The Gift of Love

by Lori Foster

  It was a good plan. Tough and clear. Then he’d kissed her and her good intentions had fled.

  Over him. Yeah, right.

  The younger her had adored an image, a piece of him that played football and walked down the crowded school hallways to turning heads and giggling girls. The woman appreciated the man he’d become. She’d listened for months to hear rumors about Heath treating women poorly, but they never came. He stuck close to home and focused on Nate. Somewhere along the line her boy crush had turned into a worthy man.

  And a bossy one.

  He’d ordered her appearance, and she’d shown up. If she hadn’t messed up so thoroughly this afternoon, she’d have kicked him in the shins and spent the night eating one of Lindsay’s take-out trays.

  Launching into the honor’s English thing instead of her planned personal chat had caused this mess. Not that the class change was a fake. Nate should have been switched long ago. Serena chalked the oversight up to a poor previous teacher who skated through her responsibilities and assumed kids who excelled in sports couldn’t also achieve in the classroom. Serena refused to tie up kids in that manner.

  The door flew open. There stood Heath. Ruffled hair and shy smile, faded jeans and slim sweater pulled across a most impressive chest.

  Even a smart woman didn’t stand a chance with this one.

  “For the record, it’s six-oh-five.” Heath glanced at his watch. “Almost oh-six.”

  “I can leave if I’m too late.”

  He slipped an arm over her shoulders and tugged her inside. “Nice try.”

  Warm. The word described her body temperature and the room. Dark floors and light overstuffed furniture defined the open area. From her position in the foyer, she could see the large family room and into the kitchen beyond. Pots rattled and a television played in another room.

  “Where is everybody?” she asked.

  “Stan is making dinner.”

  The man in question picked that moment to peek around the corner. “Serena Davis. It’s been years.” He walked out with an apron tied around his waist and wringing his hands in a towel.

  She’d always liked Stan. He had a big teddy bear look to him. Tall with a gruff voice and the biggest smile she’d ever seen. She knew from town gossip he’d amassed a fortune and worked almost nonstop until Heath and Nate dropped back into his life. From then on, Stan had devoted his life to home and hearth.

  She lifted her hand but Stan wasn’t having it. He wrapped her in a suffocating hug.

  “Much more of that and she’ll pass out,” Heath said, his voice dry and laced with amusement.

  “Very happy to see you.” When they stepped apart, Stan caught the towel before it hit the ground. “You’re staying for dinner, yes?”

  “Oh, no—”

  “Of course she is.” Heath’s arm slipped around her back as he talked.

  Stan’s knowing gaze took it all in. He nodded. “About time.”

  Serena tried to shrug off Heath’s hold. When that didn’t work, she aimed her heel at his foot and hissed under her breath. “What? are you doing?”

  Stan chuckled. “I’ll get back into the kitchen. Nate’s playing a video game and studiously ignoring that girl’s texts. He won’t bother you.”

  She waited until they were alone to turn her wrath on Heath. “What is with the caveman routine?”

  “I tried to have a conversation about this. You forced my hand.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Heath glanced around before taking her hand. “Let’s find somewhere private to talk. Preferably outside of the range of twelve-year-old ears.”

  The smooth sensation of skin against skin soothed her jumping nerves. Or that was the excuse she gave herself for not throwing off his touch and demanding an explanation. Even showered, with his hair damp and curling at the ends, he smelled like the outdoors. Like fresh grass and clean air. The scent raced through her senses, claiming and hypnotizing her.

  Before she knew it, they stood in the center of a room she assumed operated as his home office. Papers piled on the huge desk. Filing cabinets. And a small couch with kids’ books strewn all over it.

  She nodded at the massive black leather chair, trying to keep the conversation light and her nerves in check. “You work in here?”

  “I do paperwork. Nate lounges and pretends to do homework.” Heath smiled at the mention of his son’s name and glanced quickly at the evidence of his presence.

  She fell right there. Stupidly and without a thought to the consequences or her bedrock belief he would hurt her again, her heart shattered.

  Maybe she’d always loved Heath. Maybe seeing him walk through his life so changed from the boy he was before played a role. Whatever the reason, she gazed at him and saw hope. And conflict and fear and pain. So many hurdles stood in the way. Some centered on work. Others not.

  She inhaled nice and deep, and then dove in. “I’ve ignored you since I got back into town because you reminded me of a time I wanted to forget. I was young and stupid. It was humiliating, if you must know.”

  He took her hands in his. “You were a kid with a crush. It’s a normal thing.”

  “You cured me. Believe me.”

  Regret flashed in his pale eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  She tried to play it cool with a shrug. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Of course it does.” His fingers gave hers a gentle squeeze. “If I could go back and be more tactful, I would.”

  “But you’d still turn me down?” Her heart clenched at the thought.

  “You were so young. Touching you would have been a bad, bad thing.”

  He sounded so serious that she couldn’t help but laugh. “That sounds almost honorable.”

  “Don’t be fooled. I was a typical self-centered boy and the offer tempted me. All breasts tempted me. But everyone kept telling me how great I was, how much money I could make. Listening to that garbage changed me. My focus centered on getting out and grabbing fame. I looked down on everyone in town and pushed away. I thought I was too good for the people who grew up with me.”

  She wondered how he only remembered the bad parts. He forgot the good parts of himself. The times when he didn’t act like a jerk, like the one where he offered her rides to school so she wouldn’t have to wait around for the bus. The one where he stopped bullies from picking on small kids in the school hallways.

  Yeah, the immature version of him had faults, but the goodness lingered there, too. Made her think for the first time that his turning her down might have been more of a gift than a humiliation.

  “Then you got injured,” she said as she crowded in closer to his chest.

  “Next to Nate, best thing that ever happened to me.” His breath tickled her nose as his hands journeyed to her waist.

  “You lost everything.”

  His gaze centered on her mouth. “I gained more.”

  Those were the words of a decent man, not a spoiled boy. “That’s very adult of you.”

  “Don’t kid yourself. It took years for me to wise up. I was pissed off and nasty when it first happened. Got drunk, did stupid things. Cursed the world and everyone in it. Ran through what little money I had, all illegally given to me by recruiters, by the way.”

  She gave in and touched a hand to his cheek. When he leaned in, kissing her palm, her stomach performed a little tumble. “I can’t even imagine you that way. That far out on the edge.”

  “My ego outran my common sense. The only thing I ever did well was football, but it was more than that. I had built up this life based on things—fast women, big houses, and interviews on television. None of it was real.”

  She traced her thumb over his lips. “Not a life I fit into.”

  “Exactly. Not then.”

  “What changed?”

  “My supposed friends left. My girlfriend bugged out. I ended up alone without hope.” The hand pressing against her back pulled her in closer until his mouth hovered over hers and they shared th
e same breaths. “And then Nate came along, and I stared into his big brown eyes and everything clicked.”

  Heath’s love for Nate flowed out of him like a living, breathing thing. “I figured he was a turning point.”

  The bleak look on his face broke. “More than that. I did physical therapy for him. Lived for him. Got back to work and away from alcohol for him.”

  This time she kissed him. Just a quick touch of lips. A gift to let him know his words meant something to her. “You’re a good man.”

  He shook his head. “Just a man, sometimes good and sometimes not.”

  Her hands were on his shoulders now, her body draped over his. “What if you could play football tomorrow?”

  Air hissed through his teeth. “I honestly don’t know.”

  The unexpected response had her pulling back to get a good look at him. “Really?”

  “I want to tell you the dream is dead, but life isn’t that clean. It lives in me. Now and then I feel cheated and angry for losing out on what could have been. I want to yell and slam into things, but looking at Nate takes the edge off.”

  He didn’t give himself enough credit. She knew the truth. Devoted and strong, he would forgo the dream and stay solid for Nate. Wouldn’t subject him to a nonavailable and traveling dad. No way.

  She slipped back in his arms. “He’s a great kid, Heath. Whenever you think you messed up, remember that.”

  One of his eyebrows arched up. “Is the honors English thing real?”

  “Yes. Nate deserves it. He’s smart and driven. His reading comprehension is off the charts.”

  “Must take after his mom.”

  The mention of the one woman who’d managed to snag Heath’s attention if only for a short time sobered Serena. “She’s gone, I take it.”

  “Forever.”

  “Good.” The word slipped out before she could stop it.

  From his wide smile, it was clear Heath appreciated the support on that score. “I think so. She wanted out, and I didn’t stop her.”

  “That’s horrible.”

  “It’s good in the end.” His thumb slipped over Serena’s lips. “The question is whether you’re going to let something dumb I did as a kid color what we do today.”

  Her fears about her feelings for him being nothing more than residual pieces of a long-ago crush faded. This wasn’t about idol worship or proving him wrong. This went deeper. The problem of being Nate’s teacher and all the propriety concerns that came with that still lingered, but at that moment she didn’t care. She’d spent her entire life doing the right thing. She married the “right” guy and then stayed in a bad marriage because she didn’t want to admit failure. She followed every rule and played her life as safely as possible. Now she wanted something for her.

  For the second time in her life, she reached out to Heath. This time she knew he’d catch her. “I prefer to live in the now.”

  “Good answer.”

  “I prefer strong, reliable men to skirt-chasing boys.”

  “You’re my kind of woman.”

  Before she could agree, his arms closed around her. Enveloped by his warmth and his smell, by strong hands and the need thumping off him and crashing into her, she opened up for his kiss. When his mouth crossed over hers, electricity sparked. Heat and desire washed through her, overtaking everything else.

  His lips on hers. His fingers in her hair. This wasn’t about the tender infatuation of a girl. What she felt was all woman. Hope, light, and the stirrings of love.

  “Ms. Davis?” Nate’s startled voice cut through the sensual storm blowing around inside her.

  Shaken, her heart thundering, she pulled back. There, standing in the doorway with his hands at his side and his phone hanging loose from his fingertips, she saw Nate.

  His eyes grew huge. His gaze took it all in, going from his dad’s hands to her body and back to their faces. “What are you doing here?”

  She stepped away from Heath, making sure miles of space rushed between them before she spoke. “Nate, I came to talk with you.”

  His face scrunched up in confusion. “Dad?”

  Heath nodded. “She has something to tell you.”

  “Then why is she kissing you?” Nate almost screamed the question.

  Guilt pounded her from all directions. She was a teacher. His teacher. “Nate, I know this is confusing. I’m sorry. So sorry.”

  Heath joined in his son’s frown. “For what?”

  She blocked Heath out, had to, and focused on Nate. He was the male who needed soothing. The kid who’d walked in on something strange. Rarely did kids see their teachers as normal people with regular lives. Thanks to her, Nate got a healthy dose of reality shoved right down his throat. And in his own house.

  She’d played this all wrong. Messed up every way there was to mess up. “I really did come to talk with you.”

  Nate snorted. “Sure didn’t look like it.”

  “Nate.” Heath’s warning tone got through because Nate’s gawking eased up.

  The timing couldn’t be more wrong. “I should go,” Serena said.

  Heath touched her elbow. She saw his hand move, but couldn’t feel his hand against her. Couldn’t process anything except humiliation and regret.

  “Serena, this is fine.” Heath’s husky voice fell over her.

  She refused to be lured in. “No, it’s not.”

  She grabbed up her forgotten purse, which had dropped at her feet, and slid a quick glance in Heath’s direction. “We’ll talk later.”

  “We will?”

  “Good night.”

  HEATH watched Serena run out of his study. Any faster and she would have mowed Nate down.

  “What’s going on?” Nate asked, his tone more confused than judgmental.

  “Sit.”

  “Am I in trouble?” Nate slumped down on the cushions.

  “No,” Heath said as he slid in next to his son.

  Where to start? Heath searched his mind for the right words but nothing came. In the end, Nate took care of the task in his usual straight-to-the-point kid way of sorting out information.

  “Are you dating Ms. Davis?”

  “I want to.”

  Nate’s mouth flatlined. “Huh.”

  “Is that a positive or negative response?”

  Nate shrugged. “I can see it. She’s pretty hot.”

  That was just about the last thing Heath wanted to hear from his son. “That’s enough of that talk.”

  “Nah, I get it. She’s cool and pretty smart.” Nate stared at his phone but didn’t turn it on.

  “She wants to switch you to honors English.”

  “So you guys can, you know, do it?” The sparkle in his eye said the kid was testing. Seeing how far he could go.

  Heath cuffed the back of Nate’s head. “Where do you get this stuff from?”

  “Books.”

  When Nate laughed, the tightness around Heath’s heart eased. “I’ve known Ms. Davis for a long time.”

  “You were neighbors.”

  The conversation was killing Heath. “Is this okay with you? Me and Ms. Davis?”

  “Sure.”

  Nate didn’t move. Didn’t even smile, but Heath could feel it. An excitement radiated off Nate. He clenched the phone hard enough to crack the plastic casing. In this case Heath sensed the “sure” amounted to a wholehearted acceptance of Serena as a potential fixture around the house. Just showed that a guy needed a mother figure sometimes.

  Since the first day in her class, Nate talked about Serena in a different way. They had a connection of some sort. A comfort level that nurtured Nate’s love for school.

  Heath touched his fingers against his son’s hair. Memories of the toddler gave way to a burning love for the young man he had become. “I’m proud of you about the honors English thing.”

  “It’s no big deal.” Nate’s cocky smile said something different.

  “School is important. Studying, getting good grades, you handle it all, and I
want you to know I’m impressed.”

  “It’s just school stuff.”

  “I’m very proud of you.”Heath hesitated. “I was never good in school. Never really liked reading. It was hard for me to concentrate and understand what I was seeing.”

  “They can fix that, you know.”

  Not exactly the response Heath expected. “Who?”

  “A lot of kids suck at reading, and teachers help them and stuff.” Nate treated his dad to one of those patented teen shrugs. “There’s a word for it. It’s no big deal.”

  The deficiency had weighed down every moment of Heath’s adult life, worrying he’d never be good enough to be the kind of dad Nate needed, and his kid viewed it as normal. It was humbling. He decided right then that age didn’t always bring all that much wisdom.

  Heath nodded. “Good to know.”

  “Besides, you were good at sports.”

  “That’s not everything. You’re smart enough to realize that. I wasn’t. I regret some of that now.”

  Nate pushed the buttons on his phone but the screen stayed off. “What stuff do you regret?”

  “I haven’t read those books you insist everyone has read.”

  “Ms. Davis might help you with that, but you’ll have to take your tongue out of her mouth first.” Nate shifted away as he said the words through a bout of laughter.

  Heath pressed his hand down on top of Nate’s head until he squirmed and begged for mercy. By the time the wrestling match ended, they were both smiling.

  “No talking to your friends about Ms. Davis and what you saw. Understood?”

  Nate sighed. “Yeah.”

  “I’m serious.” Heath kept staring until Nate finally nodded in agreement. “Don’t expect special treatment.”

  “I got it.”