As he moved into the doorway that led into the kitchen, he saw Haley standing at the sink, her back to him, suds up to her elbows, barefoot, and singing softly but with enthusiasm. His pants grew tight as he watched her hips swaying back and forth to the rhythm of the music that was playing through the headphones she wore.
Damn, she looked like a pinup girl from the ’50s. His blood was not just heated; it was also quickly headed down south. Arousal, like he’d never felt before, crashed through him.
He needed to get her out of here. Now. While he could still think fairly straight and exercise some self-control.
“Hales.” He had heard the need in his voice as he spoke her name.
She, on the other hand, hadn’t. It seemed she hadn’t heard him at all. Singing into a large spoon, she whipped her head back and forth as she sang along with Prince…
I want to be your fantasy, maybe you could be mine.
You just leave it all up to me. We could have a good time.
You don’t have to be rich to be my girl.
Don’t have to be cool to rule my world.
Ain’t no particular sign I’m more compatible with
I just want your extra time and your…
Kiss
And with the word kiss, she rolled her body more seductively than any stripper he’d ever seen and Eddie thought he might explode in his pants. He was having trouble breathing. His thoughts were clouded with lust.
She had to go. Now.
Stepping forward, he hesitated. He was only a foot behind her, but he didn’t trust himself to touch her. He didn’t want to raise his voice to alert her to his presence because he might wake up Em and he didn’t want to scare Haley.
Before he had a chance to figure out a plan, Haley glanced up and caught his reflection in the window that sat above the sink. He saw the split second of panic in her eyes. Okay, so much for not scaring her.
“Haley, it’s me,” he said as she jumped about a foot off the ground and spun around, sucking in a terrified breath.
On instinct, his arms wrapped around her and he pulled her close to him. For a moment she was tense and poised to fight, but then her eyes softened with recognition as her body molded against his. She was clutching her hands to her chest, but he could still feel her full breasts pressed against his chest as he held her.
His hands spread out on the small of her back and his fingers rested against the delicate dip of her spine. For just a moment, Eddie closed his eyes and let himself feel.
Never before had they been this close. Body to body. Pressed up against each other. He’d made it a point never to touch her. Whenever she would hug him, he’d made sure that full-body contact had not occurred and he’d always done the one-arm pat move.
Now he knew for a fact that had been the right thing to do because the feel of her in his arms was…amazing. Right. Perfect.
“You scared me.” Her quiet voice drifted into his consciousness.
“I’m sorry,” he rasped as he opened his heavy-lidded eyes. Looking down, he was temporarily speechless at what he saw. Her huge baby blues were staring up at him through long, inky lashes. Her full, pink lips parted as she took in short pants of breath. The seductive line of her cleavage was heaving against him through labored breathing.
Need. Arousal. Desire. All of those things coursed through his veins like raging water in the rapids. His fingers tightened at the strength of it, pulling her body even closer to his. A groan ripped from his chest as a needy sigh escaped Haley’s perfect mouth.
Dammit. This had to stop.
Forcing himself to release his hold on her, he took several steps back until he clumsily hit the kitchen table. He was off balance. Off kilter. Off his game. Looking down at the Spanish-tiled floor, he raked his hands through his hair as he took in a deep breath to try and regain his footing.
When he didn’t feel like he might pass out or fall over, he looked up to find Haley’s eyes transfixed, mesmerized even, on the area just below his belt. A glance down told him why.
His reaction to her was on serious display. A ‘bulge’ didn’t begin to describe what was happening beneath his zipper. Someone else definitely wanted to join their party and he was not being shy about it.
“Sorry about that too,” Eddie said, figuring he might as well just address the elephant—or if he was going to use an animal metaphor, he guessed it should be cock—in the room.
Slowly shaking her head from side to side, Haley said in a barely audible tone, “You shouldn’t be.”
For whatever reason, her words just struck him as funny. He wasn’t sure if it was the wide-eyed honesty in her delivery or the fact that she hadn’t gotten all shy and embarrassed about the situation. Maybe it was as simple as his body’s way to release some of the pent-up tension it was feeling.
But whatever the reason was, he laughed. Harder than he could remember laughing in a long time. It took a few beats, but Haley’s mouth turned up in a smile, and although at first she looked at him like he had lost his mind, which that was actually a distinct possibility, she too started chuckling and before long joined him in his hysterics.
It took several minutes for them both to compose themselves. Eddie wiped beneath his eyes. He’d laughed so hard his eyes had begun watering.
Haley sighed happily as she reached behind her and turned off the water that had been running the entire time. Grabbing a hand towel off the kitchen counter and wiping off her hands, she asked, “Is everything okay? You’re home early.”
Right. He was. Plan ‘tired’ engage.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I was just tired,” Eddie explained.
Haley nodded, but he could see in her eyes that she was not convinced by his explanation. Setting the towel down, she began walking out of the kitchen. “Oh, okay. Well, I had wanted to talk to you about Em, but if you’re tired, we can do it anoth—”
As she passed, he reached out and grabbed her arm. “Stay.”
She froze and looked up at him in surprise. He didn’t blame her. His actions were surprising him too. Not only was he asking her to stay, he was touching her. Again.
Way to stick to the plan.
Chapter Five
The feeling of Eddie’s roughened, work-worn hand wrapped around Haley’s arm sent a tugging pull deep in her core. He was touching her, skin to skin. It was almost too much for her to process.
After years of nothing, no hint that he might even be the slightest bit attracted to her other than the heated gazes she would catch him in when he didn’t think she was looking, now in the last five minutes he’d held her tightly in his arms, which logically she knew was mainly the result of her jumping into them. But it wasn’t as if he’d let her go as soon as they found themselves in the intimate predicament. He’d not only stayed right where he was, he’d closed his eyes and pulled her closer.
Then, out of nervousness, she’d stupidly broken the spell that had seemingly fallen over him by speaking, and when she was about to kick herself over the fact that he’d moved away from her, she’d caught a glance at how very affected he was by her. And now, here he was, touching her again and asking her to stay.
Best. Night. Ever.
“Okay,” she agreed easily.
Heat flashed in Eddie’s eyes. For a moment, a brief, heavenly moment, Haley was sure that he was going to lean down and press his mouth to hers. She felt her tongue run along the seam of her lips as she nervously waited to see what his next move would be.
His eyes followed its path and she heard a sound of male appreciation rumble in his chest, but the next thing she knew, he was halfway across the kitchen, opening the fridge. At his sudden departure and the intensity of the last few minutes, Haley’s head spun. Reaching out, she held on to the back of the kitchen chair to steady herself. She almost felt as if she were floating away. Everything seemed very surreal.
“Do you want a beer or tea?” Eddie’s voice brought her back to the here and now.
Shaking off the strange feeling,
she answered, “Beer.” Tea was nice. She loved tea. But right now, she wanted—scratch that, needed—a beer.
As Eddie stepped past her while heading towards the back door, his body brushed hers, sending a thrill racing through her from head to toe.
Oh boy.
If she felt like this from innocent-ish brushes and his hugging her against him while they were both fully clothed, would she even be able to handle it if he ever really touched her? Kissed her? Made love to her?
As she followed Eddie out to the wooden deck that overlooked the grassy area in his backyard, she pondered those questions. Sitting down on the cushioned patio chair, she brought the bottle to her lips and took a swig of cold beer as a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She might not know the answer to her questions, but she sure did want to find out.
“So what’s up?” Eddie’s deep voice sounded beside her as he casually sat down next to her. Leaning forward, he rested his forearms on his strong, muscled thighs as he stared out over the yard, his beer dangling loosely from his fingers. Haley tried not to drool as her eyes traveled up the lines of his ripped arms. The night sky was lit up with stars and the moonlight caressed his olive skin.
A hum of awareness thrummed through her entire being at his closeness. That happened more often than not when Eddie was in the same vicinity as Haley, but tonight, after being in his arms, feeling the rough pads of his fingers against her soft skin, the hum was definitely stronger.
Trying to focus on what she needed to say, Haley diverted her attention back to the grass also illuminated by the rays of light shining from the full moon in the black sky. It wasn’t nearly as nice a view, but hopefully she would be able to hold on to her train of thought.
“I’m not sure how to bring this up. And I know it’s none of my business, but…” Haley hesitated, not sure of how to continue. What should she say exactly? Anyone who knew Eddie knew that Lacey was a sensitive subject. More than that really, talking about her was kind of like walking through landmines—one misstep could be disastrous.
“This doesn’t sound good,” Eddie said. Haley still wasn’t looking at him, but she could feel him staring at her. His gaze was palpable.
“I just…” She took in a calming breath and set her beer down on the small table beside her. This conversation wasn’t about her or for her. It was about Emily. For Emily. Haley needed to know what to say to the little girl when she brought up the subject of her mom, which was happening more and more frequently.
“Hales.” Eddie’s serious tone made the tiny back hairs on her neck stand up. When she turned her head, her eyes locked with his. God, she loved his eyes. The deep brown pools reminded her of milk chocolate that melted in her mouth. “You know you can say anything to me.”
She almost laughed out loud. Luckily, she must have used up all of her fits of giggles in the house because she was able to refrain. But her mind was screaming, Ummm, no. No I can’t.
It was sweet of him to make that offer though. She knew for a fact that Eddie wouldn’t say that to just anyone. Especially someone who had started a conversation with, “It’s really none of my business.” He was private. He minded his own business and he expected others to do the same. But as much as she appreciated his faith in her, she absolutely could not tell Eddie anything.
She couldn’t tell him that she loved him. That, she had for so long, she couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t. That she compared every guy she met, dated, or got into a relationship with to him and that they’d all come up short. It probably wasn’t a good idea to spill the beans about the fact that she dreamt about him on almost a nightly basis, and after the nights she didn’t, she was in a bad mood the following day because those dreams were the most action she was getting.
Yeah, full disclosure was definitely not the way to go here.
Instead of pointing that out, she nodded and tried to refocus on what she did need to tell him. “Like I said, it’s none of my business, and I’m sure I’m not telling you anything that you don’t already know but”—she cleared her throat—“Em has been bringing up Lacey. A lot.”
Haley watched as the expression on Eddie’s face changed from intensity directed at her to inner conflict. He sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He brought his bottle to his lips and tipped it back. Haley wasn’t sure but she thought he might have finished the entire thing in one drink.
“Do you want another one?” he asked as he stood, heading back into the house.
Yep. He’d finished it. And he was getting another one.
That’s not a good sign. “Nope, I’m good.” Haley had only taken the one sip from hers.
Coming back through the sliding screen door, Eddie was already well on his way to finishing off the second bottle and she noticed he had a third in his hand.
“Oh, no. I said I’m good,” she reiterated as he sat back down.
“It’s for me,” he explained unapologetically.
Ooookay.
“What has she been saying?” The tension in Eddie’s voice broke Haley’s heart. She was seriously regretting the fact that she’d decided to bring up the touchy subject. But she had no idea what else to do.
She’d already tried talking to his little sister Chelle, and she had zero advice to give her. In fact, she’d said that, since Lacey had left, no one in their family even spoke her name. Chelle told Haley about the few times she’d tried to broach the taboo subject out of genuine concern for her brother and he’d shut her down and practically bitten her head off.
Haley braced herself. Eddie adored Chelle. He would do anything for Chelle and Emily. From what Haley had heard around town and from her cousin Riley, Eddie and Chelle’s parents weren’t bad really, they just weren’t around. At all. They were absent. Much more interested in their own social lives.
Her own mom had told her a story about when Mr. and Mrs. Thomas had left on a European vacation when Eddie was a freshman in high school, leaving him in charge. Chelle had gotten sick when they were gone. Really sick. She’d been running a temperature of one hundred and three. Eddie had stayed by her side the entire time.
He’d been the quarterback of the varsity football team, which was a big deal. He was the first and only freshman to ever earn that honor before or since at H. C. High. Some of the team moms had offered to stay with Chelle while he went to the game, but he wouldn’t go. Everyone had tried to help. Her mom had stayed at the house with Katie (Chelle’s best friend) and also Katie’s Aunt Wendy, just in case they needed anything, but Eddie had refused to leave her side.
Haley’s mom had said that for three days he sat beside her. He didn’t eat. Didn’t sleep. Just took care of Chelle, making sure that she took sips of water, feeding her soup, and even wiping her face with cold cloths. Finally, her fever did break, thank God.
His parents hadn’t even cut their vacation short. In fact, they’d stayed an extra week.
Haley only thought about that now because if he’d yelled at his beloved sister for bringing up his ex, who knew how he would react to Haley doing it.
But it wasn’t about her, she reminded herself. It was about Emily. Sometimes when she was around Eddie or even thought about Eddie, she reverted to acting like a teenager with a crush. But she was an adult. She could have an adult conversation with him. So she laid out the facts.
“She asks questions mostly. Did I know Lacey? What was she like? What is it like having a mom?”
Eddie listened, showing absolutely no reaction at all. After a few moments, he spoke calmly. “What do you tell her?”
Haley let out a breath she hadn’t even been aware she’d been holding. Maybe this conversation wouldn’t go south after all.
Shrugging, Haley said, “The truth. That I knew of her but didn’t really know her. That she always seemed to be having a good time, like she was a fun person. As far as what it was like having a mom, well, I guess I do downplay that. I just don’t want to upset Em or make her feel like she’s missing out on something.”
> Eddie’s expression hardened and his jaw tensed. Haley felt the air swoosh out of her lungs as her stomach dropped down to the ground. Maybe this little talk would end up with Eddie getting upset after all. She might have been counting her this-is-going-to-be-fine chickens before they hatched.
“But she is. Missing out on something.” Eddie’s voice sounded tortured, and he took another swig of beer.
Haley’s heart twisted in her chest. “You are an amazing dad. Em is so lucky to have you.”
“But no matter what, I’m not her mom.” Eddie shook his head. “I can never fill that role.”
“Look, I was lucky enough to have both my parents, but look at my cousins. They grew up with Uncle Bob and they are fine.”
“Jury’s still out on that,” Eddie said flatly.
Haley smiled. She knew this was tough for him, but relief washed over her that he was at least joking around a little bit.
“And they were boys,” Eddie pointed out. “Boys are different.”
No kidding.
“Em has Chelle, me, my mom, and sisters. The list goes on and on with how many people adore and love that little girl.”
Eddie nodded, and Haley did feel like he was at least trying to take in what she was saying. Looking back across the yard and into the dark night, Eddie got a faraway look on his face.
Haley wasn’t sure what he was thinking about and she kind of wanted-slash-needed to find out the answer to the question that had brought this entire subject up, which was what she was supposed to say when Emily asked her about it. But she had always had a gift of reading the room, and this was not the time for her follow-up question.
She would give him a few quiet moments, let him sit with it. Then, for Emily, she would ask. Again.
* * *
Eddie knew that as Emily grew older he’d have to face the fact that she’d have questions. It was only natural. He just couldn’t believe how grown up she was.
When Em was a baby, during the crying, the sleepless nights, the teething, the terrible twos, he’d honestly thought that those would be the hardest times with her. That once she was able to do things on her own, be more independent, talk, and tell him what she needed, it would get easier. But the truth was, the time when she was an infant had been the easy part. Yes, it had been exhausting and draining, but he’d been able to protect her, take care of her. He’d had complete control.
Tempting Love - Haley & Eddie Page 5