When We Touch: A Small Town Enemies To Lovers Romance (The Heartbreak Brothers Book 5)

by Carrie Elks

  “Nothing.” Becca shifted her feet. How do you stop your eyes from sparkling? She needed to work that out, stat. Aunt Gina knew her too well. She needed to get away without her guessing Becca’s secret.

  As if she could sense Becca’s thoughts, Maddie stood, hitching one of the twins onto her hips. “You must be hungry after all that driving. Come inside and I’ll plate you up some food.”

  Becca’s other two sisters-in-law, Van and Courtney, stood too, muttering something about dessert. They followed Maddie, Becca, and Mia inside to the kitchen.

  “What’s going on?” Maddie asked as soon as the door was closed. “You two look so guilty.”

  Mia glanced at Becca. “Nothing.” She shifted her gaze away so none of them could catch her eye.

  “Were you really working last night?” Van asked, leaning on the counter.

  They were all staring at her expectantly. This was probably the most fun they’d had all day.

  “Sort of,” Becca admitted, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means, I went to a charity ball with Daniel Carter.” She’d lasted two minutes. She’d make a terrible spy.

  “Daniel Carter?” Van frowned. “As in your boss?

  “The asshole?” Maddie added. “Didn’t he make you cry the other week?”

  Mia coughed away a laugh.

  Becca looked down at her hands. “And I slept with him.” She needed her sisters-in-law on her side. If it meant telling them the truth, so be it.

  A collective gasp filled the room. Maddie was the first to recover. “Oh my god!” she whispered. “You did?”

  Courtney squealed loudly. “You slept with your boss?” She clapped her hands together with glee.

  “You’ve got to tell us all about it,” Van said, grabbing Becca’s hands. “Does that mean he’s not an asshole any more?”

  “He’s definitely still an asshole,” Becca told her. One she liked very much.

  “You had hate sex!” Maddie laughed. “That’s the best kind of sex. So dirty and animalistic. Whenever Gray and I argue we always end up in bed…”

  “Ugh, please.” Becca put her hands over her ears. “You guys need to stop talking about your love lives with my brothers.”

  And it wasn’t hate sex, anyway. It was so different from that. Intense, deep, his eyes staring into hers. There was a connection there that she could still feel pulling at her chest.

  “What are you guys squealing about?” Tanner asked, pushing open the glass door. “We can hear you out there.”

  “Nothing,” Becca said quickly, aware she looked as guilty as hell.

  “Oh come on. I haven’t heard so much squealing since Logan and Courtney bred their prize boar.”

  Van patted Becca on the shoulder, sending her a message with her eyes that Becca couldn’t quite understand.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “I’ll tell him. He’ll be fine.”

  “No!” Becca shook her head. “Please.”

  “I told them about the baby,” Van told Tanner, ignoring Becca’s desperate tug on her hand.

  “You’re pregnant?” Maddie’s mouth fell open, then realizing what she said, she quickly added, “I mean, you’re pregnant. Congratulations, Tanner. We’re all so excited for you.” Her face was so red she looked like she was going to burst.

  “I can’t believe it,” Mia said, hugging Van tightly. “Congratulations! Again.” Her lips twisted at their subterfuge. “And congratulations to you, daddy,” she told Tanner, who was frowning.

  “I thought we were going to announce it together, babe,” he said. “Once we reached the second trimester.”

  “We?” Maddie said, trying to hide a smile. “Why is it we’re pregnant until the vomiting starts and the nightly trips to the bathroom happens and your pelvic floor gets ruined?”

  “Your pelvic floor gets ruined?” Tanner blinked. “What does that mean?”

  “I got one word for you,” Mia said. “Kegels. Look them up. And bribe her to do them if you have to.”

  Tanner pulled his phone out and swiped his finger across the screen, frantically pressing against the keyboard. Realization slowly washed over his face, much to everybody’s amusement.

  “Thank you,” Becca mouthed at Van.

  “You owe me one,” Van mouthed back.

  “Everybody okay in here?” Gray asked, walking inside. “You guys sound like you’re going crazy.”

  Behind him, Logan and Cam were peering in. “Tanner, why do you look like you’ve just seen a naked photo of Aunt Gina?”

  “Did you know pregnancy can ruin a woman’s pelvic floor?” Tanner asked. “Why didn’t you guys warn me?” He glanced at Van. “Sweetheart, we need to go home. You have exercise to do.”

  Van smiled. “How do you know I haven’t been doing them?”

  Tanner blinked again.

  “What’s Van been doing?” Gray asked, looking from Tanner to Van.

  “You should tell him,” Van prompted.

  “Oh shit. Yeah.” Tanner nodded quickly. “So we have an announcement.”

  “Van’s pregnant,” Cam said.

  “Yeah, totally pregnant,” Logan agreed. “You can see it in her eyes.”

  “She’s blooming.” Gray winked at her.

  “You guys knew?” Tanner looked at his brothers, hurt in his eyes.

  “We kind of guessed. You keep asking us questions about when our kids were born,” Logan told him. “And last week you asked how long we waited until we announced.”

  “You are such a terrible secret keeper,” Van said, hugging Tanner. Her eyes were bright with amusement.

  “We both are, babe.” Tanner kissed her softly.

  “So, are we gonna drink to the new Hartson or what?” Gray asked, pulling a bottle of champagne out of the refrigerator. “Who’s going to go out and tell Aunt Gina and Dad? I don’t want to give them a heart attack before I give them the champagne.”

  “We’ll go,” Van said, grabbing Tanner’s hand. “At least we get to announce it properly to them.”

  “Yeah.” Tanner nodded. “Let’s do it.”

  Becca’s phone rang as her brother and Van walked outside. She pulled it from her purse and checked the caller.

  Daniel Carter.

  A little shiver of anticipation washed through her.

  “Is it him?” Mia asked quietly.

  Becca nodded.

  “Go take it. Pretend you need to use the bathroom or something.”

  Thank goodness for her sisters-in-law. They almost made up for her over protective brothers.

  “Just a minute. It’s work,” Becca called out, walking into Gray’s elegant hallway. She accepted the call and lifted the phone to her ear, letting out a breathy hello.

  “Did you make it back okay?” Daniel asked her. His voice sounded warm. Soft.

  “I got home about an hour ago. The traffic was light. How about you? Was your breakfast meeting all right?”

  “It was fine. Lawrence and Nina agreed to go ahead with the investment.”

  “That’s amazing.” Becca grinned. “You must be happy.”

  “I’ll be happy when I see you again. Are you at home?”

  A thousand fireworks exploded in her chest. He wanted to see her again? She’d take it, even if it was an abrupt change from what he said yesterday. “I’m at my brother’s house. Tanner’s just announced his wife’s pregnancy. There’s a lot of celebrating going on.”

  “How long will you be there?”

  “I don’t know. Are you bored already?” she teased.

  “Rona found one of your shoes beneath the bed. I thought you’d want it back.”

  Becca blinked. It must have been thrown under there when they got home last night. “How very Prince Charming of you.”

  Daniel laughed, deep and low. It sent a shiver up her spine. “I’d better get it back to you before you turn into a pumpkin.”

  “I can tell you don’t have nephews and niece
s. Cinderella didn’t turn into a pumpkin, her carriage did.”

  “What did Cinderella turn into?” He sounded amused.

  “Nothing. She’s still Cinderella. Just a little more casually dressed.”

  “That sounds like a terrible story.” He cleared his throat.

  “Did you know in the original one, her sisters chopped their toes off to fit in the shoe? That’s how desperate they were for Prince Charming. I can only assume he had a big…” She let out a low laugh.

  “Well, I won’t make you chop your toes off. But I would like to entertain you with my big…”

  “Stop it!” She laughed again. “But I do need that shoe back. It belongs to Mia.”

  “I can drop it off tonight. Maybe bring something for us to eat. I miss you.”

  Those three words made her chest feel tight. “I miss you, too,” she said softly. “But I was planning on making it an early night. This guy I met kept me awake until the early hours of the morning. If I don’t get some sleep, my boss is going to kill me at work tomorrow.”

  “He sounds like a bastard.”

  “He is. Demanding, overbearing, and so good in bed I won’t be able to walk for a week.”

  “That should make for an interesting few days at the distillery. Maybe you should put in a complaint.”

  “I have no complaints,” Becca said. “That’s the problem.”

  “Let me come over tonight. I promise not to be demanding. I’ll bring your shoe, you can make me a cup of coffee, then I’ll leave like a good boy.”

  “You’re nothing like a good boy.”

  He chuckled. “Then I’ll leave like a bad boy.”

  “Okay. I’ll be home around seven.”

  “I’ll be there at five past.”

  Becca grinned, because he wanted her as much as she wanted him. Last night hadn’t been a one off, no matter how much they’d tried to resist the lure of each other. Some things were just too intense to contain.

  “You’re very eager.”

  “For you, yes.”

  A thrill shot through her. “I’ll see you later.”

  “You will.” It felt like more than a promise. Her heart thrilled at his words. She was still smiling as she ended the call and put her phone back into her purse, turning around to walk back to the kitchen.

  And that’s when she saw Gray, standing a few feet away from her in the hallway, his eyes narrowed as he glared at her, frowning.

  Oh shit. She had some explaining to do.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  When Becca opened the door, her face was covered with a fine dusting of flour, a black apron tied around her waist with the slogan ‘no bitchin’ in my kitchen’ written in white lettering across the front.

  “Nice apron,” Daniel said, as she stepped aside to let him in.

  “Thanks.” She glanced over at the kitchen. “I’m just making some cupcakes.”

  “I thought you weren’t getting home until seven?” He glanced at his watch. It was five past, as he’d promised. If he’d known she was getting home earlier, he would have come to see her. He’d been practically twiddling his thumbs at home.

  “I did. I came straight to the kitchen.” Her voice sounded a little off. Sure enough, her shoes and jacket were abandoned next to her sofa, her purse laying haphazardly on the floor next to them. “I’m stress baking.”

  “What’s that?” His brows knitted as he followed her to the kitchen. She pointed at a stool in front of the breakfast bar.

  “Sit.”

  His lips twitched, but he did as directed, putting the shoe he’d brought with him on the stool beside him. “Are you okay?”

  “No, I’m not.” She lifted the bowl and a balloon whisk. “But if you don’t want me to take it out on you, just let me whip this batter for a while.”

  He watched as she attacked the contents of the bowl with the metal whip, her teeth gritted as the batter came together in a pale yellow mass. A small piece landed on the tip of her nose, but Daniel decided that right now wasn’t the time to tell her. She looked like a woman on the edge.

  By the time she started scooping the batter into the cake cases, her shoulders had relaxed a little. She opened the oven, sliding the tray inside, then turned to look at him.

  “You have a…” He gestured at her nose.

  She reached up and wiped it with her finger, scowling as some batter came away on her tip. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I just did.” He gave her a half smile. “And anyway, you looked cute.”

  “Well, I won’t be looking cute for long.” She turned the timer on the oven, then sighed visibly.

  “What have I done to annoy you this time?” She’d seemed so happy to hear from him earlier.

  “It’s not your fault.” She took her apron off and hung it on a hook. “Well not entirely.” She bit her lip and finally brought her gaze to his. “They know.”

  Bemusement washed over him. “Who knows? And what do they know? This is like a mystery game.”

  “Gray heard me talking to you on the phone. He knows I was with you last night. And so do the rest of my brothers.”

  “Okay.” He still couldn’t figure out why she was so jittery. “Is that a problem?”

  “Of course it is.” She grimaced. “I couldn’t tell them it was just a one night thing. They would’ve been around your place with blazing torches. I made something up about it, but of course they want to know everything about you.”

  “You made something up?” He tipped his head to the side, scrutinizing her. Though her shoulders were more relaxed than they had been, he could tell she was still tense as hell. He wondered how much baking it would take for her to smile again.

  She swallowed hard. “I told them it was just a first date. That I wasn’t sure if there’d be a second.”

  He ran a finger over his bottom lip. “Why would you say that?”

  “Because…” she hesitated, shaking her head. “Calling it a hook up is a surefire way to get your ass beaten by my brothers.”

  He lifted a brow. “I’m not afraid of your brothers. I’m more concerned that you think it was just a hook up.”

  “Wasn’t it? You said you couldn’t make any promises last night.”

  His eyelashes swept down. “Yeah, well I probably said a lot of shit last night. But I want to see you again.” His gaze flickered up to hers. Her lips were open, her brows dipped. “How do you feel about it?”

  Her hands trembled as she looked down at them. He immediately missed her gaze. “Becca, look at me.”

  Swallowing hard, she looked up again.

  “Taking you to the ball last night was the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” he said softly. “Having you on my arm made it all feel okay. And then later?” He shook his head, remembering the feel of her body against his. “It was the best night I’ve had for as long as I can remember. And I don’t want it to stop. I don’t want to go back to just being your boss, or your pet asshole, or whatever I was. I want to see you. To spend time with you. To be inside you again. So no, you’re not just a hook up. You’re more.”

  Her eyes looked glassy. “I am?”

  “Yeah.”

  She exhaled raggedly, the smallest of smiles pulling at her lips. “Oh!”

  “And you? How do you feel?” He needed to hear.

  “I feel… exhausted. Wrung out and emotional. My thigh muscles ache like I ran a marathon last night. And it was the best night I think I’ve ever had, because you were there, and I was so scared you wouldn’t want to see me again.”

  He shook his head. “You’re crazy, you know that? Why wouldn’t I want to see you?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Because you got what you wanted?”

  “You think all I wanted was sex?” He frowned. “Is that what you think of me?”

  “No.” She leaned forward on the counter, the breakfast bar separating them. “But the last time you were here you told me you were bad for me. That we shouldn’t be together. So
I’m wondering if last night was enough for you.”

  “I am bad for you,” he told her, his gaze not wavering from hers. “But I’m also selfish enough to want to see you again. So I guess it’s up to you. Do you want me, too?”

  “Of course I do.”

  He exhaled with relief. Not that he’d planned to give up even if she’d said no. He would’ve wooed her. Sent her flowers. Waited for whatever it took. Last night changed everything.

  Now she was his.

  “I want you, too.” His voice was low. Thick.

  “How much?”

  “Come around here and I’ll show you.”

  Her smile was genuine. And wide. “Enough to come meet my family next Saturday?”

  “What?” His own smile froze.

  “My brother Logan has invited us all to his farmhouse restaurant. They want to meet you.”

  “Okay.” He nodded.

  Her eyes softened. “That doesn’t scare you?”

  “Should it?”

  “Most guys hate meeting my family.”

  “How many guys have met them?” he asked, reaching out to trace his finger over the back of her palm. Just the feel of her skin relaxed him.

  “Only one. And he got scared off.”

  “Well, if my family didn’t scare you off, I don’t expect yours will scare me.” He’d do whatever it took to be with her. How strange was that? “Now, are you coming around here, or do I have to come over there and get you?”

  An eager expression washed over her. “Is it wrong that I like the chase?” she said, not moving.

  He stood, walking around the breakfast bar, his finger trailing across the surface of the counter. His face was unsmiling as he walked toward her. “Not wrong at all,” he said softly. “I like it, too.”

  She was still as he traced the line of her cheekbone, her nose, her jaw, then her lips, leaning in as he cupped the back of her head. “I like the capture even better,” he murmured, brushing his lips against hers.

  Becca melted against him, her mouth parting with a sigh as he deepened the kiss, her arms looping around his neck to pull him closer.

  “I thought you wanted an early night,” he murmured.

  “I do.” Her lips curled against his. Then she pulled back to look at the oven. “We have thirty minutes before the cupcakes are due to come out.”