PROXIMITY
By
Amber Lea Easton
Mountain Moxie Publishing
Kindle Edition
Copyright © Amber Lea Easton 2015
Cover Design by Amber Lea Easton
PROXIMITY
Wanderlust II
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real life people, names or situations is simply a coincidence. No parts of this novel may be replicated without express permission from the author.
Genre: Contemporary Romance Adventure
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Copyright © Amber Lea Easton 2015
DEDICATION
To Briahna and Ben—Never be afraid to follow your hearts and embrace new adventures. Life is constantly evolving so just go with it.
Much love—A.
“In the history of risk taking, had there ever been a better reason to take a chance than genuine, heart-pounding, scary-ass love?”
--Nicki Elson, Vibrizzio
Chapter One
A shoe hit him in the eye followed by a rapid series of slaps to his forearms that were more annoying than painful.
"Is that all you're going to say?" Lexi stammered, out-of-breath.
"Well, I—"
"Shut-up!" She kicked him in the shin. "I'm telling you right now, Billy, that if you dare leave with that Savannah—"
"That's enough." He grabbed her wrists before she could take another swing and looked into her wide blue eyes. "You know there's nothing to be jealous of when it comes to Savannah. We're friends, always have been and always will be."
"Liar. Her pictures are all over your house! You even have one of the two of you next to your bed. I have to turn it around before we fuck. Does that sound like just buddies to you? Or maybe you're just an obsessive freak."
"We're best friends. Maybe you're an insecure bitch."
"Maybe I am. What woman wouldn't be?" Lexi twisted free of him, her auburn curls dancing around her shoulders as she bobbed out of reach and started pacing the floor of his Dallas condominium. Her long legs devoured the space at a furious pace while she fought for control.
Deciding it was best to let her calm down before saying another word, Bill walked to the refrigerator and grabbed himself a cold bottle of water. His bags were packed for the dive trip to Costa Rica—a trip, mind you, that Lexi had been invited to join—but, as she'd pointed out repeatedly, diving in a cave and traipsing through a jungle weren't high on her priority list.
He frowned as she started picking up the things that she'd thrown around the room during her tantrum. A beautiful woman, they had a lot in common outside of his dive club. They both enjoyed...stuff. Various activities. He took another long drink, his frown deepening as he struggled to think of one thing they liked to do together fully clothed. Eating. They liked food. He sighed with relief—he wasn't the shallow jerk people accused him of being because of his fast cars, hot women, and bachelor pad that looked out on the Dallas skyline.
"Now you're not listening to me. This day can't get any worse." Lexi faced him, hands on her narrow hips covered by a blue silk dress that clung to her delicate curves like a caress.
"I'm listening." He shrugged and placed the water bottle on the counter top. "You're jealous of Savannah, even though you have no right to be. She's always been nice to you. We're friends."
"Men are so stupid." She folded her hands over her chest. "Don't you think it's weird that she's the only woman in this little group of yours?"
"No, why would it be weird?"
"She's a general contractor." Lexi arched an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side as if expecting that to be a shocking statement.
"So?"
"You're all good looking men, but she targets you specifically."
"Targets?" His patience had nearly reached its limit. He didn't know what Lexi thought her role in his life was, but she'd crossed more than a few boundaries in the past hour. "I'm not going to discuss Savannah with you anymore. You were more than welcome to join us on this trip, but you opted out. If you think you can control me, you're wrong."
"If you go, we're through."
There it was—the ultimatum he'd anticipated.
"We had some fun, sorry to see you go." He looked her in the eye without wavering.
But Lexi was a Texas woman through and through and didn't get intimidated easily. With a lift of her chin, she took a step toward him. "If you think I'm going to slink back to you when you return from your little trip, you're wrong."
"I wouldn't dare think such a thing." He drawled as he leaned back against the wall.
"You two deserve each other, both of you would rather play in the ocean and drink beer than anything else." She stopped within a foot of him, dragged her gaze over his legs and up his torso before pinning him against the wall with the sheer force of her anger. "A man your age needs to be looking for a wife, start thinking about a family, not flying off on your silly adventures with a bunch of other people who refuse to grow up. And that Savannah—everyone talks about her—she's your group whore and all of Dallas knows it."
He clenched his fists at his side. He'd never hit a woman in his life, but no one talked about Savannah like that. "I suggest you take that back, Lexi."
"Oh, do you suggest that?" She lit up at his words, her laugh echoed through the space. "Or what? You were going to give me an or else, weren't you?" She leaned closer, almost begging for his wrath with a dare in her eyes. "How does that work with her anyway? Do you all take turns, trade nights, or go all at once?"
"Get the hell out and never come back." He gritted his teeth and stepped around her. As far as he was concerned, Lexi Dubois didn't deserve any more of his attention or energy. They'd had their share of fun for the past three months, but now he couldn't look at her without wanting to do something violent, which went against his nature.
He walked to the windows looking onto the steel and glass of a bustling downtown. Crossing his arms, he caught Lexi's reflection from the corner of his eye as she approached from behind, her beautiful face flushed with anger.
"You're choosing her? Just like that?" she asked.
Choosing...why did women always want him to make either or decisions? Instead of answering, he opened the door to the balcony and walked outside to breathe in the warm, spring air. He'd had one helluva day and this dive trip couldn't come at a better time. His tech company had gone public, which would probably thrill most men, but the thought of going global terrified him more than he could say to anyone. It's more than he'd wanted.
He gripped the railing and looked around at the skyscrapers surrounding him. By morning he'd be in a jungle with friends who'd seen him at his worst and his best throughout the years, friends who didn't care about his bank account or the full-page spread about him in the Dallas Business Journal, friends who called him an animal and laughed at all of his stupid jokes because for whatever reason they shared his weird sense of humor. Choose? What were the options? The new acquaintances who flocked to him because of his success? He'd choose the rough and rowdy dive crew any day over the polished and polite elite.
"We have a good thing here, Billy. Don't mess it up." Lexi squeezed his elbow. "You know what's right."
"Yes, I do know what's right. I will always choose my friends and anyone with an ounce of class would do the same." He faced her, not caring about the tears filling her eyes. "Savannah Willis is more of a woman than you'll ever be—do you know that
I've never heard her say an unkind word about anyone? She's even been singing your praises, telling me that we look good together. It was her idea to ask you to Costa Rica, not mine. So, yeah, I'm choosing her because I know without a doubt that she's got my back. Anymore questions or are you satisfied enough to get your hot little ass out of my home?"
Lexi took a step back and caught her lower lip between her teeth. "Don't try to tell me that you two have never—"
"We haven't." He shook his head and resisted the urge to throw Lexi physically into the hall.
"Even her sisters think it's strange that she hangs out with all of you." Lexi tilted her face to the breeze that tossed her hair back from her long neck. "I happen to be good friends with her youngest sister, Emily, and—"
"Save your gossip," he said as quietly as he could while still being heard. "I asked you to leave. Don't make me toss you out."
"You wouldn't dare." She slid her gaze to his.
He arched an eyebrow.
She stood straighter, absently brushed the tears from her eyes—tears he presumed to be orchestrated by a whim—and slowly walked inside where she gathered the shoes she'd tossed at him when he had refused to unpack.
He hated that women like Lexi Dubois bad-mouthed Savannah just because she worked with her father as a general contractor and looked like she could grace the cover of Sports Illustrated. No, she didn't have the manicured nails of the socialites that peppered his life, but she also didn't have a nasty bone in her body.
Well, that wasn't exactly true. He'd witnessed her temper on more than one occasion and been the recipient of a few right hooks. Yeah, Savannah knew when to let loose, but she never did so unless provoked...unlike some people he knew who seemed to delight in being mean.
He followed Lexi to make sure she left without doing any damage.
She smiled slightly when she faced him again. "Maybe you don't see it, but the rest of the world does. Savannah is head over heels in love with you and, based on your attitude toward her, I'd say the feeling is mutual."
"Then apparently you have no idea what friendship looks like, Lexi. How sad." He dismissed her observation as simply another way to irritate him.
"And you have no idea what love looks like, Billy." She slid her feet into the high heels before sauntering toward the purse she'd tossed onto his white sofa.
Despite his anger, he had to admit that she personified the idea of Southern Belle. Before exiting, she smoothed a manicured hand over an imagined wrinkle on her hip, straightened, nodded in his direction, and left without another word. Under the calm facade dwelled a hurricane of hell, but no casual observer would ever suspect she used those Louis Vuitton's as weapons when it suited her.
Alone, Bill sank onto the white sofa and dropped his head back onto a cushion. Women like Lexi complemented his image as CEO of the tech company he'd built from scratch. They happily accompanied him to social events and satisfied him in bed. Ultimately, however, they left him craving more.
He'd be a depressed man on the edge if it weren't for his Scuba diving friends and their adventures. With them, he was simply a guy who didn't shave for a week and who enjoyed a dare as much as anyone. He would always choose his friends over the polished socialite, yet he wondered if his two worlds could ever mesh or if he'd always be pushed to keep them separate.
Savannah...He smiled at the thought of his best friend. Not only could she wield a hammer and make him laugh like no one else could, she could also make a man fall to his knees with a flick of her finger. He'd seen it happen and always felt bad for the poor bastard she'd set her eyes on because he, more than anyone, understood that she could care less about love. Perhaps she hated the idea of happily ever after even more than he did.
His smile faded at the thought. Lexi's tirade had hit closer to home than he liked. There were a lot of changes going on in his world right now and he'd been feeling the drum of something ominous for weeks. Company going public equaled more demands on his time and new people entering his life who he didn't trust. Restlessness had made him edgy, unpredictable, uncomfortable in his own skin.
Every woman he'd come close to calling a girlfriend despised Savannah on sight. He didn't understand it, knew it might be one of those woman things that usually escaped his realm of comprehension, but he hoped that one day the right woman wouldn't be intimidated by the black haired beauty with legs a mile long, a rock hard ass, and a smile that made a man thankful for testosterone.
What is wrong with me? I just finished going on about her being one of the guys. I shouldn't be thinking of her as a black-haired beauty with big brown eyes. Damn it, I did it again.
He shoved away from the sofa and pulled off his tie. A glance around the posh space intensified his sense of discomfort. Nothing felt like his. He'd been trying to live up to an image of hot young executive bachelor, had even splurged on a decorator and thrown a wild housewarming party to solidify his image.
He picked up a picture of his friends, all six of them standing on the top of Lamanai in Belize with Savannah in their middle like a queen surrounded by her minions. He smiled at the memory before placing the frame back onto the mantle.
None of his diving buddies had come to his housewarming party. He hadn't invited them. He hadn't given a thought to why until now.
Their flight left in four hours and he needed to change clothes. Oh, and order take-out. He'd intended to have dinner with Lexi before his vacation, but now it definitely looked like Chinese for one.
* * *
Savannah stepped back from the building and studied the framing. The sub-contractors had made significant progress on the project, much to her relief. She'd briefly considered canceling her trip to oversee completion herself now that her father's health had deteriorated. Although Eli Willis refused to acknowledge that he hadn't quite recovered from his stroke, she noticed the shaking hands, the off-balance gait, the forgotten words, and the mutters of frustration he uttered when he thought his oldest daughter was out of earshot.
"Shouldn't you be cleaning yourself up and getting to the airport?" Eli asked from where he'd walked up behind her.
"I wanted to make sure everything was in order before I left." She smiled at her dad whose gray hair only enhanced his rugged good looks rather than detracted from them. "Aren't you supposed to be home for dinner? Mom will be pissed if you're late again. Isn't she having the Petersons over?"
Eli rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into the back pockets of his dusty jeans. "And the Ellisons. She's constantly having people over these days. Do I look like I want to be entertaining?"
Her lips twitched as she glanced him up and down. "No, not even a little bit. You're the one who should be cleaning yourself up and pouring yourself a Bourbon on the Rocks to boost your charm."
He laughed and returned the once over. "Are you going to get on the plane like that? It wouldn't kill you to fancy yourself up every now and then. Who knows? Maybe you'll meet my future son-in-law on this trip of yours."
"Right." She snorted before unbuckling the tool belt at her waist and walking toward her truck. Her last boyfriend had said something similar about her 'fancying herself up' to which she'd replied by deleting him from her phone contacts, unfriending him from social media sites, and blocking him from email. Everyone had their triggers and hers seemed to be anyone calling her a tomboy.
She was not a tomboy. She liked dresses and high heels like any girl, had once thought her life might be different, but as the oldest child of one of the most in demand general contractors in Texas, she had a legacy to uphold that involved jeans and work boots.
Again, apprehension trickled up her spine at the idea of leaving her father alone for a week. She twisted her head to see him limping over the work site, his tall lean form and weathered skin looking older than she'd noticed several months ago.
What if he dies? She averted her gaze and brushed away the persistent thought. Would she keep up the business? Hadn't that been the plan? None of her three younger sist
ers would carry the burden, she knew that for certain. Busy with their husbands, toddlers, and social calendars, none of them understood why she chose to follow her father's footsteps. But she enjoyed getting dirty, slamming a nail into a piece of drywall, going toe-to-toe with obstinate men who challenged her role as 'boss lady', and being outside more days than not with the Texas blue sky as the only ceiling she ever noticed. She slid her gaze back to her father. But what if he dies?
"What has you looking so serious? Aren't you headed off to the Caribbean?" Scott, the foreman for this job, peered around the edge of the truck. Blond hair and a perpetual grin, the man oozed good will. "Why are you still here?"
"I'm not the one with a family waiting for me like you and Pop. Aren't you supposed to be making sure he gets home in time for dinner? Mom is going to have your hide when she sees you." Savannah locked the toolbox in the back of the truck before walking toward the driver's door.
"Doesn't your plane leave in a few hours? You're not going to the airport like that, are you?"
"Why is everyone so damn concerned about what I'm wearing to sit on airplane for six hours?" She laughed as she pulled herself into the seat. "Hey, Pop!" She waved at her dad from the open window. "Get home now. You can't avoid being charming forever."
"Be safe, Girl!" Eli waved over his head and smiled. "Don't break too many hearts down there in Costa Rica!"
"Costa Rica?" Scott tapped the hood of the truck as he walked around to her side. "I thought you were headed to the Caribbean or Mexico or something."
"Not this time. We're cave diving, staying at a cool tree house resort in the jungle." She stared at her dad's back as he piled some lumber near the framed house. "Watch him, okay? I don't want him overdoing it. He acts like nothing's happened to him. I'm not sure he understands the phrase 'take it easy'."
"Like father, like daughter." Scott shook his head. "You and Barbara worry too much. He's good. Working makes him happy, being outside makes him happy, let him be. He likes being busy, feeling productive, don't you?"