Crashed by Shiloh Walker

Author:Shiloh Walker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: contemporary romance, friends to lovers, reunited lovers romance, second chance romance, beach romance, family saga romance
Publisher: Shiloh Walker
Published: 2023-11-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Travis went home first to shower.

After that, he shaved and dressed in a pair of jeans that were still a little too loose. A belt fixed that. He found one of the few decent shirts he’d packed. It was also too loose but the style and cut made it look intentional.

The soft, ivory linen draped easily over his shoulders and torso and he studied his reflection for longer than normal, wondering if he looked too dressed up. Fuck, he’d deliberated over his clothing choices for assignments less than this.

But Isabel ... she mattered.

Finally, he muttered, “Fuck it.” So what if he actually gave a damn how he looked for once? He’d stopped caring years ago. It was only natural that the urge to look halfway decent would return now, when he was going to spend an evening with her.

“Not a date,” he told himself.

How could it be? He was spending it with her and five foster kids.

Five. The number still boggled the brain.

After dragging his hands through his still-damp hair, he gave his reflection one last look, then headed out of the bathroom. After only the briefest hesitation, he detoured by the built-in wine cellar, a large space almost the size of the kitchen itself. Miles had given him the code and told him he could have anything he wanted, although so far, Travis hadn’t touched anything.

Now, though, he went to take a look.

If he’d had time, he’d drive into town, pick up flowers, and buy his own damn bottle of wine, but this would have to work.

“Still not a date,” he reminded himself as he came to a stop in front of the whites.

They were eating fried chicken, she’d told him. Debating his choices, he selected a Chablis he was familiar with. One of the numerous things he’d developed over the years was the knowledge of wines—playing up that pretty-boy kid from Malibu, as Isabel had jibed about. And what pretty boy player from Malibu didn’t know his wines?

He smirked as he left the large, walk-in storage space tucked off the kitchen. He caught sight of a hallway mirror and paused once more to check his image in the reflection there, but just as he went to step away, he paused.

Isabel’s voice came back to him.

Why did you do this yourself?

Must be hard lying to your twin, your family ... your mother.

He reached up and touched his jawline, traced his fingers down it, and recalled the expression in his mother’s eyes as he told her about his ‘accident’. There had been a throwaway comment about an American injured in a Swiss newspaper, something Miles had arranged, cover for the main surgery he’d undergone.

The differences weren’t extreme. He still resembled his brothers, even his twin, although they weren’t identical, especially since the most recent surgeries. Some changes could be attributed to the weight loss and hard physical regimen he maintained, but not all of it.

Those surgeries had been necessary, though.

The first had been during his mid-twenties, almost a year after Trey’s first wife had died.

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