And Then She Kissed Me Read online

  “Want me to finish that for you?” Devon holds out her hand. “It might make for less of a headache in the morning.”

  “Sure.” I give Devon my beer and watch how she brings it to her lips and tips the bottle back. For some reason, probably severe inebriation, my gaze is glued to her neck as she swallows.

  “How long are you in town for?” Devon asks.

  “For the entire hiatus of the show. I’m not doing anything else. Just retreating to my home base and licking my post-divorce wounds.”

  “I’d love to meet for coffee sometime. Catch up.”

  “I’d love that very much, too.” I tilt my head. “You look… I don’t know. Like the opposite of how I feel. Happy. Like everything is as it should be in your world.”

  “Looks can be deceiving. You should know that.”

  “Oh, I do. But…”

  “It’s okay. Whether you’re Sadie Ireland living it up in Hollywood or Devon Douglas enjoying a quiet life in Clearwater Bay, we all go through good and bad times. It doesn’t matter where you live or what you do for a living.”

  “That’s deep for a birthday party.” I’ve drunk too much to come up with even the slightest witty repartee.

  “Yeah, I’m sorry.” Everything Devon says sounds so heartfelt. “And I’m sorry you’re going through a tough time.”

  Of course, she knows all about my divorce. The entire world knows. By lying low, I hope the attention on my former marriage will die down soon.

  “I’m here now, with my family.” Suzy has somehow convinced Sam to stay on the makeshift dance floor—The Bay isn’t exactly a clubbing hotspot. My brother has many talents but moving his body in synch with a musical beat is not one of them. He seems to be having a blast, however. So much so it’s infectious, and I feel like I’m missing out—kind of how I’ve felt about their lives since King & Prince took off and I had less and less time to come home.

  “Do you want to dance?” Suddenly, I’m curious to see how Devon moves to the beat. If she can maintain that cool demeanor on the dance floor.

  “How can I say no to Sadie Ireland?” She leads the way and, as these things can go at a boozy party, one moment I find myself lamenting my private life, while the next I’m going bananas to a Tina Turner song.

  Suzy curls her arm around me and pulls me near. “I’m so glad you’re home, little sis,” she yells in my ear. “I missed you so much.”

  “I missed you too, Suze.” My eyes go watery as I look at her. That must be the beer as well.

  “I know what we need.” Sam has approached us.

  I groan in anticipation.

  “Shots!”

  “Shots! Shots! Shots!” Suzy joins in.

  I’m having too much fun with my siblings to put up much of a fight. And it’s not as if I have to be on set tomorrow. I’ll have two months to recover from what will be a heinous hangover.

  Sam orders shots with a few well-practiced hand gestures and next thing I know, liquor is burning down my throat. So much for letting Devon finish my beer earlier. Speaking of, where is she? She doesn’t seem to partake in the reckless knocking back of shots. She’s moved away from where we are clumsily swaying to the music and is talking to a woman I don’t recognize. Devon’s smiling and the other woman is peering intently at the tattoo sleeves on Devon’s arms.

  Next thing I know, I’m being lifted in the air, my legs swinging in front of me.

  “Put me down, Sam,” I yell. “I’m forty years old, for crying out loud.”

  “Only if you do another shot with me.”

  “Oh, what the hell.” Thankfully, he releases me from his hold. My legs wobble when my feet touch back down on solid ground. “I might as well.”

  “To you and me, sis.” Sam offers me another shot. “I promise I’ll be on my best behavior while you’re staying with me.”

  “Big words, bro. Big words.”

  “I’ll try to remember to put the toilet seat down.” He grins at me.

  “That’s it?”

  “Some other things as well.”

  “How about you try not to bring a new woman home every other night? I would really appreciate that.”

  “That’s not a promise I can make.” He pulls his face into a forced scowl.

  “Of course you can! We can agree on one night a week and I’ll make sure I’m elsewhere. I’ll stay at Suzy’s or Dad’s.”

  Sam shakes his head, then his eyes grow wide. I follow the path of his gaze.

  “Someone’s getting lucky tonight,” he says.

  Devon and the woman are standing very close but it’s not as though they’re doing anything that might indicate they’re ‘getting lucky.’

  “They’re just talking.”

  “Yeah right. And I’m a virgin.” Sam elbows me in the biceps. “Maybe you’ve been out of flirting practice for too long, but I certainly know it when I see it. Anyway, good for them.”

  I stare at Devon and the woman she’s talking to. Are they flirting? And does it matter whether they are? If so, why does it seem to bother me to the extent that I find it hard to look away because I want to see how it ends?

  Is it because Devon Douglas isn’t just a girl I went to school with? She’s also the girl who kissed me, out of the blue, on a sunny Wednesday afternoon.

  Chapter 4

  Devon

  It’s a challenge to focus on what Zara is saying with Sadie’s gaze burning a hole in the back of my head. I removed myself from the situation as soon as Sam mentioned the word shots. I want to be present for my son tomorrow, not wallowing in the throes of a completely avoidable hangover.

  I could only rely on my gaydar when I walked up to Zara, who owns the bakery Suzy used to work for a few years ago—long enough ago for Suzy to never have mentioned to me whether her old boss is gay and single. We seem to bond mainly through our mutual love for body ink, and although I’m getting some signals, I can’t be sure.

  “Gosh,” Zara says. “That Sadie Ireland is one attractive woman.”

  There’s another clue right there, although I wish it didn’t have to include Sadie.

  “She keeps staring our way. Although I’m flattered, it’s a little unsettling.”

  “I think all the Irelands have had a bit too much to drink.” I cast a quick glance in Sadie’s direction. She looks more out of it than intently focused on us.

  “Speaking of,” Zara says. “Can I get you another?”

  I nod. “Just a soda water with lime for me, please.” Someone needs to keep a clear head.

  “Coming right up.”

  I sit on a chair by the window while I wait for Zara to return. It’s almost fully dark, but I can still make out the ocean. The tide is low and the beach wide and inviting. I hope no one gets any silly ideas before the sun rises again. The allure of the water can be hard to resist, especially when you feel invincible after having a few too many shots.

  Zara has struck up a conversation at the bar and it takes a while before she returns. Sadie has gone back to dancing with her brother and sister and a small group of other people. Since having Finn, I’ve become the opposite of a party person and I’ve always, happily, volunteered to babysit him even on weekends when he’s with his dad—whose party days seem to have decreased considerably this past year, since he met Bobby.

  I’ve had a chat with Sadie. We have tentative plans to go for coffee soon. I got what I came here for. But there’s the promise of Zara, of course.

  “Sorry it took a while.” Zara has returned with two glasses of soda water. “This place is filled with people I used to know.”

  “Same here.” I down my water.

  “So you’re Suzy’s new boss. Does that mean you’re well acquainted with her sister?”

  I chuckle. “I used to be. A long time ago. We went to school together.” For a while there, we were best friends in high school, until my teenage brain read a situation entirely wrong and I ruined everything.

  “Technically, I’m only at this party because I
’m friends with Suzy. She didn’t work for me for very long and I never got the chance to meet Sam and Sadie. But you know what Suzy’s like.”

  “Suzy likes to invite the whole town to everything,” I say.

  “As long as she doesn’t have to clean up the day after.”

  “Speak of the she-devil.”

  Suzy’s dancing her way toward us, holding out her arms. “Come on, you two. And I’m not taking no for an answer. If only for the next five minutes. For the duration of one single song.” She angles her head and pouts.

  “I guess we have no choice.” Zara shoots out of her chair and lets herself be dragged onto the dance floor while holding out her free arm to me. I take it, because I might as well. Now that I am at a party, I should make the most of it. And it brings me a little closer to Sadie again—my eternal weakness.

  Her dancing is much sloppier than before, her arms flailing wildly. This might be her birthday party, but I don’t think Sadie’s going to make it to the end. In fact, I think someone should walk her home sooner rather than later. Perhaps I can volunteer.

  “Do you want to go for a drink somewhere a bit quieter some time?” Zara suddenly shouts into my ear. She has sidled up to me and is gyrating her hips, making it very hard to say no. Not that I have any reason to decline her offer.

  “I’d love that.” I send her a wide smile.

  “Shall I put my number in your phone?”

  I nod and give it to her.

  “There you go.” When she hands it back to me, she plants the lightest of kisses on my cheek, making all my previous doubts evaporate. “I can’t stay much longer. Bakers don’t have the luxury of Sunday morning lie-ins.”

  I nod my understanding.

  “Which is why, for the next ten minutes, I’m going to dance like there’s no tomorrow.” Zara flashes me a toothy grin. “I hope you’ll join me.”

  My hips feel a touch rusty when I take it up a notch, but dancing is so inherent to being human that I lose myself in the rhythm in no time. Zara and I give it all we have for the next three songs and the abandon and joy radiating from the dance floor soon has me in a state much like intoxication, minus the alcohol consumption.

  Zara and I say our goodbyes and I watch her bid adieu to Suzy, Sam, and then, hesitantly, Sadie, who has drifted to the edge of the dance floor.

  I find Suzy, and say, “Maybe you should take Sadie out for some air. She looks like she needs it.”

  “Why don’t you take her outside,” Suzy says, the mumbling of her words indicating she could do with some fresh air and a few gallons of water as well.

  “Okay. I will.” I’m not about to argue with a drunken Ireland.

  I walk over to Sadie and start with a warm smile. “Hey.”

  “Oh, hi, Devon. Sam and I were convinced you were about to get lucky.”

  I laugh off her comment. I might drop by Zara’s bakery tomorrow. I’m sure Finn will be up for a cupcake. “Looks like I didn’t.”

  Sadie sways and, instinctively, I bring my hand to the small of her back to steady her. “How about we go for a little stroll on the beach?” I ask.

  Sadie squints at me, then just nods.

  On the way out, I ask the man behind the bar for a large bottle of water. Then I join Sadie and we cross the boardwalk to head onto the beach. A few other partygoers have drifted there and are dotted in small groups around us.

  I give her the bottle of water and she drinks from it as though she has just completed a marathon through the desert.

  “Jesus. Sam and his fucking shots.” We walk closer to the shoreline. “I can’t handle my liquor the way he does. I’m a Hollywood lightweight. I have no choice.”

  I don’t really know what that means, but I give Sadie an encouraging nod.

  She stops in her tracks and takes a deep breath. “I live in Malibu, but the beach feels different here. The air smells better. The ocean…” She hands me the bottle and lets herself fall backward onto her behind.

  I sit next to her and give her the bottle of water to finish. It will take more than a bit of water to sober her up, but at least it’s a start.

  “It’s because you’re home,” I offer. “Everything feels and smells different at home.”

  “Where do you live?” She turns her head and looks at me. It’s fully dark now, but her eyes still shine bright.

  “Just a few blocks away from the beach.”

  Sadie screws the bottle into the sand and leans back on her elbows. “I could never be without the ocean. Long before I could afford my house in Malibu, I drove to Santa Monica almost every day, no matter the ghastly LA traffic, to get a whiff of sea air. When you grow up here, it’s hard to be without…”

  “I totally agree.” I know what she means. We have the ocean in our bones. The sound of the waves is part of our DNA. “Do you still surf?”

  “How dare you even suggest that I wouldn’t?” She smiles up at me.

  “I don’t know. I hear Hollywood’s a crazy place. Surfing’s never without risk. The show must want some assurances about your off-set activities.”

  She turns on her side. “God, Dev, you haven’t changed a bit. You’re still the ever-practical, thinking-three-steps-ahead girl you were in high school.”

  “I’ve changed plenty.” I draw up my eyebrows.

  “Yeah, time tends to do that.” She twists herself away from me and sits up, cross-legged, looking into the dark expanse of ocean in front of us. “Can’t wait to catch some waves.”

  “I’m curious to see your moves.”

  “I am forty now, of course. I’m not as flexible as I was when I was sixteen, but I have much more experience, which should make up for that.” She turns to me again. “Shall we go out together sometime this week? I can’t wait to see your moves either.”

  Because I can’t help myself when it comes to Sadie, my heart does a crazy pitter-patter beneath my rib cage.

  “If you’re not too busy with the woman who gave you her number.”

  “Here I was convinced you were way too drunk to notice.”

  “Yet, I did.” She flashes me a smile, then her face scrunches up. “I think all this water is having an adverse effect on my stomach.”

  I’m sure it’s the water, I think, as I leap to my feet and help her up. “Shall I walk you home?”

  Sadie doesn’t move and swallows hard a few times. Then she shakes her head. “I don’t want to go to Sam’s. I know my brother better than any other person on this earth and chances are he’s going to arrive home at the crack of dawn, blind drunk, with a twenty-something girl in tow. I don’t want to wake up to that.” She takes a deep breath.

  “Surely he will take into account that you’re staying with him.”

  “He won’t. Not tonight. He’s completely wasted already and will not get any less drunk as the night goes on.”

  “Shall I take you to Suzy’s? I’ll run back inside to get her keys.”

  Sadie stands there swaying in the gentle midnight breeze. She scratches her head. “Do you have a spare room?” she asks.

  “Me?” If Sadie stays at my house, I probably won’t be able to sleep a wink. On the other hand, the thought of her being there in the morning, all sober again, is quite exciting. It is, in fact, an irresistible prospect. “Sure. Yeah, you can stay at my house. No problem.”

  “Thank you so much.”

  “Are you okay to walk? It’s less than ten minutes from the beach, even when carrying a surfboard.”

  “Yes, but can I?” She holds out her arm and I offer her mine to hook it through. Arm in arm, we amble off the beach, as though we’ve wound back the clock twenty-four years, and we’re still best friends who’ve sneaked a few secret beers out into the night.

  “Good thing you didn’t get lucky,” Sadie says once we’re on the boardwalk. The music from the party blares loudly.

  I text Suzy and Sam to tell them Sadie’s in safe hands with me and not to worry about her. “Who says I didn’t?”

  Luckily, t
he booze hasn’t made Sadie’s sense of humor disappear and we both giggle as we make our way to my house.

  Chapter 5

  Sadie

  When I wake up, I have no idea where I am. My head throbs and my stomach feels tender. I throw the covers off and check the clothes I’m wearing. Panties and a faded gray T-shirt I don’t recognize. Panicked, I turn my head, but the other side of the bed is empty. I rack my brain and the memory of Suzy shouting, ‘Shots! Shots! Shots!’ comes back to me, followed by me walking somewhere on Devon’s arm, the two of us giggling like the schoolgirls we once were. Devon. I’m at her place. I take a breath. Even though I haven’t seen Devon in years, I still trust her to take care of me when I need it. Perhaps I shouldn’t, yet here I am. In her guest room. I listen for sounds outside the bedroom door. I hear a shriek followed by quick footsteps. What the—?

  The bedroom door swings open and a child rushes in.

  “Finn! Stop that!” Devon yells.

  What the hell is happening? Who is this child?

  “Who are you and what are you doing in Mom’s bed?” the child fires at me.

  “I’m sorry.” Devon appears in the doorway. “He had a doughnut at Hunter’s and he’s so hyper, he’s unmanageable.” She puts an arm around the child’s shoulder. “Sweetie, why don’t you go back to your dad’s for a while. I’ll come get you later. I’m sure Spencer could do with some extra playtime.”

  Hunter? Spencer? My hungover brain can’t process any of these things. Who is Devon talking about? Is this child hers?

  Then the fog in my head starts to clear and I remember Dad mentioning a few years ago that Devon had had a child.

  “Come on.” Devon puts a little more force into her tone and the child seems to listen. “But first, apologize to Sadie for barging into her room like that.”

  “But, it’s your room—”

  “Finn.” Devon’s tone of voice not only seems to have an effect on Finn. It does something to me too.

  “I’m sorry,” Finn says. “Have a nice day.” With that, he turns on his heels and sprints off.