A Stranger on the Beach. Michele Campbell
chance.”
“You showed me the place, now I need to leave. I’ve been telling you all morning I have things to do.”
His face fell. “You’re mad at me. What did I do wrong?”
“I’m—I’m stressed, okay? My life is a mess. I don’t have time for this right now.”
I moved toward the exit. He blocked me.
“Let me take your mind off it.”
“That only works for so long.”
“It’ll work again. I promise.”
He kissed me on the mouth. I didn’t kiss back. His teeth ground against my lips as he pushed me backward toward the rock. My legs hit it, and I sat down hard. I felt the rock, rough and cold, through my jeans. Aidan sat beside me and started groping, his hands rough on my body, my breasts.
“I want you so much,” he whispered, his breath hot against my neck.
He reached for the buttons of my shirt. I pushed his hands away.
“Aidan, no. Stop it.”
He pulled back momentarily. His expression had changed again, this time to fury. His face was red, his mouth screwed up like he wanted to spit.
“What’s the problem? I was good enough for you last night.”
He grabbed my hand and pressed it to the bulge in his pants. I pulled away.
“I said no.”
“You don’t mean it.”
We wrestled. He was bigger and stronger. My heart beat wildly. Before I could get up and run, he’d unzipped. His hands tugged at the waist of my jeans. He pulled me under him, stood above me, yanked his jeans down to his knees. There was no point in screaming. The rock walls were too thick, the wind and the surf too loud on the beach. If I yelled, or fought, or resisted in any way, I’d only make him angrier. I couldn’t predict how he’d react, because I barely knew him, but he might hurt me. The Catholic girl inside my head, the one my mother had raised to feel responsible when men misbehaved, was saying, What the hell did you expect? He’s not gonna to take no for an answer when you already told him yes.
I was about to give in when I heard a noise. Above the sound of Aidan’s rushed breathing, there was a scrambling, a dislodging of pebbles near the cave entrance that attracted my attention. Aidan jumped off me, pulling up his pants. The two surfer dudes we’d seen before out on the water stood there in dripping wet suits, staring at us.
17
When the surfers barged in, I saw my chance. Gathering my clothes around me, I pushed past them out of the cave. Outside, I gulped the salty air in relief, but the feeling only lasted a second. The tide had come roaring in. Waves pounded the rock cliff, completely obscuring the narrow strip of sand that Aidan and I had crossed twenty minutes earlier. If I tried to make it to the other side of the beach now, I’d be swept out to sea. Before I could figure out what to do, Aidan hurtled out of the cave after me, buttoning his shirt as he came. The surfers had stayed behind in the cave, and he was by himself, which meant I was alone with him again. As he approached, I took a step back toward the crashing surf, my heart pounding.
“Hey, babe, I’m really sorry,” he said. “I never thought we’d get interrupted in there. I know that was embarrassing. Are you okay?”
Aidan smiled—a gentle, laid-back smile that said he was the nicest guy in the world. I might have believed it, if he hadn’t tried to assault me in there. He was acting like nothing was wrong. I wanted to find my car and get the hell away from this place. And from him. But how could I, when the escape route was blocked?
He caught my nervous glance at the waves.
“No worries,” Aidan said. “Tide comes in on the regular. There’s another path to the parking lot, c’mon.”
He tried to grab my hand, but I dodged him. He gave me a funny look, then squinted up at the thick, black clouds.
“If you don’t want to get soaked, you’d better come along,” he said. “Sky’s about to open.”
He knew what he was talking about. As I watched him walk away, fat drops of icy rain began to fall, making plopping sounds in the sand. The chill came up through my shoes immediately. The damp penetrated my light jacket, and I started to shiver. Aidan sped up, throwing a last glance over his shoulder to see if I would follow. I didn’t want to. But I got worried that he’d take his secret shortcut to the parking lot and drive away with my car, leaving me stranded on this desolate beach in a storm. I walked after him, breaking into a jog as the rain fell harder. Water streamed into my eyes as he disappeared into a narrow break in the rocks. By the time I got there, he was gone. The steep, sandy trail twisted upward between rock walls. Behind me, the rain pounded, and the surf was wild. I stepped onto the path and began climbing. By the time I made it to the parking lot, my dripping hair plastered to my head and my lungs burning, Aidan was in the driver’s seat of my car, with the engine running and the wipers going. I sank into the passenger seat, grateful for the blasting heater.
I was praying we’d go to the restaurant now, and that would be that. But he drove me to his apartment instead. Aidan lived at the Sea Breeze Cottages. The name was a lie. There were no cottages, only a long, low apartment building with a crumbling parking lot, painted a dull tan that looked dirty in the rain. And for a sea breeze, you’d have to use your imagination, since we were miles from the beach. I remembered places like this from my Long Island girlhood. Once upon a time, my friends lived in them. I’d worked hard to avoid that fate, and I had no intention of looking back.
There were ten apartments, each with a small concrete stoop, a metal door, and a parking space in front. Aidan pulled into a parking space in the middle of the complex.
“Come inside, I’ll make us some coffee,” he said.
My phone buzzed in my jacket pocket, giving me an excuse to stall. I pulled it out to see a text from Hannah lighting up the screen, all in caps.
WTF MOM DAD TOLD ME YOU’RE SPLITTING??
I hadn’t spoken to my daughter in two days. I’d been putting off breaking the awful news about the divorce. It never occurred to me that Jason would tell her first. He hadn’t been returning my calls, so I assumed he wasn’t talking to Hannah either. But they always talked. I should realize that. They were closer to each other than either one of them was to me.
Aidan frowned. “Who’s it from?” he said, and I heard jealousy in his tone.
“My daughter.”
“You have a daughter? Why didn’t you tell me that before?”
“It didn’t come up.”
“That’s a pretty big thing to leave out. Don’t you think I’m entitled to know?”
Entitled? My jaw dropped. I was tempted to utter a few choice words, but doing that would only delay the moment where Aidan got out of my car, and out of my life.
“It’s hardly like we’ve told each other our life stories,” I said. “I need to call her back.”
“How old is she? Does she live with you? What’s her name?”
The prospect of discussing Hannah with Aidan made me nervous. It had been a mistake to mention her at all. Aidan had threatened Jason, in so many words. I didn’t know him well enough to know whether to take the threat seriously. But I didn’t trust him, and I certainly wasn’t about to give him details about my daughter. I wanted my car keys and then I wanted Aidan out of my life. But he wasn’t going easily. He stared at me with arms crossed, waiting for an answer.
“Aidan. I need to speak to my daughter, and I’d like some privacy. Please.”
The “please” seemed to help.
“All right,” he said, grudgingly.