by Lori Foster
They sat in silence, Nate tapping wildly on his phone keys despite the screen being dark and Heath enjoying the stolen moment. Between his friends and activities, Nate spent more and more time away from the house. Soon he’d hit his teen years in full stride and the quiet times together would all but disappear.
Heath knew how it worked. His son was popular and busy. Girls would soon fill most of his extra time and steal every brain cell in his head. Dad would get left behind. Until then, Heath would savor the minutes Nate gave him.
Nate dropped the phone on his lap. “You’re good at other stuff, you know.”
The abrupt turn in conversation, including the more serious tone, surprised Heath. Made him wonder what was coming next. “Really? Like what?”
“Yelling.” Nate burst out laughing at his joke.
Heath couldn’t help but join in this time. “You’re hysterical.”
“You do.”
Heath knew his son was trying to tell him something. What that was, was the question. “Come again?”
Nate started to shrug but stared up instead. “You do okay. You know, with the important stuff.”
Heath swallowed to keep from losing it. In simple words, without any fanfare or celebration, his son told him he didn’t suck as a dad. Nothing would ever matter more.
“Would you do me a favor?” Heath asked after a few seconds of rapid blinking.
“What?”
“Next time Lexy texts, think about answering her.”
Nate looked appalled at the idea. “Why?”
“Do you like her?”
Nate shook his head heard enough to knock something loose. “neo.”
The answer came too fast and furious to be real. Heath might not know much about women, but he did know about his son. “I’m just saying that if you like her, you should text back. Ignoring her is kind of jerky.”
Nate’s mouth fell open. “It is?”
“And one of these days she might start thinking you don’t like her back and move on.”
Nate snorted loud enough to be heard in the next county. “Right.”
“You’re so smooth with women?”
“They don’t run away when I kiss them.”
Heath knew that smile on his son’s face meant trouble. “Excuse me?”
“Aren’t you going to go after Ms. Davis?”
The mention of Serena filled Heath with an unexpected lightness. She needed time to calm down, and he’d give it to her, but then he was done waiting around for his shot. “Tomorrow.”
“Huh.” Nate’s turned on his phone and stared down at what looked to be Lexy’s last message.
“What’s with the grunt?”
“Isn’t waiting until tomorrow kind of jerky?”
Heath’s good mood shattered. Looked like the kid knew more about women than he did. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“Listen to Nate.” Stan stood in the doorway. “Get out of here and go find Serena. We could use a woman’s touch around here.”
Nate grinned up at him. “But don’t forget your curfew.”
five
Lindsay sat at the bar in Serena’s kitchen an hour later and traced her finger around the top of her coffee mug. “Tell me again why you left Heath’s house instead of staying for dinner and whatever fabulous dessert the man had in mind.”
Serena blocked out the sexy thoughts moving through her. “Nate walked in.”
“I’m sure the kid’s seen his dad kiss a woman before.”
“Thanks for that mental image.”
“He’s a hottie.” Lindsay tapped her forehead. “Remember?”
“How could I forget your description?”
Lindsay smiled over the top of her cup. “Tell me about the kiss.”
“No.”
Lindsay gave her cell another quick look. Serena didn’t know what was on that little screen, but it sure had her sister bouncing around with unspent energy.
“Well, I’m just happy it finally happened. It’s been ridiculous trying to throw you two together.”
Serena froze in the act of spit-shining the counter. “What did you do?”
“Dropped a hint here and there.”
She threw the cleaning cloth down. “What? When?”
“While you were gone, I kept the dream alive in Heath by mentioning you.” A dreamy look came over Lindsay. “Not that it was hard work. He always asked about you, so I answered.”
Serena felt her simmering anger turn to interest. “He did?”
“Yeah, I’d be catering some event and he’d be there. After only a few seconds in and he’d ask how you were.”
She refused to let that matter. “He was just being friendly.”
“Well, he never bothered to ask how I was. Never stared at me like he wanted to eat me either. That’s just you.” This time Lindsay picked up her phone and her grin grew even wider.
“Have you always been this dramatic?”
“You want drama? Answer the door.”
“What?”
Lindsay nodded in the general direction of the front of the house. “Answer. Your. Door.”
“But the bell didn’t ring.”
Lindsay rolled her eyes. “Would you, for once, stop being all stuffy and let the moment carry you?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The bell rang. Not once but twice. Whoever stood out there wanted in.
“Now are you happy?” Lindsay asked.
More like terrified. Linds had something cooking and this time it wasn’t a spectacular meal. With her feet dragging and her anxiety bouncing around inside her, Serena went to the door. One peek in the skinny window by the entrance, and she knew what had her sister jumping around like a silly teenager on prom night.
Serena shot her sister a will-kill-you-later look. “You invited him?”
“Nope.”
“Serena?” Heath’s voice boomed through the door. “Open up.”
More orders. That was one thing about him she planned to work on.
But she did obey … this time. “You bellowed?”
With the door out of his way, Heath stepped right inside. “About time.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Lindsay toasted them with her mug before dropping it on the counter. She scurried to find her purse. “I’ll be leaving but expect a full report.”
The days of oversharing about her love life were over as far as Serena was concerned. “I don’t think so.”
“I hate to ask what ‘full’ means,” Heath said at the same time.
Lindsay didn’t bother to respond. She just kissed them both on the cheek and then breezed out, closing the door behind her.
Serena rushed to fill the silence. “I’m sorry I ran out on you like that.”
“Why did you?”
“I saw Nate’s face and panicked. He look horrified at seeing me in your arms.”
The worry lines around his eyes eased. “He was just surprised. If you had stayed a few minutes longer, you would have heard him give his blessing.”
The air whooshed out of her lungs. “He did?”
Heath closed in on her. Hands fell on her shoulders and tugged her close. “Well, as much of one as a teen boy can give. Mostly, he shrugged. He does that a lot.”
“They all do.”
His fingers clenched against her arms. “Let’s talk about us.”
“Okay ”
“I know we’re different.”
The switch took her off guard, but she followed him just fine. “Heath—”
“No, let me get this out.”
She rested her palms against his stomach in a silent show of support. “Go ahead.”
“I’m not super smart. My grades would terrify you. I had to leave college because I was so bad at it. But it’s more basic than that.” He glanced around the room, looked everywhere but at her. “Reading makes me nervous. I see the words, but I can’t get them to make sense.”
She hadn’t expected that ho
nest revelation. It obviously hurt him to force the words out. “Really?”
“Nate assures me a lot of kids have this problem.”
Her heart broke for Heath. Everyone spent so much time encouraging his football skills and so little reassuring the other parts of him that sorely needed attention. She wouldn’t make that mistake.
With her fingers under his chin, she lifted his face to see his eyes. “It’s a learning issue. There are skills you can learn to make it easier.”
“It never mattered before, but it does now. For you. For Nate.” He swallowed hard enough for her to see his throat move. “Will you teach me? I want to get it when Nate talks to me about a book.”
A sob lodged in her chest. This strong, proud man stood there admitting his imperfections. She knew it stole a piece of him to be so honest and open. She also knew it meant she owned a place in his life.
Her fingers trailed down his cheek. “Of course.”
He kissed her open palm and peeked up at her, all the vulnerability and worry mirrored in his face. “Still want to try dating?”
“You think telling me about a learning disability will scare me away?”
Heath borrowed from Nate and shrugged. “Intelligence is important to you.”
“Decency and honor, good parenting and love. Those are the things that matter. Someone who sticks it out during the tough times and values what he has enough to guard it and hold it precious.” He wasn’t the only one who had learned something. She had, too. “The number of classics you’ve read doesn’t amount to much at all. I had that guy. Married and divorced him.”
“I’ll never cheat on you.”
It was an unbreakable vow delivered in a clear, ringing voice. She felt the sureness of it down to her toes. “I know I can count on that. On you.”
He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. When he raised his head, the worry had disappeared. “All I want is a chance to show you I’m not that stupid kid who pushed you away.”
“What are you?” She knew but she wanted to make sure he did.
“A grown man who wants you very much. A guy who wants to build something with you. Learn from you. Grow with you.”
She closed her eyes on a wave of happiness. It winged through her hard enough to knock her over, but Heath’s strong hands kept her on her feet. “Those are the words of a smart man, Heath.”
“I’ve been falling for you for months now.” He balanced his forehead on hers. “Loving you is not hard.”
Tears pressed against the back of her eyes. “I feel the same way about you. It was easy to love the man and forget the boy.”
His lips met hers in a kiss that went on, pressing and caressing, stealing their words and sapping their strength until they leaned against each other for support.
When it ended, she buried her head against his neck and inhaled the musky smell of his skin. “Now what?”
His shoulders tensed. “Depends on how slow you want to take this.”
The way his tone dropped low and his body shifted had her wondering. She lifted her head to get a good look at him. Wasn’t hard to see where his mind had traveled. She could feel his muscles tremble. See the question in his eyes.
“Are you making a proposition, Mr. Sanders?”
“Nate told me to be home by curfew.” Heath pretended to look at his watch, but his arm was bare. “That gives us a few hours.”
She glanced over his head at the bedroom. “So the answer to that question I asked all those years ago is finally yes?”
“Definitely. See, I’m a lot smarter these days.”
So was she. “I plan on letting you prove that to me for a long time.”
“Like, maybe forty years or so?”
She slid her hand in his and led him toward the bedroom. “Sounds like a good start.”
Copiright Notices
“For the Love of Wendy” by Lori Foster copyright © 2010 by Lori Foster.
“Avas Haven” by Jules Bennett copyright © 2010 by Jules Bennett.
“Skin Deep” by Heidi Betts copyright © 2010 by Heidi Betts.
“Atticus Gets a Mommy”by Ann Christopher copyright © 2010 by Sally Moore.
“The Redemption of Brodie Grant” by Lisa Cooke copyright © 2010 by Lisa Cooke.
“The Wolf Watcher’s Diet” by Paige Cuccaro copyright © 2010 by Paige Cuccaro.
“A Fairy Precious Love” by Gia Dawn copyright © 2010 by Gia Raterman.
“Second Time Around” by HelenKay Dimon copyright © 2010 by HelenKay Dimon.