A Tragic Wreck Read online

  He sat up on the couch and took in his disheveled surroundings, clothes thrown everywhere, hoping he hadn’t done anything in his inebriated state that he would regret.

  “What the fuck is that?” a female voice called out from the staircase.

  “Shit,” Alexander cursed under his breath. “So much for not doing anything stupid.” He rubbed his eyes and made his way over to the door, not turning to look at the tall redhead standing at the foot of the stairs. “Don’t worry about it,” he grumbled, his voice raspy. “Go back upstairs, Chelsea.”

  “Fine,” she said, walking back up the stairs. “Are you actually ever going to make it to bed? It’s practically three in the afternoon and you were no use to me last night, Alex.”

  “I’ll be right there,” he groaned, rolling his eyes as he opened the door, surprised to see Martin standing in the foyer.

  “Sorry to disturb you, sir.” He walked into the penthouse and proceeded to the kitchen, grabbing several aspirin and a bottle of water before handing them to Alexander.

  “What the fuck, Martin? You think I need a babysitter? I can take care of myself. Plus, why didn’t you just use your code to get in?”

  “I wanted to make sure I wasn’t interrupting anything, sir. I tried calling, but you never answered.”

  Alexander put the aspirin in his mouth, then drank the water. After nearly finishing the entire bottle, he turned to Martin. “Well, please, by all means, tell me what the fuck you’re doing here.”

  Martin took a deep breath. “Do you remember the conversation we had a month ago when…”

  “DO NOT SAY HER FUCKING NAME!” Alexander yelled, his eyes wide with fury.

  Martin took a step back, tired of dealing with his rather unstable boss. He didn’t know whether or not he should actually inform him what he had come there to tell him.

  “Okay…well, you asked me to run her credit cards and keep tracking them to see if they were used at all. For the longest time, the trail has been cold…”

  Alexander eyed him suspiciously, his heart rate picking up as Martin continued to talk.

  “There's been a hit,” he said, pausing as he gauged Alexander’s reaction to the news. “Her credit card was used a few hours ago at a mall in Jacksonville, Florida.”

  Alexander’s eyes went wide.

  “And then, just thirty minutes ago, it was used at a liquor store in Amelia Island, Florida.”

  Alexander swallowed hard. “Martin,” he said softly. “Can you…”

  “Prepare the jet? Already on it, sir. It’s on standby for you as soon as you’re ready.” He turned to leave.

  “Martin?” Alexander said, his mind racing, knowing that if he could find her, anyone could.

  “Yes, sir?” he replied, turning back to face him.

  “I’m sorry I snapped at you before. I know my behavior lately has been a little off.”

  “No need to apologize, sir. I just hope it all works out. I’ll be downstairs waiting.”

  Alexander ran up the stairs to the bedroom, his heart beating frantically at the idea that he may finally know where his Olivia was.

  “It’s about fucking time, Alex,” Chelsea said as he stormed into the master bedroom. She sat on the large bed, watching some crappy gossip show on the giant television. Olivia never watched TV like this, Alexander thought to himself. She always preferred to read. Just thinking about her made his heart break a little bit more, if that was even possible.

  “Don’t you have something better to do with your time than watch that rubbish?” he sneered, opening the closet and grabbing a suitcase. He began throwing clothes into it.

  “It’s not rubbish. We’re on it from Thursday night at the charity dinner. By the way, it’s a good thing I convinced you to take me because, if I didn’t, you know that Adele would have sunk her claws into you again.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Don’t remind me.”

  “So, going somewhere?” he heard her ask quietly.

  Alexander turned and saw Chelsea standing in the doorway to his closet, her arms crossed. He regretted calling her to come over the previous night, but he was desperate to feel something other than the dull pain that had accompanied so many of his nights recently.

  “Yeah. Work thing,” he said quickly before turning back around to resume packing for his mission to find and bring Olivia back home.

  Chelsea rolled her eyes and walked over to him, pulling him to her. “Come on, Alex. What is it going to take for you to forget about her?” she asked, running her tongue down his neck. He groaned, his erection that couldn’t be found the night before finally making itself known. “There’s my boy,” she whispered, grinding against him. She slowly removed her silk kimono robe.

  “Chelsea,” Alexander whispered. “I can’t.”

  She threw her robe to the ground and stood in front of him, totally exposed. “Can’t or won’t?” Pressing her lips against his, she ran her hands through his hair. “I know you want to, Alex. I can feel it.” She brushed his lips with her tongue, begging for permission to enter.

  Alexander didn’t know what to do. Yes, he absolutely wanted to fuck Chelsea at that moment just so he could feel something. But he also wanted to get on that plane to try to find Olivia… His Olivia.

  “Please, Mr. Burnham. Don’t make me beg,” Chelsea said coyly.

  Alexander’s eyes went wide. “What did you say?” His lower lip began to tremble, recalling some rather pleasant memories of Olivia saying the same thing.

  Chelsea nuzzled up to his neck. “You heard me.”

  He exhaled loudly. “I need to go, Chelsea.” He pushed her away, walking to the bathroom to grab a few things that he would need.

  “Fine. Go. Whatever,” she hissed. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe I wanted something more from you than just an occasional fuck?”

  Stopping dead in his tracks, he turned to face her. “What are you talking about, Chelsea? We have a good thing going here.”

  She laughed. “Yeah. Sure. Absolutely. Except the part where you scream out her name and not mine when you’re coming. But, you're right. We have a great thing going,” she replied sarcastically, grabbing her clothes that had been discarded on the floor the night before.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” he responded quietly, shocked that he had actually been doing that.

  “Didn’t know what? Didn’t know that you were calling her name, or that I actually care about you?” she snapped before lowering her voice. “Why are you pushing me away for a girl who ran from you? She left no trace. And now that you have an idea about where she may be, you’re just going to leave and track her down?” She frantically pulled on her jeans and sweater, searching under the bed for her shoes.

  “How do you even know?”

  “Oh, come on, Alex. Give me some credit. I snooped in on your conversation with Martin.” She grabbed her purse and began heading out of the bedroom.

  “Chelsea, please. Stop. I just never knew how you felt about our relationship.”

  “Relationship?” she fumed, spinning around to face him. “This isn’t a relationship, Alex! You’re so fucking obtuse sometimes, you know that?”

  Alexander shrugged his shoulders. “I’m a guy. It’s how we roll.” He turned his lips up in a small smile, hoping she wouldn’t leave angry. “If you don’t come right out and say something, we’re left in the dark.”

  Chelsea stood there, looking at Alexander’s face. After several long moments, she broke out in a smile.

  “Does this mean you forgive me?” he asked.

  She nodded slowly, taking a step toward him, brushing his wayward hair out of his eyes. “Yes. But I know you have to go. I get it. I just hope that you get the closure you’re so desperate for. When you do, I’ll be here waiting for you.” She placed a gentle kiss on his mouth, lingering for several long seconds, hoping that it wasn’t the last time she’d taste those lips. Then she turned and left.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ALL I KNOW
/>   AFTER FINALLY GETTING BACK to the beach, Olivia grabbed her obscene amount of shopping bags out of the back seat of the car, as well as the liquor she stopped to pick up, and got to work organizing all her new purchases while she drank a glass of bourbon. This is good, she thought. She hopelessly needed to feel like she had a new home. She hadn’t felt that yet. She loved living at the beach, but it wasn’t home. Maybe meeting some people would make it so, and then she could finally stop seeing Alexander in her dreams every night.

  She settled on a form-fitting black dress that hit right above her knees. It was a little big around her waist so she put on an orange belt and accented the rest of the outfit with a long orange beaded necklace and matching earrings. After taming her wavy hair with a hint of gel, she was ready.

  At exactly seven, Olivia heard a gentle knock on the door. She slipped on her heeled sandals, taking a deep breath before pulling back the door. Her heart began to race. Cam cleaned up good.

  “Good evening, beautiful,” he said, smiling and handing her a dozen yellow roses. “I hope you don’t mind that I brought you flowers.”

  Olivia smiled, taking in his appearance. The dark gray shirt brought out the silver in his eyes. His jeans hung from his hips in a way so that Olivia could tell he worked out. “No. Thank you for the flowers. That was very thoughtful of you.” She turned to go put the bouquet in some water as Cam waited in the doorway, not wanting to go into her house before she invited him in.

  “Ready to go?” she asked, turning around and walking toward the door. She smiled, knowing she just caught him checking out her ass.

  “Uh, yes. Let’s get out of here.” He held out his arm for her and she took it, secretly enjoying the feel of his warm body so close to her own.

  He opened the car door for Olivia and she quickly realized the evening was becoming more than just dinner, and she was relatively okay with that. It was a nice change of pace to not have a chauffeur cart her around. It was refreshing and freeing, even.

  Cam pulled out of the driveway and onto Ocean Avenue, heading toward the downtown area. Olivia smiled as the crisp November air blew through her hair.

  “I hope you don’t mind that I kept the top down,” Cam said, shifting into third gear.

  “Not at all. I thought you had a Wrangler. How many cars to you have?”

  “I do have a Wrangler. But that’s my surfing car and it's covered with sand so I figured I’d take the Lexus tonight.”

  “Nice. Reminds me of that movie Three Kings,” Olivia said as she watched the rugged beach transition into a tree-lined boulevard.

  “Oh, yeah? How so?”

  “One of the lines in the movie is ‘Lexus doesn’t make a convertible’. Of course, that movie was made in 1999 or something so I think, at that time, Lexus didn’t make a convertible.”

  He shifted into fourth. “Well, they do now.”

  Olivia laughed politely. “Obviously.”

  A few minutes later, Cam drove his car through the downtown Fernandina Beach area, easily finding a parking spot on the street. It was the off-season, but there were still a few tourists milling about, checking out the quaint beach shops and grabbing dinner.

  “Wait right there,” he said as he turned off the ignition. He swiftly got out of the car and ran around to Olivia’s side, opening the door and bowing in an exaggerated fashion. “M’lady.”

  Olivia couldn’t help but laugh. There was something so refreshing about Cam's personality. He was fun. There was no drama. With Alexander, it was intense from the beginning and never let up. But there wasn’t that spark with Cam. There was something, but it was nothing compared to what she felt when she was in Alexander’s presence.

  “You’re a goofball,” she smiled.

  “That I am.” He grabbed her hand, pulling her down the sidewalk toward the water. “Is this okay?” he asked, referring to his hand clasped around hers.

  She glanced over at him, a hopeful look in his eyes. “Yes. It’s fine.”

  He beamed, his smile reaching his eyes. He had dimples. God, he’s hot, she thought to herself.

  “Good. I like touching you,” he said quietly, gently rubbing her knuckles.

  Olivia didn’t know whether she should respond to that. She wasn’t sure she wanted to. What would she even say? Tell him that she relished his touch more than anything she could remember in recent history, but that she was ninety-nine shades of crazy at that moment, her thoughts consumed by one man she never should have let in? Her craziness was too much for Alexander, and it would surely be too much for Cam.

  “You don’t talk much, do you?” he asked as they crossed a set of railroad tracks, walking across Front Street toward a restaurant on the water.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I do, as long as I have something to say.”

  “So you have nothing to say?” Cam asked, grinning.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, surely there must be something going through that brain of yours right now. You have this look on your face and I want to die, it’s so fucking cute.” He stopped walking at the edge of the water.

  Olivia’s heart began beating rapidly as he turned to face her with a hopeful look on his face, clutching both her hands in his.

  “I don’t know what it is about you, Libby, but I’m drawn to you. I noticed you way back in October. I even remember the date… October seventeenth. It was a Wednesday. You looked so fucking sad, and it killed me. I wanted to find out what made you so incredibly sad, and I swore I would do whatever I could to fix it.”

  Olivia turned her head, gazing out at all the shrimp boats docked for the evening, trying to tame the butterflies that slowly fluttered in her stomach.

  “Come on, Libby. Let me in,” he quietly pleaded.

  A tear fell down Olivia’s cheek as she continued staring at the blackness on the water. “You don’t even know me, Cam,” she whispered.

  He sighed before grabbing her chin, pulling her face toward his so they were mere inches apart. Olivia could feel the heat coming off his body. “All I know is that you love the smell of the ocean.” He smiled thinking about how beautiful she looked when he pulled up in front of her house each day. “Every morning, you sit outside, drink your coffee, and close your eyes when a gentle breeze rolls in, inhaling deeply as if the salty ocean air will fix everything.”

  Olivia stared into his eyes, not saying anything, her breathing becoming heavy.

  “All I know is that you used to take your coffee with cream, but lately you’ve been drinking it black.”

  She felt shivers as Cam brushed his hand across her forehead where her scar was.

  “All I know is that last week you couldn’t decide what color to paint your toenails so, instead of making that decision, you painted one foot green and the other foot orange.”

  She looked down at her feet and smiled.

  “And all I know is that I desperately want to get to know even more about you.” He gently cupped her cheek, staring into her deep brown eyes. “So please, Libby. I’ll take whatever you can give me. Just let me know you.”

  Another tear escaped from her eye. “But what if I’m too broken for that, Cam?”

  He pulled her to his chest and she reveled in the warmth emanating from his body. “Then let me fix you,” he whispered.

  Her heart raced as she looked into his eyes, wondering why she wanted him to kiss her so badly. Was it because she liked him, or did she just want to forget about Alexander?

  Cam leaned down slowly, his hand moving to the small of her back. She licked her lips and his mouth hovered near hers. She met his lips, brushing against them softly before deepening the kiss. Cam groaned, pulling her further into him, their kiss soft but full. He was gentle, letting Olivia remain in control. It was nothing like kissing Alexander. It wasn’t passionate and forceful. It was tender, the intensity present during Alexander’s kisses was lacking.

  Olivia pulled back, staring into Cam’s eyes, wishing she could feel that spark. />
  “Your lips are so soft, Libby,” he whispered, brushing his thumb against her lower lip as she stared into his eyes with a blank look on her face. She still seemed so empty. She simply stood there, looking sad. “Come on. Let’s go eat. Okay?”

  Olivia nodded, remaining silent.

  “Good,” he said, kissing the top of her head softly, inhaling the vanilla scent of her hair.

  He clutched onto her hand and led her toward the restaurant. It was a relatively large place, circular in shape with panoramic views of the ocean. Of course, with it being evening, all that was visible were the lights on the shrimp boats.

  “The view must be spectacular during sunset,” Olivia remarked as the hostess walked them to their table.

  “It is. It’s tough this time of year with the sun setting so early, but if you’re agreeable to it, I’d love to come back and share that with you.” Cam winked, making Olivia blush.

  “I’d like that,” she replied, thinking she would do anything to try to forget about Alexander. Maybe Cam was her answer.

  Once they were seated and a bottle of wine was on its way, she began to relax a little bit.

  “You look better,” Cam commented. “I’m sorry about before.” He eyed Olivia, gauging her reaction.

  “What are you sorry about?” she asked, her eyebrows raised.

  “I don’t know what came over me,” he explained, grabbing her hands in his. “You just looked so sad, and I really wanted to kiss you.” He smiled gently, remembering the feeling of her lips on his, hoping he would get to feel that again. “I just thought maybe it would make you smile,” he said sheepishly.

  “I’m sorry, Cam. I’m still dealing with a few things, I guess.” She dropped her hands in her lap and gazed across the dark horizon, wondering what Mo and Kiera were doing at that moment. Wondering if they even cared that she left. Again.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Cam knew there was something that made her end up on a relatively unknown island in Florida. She was running from something. That much he was certain of. Then there was the sadness that seemed to consume her whole being. It was as if her entire world had been ripped from underneath her and she wanted a brand new start.