“How long you plannin’ on stayin’ here?”

I’m shocked by Spike’s question, and even more shocked he spoke first.

“Here, as in this town?”

He nods, sipping his beer and letting those gorgeous eyes scan my face, looking for a reaction.

“Until I have enough money to go to college.”

He tilts his head to the side, still studying me closely. “Never knew you wanted to study, Tom Cat.”

God I love it when he calls me that. It sends warmth right through my body.

“I do, I was always planning on going but...”

“But Cheyenne died and you ran off, making your parents cut your trust fund.”

I swallow and nod. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Ain’t a bad thing to have to work for what you want. Makes it that much better in the end.”

I nod, picking up a glass and drying it. “You’re right about that.”

“Do you still talk to them?”

I shake my head, swallowing again. “No, I haven’t for months.”

“Is that ‘cause of me?”

“It’s not just you, Spike, it’s everything. It’s how they treated me long before you came into the picture.”

“They never did treat you the same as her, did they?”

I meet his gaze, and for a moment I see pure compassion in those brown depths. Did Spike see all the times my parents favored her over me?

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t as smart as Cheyenne. I didn’t have the looks. I didn’t have the personality. She was their angel, I was the accident.”

“Not to me you weren’t.”

His words hit me hard, and I struggle for a moment, to breathe. Not to me you weren’t. God, what is that supposed to mean? Before I can answer, Joe walks over, tapping me on the shoulder.

“You can go love, it’s settled down in here.”

I turn, struggling to gather my emotions. “Thanks Joe, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With shaky hands, I turn to Spike. “You want to stay here?”

He shakes his head. “Nah, you wanna go for a drive?”

Oh god, yes, yes.

“I’ll get my things.”

I turn and rush out the back, changing out of my work uniform into a light, summer dress. I let my hair out, running my fingers through it, then I grip my purse and keys before heading back out. Spike is just purchasing a pack of beer for us, and when he turns, our eyes meet and electric bolts spread through my body. For the first time in a long time, I wonder if Spike and I might actually have a decent conversation.

“Ready?” he asks.

“Yeah, ready.”

We head out the front doors and over to my little car. Spike jumps in the front seat and I get into the driver’s side. I start the car, turn on the cooling, and then I pull out onto the road.

My heart is thudding, and my head is spinning. Spike is in my car, with me, willingly. I don’t want to stuff this up. I want a chance to talk to him, to move on from this tension that’s constantly between us. This is my chance; this is the only one I might have.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry about the other night. The way I spoke to you wasn’t fair. I just want us to be friends, even for a night. Can we do that? Can we go somewhere tonight and just be Ciara and Danny again. For one night, can we just get along?”

Spike turns to me, and I can see him watching me from the corner of his eye. “Yeah, Tom Cat, that would be good.”

“Anywhere you want to go?” I ask, my voice shaky.

“Yeah, to the local lake.”

My heart thuds. When we were younger, we used to spend a lot of time at the lakes. We didn’t live here when we were growing up, but the fact that he wants to take me to a lake, means the world to me.

“Sounds good.”

We drive down to the lake, and it’s quiet. No one is around, and the only light is the full moon shining down over the water. Spike and I get out of the car and find a spot under a large oak tree. We sit against the massive trunk, and Spike pulls out the beers, handing me one. We stare out at the water for a long, long moment before he finally speaks.

“Remember when you threw yourself down that hill when you saw a snake?”

I huff and laugh softly. “Yeah, that hurt like hell.”

“Fuckin’ funniest day of my life.”

“Yeah, well, it was funny after...”

He grins and turns to me. Oh that grin, that devastating grin. I smile back, unable to stop the curl from transforming my face.

“Tell me about your life, Tom Cat. Tell me what happened while I wasn’t in it.”

I sigh deeply, and take a long pull of the bitter beer.

“Not much to tell. I lived with Mom and Dad for a long while. Things were bad, so I moved up here. Cade and Jackson helped me out, and I started working. I stayed with them until I could afford my own place and since then I have just been working to get enough money for school.”

“No man then?”

“There was one.”

“What happened?” he asks, pulling out a cigarette and offering me one.

“No thanks,” I say.

He lights the cigarette, and then leans against the trunk again. “Well?”

“He just wasn’t...for me. We were together a little while, things were okay, but it was just never there you know? That spark.”

“Yeah, I’m hearin’ ya.”

“After that, I just kept to myself.”