Hurricane Hearts

by Nina Levine

  I nodded. “Okay. But, I’m gonna keep asking you about him because he sounds like someone you really like. And you deserve to have someone like that in your life.” In an effort to honour her wishes, I moved with the conversation change she’d initiated. “I need the pink top for my date with Patrick tomorrow night.”

  “Why on earth do you need my pink top when you have a million of your own? And you’re still seeing him? I thought he bored you on your last date.”

  Because I need a distraction from the one guy who doesn’t bore me.

  “Yes, I have a million pink tops, but I love this one. You should just give it to me. And yes, I’m still seeing him. I think I was just having an off day on our last date.”

  Liar.

  My phone sounded with a text.

  * * *

  Winter: Heads up. Your mother asked me to take a look at her back deck to see if I could fix the storm damage to it.

  Me: Okay.

  * * *

  I will kill her later.

  * * *

  Winter: Giving you advance warning that I’m doing that tonight.

  * * *

  Shit.

  * * *

  My head shot up and I eyed Mum. “I have to go home.”

  She frowned. “We haven’t eaten yet.”

  I grabbed my bag, scrambling to get out of there as fast as possible. “Yeah, sorry. Something’s come up.”

  She followed me down the hallway to the front door. “Darling, what’s going on? Is everything okay?”

  “Yes. Sorry, Mum, I’ll explain it when I see you next. I don’t have time to get into it just now.”

  Another text came through as I turned the door handle. Without checking it—I knew it would be Winter—I opened the door and came face-to-face with him.

  Fuck.

  That smug bloody smile of his sat proudly on his face. “Angel,” he said, the gravel in his voice hitting me everywhere.

  I looked at the text.

  * * *

  Winter: Another heads up, Angel. Those lips of yours will be on mine again by the end of the night.

  6

  WINTER

  Birdie’s mouth fell open just the way I liked it. Surprise and sexy were two of my favourite things she ever wore. And fuck, she wore the hell out of them.

  “Angel,” I said, being sure to emphasize the deep rumble in my voice that I knew would cause her brain to malfunction. She’d often told me I could convince her to do anything with that rumble.

  Her eyes flared with heat. Score one to me.

  The words on her lips died when her mother gushed, “Winter! You’re just in time for dinner. Are you hungry?”

  My smile turned into a grin as I watched Birdie struggle with this development. I was a bastard, but fuck, I’d take every win in my efforts to make her mine again.

  Stepping inside, I pinned my gaze to Birdie’s. “Yeah, I’m starving.” I dropped my mouth to her ear as Jennifer turned and walked away from us. “I’ve never been so fucking hungry.”

  Her hands came to my chest and pushed against me. A half-hearted push at best. “What are you doing, Winter?”

  Before she saw it coming, I gripped her waist and backed her against the wall. “You kissed me yesterday, Angel. I gave you the chance to say no, to let me know you didn’t want me, and you didn’t take it. So you need to be prepared for me coming for you.” I threaded my fingers through her hair while I took hold of her face with my other hand. “I can go slow if you need that, but I can’t walk away. Not again.”

  Her breathing sped up as she grasped my shirt. I would have hazarded a guess she didn’t even realise she’d done that, because she appeared lost in what I said.

  I traced a finger over her lips. “We’re going to have dinner together tonight. I’m going to check out your mum’s deck. And then I’m going to make sure you get home safe.” I dropped my voice deeper again. “And tomorrow night I’m taking you out for dinner. I’m not accepting no for an answer on any of that.”

  That got her attention. It drew the fight out of her that I loved. “No is a valid answer to all of that. And it’s one I’m choosing. Your bossiness doesn’t work on me anymore.”

  She finally pushed me away with enough force to actually move me. I watched that ass of hers sway with determined defiance as she stalked down the hallway.

  Hell, she got my dick hard without even trying. I’d take her challenging ways any day of the week. The last five years had been filled with women I barely managed to remember. Women I didn’t care to make mine because they had no spirit, no heart, no fucking substance. None of them came close to affecting me like Birdie did.

  I followed her into the kitchen where she collected a pink top and told her mother she was leaving. Jennifer argued for her to stay, but Birdie was having none of it. She was hell-bent on getting out of here as fast as possible.

  As she brushed past me on her way out, she hit me with a filthy glare and grasped a handful of my shirt. Dragging me with her, she called out to her mother, “I just need Winter for a moment, Mum.”

  I let her drag me. There was no need, though—I would have willingly followed her.

  When we reached the front door, she let me go and said, “Just so you know, that kiss yesterday was a momentary lapse in judgement. It won’t happen again. And as for you coming for me, you can stop that right now. There’s nothing here for you, Winter.”

  A smile danced across my face. She amused me with her fierce determination to keep me at bay. If she thought she truly had any chance of that, she was dreaming. “That’s where you’re wrong, Angel. Everything is here for me. And from where I’m standing, you are so fucking open to this.”

  “No. I’m not,” she said forcefully. “Stop making things out to be something they’re not.”

  I opened the door and pulled her outside with me, closing the door after us. Drawing her close, I reached for the bottom of her dress. As my fingers ghosted across the skin on her thigh, I demanded, “Am I imagining the fact that your heart just started beating faster? Or that your breathing sped up?” When she didn’t answer me, I pushed her harder. “I know I’m sure as fuck not imagining the fact you’re not saying no, Birdie. Do you want my fingers up higher? Do you want me to find that sweet spot I know so well? Or do you want me to stop and let you leave?”

  I slowly inched my hand up her leg, waiting for her to signal what she wanted. The way her neck arched as she dropped her head back gave me the answer I was looking for, but still, I waited for her words. I fucking wanted to hear her say she wanted me. I needed that.

  She didn’t give me her words. But she did place her hand on mine, trying to push it further up her leg.

  When I refused her wish, she met my gaze questioningly. But still she said nothing.

  “Birdie, tell me what you want.”

  I saw the hesitation in her eyes. The torment of making this choice that she clearly wanted. But I had no idea why she fought it so damn much. I had to get to the bottom of that before she’d give herself to me, because as much as I could entice her physically, I wanted a lot fucking more than her simply in my bed.

  Curling her hand around the back of my neck, she said, “I want you to fuck me, but that’s all I want. One night and then we’re done for good.”

  She was full of shit, and no way was I giving her that. I’d rather not know her touch again than to only have it once. Dropping my hands from her, I took a step back. “I’m not interested in a one-and-done fuck, Angel.” Jerking my chin towards her car, I said, “Go home.”

  Surprise filled her features again, but she acted fast in an attempt to cover it. Gripping the strap of her bag, she said, “Your choice, Winter.”

  As she cut across the yard to her car, I called out, “I’m a patient man, Birdie. You know that. We are far from done here.”

  Serving in the military taught me the kind of patience not many people understood or knew. It also taught me the kind of meticulous attention to detail that rewa
rded a person in their endeavour to succeed with a goal.

  I would figure her out.

  I would help her find her way back to me.

  I would succeed in putting us back together.

  Birdie had no idea what she was in for.

  7

  BIRDIE

  By the end of work on Friday, after a week of resisting Winter’s persuasive ways, my brain was a mess of confusion. I’d had to work hard to stay focused on my clients during the week. Bloody Winter was front and centre in all my thoughts, and no matter what I did to remove him, I failed.

  “Birdie, are you free tonight to go over our budget projections for the next quarter?” Cleo asked as she entered our office at the back of the studio. We’d gone into business together when I’d returned to Sydney a few months ago, and bought this studio. I ran the Pilates side of it while Cleo managed the physiotherapy side of it. The previous owner had run the business into the ground with bad management and a team that didn’t care much about their clients, so we were putting in the hard yards to bring it up to where we needed it to be. An extremely tight budget meant we had to be careful with every dollar, so Cleo liked to run projections regularly to ensure we stayed on track.

  I glanced up at her from the computer where I’d been typing out client notes for the past hour. Leaning back in my chair, I shook my head. “I have a date with Patrick. Can we do it tomorrow night?”

  She pulled up the chair next to me, her face lit with interest. “Yes, tomorrow night is good for me, but I need to know more about this date. For some reason, I thought you weren’t really into him.”

  My shoulders slumped as I thought about what she’d said. If this conversation was with anyone but Cleo, I’d continue the denial. Continue telling myself I was all about Patrick when really I wasn’t. “I honestly thought I was. Until Winter showed up. And now I realise how bored I am with Patrick.” I dropped my head back and stared up at the ceiling. “Gah, why does this have to be so hard?” I looked back at her. “Why can’t I just find a guy who isn’t Winter that I’m really into? That’s not too much to ask for, is it?”

  “I’m telling you, Winter is your guy. Take a chance and tell him what happened.”

  “I’m not going to do that. It will hurt him too much and I refuse to hurt him more than I already have.”

  She nodded slowly as understanding and sadness both filled her eyes. “I get it, Birdie. I do. But I feel like it’s such a waste. You guys loved each other like I’ve never seen any other couple love each other.” Squeezing my hand, she added, “Whatever you do, though, I’m always here for you.”

  “And I love you for that,” I said as the front door to the studio opened.

  Cleo pulled a face. “Shit, I forgot to lock it.”

  I stood. “I’ll go see who it is. You finish up whatever you need to. Mark will kick my butt if you’re late again tonight.”

  “No he won’t,” she called out as I walked away. “He loves you nearly as much as he loves me.”

  I heard what she said, but my brain barely registered her words because my eyes had landed on Winter who sauntered my way like he owned the place.

  His gaze dropped to my body and he took his time with my curves before meeting my eyes again. A smile that should be banned was fixed on his face. Coming to a stop in front of me, he said, “I never thought it possible for you to get sexier than you were five years ago, Angel, but you have.”

  My brain all but melted. And seriously, the same could be said about him, but I wasn’t going there. He didn’t need to know I’d spent time thinking about the muscles he’d packed on since we’d broken up or that I dreamed of the ink he’d covered those muscles with. Nope, I wasn’t ever going there with him because he’d never let me forget it.

  “I’m not sleeping with you,” I blurted as my brain worked furiously to gather some sense.

  He arched a brow, amused. “I always did love the way your mind jumped from A to K, but that’s not why I’m here.”

  “Why are you here?”

  “To take you to dinner.”

  “I told you no.” He’d been trying to get me to agree to dinner all damn week. Saying no was proving harder each time.

  He didn’t reply to that but rather spread his feet a little wider and planted his body like he was settling in. Like he had no intention of taking a refusal from me.

  I knew this strategy of his. The first to talk would lose. So I too settled in, ready to make it very clear I never intended to say yes.

  We stood silently watching each other, duelling for the win. After thirty seconds, I worried about my chances of winning. I sucked at silence. And he knew this about me.

  I lasted another thirty seconds before saying, “We’re not going for dinner.” With that, I turned and stalked back to the office to grab my bag.

  Cleo looked up as I barged in. “Are you okay?”

  I snatched my bag up and shook my head. “No. I need to get out of here fast.” As she looked at me puzzled, I added, “Winter’s here trying to force me into a date.”

  Her mouth formed a perfect O. Waving me away, she said, “Okay, go. And let me know about your date after.”

  I nodded and headed back out of the office, intent on breezing past Winter and leaving him far, far behind. He, however, had other ideas. I ran smack bang into his hard chest as I exited the office.

  “Jesus,” I muttered, hands to his stomach, my gaze meeting his. “I have to leave, Winter. I have a date to get ready for.” I hadn’t intended on throwing that last part in because I didn’t really want to use it as a weapon against his forcefulness, but it slipped out before I could stop it.

  His body stilled; I felt it while my hands were still on him. “With the dickhead you mentioned the other night?”

  I dropped my hands. “The dickhead?”

  “Yeah.” His voice was gruff, his shoulders tense—I’d managed to throw him off. Hopefully enough so I could leave before we got into more of a conversation than we already had.

  “Patrick isn’t a dickhead. But I don’t have time to stand here and debate that.” I checked my watch. Totally didn’t need to, though. I still had plenty of time to get ready. “I’m going to be late if I don’t leave now.”

  His eyes narrowed. “You’re not into this guy, Birdie.”

  Something about his tone or the way he said that pissed me off. “Oh really? And how do you know that?”

  “Everything about the way you are with me tells me that.”

  “God, you are so arrogant sometimes.”

  His eyes bored into mine, demanding something from me I didn’t have to give. The truth. “I just call shit like I see it.”

  “Yeah well, you see it wrong this time.”

  “No,” he said with complete conviction, “I don’t. But you go on that date, Angel. You try to convince yourself I’m wrong. I’ll still be here waiting for you when you realise I’m not.”

  I would. I’d make tonight’s date the most amazing date I’d ever been on. I’d bloody show Winter he was wrong. Surely I’d been wrong thinking Patrick was boring. I could totally make this work.

  “Don’t wait too long,” I said as I brushed past him. “I’d hate for you to die an old man all alone.”

  His chuckle was the last thing I heard as I left the studio. God, how I hated that chuckle. But damn if I didn’t love it too.

  I threw all my plans to prove Winter wrong out the window when I stood in front of my mirror assessing myself for the date. I’d put on a sexy little black dress and spent some time braiding the front of my hair before pulling it up into a high ponytail and teasing it to give it some height. Patrick had told me he liked it when I wore my hair like that, and I was going all out to get his full attention tonight.

  As I stood looking at myself, though, I realised I already had his attention. He’d made it more than clear how much he liked me. And there lay the problem—I wasn’t the kind of girl to lead a guy on.

  I couldn’t do that to him. />
  So I called the date off. And after consuming half a tub of Turkish Delight ice cream while feeling sorry for myself, I decided I needed to talk this over with Carey. My brother always had good advice. I didn’t always agree with it at the time, but I usually saw the logic and wisdom when I thought it over later.

  That was why I found myself standing on Carey’s doorstep four hours after I’d left Winter at the studio.

  He answered the door and let me in with “This is gonna be fun.” I didn’t understand what he meant until I hit the lounge room and found Winter sitting on his couch sucking back some beer while watching me with an “I told you” smile.

  Shit.

  Shit, shit, shit.

  Why did I come here?

  Why did I even think breathing would be a good idea today?

  “Jesus!” I threw my arms up in the air before throwing my bag on the couch and stomping into the kitchen. “I’m going to need some strong alcohol, Carey,” I called out as I went.

  “Bring the bottle of whisky back in here with you,” he called back. “I need more.”

  I eyed it on the counter the minute I entered the kitchen. I grabbed it along with a glass and stomped back out to the lounge room, ignoring Winter’s watchful gaze. Well, as best as I could, because I was having trouble not checking out the fitted black tee he wore. He hadn’t been wearing that this afternoon, which was both a shame and a relief. I’d never been able to resist him when he wore T-shirts that tight.

  Good God, Birdie, get your shit together, woman.

  I sat my ass down on the couch opposite Winter with an “Ugh, you drive me fucking crazy,” while looking him directly in the eye.

  His eyes twinkled with more of that goddam amusement he liked to send my way, and he threw some more beer down his throat before saying, “The feeling is mutual, Angel, but for the record, I may also be enjoying this a little too much.”