means is old. And I already know it’s old. Thirty years old. “Uh-huh.” Trying not to let his comment bother her—she didn’t think he had meant it as a negative—she reached for the door handle, then inhaled steadily as she tugged the door open. How vintage will he think the inside looks? She held the door open wide. “This is it.”

  “May I go inside?”

  With some reluctance, she nodded. “Sure.” Not wanting to see the look of disappointment on his face when he saw her home, she let him enter first. She watched as he took the two steps to climb inside, and a moment later she saw his head turn left, then right, then he went deeper inside.

  Time to get this over with.

  Reese went inside as well and found Brody sitting on the tiny couch. Facing him, she leaned against the kitchen counter.

  “This place is pretty cool, Reese. It reminds me of when I went camping as a kid. I had a friend whose parents had a camper and I remember having a blast.”

  Yeah, well, I’m not camping. This is where I live. My only home. Not just some place for a rich kid to have a weekend excursion where he can pretend he lives in the wilderness.

  Holding back a sigh, she forced a smile onto her mouth.

  He chuckled. “My parents weren’t really into camping, so I only went a few times.” He glanced at the space again, then met her gaze. “You keep this place immaculate.” A moment later his eyes narrowed. “Almost as if you’re planning on closing it down.”

  Crap. Is it that obvious? Thinking quickly, she said, “I have to dump my tanks.” Which was technically true. It’s just that afterwards she hadn’t planned on coming back to her site.

  “Oh. Right.” His eyebrows pulled together. “Do you need to do that now? I can wait, you know.”

  She wasn’t about to dump her own waste in front of him. “No. I can do it later.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  He stood and smiled. “Then let’s do some shopping.”

  Mildly surprised that he still wanted her involved in his dinner party, it took her half a moment to respond. “Just let me grab my purse.” She opened an overhead cabinet and took out her purse.

  “I guess you have to be pretty organized to fit everything you need into such a small space.” He chuckled. “I don’t know if I could do that.”

  There. He said it. Right out loud. I live in a tiny metal box�
��a rusty metal box. Something he can’t imagine doing.

  Faking a smile without replying, Reese followed him out and locked the door before walking with him to where he had parked his car—a black convertible sports car.

  With a subtle backwards glance at her old RV, blood heated her face. Just another glaring piece of evidence of how different our lives are. Of how we are so wrong for each other.

  Pleased that he had convinced her to come with him early—and that he had gotten to see where she was staying while she was in town—Brody held back a grin as he opened the passenger door for her.

  “Thank you,” she murmured without looking at him, then she slid into the seat.

  He closed the door, got in on his side, and turned to her. “Are you okay with me keeping the top down?”

  When she met his gaze, he saw a look of dismay flit across her face before being replaced with a smile. Wondering if something was bothering her, he wanted to ask. But given her unwillingness to open up to him so far, he decided to let it pass.

  “Yes,” she said. “It’s such a beautiful day, it’s perfect for a convertible.”

  He turned the key in the ignition. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  The grocery store was only a few miles down the highway, and after pulling into a parking space, Brody climbed out of the car and hurried to Reese’s door.

  “Thank you,” Reese said as she took Brody’s hand and let him help her out of the car. The feel of his strong grip reminded her of the way she had felt the day before when he had held her against his body to keep her safe from the incoming wave. Powerful desire pulsed inside her, and she longed to be in his arms.

  He closed her door, then took her hand before walking toward the store.

  Despite her serious doubts about the wisdom of spending time with him when she knew it would never work, she savored the feel of her hand in his. Wanting to distract herself from the nearly overwhelming impulse to brush up against him—anything to be closer—she asked, “Do you have a list?”

  He laughed, then to her dismay, he released her hand so he could reach into his pocket and pull out a small sheet of paper. He held it up for her to see. “Right here.”

  She pushed a smile onto her mouth. “Great. I’ll grab a shopping cart.”

  Twenty-Nine

  After gathering all the needed groceries, Reese went with Brody back to his house.

  “I’m surprised you managed to fit all this food into your trunk,” Reese said with a smile as she helped him carry the food into his house. After her initial disappointment of him releasing her hand at the grocery store, she had gotten into the spirit of things, pushing the shopping cart while he had filled it with items from his list.

  “It’s like a puzzle,” he said as he grabbed the last few bags from his open trunk. “You have to pack everything together in a certain way. Otherwise there’s no way to make it fit.”

  “Ah. I see.”

  He closed the trunk, then turned to her with a grin. “Kind of like your RV. A place for everything and everything in its place, right?”

  His blatant reminder that she lived in a cramped tin box—something that had obviously captured his notice enough to make him comment on it—made her blink once in surprise. “Yes. Right.”

  She followed him into his house, then sat on the barstool while he put the groceries away, asking herself why she was sitting inside his house. Again.

  Last night was supposed to be the last time you set foot in his house. Yet here you are, sitting at his counter as if you belong here.

  She watched in silence as Brody set a variety of vegetables on the island counter. Then, wanting to make herself useful, she asked, “Would you like me to chop those up?”

  He looked up and met her gaze. “That would be great. Thank you.”

  Brody found it hard to tear his gaze away from Reese’s brown eyes. They seemed to hold so much more emotion than she had ever expressed to him. Hopeful that she would open up to one of his siblings, he congratulated himself again for the idea of having the party.

  He watched Reese walk around the counter to stand beside him.

  “Here’s a knife and cutting board,” he said as he held them out to her.

  She smiled at him as she took them from him, her hand brushing against his. “Thanks.”

  The softness of her skin brought on a nearly overwhelming need to pull her into his arms and kiss her until she begged him for more, but he kept his urges in check.

  Trying to turn his mind away from what his body wanted, he said, “I think you and Avery will hit it off.” At least I hope so.

  Reese glanced at him as she chopped a cucumber. “What makes you think that?”

  Brody took a platter out of a cabinet and set it beside the cutting board. “I think you two have a lot in common.”

  Reese paused in the midst of chopping. Your sister and I have nothing in common. She’s going to school to become a doctor, and I . . . well, I live in a thirty-year-old RV. And I live hand to mouth.

  Trying to keep her voice from shaking, Reese focused on cutting the vegetables as she asked, “Like what?”

  Brody chuckled, the sound confident. “You’re both very independent, for one thing.”

  Okay, I can accept that. But I doubt there’s much else we have in common.

  Her earlier excitement to meet Brody’s sister had turned to nervousness.

  “Everything okay?” Brody asked.

  Reese realized she was staring at the pile of cucumber slices, her hand frozen mid-chop. “Uh, yeah.” She got back to work as Brody turned away to start making the vegetable dip. With her mind on how she would answer the inevitable questions from Brody’s siblings, she was only half paying attention as she sliced the vegetables. A few moments later she felt an excruciating pain in her left index finger. “Ow!”

  The knife clattered to the counter as blood beaded on the place where the knife had sliced through her skin.

  “Holy crap, Reese,” Brody said as he grabbed a towel and gently pressed it against her finger. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” Her finger stung like crazy, but she didn’t think the cut was too deep. And having Brody care for her so tenderly made up for all the discomfort.

  “Are you sure?” He pulled the towel away—a perfectly good towel that now was stained with her blood. They both peered at her finger, which seeped a small amount of blood.

  “See?” Reese said, relieved it didn’t seem to need stitches. “It’s not that bad.”

  “Maybe we should have a doctor look at it, just to make sure.”

  And pay for that how? Reese shook her head. “No. It just needs a band-aid.”

  “I have a friend who’s a physician,” Brody said, his forehead wrinkled. “I can ask him to come by.”

  Uncomfortable to be fussed over—something she was not used to at all—Reese frowned. What would it be like to have a doctor friend who could pop over anytime to help with an injury or sickness?

  Brody cleared his throat. “I could even have my dad take a look.”

  The plastic surgeon. “No,” Reese quickly said, then smiled. “No. Please. It’s just a small cut.”

  Brody clenched his jaw, frustrated that Reese wouldn’t let him take care of her, help her, fix this for her. Sighing softly, he pressed the towel back against her finger. “All right, if that’s what you want.”

  “I do.”

  He nodded. “I’ll grab a band-aid.”

  She smiled. “Thank you.”

  He handed off the towel to her, went into the hall closet where he kept a small first-aid kit, then brought it back to the kitchen and stood beside her at the counter. “At least let me put some ointment on it before you put on the band-aid.”

  Reese looked at him with a softness in her eyes that touched him. “I can do this myself, you know.”

  He stared at her, his attraction to her stronger than ever. “I know you can. But why not let me help?”

  She chuckled quietly.
“If you insist.”

  Brody smiled, “I do.”

  Having him so near, touching her—even though it was only to tend to her cut—filled Reese with a longing so powerful, she fidgeted a little to release the pent-up energy. When Brody lifted her hand in his to care for her cut, she wanted to lift it higher and slide her arm around his neck, then pull him to her.

  Get a grip, girl. You don’t want to hand him your heart only to have it shattered.

  Trying to resist the waves of longing that flowed through her, Reese held still while Brody dabbed ointment on the cut then wrapped a band-aid around her finger.

  “There,” he said, his voice soft. And he didn’t release her hand.

  She was so close, Brody could smell the floral scent coming from her hair. The supple skin of her hand felt like silk against his. The way she gazed at him seemed like an invitation. And Brody was ready to accept that invitation. More than ready.

  With his gaze locked firmly on hers, he leaned ever so slightly in her direction. Nervousness—not something he was used to feeling with women—poured over him.

  Will she slap me if I kiss her? Will she run away and refuse to ever see me again? Or will she melt against me? Whatever happens, there will be no way to undo this. Once I take this step, there will be no going back.

  He paused as he considered the seriousness of what he was about to do. And what Reese’s reaction might be.

  Only one way to find out.

  Thirty

  Reese could tell exactly what Brody was about to do. The desire, the wanting, was etched in his eyes like a beacon. As he gazed at her his magnetism fell over her like a spell, but as much as she wanted his mouth on hers, she also feared it. Feared that if she let herself go there, she would end up hurt. More deeply hurt than when Josh had said to her face that being with her was a liability.

  The memory of him looking right into her eyes and telling her straight out that he no longer loved her assaulted her, sending a spasm of pain right into her heart. Even as she forced away a wince, she kept her gaze on Brody steady.