She swallowed hard, her mouth completely dry. “Maybe.”
He pulled her to him, his mouth covering hers. She let out a sigh as she tilted her head and let him devour her. Her pressed her to the door and put his hand up her dress, rubbing the outside of her satin panties at the center of her heat.
“Same time tonight?” he said between kisses.
She nodded, feeing as if she could come any second from just that little bit of stimulation.
“Good.” He pulled back, removing his hand from under her dress.
She narrowed her eyes at him, but couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “That was cruel.”
“But now you’ll think of me all day, dying for the moment I finish you off.”
“You’re so damn cocky.” She shook her head as she turned the knob and left. But he was so damn right. After what had happened the night before, and just now, she’d be thinking about him all day. And it was going drag by.
Raelyn made it to Laney and Sawyer’s apartment by five-thirty. She had twenty-five minutes to shower—possibly masturbate—and get out the door. When she walked in, Sawyer sat at the kitchen table.
“Morning.” He eyed her dress and shoved a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
“Good morning,” she said as she quickly passed by him.
“Were you at Hayes’ place all night?”
She stopped in the doorway and turned to him. “Not that it’s any of your business, but yes.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
“Listen. I know you think you need to protect me or something because I’m your girlfriend’s little sister, but I’m an adult and I can take care of myself. He’s not the bad guy you say he is. I don’t think you know anything about him.” Raelyn crossed her arms over her chest and stared him in the eyes. “And besides…good people make mistakes. You of all people should know that.”
She didn’t know if Laney had told Sawyer that Raelyn knew about his indiscretions, but he sure as hell knew now. His eyes had widened, not another word out of his mouth. She continued with her morning routine and by the time she returned to the kitchen, he was already gone.
Busy morning at the diner, as usual. She took her first break at ten and had Charlie make her one of his specialty omelets: bacon, chives, and Gouda. She took a seat at a booth in the back of the diner and could finally process everything that had happened the night before.
The sex. Oh. My. God. She’d thought the night in the park had been good. That had been nothing. This man knew how to work a woman’s body. Knew how to work his own equipment. It sounded so cliché, but he was seriously a master of orgasms.
When it was all said and done, and she’d lain in his arms, she’d felt so safe. Secure. She couldn’t understand Sawyer’s warnings at all. Hayes put up a good front, for good reason, and most of the people in town must have formed their own opinions without knowing anything about him. She felt really sad for him being judged like that. And no one had a clue what was really going on in his life.
He hadn’t said it, but his ex must have done a number on him. It’s horrible enough to leave a baby behind, but her leaving had scarred him more than it had Hannah. She could see it in his eyes. Hayes wasn’t someone who doled out love very easily. Maybe he used to. Maybe her leaving had burned him so badly that he never thought he could trust a woman again.
Raelyn was drawn to him, and for so much more than the sex. There was good in him, kindness…love. And she was determined to learn everything he would allow her to know.
*
Hayes finished job number two for the day, the higher-than-average temperatures making both jobs miserable, and made it home at almost seven-thirty. Raelyn was due to arrive at eight, just like last night. He’d spent most of his day dreaming about her body, like a horny teen, and fighting like hell to keep his hard-on at bay.
He’d also spent much of his day ignoring how good it had felt to sleep with her in his arms.
As he headed up the steps of the boarding house, his phone rang in his pocket. Hannah calling to Facetime with him. “Hey, Sweetpea,” he said as he answered, her angelic face appearing on his screen.
“Hi Daddy! Look what I made at school today!” She held up a drawing of a rainbow with stick figures under it. “It’s me and Grandma and you. Our family.”
Hannah never asked why she didn’t have a mother and he was thankful. He wasn’t prepared to answer that question yet. “It’s beautiful. I hope Grandma hangs it on the fridge so I can see it when I visit next.”
Hayes unlocked his door and strolled in, taking a seat on his bed to listen to his daughter talk about her day of school and what she had for dinner. He loved how animated she was when she talked. The one thing she did inherit from her mother. Cassie’s face had always lit up like that when she was excited. Especially when she talked about the places she wanted to visit, the things she wanted to accomplish with her life. She’d never planned on staying in the tiny town of Monroe.
As Hannah told him a story about the cake she and Grandma made, there was a knock at the door. His gaze shot to the clock. “Damn it,” he whispered.
“What’s wrong, Daddy?”
“Nothing, Sweetpea. Just hold on a second.” He headed for the door, unsure how to handle this. Raelyn stood there, looking delicious as ever, her scent swirling around him. “Hi.”
She stood tall and brushed her lips against his. “Hi to you, too.”
She tried to step forward, but he didn’t budge. He felt awful about the confused look on her face. “I’m…uh. On the phone.” He held it up. “With Hannah.”
“Oh. Of course. I’ll come back.” She turned to leave.
“Wait. It’s okay. It’s almost her bedtime anyway.”
He motioned her in and closed the door behind.
“Daddy? Who’s there?”
He lifted the phone back to his face, Hannah’s adorable little eyebrows knitted in confusion. “Just a friend of mine.”
“Who is it? Is sounds like a girl.”
He peered at Raelyn over the edge of his phone, wide smile on her face, and couldn’t help the grin that formed on his own. “It is a girl. I can’t pull anything over on you, can I?”
“Nope! Is she pretty? I wanna see her.”
Shit. None of the women he usually slept with even knew he had a daughter. He’d never introduced Hannah to a girlfriend, because there had never been one. This thing with Raelyn was new and he still had no clue what it was, if it was going anywhere. If he wanted it to. He certainly didn’t want Hannah to “meet” Raelyn if she planned on disappearing from their lives, even if it was just on Facetime.
“Daddy! Let me see her!”
Bossy little thing. She definitely got that from her daddy. “Okay. Okay.”
As he walked toward the bed where Raelyn sat, his stomach felt like a jumble of nerves. He sat down next to her and positioned the phone so both their faces were in the little box on the upper right hand side.
“Hi,” Raelyn said and gave a little wave.
“Hi! I’m Hannah! What’s your name? You’re really pretty!”
“Thank you. I’m Raelyn. You’re really pretty, too.”
“Thanks. My grandma did my hair in pigtails today with these fancy bows. See?” She swiveled her little head, trying to get one of them in the screen.
Raelyn giggled. “I see. They’re really cute.”
“So are you my daddy’s girlfriend? He never had a girlfriend before.”
“Whoa! Okay!” Hayes said as he stood. “Isn’t it almost bedtime? You need to go brush your teeth and say your prayers.”
“But I want to talk to Raelyn some more. I like her.”
“Not tonight.”
“Tomorrow?”
“I don’t know, Sweetpea. But we’ll talk soon, okay?”
She sighed audibly. “Oh—kay. Love you, Daddy.”
“Love you, too. Good night.” He ended the call and set the phone on his desk. “I’m sorry about that.”
/>
“Don’t be.” Raelyn stood. “That was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. You’re a big softee.”
“I guess my cover’s blown. So much for my macho image.”
“Don’t worry. I still think you’re super macho.” She stepped closer. “Hannah’s adorable. And she looks just like you.”
“So you think I’m adorable?”
“I do.” She ran her hands up his chest, his tee shirt and body covered in dirt and grime, and kissed him.
“I didn’t get to take a shower yet. She called just as I walked in the door.”
“That’s okay. I already took one, but I’m sure I missed a few spots.” She yanked her shirt over her head and it fluttered to the floor. “And I’ve been dreaming about shower sex all day long.”
They undressed and he yanked her into the bathroom with him, laughter in his ears. God, he loved hearing it. Almost as much as he loved hearing her moans as she came, his name on her lips. And he was starting to think he might like to hear them for a long time. Maybe forever.
*
Raelyn lay in Hayes’ arms in the dark, moonlight shining in through the one window in his room. He caressed her hair, her skin, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
After some hot sex in the shower, they’d moved to the bed. It was different there. Soft and tender, kisses and caresses. Not like Hayes at all. At least not the man she’d come to know. It was another side of someone she’d started to feel very deeply for.
“We got married young. Cassie and me.”
Raelyn raised her chin and met his gaze. Even in the dark, she could see his eyes. She ran a hand through his hair, still a little damp from the shower. “You don’t have to talk about her.”
“I want you to know.” He kissed her gently and pulled back. “We didn’t have plans to have any kids or anything. At least not then. She wanted to be a fancy photographer and travel the world. I just wanted to be with her. I knew I could find work wherever we went. We were getting ready to leave Monroe, but then she found out she was pregnant. There were some complications and whatever, and she was really sick for most of it. Had to stay in bed. After Hannah came, she was just…different. She didn’t want to take care of her. I woke up to feed her at night. I changed all her diapers. One day I came home from work and she said she was leaving. Her bags were packed. I tried to talk her out of it, but I could tell she was lost. I thought maybe she just needed some time away. A few months went by and I hadn’t heard a peep from her. She didn’t even call to check on her daughter. Then divorce papers showed up on my doorstep.”
“What did you do?”
“I signed ‘em and mailed ‘em back to the office of some lawyer in Nashville. I was angry and heartbroken, but I had no choice. She gave up on us. Abandoned her husband and her own flesh and blood. I didn’t handle it real well and spent the next few months drinking myself into oblivion and fucking anything with a pussy. Until my mom got sick of my shit and slapped me around. Literally slapped me and shook me out of it. My daughter needed a father, not a man wasting his life away.”
Raelyn didn’t know what to say, but she suddenly understood everything about him. Why he was the way he was, why he didn’t let anyone get close. He was protecting himself.
“I tried finding her once,” he continued. “I didn’t get far and I didn’t have any money to hire anyone. If she wanted to be found, she would have contacted us.”
Raelyn snuggled close, wrapping her arms tight around him. “I’m so sorry. What she did to you was awful.”
“It’s not about me. I got over it a long time ago. It’s Hannah that I worry about. I know she’ll ask about her someday, and maybe by then I’ll figure out the right words to say her own mother didn’t want her. Luckily we have my mom. She’s been raisin’ her ever since Cassie left. And when I had to leave Monroe to find real work, she took on even more. I don’t know what I would have done without her.”
“She sounds like a wonderful lady.”
“Tough as nails, but she loves us with all her heart. And when I get out of line, she kicks me back in.”
“You’re lucky. My mom doesn’t really care about me or my sister. Unless we’re embarrassing her. The second we screw up, and tarnish her perfect reputation, she practically disowns us.”
“So that’s the reason you came back to Fort Mavis after the arrest? Your mom kicked you out?”
“Not really, but I couldn’t stay in that house with her and her disappointment.”
“Looks like we’re both just a couple of screw-ups.”
“I guess we should stick together.”
He smiled at her. “I guess we should.”
Hayes titled her chin upward, kissing her deeply. She felt safe and warm in his arms and had never felt so connected to anyone in her life.
Chapter 11
Hayes woke a second morning with Raelyn tucked into his side. Damn, it felt good…natural. He’d felt compelled to talk to her last night, tell her what he’d been through. He wanted her to know. It had just felt right. To have that weight off his shoulders. Now they could…what? Did he even know what he wanted with her? He sure didn’t, but he liked being with her. She made him…happy. It had been a long-ass time since anything—or anyone but Hannah—had done that for him.
His alarm went off and Raelyn groaned in annoyance. He reached for it and silenced it, then pulled her close. He didn’t want to move. He wanted to stay like that.
“What time do you work today?” he asked.
“I don’t. It’s my day off.”
That made him perk up. He rarely took a day off or called in sick. This seemed like as good a time as any. He grabbed his phone again and typed a quick text to his ranch manager.
“Everything okay?” she mumbled against his chest.
“Perfect.”
They fell back into delicious slumber and didn’t wake until eight, the longest he’d slept in a long, long time. And it felt damn good. He held Raelyn in his arms, her hand rested on his chest. His slid down her back, a squeeze of her ass. She took his morning wood and began to stroke it. Man, he loved that they were on the same page.
But then she surprised him by shimmying down his body and wrapping her sizzling mouth around his dick. Holy fuck, did that feel good. In only minutes she had him writhing in ecstasy, ready to return the orgasmic favor.
A couple hours later, they were sweaty, spent, and ready for nourishment.
“There’s a little BBQ place just outside town. You game?” he asked.
She raised an eyebrow, devious grin. “Mr. Turner, are you asking me out on a date?”
“It’s just lunch. We do have to eat.” He slapped her ass and she squealed. “Need to replenish our energy.”
“So just eating? No conversation?”
He knew what she was doing. “Okay. Fine. Call it whatever you want. I don’t care, as long as you say yes.”
She climbed on top of him, those big amber eyes staring down at him. “Yes.”
And damn it, his heart skipped a beat. This woman was breaking him down, breaking down his defenses, and he was okay with that. Maybe it was time.
They dressed and headed out, and when Raelyn slipped her hand into his as the walked from the truck to the restaurant, he didn’t flinch. He actually squeezed it tighter. He didn’t want to let go when they were seated. Was this what it felt like to care about a woman, to fall in love? It had been so damn long, he couldn’t remember. He’d started dating Cassie in high school.
His phone started to ring in his pocket. He pulled it out, prepared to silence the ringer.
“I’m sorry,” he said to Raelyn. “I gotta take this.” She nodded and he stayed at the table to take the call. “Hey, Mama. What’s up?”
“Hannah had a little accident today.”
Fear surged through his body. “What happened?”
“It’s nothing. She fell off the jungle gym at school. It’s just a bad sprain, but I wanted you to know. She’s home, resting it for the rest of th
e day.”
“I’ll be there in an hour.”
“No. Don’t do that. You have work to do.”
“I took the day off. Tell her I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up and met Raelyn’s expectant gaze.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Hannah fell. She’s okay, but I really want to see her.”
“Oh my God. Of course.” She grabbed her purse and shimmied out of the booth. “Just take me home real quick and then you can get out there.”
He stood to her, his heart racing. Was he really about to do this? He took her hand. “I want you to come with me.”
“You do?”
“If you want to.”
She intertwined her fingers with his. “I’d like that very much.”
They ordered some BBQ take out and were on their way. Nervous energy pulsed in his chest. He’d never introduced his daughter to a woman before. This was huge. And maybe he hadn’t really thought it through properly.
But then he looked over at Raelyn, the breeze blowing through her hair, a content smile on her face. Damn it. He was falling for her.
She turned to him and reached over, taking his hand in hers, a little squeeze. “I’m really excited to meet her.”
And with that, his nerves eased. It all just felt…right.
*
Raelyn knew how important this was. Hayes had opened himself to her in a way she’d never expected. She doubted that he’d ever done this before and knew what it meant. He was letting her in. This man had come into her life in such a crazy way and she never expected to want to get to know him, to have the feelings she did for him.
But she also she knew how careful she had to be. He’d been hurt so badly. One wrong move and the wall would be built up even tighter than before.
They pulled onto a dirt driveway leading to a small singlewide trailer. Not in the best shape, it had a ripped awning and a window that had been broken and repaired with only plastic and tape.
Hayes put the truck in park and cut the engine. He met her on the passenger side and took her hand in his, walking her toward the door. But it opened before they got there.
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