Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors)

by Violet Duke

  “Are you having a birthday party too?” Emily asked as she busily worked on separating Haley’s hair into three sections, just like Haley had shown her on her Barbie.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Can I go to your party?” Emily’s voice sounded hopeful.

  “Oh, I wish you could, but you have to be twenty-one to get in where my party is.”

  “But you’re coming to my party, right?” The tone in Emily’s voice sounded unsure and Haley didn’t want anything, especially something that had to do with her birthday, upsetting her.

  “Ab-soooo-lutely,” Haley assured her. “I am going to be here all day. I already found my princess dress. My party doesn’t start until after yours is over. In fact, it doesn’t start until after you will be sound asleep in bed dreaming about all the gifts you got.”

  Haley and Emily shared the same birthday. They liked to call each other ‘birthday twins.’ The last few years since coming home from college, Haley had spent their shared birthday celebrating with Emily in the day and then going out for her celebration at night. This year would be no different. Well, except for the fact that she would be dressed like a princess because that was the theme that Emily had chosen this year.

  “Is Daddy going to your birthday?”

  Good question. One Haley would very much like the answer to. “I don’t know.”

  “Does he have a girlfriend?” Emily asked, her voice sounding curious but a little hesitant.

  Another very good question. Again, one Haley would very much like the answer to. She knew that he hooked up with random women, but were any of them serious? Did he see one more than the other? Did he think about one when he went to bed at night and woke up in the morning?

  “I don’t know,” Haley answered honestly.

  “Well, do you know what you want for your birthday?”

  Yes. Your dad.

  “Um well, I like jewelry and books, so it would be nice if I got something like that.” Haley honestly didn’t want anything but Eddie for her birthday, but she wasn’t going to ruin Em’s fun by saying a boring ‘nothing.’ “What do you want pretty girl?”

  “A bra,” Emily quickly blurted out as if she’d been waiting for her to ask that.

  Haley had no idea how to respond to that.

  “Can you make me one?” Emily asked in her sweetest voice.

  “Um…well…let me talk to your dad first, but—”

  A heavy, defeated sigh sounded from behind Haley’s head. “Never mind.”

  “Did you already ask him if you could have one?” Haley was pretty sure that she already knew the answer to that.

  “Yes,” Emily begrudgingly confirmed.

  “And he said ‘no’?”

  “He’s a boy!” Emily plopped down beside Haley and spoke animatedly. “He doesn’t understand.”

  Haley just nodded in understanding as Emily rested her head against her shoulder. Tilting her head, she leaned her cheek against the top of Emily’s head as they once again turned their attention to the movie.

  “I love the nights you come and stay with me.” Emily’s voice sounded sleepy.

  “Me too, bugaboo.” Haley wished she was here every night. With Eddie and Em. “Me too.”

  *

  EDDIE PULLED UP his boxer briefs as he crossed the darkened room, bent over, and snatched his pants off the floor. He was still catching his breath from the physical exertion he’d just expended. Usually on his nights out, he spent several hours in bed with his dates, and he used the term ‘date’ loosely. They were casual hook-ups. That was all.

  Still, Eddie normally didn’t treat them as such—at least between the sheets. But tonight he just didn’t want to be here. Physically, he’d gotten off, but to say that he’d enjoyed himself would be an exaggeration of epic proportions. He was nowhere near satisfied.

  “Where are you going?” Claire’s voice sounded behind him as he was stepping into his jeans. He felt her naked breasts press up against his back as her arms encircled his waist. Her touch made him want to move away.

  His reaction was severe, and it even surprised him. What in the hell was he doing with his life?

  “I’ve got to get home,” he answered as calmly as he could. He didn’t want to be a dick just because he’d suddenly grown a conscience or…whatever was haunting him lately.

  “Are you sure I can’t change your mind?” she purred as she raked her dark red nails across his abdomen.

  He moved out of her reach. “No, not tonight.” Picking up his shoes, he moved to the chair next to the window. The drapes were pulled open and his attention was drawn to the breathtaking view of the Chicago skyline.

  A random, unbidden thought suddenly filled his head. Haley would love this view. Eddie shook his head in an attempt to clear it. He had to knock that shit off. The inappropriate sexual thoughts that had taken up permanent residence in his mind about the blond-haired, blue-eyed babysitter were bad enough. But the non-sensual in nature were almost worse.

  No, they were definitely worse.

  She popped into his mind at the most random times. Last week, in the early hours of the morning, he’d been commuting to the job site and seen the most beautiful sunrise dawning and the first thought that had crossed his mind was I wish Haley were here to see this. He had taken Em to see Disney on Ice and the entire time they were there he’d been thinking about how much Haley would have enjoyed it. He’d pictured her eyes lighting up with excitement as the performers skated gracefully onto the ice, imagined her smile brightening the room as she beamed down at his daughter.

  Haley was so good with Emily, and his daughter worshipped the ground the object of his infatuation walked on. Which you would think would be categorized as a pro, but to Eddie, that fact was firmly in the con category. It was just one more reason that nothing could happen between them. It would be selfish and reckless for him to act on his growing feelings for Haley. His daughter deserved to have Haley in her life. She meant the world to his little girl. If he did anything to jeopardize that, then he would be exactly what people thought he was—an asshole.

  His main goal in continuing his unsatisfying adventures in the one-night-stand department was that he could squelch the all-consuming fire that was internally blazing for Haley. His reasoning had been simple and scientifically-based. His get-laid-now, avoid-disaster-later plan was more than just a feeble attempt to take the edge off. Eddie likened his strategy to when seismologists said that small shifts in the earth’s plates were good. That tiny earthquakes actually lessened the occurrence and likelihood of large, devastating quakes.

  Which would be exactly what would happen if he ever gave into his base desires for Haley. It would be complete and total catastrophic devastation. It could destroy the very foundation that his life—and Emily’s—was built on.

  “Listen, I am going to be up in the Harper’s Crossing area on Sunday and I thought maybe we could have a picnic. You, me, and Emily.” Claire sat on the chair beside Eddie totally, unselfconsciously naked. The dark-haired beauty beside him was by far one of the most self-aware, self-assured, self-confident people he’d ever met.

  And she had every reason to be. Claire had the body of a Victoria’s Secret model, and her face reminded him of Cindy Crawford (his teenage crush). Not only that, but Claire was a successful businesswoman. Smart, savvy, and sexy. On paper, she was a triple threat with capital T’s. If Eddie was planning on settling down, logically she would be a front runner for the job.

  But he wasn’t. And no matter how much he tried to talk himself into being interested in her, if he was being honest, he just wasn’t. Which made absolutely zero sense. Sexually: they were compatible. Personally: th
ey were compatible. A small voice in the back of Eddie’s head, the one he’d been trying to ignore for years now, pointed out the obvious fact that Eddie was doing everything in his power to ignore; it explained his disinterest in the raven-haired beauty, or any other beauty for that matter.

  Claire wasn’t Haley. Serena wasn’t Haley. Janessa wasn’t Haley. None of the women he was seeing now or had seen in his past came close to making him feel what Haley made him feel. Except Lacey, but he didn’t want to go there.

  “Listen, Claire. This has been fun but—”

  “I’m sorry,” she quickly interrupted. “I know that your daughter is off-limits. You made that boundary perfectly clear up front. I shouldn’t have overstepped. But there’s no reason to do anything rash.”

  “I’m not being rash.” Eddie had found that, in situations like this, it was best to rip the Band-Aid off in one swift motion. Which usually just meant being bluntly honest. “We both knew this was temporary and it’s run its course.”

  Crossing her toned, tan arms in front of her naked chest, she cocked one brow in disbelief. “Are you actually breaking up with me?”

  “No.” Eddie again went with honesty. “That would imply this was a relationship. It wasn’t.”

  “Get out!” Claire raised her voice in anger, hurt, or embarrassment. Eddie couldn’t be sure.

  He didn’t wait around to find out. Grabbing his keys and wallet, he walked out the hotel room door with purposeful strides. No goodbye. No looking back.

  He knew that he should feel bad. Eddie honestly never went into these arrangements with the intention to hurt anyone. In fact, he was trying to avoid hurting anyone. Which was exactly what these empty, non-personal encounters were supposed to be about. Which was why he always made sure that whoever he was seeing was on the same page that he was. They all started out that way, but somewhere in the midst of these should-be-simple-and-uncomplicated affairs, pages got turned and these women started writing their own books. And their books usually ended with a happily-ever-after, wedding bells, and a white picket fence.

  As the glass doors that led to the parking lot slid open, a gust of wind rolled in like a giant wave. The cool air felt refreshing against his stubbled face as he made the short walk across the parking lot. Getting into his truck, he turned the ignition and his eyes glanced down at the LED screen that told him it was only nine fifteen. He hadn’t even spent an hour with Claire.

  As he pulled out of the hotel parking lot, he decided that this would be the last night of its kind. No more meaningless hook-ups. Part of Eddie felt relieved at his mental declaration. But that annoying-as-all-hell voice chose this moment to speak up, asking where exactly this newest declaration left him. Since Eddie had absolutely no plans to settle down and now would not be casually dating, where did that leave his sex life?

  Looked like he would just have to take matters into his own hands, literally, for the foreseeable future. It was the right thing to do. The mature thing to do. The only thing to do.

  Damn.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  HALEY GINGERLY STEPPED over the gigantic stuffed animals and navigated around the array of Barbies that littered the floor of Emily’s room. She really should have had her clean it up before bed. After Emily had fallen asleep during Transformers, Haley had just carried her up to bed. Once she made it past the toy wreckage that was cluttered around the bed, Haley tiptoed out of the room.

  Shutting the door as quietly as possible, Haley took a deep breath, her gaze immediately falling on the open door across the hall—the doorway that led to Eddie’s bedroom. She had only been inside it once when she and Emily had been playing hide-and-seek and Em had hidden in his closet.

  She’d never set foot in there before or since. There was no reason that she should. Well, other than the fact that she wanted to. Really wanted to.

  From her memory, she knew that Eddie had a king-sized bed, a sitting chair, nightstands, and a dresser. As tempting as it was to go and take another peek, just to see if anything had changed—or at least that’s what she was telling herself—she headed down the wooden staircase. Stalkerville was not a place Haley felt comfortable visiting.

  Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and pulling it out, she saw that it was a text from her sister Krista.

  Hey Chicky! Chris has a friend who wants to meet you and he is extremely sexylicous. What time can you meet us for drinks?

  Haley knew what she should do. She should tell her sister that she would be done here by midnight and could meet them then. She shouldn’t blow her sister and a “sexylicious” guy off to spend time with Eddie after he gets home from his “date.” Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

  She could hide behind the fact that she had wanted to speak to Eddie about Emily, but even she knew that was a weak excuse. There was no pressing need to have that conversation tonight. She could talk to him tomorrow. It was his day off and she lived right across the street from him.

  She flopped down on the couch, her head swimming with indecision. In one short month, she would be turning twenty-eight. Like a lot of other girls her age, her biological clock was ticking.

  Husband. Family. Kids. Haley wanted all of that.

  In her life, when she set goals for herself, she would map out a plan and then make the necessary adjustments to said plan when life inevitably threw her curve balls. So in theory, going out with her sister tonight would be the right move in her goals for her personal life. Staying here with Eddie would be a step back.

  Haley’s phone buzzed again. Looking down, she saw that it was once again from her sister.

  Just showed him your pic. Now he really wants to meet you.

  Haley quickly typed back:

  Have to work early tomorrow. Can’t come out tonight.

  Sent.

  Did she have to work tomorrow? Yes. Was it early? Well, that depended on whose definition she was using. To Haley, nine a.m. was early. Was that the reason that she wasn’t going out? No.

  As she stared down at her phone, another message came through.

  Seriously?! Early shift my ass. Have fun playing house at Eddie’s while he’s out on a date!

  Krista’s words should have made Haley second-guess her decision to not go out and meet Mr. Sexylicious, but they didn’t. Maybe one day, very possibly in the near future, she would have to start to move past her feelings for Eddie. To accept the fact that they were never going to be more than just friends. Neighbors.

  But today was not that day.

  Standing, she began picking up Barbies, coloring crayons, and books. Emily knew how to play and play hard, but Haley made a mental note that she really needed to work on her cleaning up skills.

  As the oldest of four girls, Haley was used to cleaning up. It was like second nature to her. She actually enjoyed it. She remembered that, when she was younger, after her sisters would go to bed, she and her mom would stay up and clean. In the summer, they would drink iced tea after, and in the winter, they would have hot tea or sometimes hot chocolate. Those nights held some of her best childhood memories.

  One-on-one time with their mom Sandra, had been hard to come by. Not only had she had her hands full with her four little girls, she’d also stepped in and helped out as much as she could with Haley’s cousins Seth, Riley, Jason, Alex, and Bobby in their mom’s absence. Aunt Cheryl had left when the boys were young. She’d been diagnosed as bipolar and spent years in and out of hospitals before finally overdosing and passing away.

  Haley remembered being at her aunt’s funeral when she was the same age as Emily was now and feeling terribly guilty over the fact that she had been so grateful it wasn’t her mom lying in the casket. The memory of sitting in the wooden pew beside her mom, directly behind all five of her cousins and Uncle Bob, would forever be etched in her mind’s eye along with the feeling of the wood dig
ging into the backs of her knees as she held her mom’s hand and imagined what it would be like if she weren’t there. With her.

  Losing her mom was unfathomable to Haley, and she had no idea how her cousins had dealt with it. But they had.

  She shook off the melancholy that overwhelmed her as she pulled the vacuum out of the closet. Luckily, it was a fairly quiet machine and Emily slept like a rock so she didn’t have to worry about waking her up.

  Eddie hated it when Haley cleaned on the nights that she was here with Em. He always told her to just relax after Emily was asleep. But Haley liked keeping busy and it made her feel good to help out.

  So she pulled out her earbuds, plugged them into her phone, and started her cleaning playlist. Yes, she had a cleaning playlist. She also had several exercise playlists, a getting-ready-to-go-out playlist, and a bow-chicka-bow-wow-getting-busy playlist.

  Unfortunately, she hadn’t heard that one in years.

  *

  JUST AS EDDIE passed the city limits of Harper’s Crossing, his phone rang loudly. Glancing down, he saw that it was Riley calling. Eddie hadn’t been happy about Riley and Chelle getting together at first. Not. At. All.

  He and Riley had been wild. Really wild. Notoriously wild in their teens.

  Eddie could have never imagined his best friend settling down, being a good husband and a good father. But he was.

  Then again, most people in this town hadn’t thought that Eddie would be a good father. In fact, when Lacey had taken off, he’d heard rumors that there was a pool going around where people were betting on how long it would be before Eddie’s parents would have had to step in and take care of Emily. No one guessed that Eddie would step up like he had.

  He’d proven everyone wrong, just like Riley had proven him wrong. Now, he had to admit that there was honestly no one Eddie would rather his little sister be with.

  Hitting the speaker button, he heard his niece Mya crying in the background.