Be Mine: Valentine Novellas to Warm The Heart

by Nicole Flockton

  When Zoë got engaged, it was the final straw for Trina and she’d done something she wasn’t proud of. She wanted to blame the tequila she’d drunk beforehand, but there really was no excuse for putting a deposit on a house with Tony’s money without him knowing anything about it. She’d pulled out of the sale and returned Tony’s money to his account the very next day, but the damage had been done. Trust was broken on both sides. She’d had access to his accounts and his money because he trusted her, and she’d trusted him to tell her the truth. Once that trust was lost, it was downward slope until their relationship deteriorated into nothing.

  Trina left town as soon as practicably possible after, without looking back. She’d been hurt by Tony and by everything she’d lost with the disillusionment of their relationship. But Trina hadn’t stopped to think about what Sutton lost. And maybe she shouldn’t have to, maybe she shouldn’t have to care how her boyfriend’s sister felt, except Sutton was more than that and Trina made a promise to never let her and Tony’s relationship interfere with her friendship with Sutton. Trina broke that promise.

  Sutton stopped yelling. The words drying up as she looked at Trina, hurt in her eyes, her chest heaving in sobs.

  “I’m sorry Sutton,” Trina said. “I’m really, really sorry for leaving the way I did. I’m sorry for breaking my promise to you. I know you probably can’t ever forgive me, but I want you to know that I truly am sorry.”

  Sutton stared at her for a moment and then spun on her heel and stomped away. Trina watched her go, not knowing whether to go after her or not.

  “I’ll go,” Tony said, resigned.

  “No, I’ll go,” Daniel said. Trina hadn’t even realised Daniel was there until he spoke. “I think you need to stay here and deal with…this.”

  Daniel ran off after Sutton and Trina turned to Tony. “I had no idea she was so angry,” Trina said.

  Tony gathered her in his arms and she let herself be comforted by him. God, it felt good to be in his arms again. She pressed her face against his chest and breathed him in, using his scent to calm her down.

  He brushed a hand over her head and down the length of her hair, his fingers curling into the ends and tugging just a little bit exactly the way she loved. She tilted her head up to him. His lips were so close, all she’d have to do was press up on her toes and she could kiss him.

  “She’ll calm down eventually,” he murmured, his breath warm on her lips.

  Trina sighed and pushed out of Tony’s arms, although she was loathe to break contact with him.

  “I should go,” she said, not looking at him.

  “I want to see you again,” Tony said, reaching for her hand. “I think we have some unfinished business, Trina.”

  She dared to glance up into his eyes and nodded. “Yeah, I think we do too.”

  “Come to the B&S ball with me.”

  “What?”

  “The B&S ball. It’s this weekend. Be my date.”

  “I don’t think you’re supposed to bring a date to the B&S ball,” she said, biting her lip.

  He shrugged. “So? Meet me there. We’ll talk, we’ll drink, we’ll dance…”

  He was giving her the look she could never say no to…not that she wanted to say no. Trina rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll meet you there.”

  He grinned and Trina’s heart swooped like she was on a rollercoaster. She squeezed his hand and then pulled away, walking toward her car. She may have swung her hips a little more than necessary, but she was pretty sure Tony didn’t mind.

  5

  Speechless - Dan + Shay

  Trina took a breath and smoothed her hands down her red dress. This one was from Milan and hugged her curves like a clingy lover. This year’s B&S theme was Valentine’s Day, since it was so close to the actual Valentine’s Day, and Trina thought the dress fit the theme. It was slinky and glittery and she knew she looked hot, but she was still nervous. She hadn’t been to a B&S ball for years, not since her first one with Tony, and now here she was again, meeting Tony at a B&S ball.

  It wasn’t history repeating itself. It couldn’t be, as much as Trina wished she could go back and change the way things turned out the first time. No one got a do-over. Nobody got a second chance to do something right.

  “Are you coming?” Avery asked, nudging Trina’s shoulder.

  Trina smiled at her. “Yep, just checking out the view.”

  Avery laughed and looped her arm through Trina’s. The view was pretty good, although that may be because Trina only had eyes for one man and he looked damned fine in the tuxedo he was wearing.

  “Phew,” Avery said waving her tiny clutch purse in front of her face. “Is it getting hot in here?”

  “Stop it,” Trina replied, nudging her back. “We’re just friends.”

  Avery rolled her eyes. “Keep telling yourself that,” she said, pushing Trina toward Tony. “I wish I had friends who looked at me like that.”

  Avery adjusted the pale pink strapless dress she wore and flicked her dark curly hair over her shoulder. Her brown skin shimmered under the fairy lights as she disappeared into the crowd. Trina took another breath and watched as Tony strode toward her. The corner of his mouth was ticked up in a smile and his eyes coasted over her appreciatively.

  “I like your dress,” he murmured, his breath hot in her ear as he leaned forward to peck her cheek in greeting.

  “You don’t look too bad yourself,” she said, tipping her eyes up to his.

  “Can I get you a drink?”

  “God, yes,” she replied, relieved that he was going to make this easy for them both. A little liquid courage would go a long way to helping them find their equilibrium.

  He took her hand in his and led her through the crowd toward the makeshift bar. The B&S ball was held in the community hall, and the local pubs—both of them—set up a bar on either end of the large space. A percentage of the proceeds from the sales of tickets and booze would go to the local rural firefighters. A worthy cause in light of the tremendous service they did for the area.

  “What are you drinking?” Tony asked, turning to look at her over his shoulder.

  “A beer will be fine.”

  He quirked an eyebrow and she shrugged. She hadn’t really been a beer drinker in the past, but her tastes had changed and matured.

  Tony got them both a beer and then led her through the crowd to a quiet spot, although quiet was a relative term. They still had to yell over the noise of the band and the crowd to be heard.

  “Tell me about Europe,” he said, tipping his beer up, genuine interest in his eyes.

  “It was amazing,” she replied, taking a sip of her beer. “Nothing like I expected and so beautiful.”

  “It looked amazing,” he said and then he blushed.

  “You follow me on Instagram?”

  He shrugged and it shouldn’t make her feel so good that he was interested in her life, but it did.

  “It’s hard to take a bad photo over there. The architecture is incredible. The artwork and the food, oh my God, the food. I was in heaven.”

  He smiled and her stomach flipped. A week ago, if someone had told her she’d be sitting and having a beer with Tony and talking about her experiences in Europe like they were best buds, she would have laughed in their face. But now, actually doing it, it felt…right. Good. Perfect.

  They chatted more and she asked him about working in the mines and what he was going to do now that his contract was up. She was happy to know he was staying in town, not that it meant anything, it was just good to know they wouldn’t be on opposite sides of the country, or the world, anymore.

  Tony took her empty beer bottle and pulled her to her feet. “Dance with me.”

  The beer had done its job and relaxed her, so she nodded and followed him onto the packed dance floor. He pulled her into his arms even though it wasn’t a slow song playing, and she went willingly. He held her close, their bodies touching and moving together with the music, and it felt like it had the fi
rst time they’d danced together.

  Tony couldn’t hold her close enough. He wanted to feel every single inch of her body pressed up against his. He didn’t care if both Sutton and Daniel thought it was a bad idea, he wanted Trina more than he’d wanted anything in his life. Even when they’d been together, he didn’t think he’d wanted her as much.

  It was more than physical, although the physical was well and truly fucking amazing. He’d known she’d changed the minute he saw her in the airport, he just hadn’t realised how attractive the change in her was.

  He’d loved Trina for years, but seeing her grow into herself, seeing her walk confidently with her head up and not judging herself by what others thought of her was a hell of a turn on. He’d always known it was inside her, even when they’d been apart. He was just grateful he got to see the evidence of it.

  His hands coasted over the silky fabric of her dress and his cock hardened behind his fly. Who was he kidding? He’d gone hard as a rock as soon as he saw her step out of her car in that dress. Having all that lush body against his just made rock turn to steel and he didn’t even care if she felt it. And by the way she was rubbing against him, she could hardly miss it.

  Tony knew the smart thing to do would be to take a step back and think about what they were doing, but that sensible part of him was being shouted down by the more persistent part of him that ruled his dick. His dick knew just how good it would feel to be reacquainted with all the intimate parts of Trina, and his dick wasn’t shy in making his wishes known.

  She blinked up at him, her blue eyes turning dark and stormy, and she pulled her plump bottom lip between her teeth. He growled, low in his throat and lowered his head, tugging the lip into his own mouth and as he kissed her.

  Fuck. He was lost. He was so fucking lost in her that he didn’t care what happened next, as long as he could keep kissing her. He tasted the beer on her tongue and the familiar strawberry of her lip gloss. It should be disgusting, beer and strawberry lip gloss, but on her it was perfect. An aphrodisiac he couldn’t get enough of.

  Her hands coasted up over his shoulders and her fingers twined into his too-long hair. His hands toured down her back, thumbs skimming the sides of her breasts and her ribs before settling on her waist. He loved the feel of her under his hands, the taste of her on his tongue. She was made for him, and he’d just forgotten that for a little while. He’d let life get in the way and lost sight of how perfect she was for him and with him and he for her. Before it all went to shit, the two of them were happy. He never once doubted he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He’d never had one single niggle of apprehension, which made his lack of trust in her all the more tragic. If not for that one single wrong decision, the last nine months wouldn’t have happened. They wouldn’t have hurt each other. They wouldn’t be fighting to find a way back to each other.

  “Fuck,” she groaned, breaking the kiss and gasping for breath. “How is it possible that you can still turn me to mush with just a kiss?”

  “Because we’re not done, Trina,” he murmured, nibbling her neck. “We’re nowhere near done yet.”

  He nipped the soft skin of her neck and then laved it with his tongue. God her skin tasted good. He was like a starving man getting his first sniff of a meal and his hunger rose up inside him uncontrollably.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he said, rubbing his nose alongside hers before taking her lips in another deep kiss. “Let me take you home.”

  She moaned and tilted her head to the side, offering her neck to him. He didn’t need an engraved invitation. He lowered his head and nibbled her neck while his hands slid up her waist, over her ribs and stopped under her arms, his thumbs tracing circles on the sensitive skin on the side of her breasts. He could feel the hard points of her nipples as they rubbed against his chest and he was dying to pull one into his mouth. He was barely keeping things legal as it was, but he held onto his restraint, wanting the moment when they finally reconnected to be a hell of a lot more private than the middle of the dance floor. Not that anyone was watching them. The randy crowd was too busy trying to score their own hook-ups.

  “Take me to that barn where we went the first time,” she whispered against his ear. “Do you remember?”

  “How could I forget?” he replied, kissing her once more before tugging her through the crowd toward the doors and his truck.

  Tony didn’t even bother to look for Sutton or Daniel to let them know he was leaving. Daniel told him he had a hook-up planned anyway and Sutton…well Sutton kept telling him she was old enough to look after herself, so he would do let her do that. He only had eyes for Trina and the only thing his brain could compute was the fact that he was going to get to see her naked at least one more time. Then the only thing he had to do was make sure it wasn’t the last time.

  6

  Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

  The voices in her head were telling Trina this was a bad idea, but she shut them up and refused to listen to them. Trina didn’t care if this was going to be an epic disaster because she would literally do just about anything to have one more night with Tony. The consequences would come, but she would deal with them tomorrow.

  Tony kept hold of her hand as they drove away from the B&S ball, only letting go to change gears. A heavy sense of déjà vu settled in the cab of the truck. It was the same truck as the one five years ago and they were driving away from the B&S ball, just as they had five years ago, albeit under different circumstances. All those years ago Tony was rescuing her from a bad situation and what happened later was the result of the slow-burn of attraction and childhood crushes. Tonight, they both knew what they were doing and they were running headlong into it and throwing caution to the wind.

  “Do we need to stop for supplies?” Tony asked, giving her a grin as they drove past the bottle-o.

  He remembered. Of course, he remembered. The last time they did this, they’d stopped at the bottle-o for booze and Chicken Twisties.

  “No, I’m good,” Trina replied, squeezing his hand.

  They drove in silence, the headlights cutting through the darkness as the truck ate up the road. Trina felt the anticipation growing and she squeezed her thighs together. Had she ever wanted anything as much as she wanted Tony right this minute? She didn’t think she had ever wanted this much for anything other than Tony. Even right back when she’d just discovered boys and Tony was her first crush, no other boy came close to her best friend’s brother. The want for him had only grown over time and when they finally hooked up and became a couple, it never waned. Even when she was on the other side of the world, she still wanted him. And tonight, all those months of want had built, one upon the other, to set her on fire with desperate need.

  Finally, the truck slowed and pulled off the road and onto the gravel lane leading to the old barn. The barn—an old shearing shed—was on Daniel’s family farm, but it wasn’t used anymore. She hoped the loft was still usable and hadn’t fallen down in the years since their first time here.

  “Have you been here lately?” she asked, voicing her concern.

  “Yeah, a couple of times,” he replied softly. “I still come here to think sometimes.”

  Trina turned to look at him, his profile lit by the lights from the dashboard. She hated that she was responsible for the hard lines of his jaw and the frown lines in his forehead. They really had ended things badly. In her immaturity, she’d run instead of facing it.

  Going forward with what they intended to do tonight was probably the worst thing they should do. They should be talking things through, not fucking it out, but God she wanted to be with him with absolutely nothing between them, skin on skin, joined intimately.

  Tony parked the truck and got out, but Trina stayed where she was, second thoughts plaguing her. She’d spent the last few months trying to be a better person, growing up and learning how to be an adult. Sleeping with Tony was not in line with all her resolutions, no matter how much she wanted to get naked with him.
>
  Her door opened and Tony stood there, a blanket under his arm, watching her, his eyes kind and his expression soft.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey,” she replied.

  He took her hand then and she turned in her seat to look at him. He leaned forward and slanted his lips across hers. She melted into his gentle kiss and her worries floated away on the evening breeze. Her fingers curled into the front of his shirt and she pulled him closer, opening her legs so her could slide between them. They both groaned as they made contact and Tony deepened the kiss as he rocked his hard length against her. Lust fired inside her, hot and eager. Any last remaining doubts she had about being with him tonight were burned up in the inferno.

  Tony reluctantly broke the kiss and searched her eyes. “Do you still want to do this?” he asked.

  She sucked in a breath and then nodded, leaning forward to brush a kiss on his lips. “Yeah. I do.”

  Tony helped her out of the truck and she went willingly. She wanted this. She needed this.

  They picked their way through the long grass and Tony shoved the big barn door open. Trina followed him inside and slipped off her shoes so she could climb the narrow stairs to the loft. Tony followed her up and she could feel the heat of his body through the thin fabric of her dress.

  They reached the loft and Tony opened the door at the end of the building, letting the light of the moon shine in. He spread the blanket out on the dusty floor and held his hand out to her. She took it, stepping closer to him and tilting her head up for a kiss.

  He kissed her slowly, taking his time to explore her mouth, his tongue sliding along hers in a sensual dance she felt all the way down to her toes. She pressed against him, needed the full-body contact, needed to feel his hardness.

  He trailed kisses down her neck and across her shoulder, nudging the thin strap off and exposing the satin and lace cup of her strapless bra. It was red, to match her dress, and she had the knickers on to match, which she was really hoping he’d discover in the not too distant future.