Damn, Eddie whispered under his breath as he pulled the heavy garage door shut. He seriously needed to get a grip on himself and his reactions in the Haley department. Since she’d returned from college four years ago, Eddie’s attraction, feelings, or whatever the hell it was that made him think about her constantly—against his will!—had become a serious issue.
He’d tried to deny it. Fight it. Ignore it. Nothing seemed to help. As in-control and self-disciplined as Eddie was, he seemed to have zero control and only a small thread of discipline when it came to Haley Sloan.
“Clean up your Barbies or no ten o’clock bedtime,” Eddie called out as he navigated his way around, what looked to be some kind of Barbie, G.I. Joe wedding that Em had set up on the stairway landing.
“Okay,” his daughter’s voice rang out from the kitchen.
At the top of the stairs, he found himself pausing and looking out the window that sat above the front door and had a direct line to another window—Haley’s bedroom window.
He could see her through the white wooden shades. She was looking at something. Studying it. Her head tilted to the side, and he couldn’t make it out clearly but he knew that she was biting her lip, the way she did whenever she was seriously considering something or concentrating. His body tensed in response to seeing her, the way it always did.
Forcing himself to move away, he pulled off his shirt as he stepped into his bedroom. He felt anxious. On edge. Irritated.
It seemed like he had perpetually been in that state since Haley had moved into the house across the street with Krista six months ago. Now, instead of seeing her around town, at Sloan family functions, and the one or two times a month she stayed with Em, he had the added torture of seeing her every day.
Add to that the fact that he now saw her doing things that up to this point, she’d only done as the star in his fantasies—but now—they were playing out in real time right before his eyes. For example, taking out the garbage in short shorts that left very little to the imagination, washing her car in tank tops she could easily have won any wet t-shirt contest in, or bending over to get her groceries out of the trunk in dresses and skirts.
Torture. It was pure torture.
Even when she wasn’t doing something that made his dick grow hard in .0002 seconds, he found himself watching for her, hoping to catch glimpses of her on her way to work, coming home from work, or—the worst—going out on dates with losers that Eddie wanted to pound into the ground.
It had been hard enough—literally!—when she’d started watching Emily for him and he’d see her in his home once or twice a month. Now, she stopped by a few times a week. She and Em colored, painted their nails, watched TV, and read books. Seeing her with his daughter did something to him. Made him feel things he shouldn’t feel and want things he couldn’t have.
Moving into the bathroom, Eddie reached in and turned the silver handle in the middle of the tiled wall. As the sound of water began rushing out of the showerhead, he stepped out of his jeans and into the stall. Shutting the glass door behind him, he stood under the hot spray and tried to clear his head of all things Haley.
But instead of that happening, flashes of her smile, her silky hair, her vibrant blue eyes flashed in rapid succession in his brain. He felt himself growing hard at the images.
Shit. He didn’t have time to take care of his growing problem. Plus, he didn’t need to. He was seeing Claire tonight. Hot, sexy, kinky Claire. She was more than capable of handling things in his growing area.
So why did Eddie still feel annoyed and irritated? Why wasn’t he more excited at the thought having hot, dirty sex? Why wasn’t Claire the one on his mind?
Hell, if he was honest with himself, he wasn’t even looking forward to seeing Claire tonight. And last month, he had felt lukewarm at best at seeing Erica. Then there was Trish a few weeks before that. He’d had to talk himself out of canceling.
Eddie used to look forward to his nights off. He had decided about six years ago that the only arrangement that made sense for his life was to have sex-only, no-strings attached affairs in other towns. These affairs were only with women who knew that was all it was now, and that was all it was ever going to be. Over the years, the women had changed but the arrangement, the agreement, had stayed exactly the same. It worked for him. He got what he needed physically and Emily’s life was not affected by it.
Nowadays though, he felt like he was just going through the motions. Sure, he was attracted to the women he saw, and some of them were actually enjoyable company. But he couldn’t remember the last time he’d looked forward to one of these nights.
Well, that’s not entirely true—the past six months he had. Because since Haley had moved across the street, she’d begun staying after he got home and they’d have a beer on the back deck or sit in front of the fireplace. A couple of times, they’d even watched a movie.
That was the part of the night he looked forward to now. That he played over and over again in his head. The few hours when Em was in bed and he and Haley would just hang out. Talk. Laugh. Just be…alone.
Getting out of the shower, Eddie grabbed the towel that was hanging on the hook and quickly dried off. He didn’t want to put too much thought into what that meant; why a few totally platonic hours alone with Haley felt more intimate, more real, more fulfilling, than spending hours in bed naked with someone else.
Nope, Eddie thought as he shook out his wet hair. Not going there.
He’d been wild in his teens and early twenties and he’d paid for it. Now that he was an adult and a single dad, he lived by an unbending set of rules. That was how he kept order and structure in his life.
There were other reasons too. Where women were concerned, rule numero uno was if you hadn’t attended high school within the same years he had…you were too young. Haley had been a sixth grader when he was a senior in high school. She might have been an adult now, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t still too young.
Also, she was the closest thing that his best friend Riley had to a little sister. She was his little cousin. Sure, Riley had impregnated and married Eddie’s baby sister, Chelle, but that didn’t mean that Eddie would do the same.
Rule number two was you don’t mess with your friend’s sisters, cousins, or exes. That was just guy code 101.
Emily pounded on the bathroom door. “Daddy! I’m hungry!”
“Be right out.” Eddie quickly got dressed, put on deodorant, and splashed on a little cologne.
Opening the door, he found a small female with her arms folded, wearing an expression that said she was not too happy.
“What?” he asked defensively as he crossed in front of her to grab his socks out of the top drawer.
He could feel Emily’s eyes boring into the back of his head as he sat down to put on his socks.
“Are you going on a date?” she asked.
“I’m seeing a friend.”
“A girlfriend?”
“A friend.” He turned and looked down at his four foot six interrogator. Her big brown eyes were searching his as he stared down at her.
She wasn’t going to break him. Nope. She was seven. He was thirty-four. He didn’t owe her any explanations for his life.
Still, he had to admit that her assessing stare was making him feel a little bit uneasy.
Then, speaking in a very adult, slightly accusatory tone, Emily over-punctuated each word as she said, “Mandy Pollack’s mom says that you don’t have a girlfriend because you don’t know a good thing when it’s standing right in front of you.”
Mandy Pollack’s mom had only said that because she’d shown up at his door butt-ass naked when Emily and Mandy had been at a sleepover at Sierra Swanson’s house. It hadn’t played out as he was assuming she’d hoped it would. He’d shut the door on her.
“Well Mandy Pollack’s mom doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” Eddie said as he slipped on his shoes and headed downstairs.
Emily continued telling him about no
t only what Mandy Pollack’s mom thought, but also what all of her other friends’ moms who had opinions about his love life thought. As he made dinner, he tuned his daughter out. Those women had no idea what they were talking about.
Eddie had loved one woman in his life—Lacey, Emily’s mom. And look how that’d turned out. She’d taken off on not just him, but Em too.
There was no way he was entering into that ring again. The first time had almost been a TKO. And this time it wouldn’t just be him going down. It would also be Emily.
He was fine by himself. Em was the only girl he needed in his life.
“So can I?” Emily’s voice was high, the way it got when she was really excited about something.
“Can you what?” Eddie asked as he scooped some mac and cheese into Em’s favorite pink bowl for her.
She sighed dramatically, obviously upset that he hadn’t been paying attention. “Can I get a bra?”
Eddie felt the bowl of cheesy noodles slip from his hands and heard as it crashed to the floor. “What?” he asked as he grabbed a roll of paper towels off the counter and stooped to clean it up.
Emily kneeled down and helped him wipe up the mess. “Stacy and Arianna both have bras. I need one too.”
Eddie knew that these questions would be coming. He just hadn’t thought they’d be coming when his daughter was in second grade.
“No,” he answered as he rinsed out the bowl that had fallen and got another one out of the cabinet.
“Why not?” Emily whined.
“You don’t need one,” Eddie stated firmly, turning back towards her.
“Bu—”
His daughter stopped mid “but” when she saw the look in his eye. Then, shoulders slumped, she turned and walked to the table like someone had just run over her dog.
Eddie knew that this little episode was nothing compared to what he would face when Emily became a teenager, hell, probably even what he would face when she was a pre-teen.
He was in serious trouble.
Chapter Two
Haley had a little pep in her step as she made her way across the street. She could see Eddie and Emily through the large bay window sitting in the kitchen and eating; it made her heart flutter. Not only was Eddie sexy as sin, funny, smart, capable, and gorgeous, he was also an amazing father.
How in the world could any woman leave him? Willingly?
Not only had Lacey left, she hadn’t looked back. Haley hadn’t known Emily’s mom that well. She’d been away at college when Lacey had left both him and newborn baby Emily. From what she remembered and the things she’d heard, Lacey had always tended to be on the wild side of things.
Haley remembered walking home from school in fifth grade and seeing Lacey, who had been in high school at the time, hanging out of a truck, flashing her ta-tas for the world to see, screaming, “Spring Break! Woooo!” The kids Haley had been with all thought it was cool and funny. Not Haley. Even at the young age of ten, she could remember thinking, That girl’s got problems.
After knocking twice on the front door, Haley let herself in. “Hello, my favorite people!” she announced brightly as she stepped into the house.
“Haley!” Emily shrieked, jumping out of her chair and running at full speed as if she hadn’t seen her in years, when actually they’d done a jigsaw puzzle over at Haley’s house just that morning.
“Hi, pretty girl,” Haley smiled as Em flung herself into her arms.
“I get to stay up until ten o’clock,” Emily announced excitedly as she ran back to her seat at the kitchen table.
“Wow, that’s great.” Haley tried to keep her voice even and appear calm as she followed the excited girl into the kitchen.
It was more than a little tricky though, considering the fact that Eddie was sitting at the table directly in front of her wearing a black V-neck t-shirt that showed just a hint of the phoenix tattoo he had on his chest. Haley’s fingers itched to run along the outline of it.
Knowing she couldn’t stand there and drool, she forced her eyes up and—hello!—saw his eyes roaming up and down her body. She shivered from the sheer force of his gaze.
“Hey,” she said weakly as she lifted her hand in greeting.
“Hi.” His deep voice washed over her, and even though they were smack dab in the middle of a heat wave, a second chill raced through her.
“We’re having cheesy noodles and dogs. Do you want some?” Emily asked.
“Sure.” She wasn’t at all hungry. Well, for food anyway. But if she stood under Eddie’s heated stare any longer she was worried that she might start visibly shaking.
As she walked past Eddie, on the way to the stove to fill herself a plate, the combination of his cologne and soap drifted up in the air. Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath through her nose and his intoxicating scent washed over her. It was so good, she wanted to bathe in that smell.
Damn, Haley thought as she forced her feet to keep moving, I’ve got it bad.
Emily sat on her knees at the table talking a mile a minute, contemplating all the things that they could do with her extra hour before bedtime. Haley was “hmming” and “oohing” in response to the excited musings, but she had to admit that she was really only half listening. Her body was hmming and oohing for its own reasons—Eddie’s presence!—so loudly that she couldn’t really concentrate on what Em was saying.
After grabbing a plate from the cupboard, she turned to find Eddie standing right in front of her.
Her breath caught in her throat and she clutched her plate to her chest. With a knowing glint in his eye and a small smile lifting at his lips, he leaned past her and set the dinner bowl on the counter next to the sink behind her. His movement caused his forearm to brush lightly against her hip, causing a tremor so strong, she was sure he must have felt it spread through her from the brief contact.
“Hey, Em?” Eddie’s deep voice vibrated through her entire body as she stared up into his gorgeous dark brown eyes. “Did you clean up your Barbies?”
“Oops,” she heard Emily say under her breath as she jumped up from her chair. Empty bowl in hand, totally unaware of the sexual tension so thick it could be cut with a butter knife, Em ran in between them, causing Haley to take a step backward, her lower back hitting the counter. She was only vaguely aware of the loud crashing sound of the plastic bowl hitting the sink as a flash of honey-blond hair flew out of the kitchen.
Haley stood in front of Eddie, staring straight ahead, eye level to his muscular chest, her fingers tightly clutching the ceramic plate she was holding. As he took a step towards her, closing the distance between them, he reached up, brushing a stray hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear.
“You look nice,” he said before his hand once again fell at his side. On its path down, his fingers lightly touched the strap of her dress tied around her neck. “Is this new?”
Haley’s lips were numb and a large knot had formed in her throat. “Yes,” she spoke softly as her eyes lifted to meet his.
“Do you have a hot date tonight?” Eddie asked in a low tone.
Only you.
* * *
“If you consider babysitting a hot date, then yes.” Haley’s shaky voice made Eddie’s blood even hotter than it already was. He was about a second away from reaching out, threading his fingers in her silky blond hair, and kissing her until neither of them remembered their names.
Eddie fisted his hands at his sides. He needed to step away. Get out of touching distance before he did something he couldn’t take back. Hell, he needed to leave the house entirely.
He knew that logically. Unfortunately, his body and his brain did not seem to be communicating with each other right now. That might be partly due to the fact that, since Haley had walked into his house in a blue cotton summer dress that showcased her slim waist, long legs, and ample cleavage, causing his mouth to water and sweat to form on his brow, all of the blood his brain needed to function had rushed to the head that was located below his belt inst
ead of the one that sat on his shoulders.
Arousal coursed through Eddie’s veins as he stared down at Haley. Her crystal blues shined up at him, the black of her pupils dilated. A flush rose on her cheeks as her full lips parted and her breaths came in shallow pants.
Eddie had known for a while that Haley had a crush on him. Even before she left for college, he’d suspected as much. He knew that all it would take was one move from him and he could have her in the one place he wanted her most—his bed.
Everything in his body was screaming for him to do just that. A plan quickly formulated in his brain. He could take Emily to his sister’s, ask her to keep her overnight, come back here, strip Haley out of that dress, take her to bed, and keep her there until neither of them could move.
No! He had to stop that kind of thinking.
Taking a step back, he reached up and ran his fingers through his hair. His phone buzzed, alerting him that it was time for him to go. He knew he should. Claire was waiting for him.
Instead of grabbing his keys and heading out the door, Eddie heard himself say, “Sit. I’ll make you a plate.”
A flash of confusion crossed Haley’s beautiful face. Her brow knitted as she nodded, handing him her plate. His eyes ran down the graceful slope of her arm. The pads of his fingers grazed the soft skin on the back of her hand, causing his jeans to tighten even more as he took the ceramic dish from her.
He couldn’t take his eyes away from her as she slowly walked to the kitchen table, pulled out the chair, and then gracefully slid into it.
Damn. He could still feel the heat on his skin from where their hands had made contact. The tingling sensation of where he’d touched the silky skin of her hand rocketed his arousal into the stratosphere. It made him imagine what the supple skin of her inner thigh would feel like, if she would shiver beneath his caress as he ran his hands slowly up from her knees, spreading her legs as he…
“Daddy, can I watch Transformers with Haley?” Emily called out from the stairs.
“Yeah, but you have to take your bath first,” he answered.
Tempting Love - Haley & Eddie Page 2