“Psychiatrist, remember?” She pointed to herself. “And you forget that I spent quite a bit of time with Adrian a while back. Even then, I could see the impenetrable walls he’d built around himself.
Jenna had seen them, too. In the beginning. But little by little, she’d chipped away at them until finally, she made her way through.
Then all hell broke loose.
“That man, Ortiz…” Elle continued. “He took you and nearly killed you for no other reason than to make Adrian suffer. You almost died in hisarms, Jen. That would be hard for anyone to deal with, but for a man like Adrian Walker? I mean…look at how Gabe handled things when we lost our baby. He left for threeyearsbecause he blamed himself for what happened. Adrian leaving…it’s his way of protecting you.”
“Well, it’s a stupid way,” Jenna grumbled.
“Yes.” Elle laughed. “Yes, it is.”
Jenna took a moment to process everything her friend had said. While she didn’t agree with his line of thinking, she could absolutely see Adrian torturing himself for the actions of another.
She’d seen it when he spoke about his sister. She could tell right away that he blamed himself for not finding Bree in time to save her.
Now the stubborn assed man was doing it again. Only this time, it was because of her.
“What do I do?” She looked to Elle for guidance.
Elle patted her leg through the blanket and said, “Give him time.”
“You saying that as a friend or my psychiatrist?”
“Both.” Her friend, the psychiatrist, smiled.
“Okay.” Jenna nodded. She’d give Adrian some time.
But not too much.
Because one thing she’d learned from all of this was that life was short. And if you waited too long to go after the thing you wanted, you may end up losing it, forever.
Chapter 19
Adrian was losing his buzz. That magical, fuzzy, floaty sensation that had kept him from thinking too much. Fromfeelingtoo much.
That simply won’t do.
Not bothering to peel himself from the lawn chair that had been his go-to spot for the past six weeks, Adrian reached down next to where he sat and grabbed the empty bottle nestled snuggly in the sand.
Through the tinted lenses of his aviator sunglasses, he stared out into the rolling sea as he held the bottle into the air and waggled it back and forth.
His signal to the private bartender that came with this private section of the beach, which came with the middle-of-nowhere room he’d rented on a week-by-week basis.
It was the perfect place to hide away. From people. From his non-existent future. From himself.
At night, though…damn if the nights didn’t get to him. No matter how many beers he consumed or how many times he told himself to forget her, the fiery redhead he’d fallen in love with still haunted his dreams.
But at least she was safe.
From his past. From his enemies. And from his perpetual destruction of all things good and pure.
Damn, I really need that next beer.
Adrian started to wave the bottle again, tempted to holler up at John…or Joe…or whatever the guy’s name was who got tipped too damn much, when the man appeared.
Stepping into his sunlight, a large shadow covered Adrian’s sweaty body. The affect was soothing and cool.
He didn’t want soothing. He wanted pain. Hecravedit.