“So, what now?”
He took a step back. “Now I cool my jets and let you have some space to think things over.”
She gripped his forearms. “You’re leaving?”
“Sweetheart, if I stay, I’m not going to want to leave. And if I make love to you, then I really won’t want to leave. Maybe a one-night break is a good thing. We can both clear our heads. Can I see you tomorrow night?”
“Of course.” She was too conflicted to think straight. “But I don’t want you to leave.”
He tucked her hair behind her ear. “But you don’t want me to stay, either, and as much as I have to protect your heart, I also need to protect mine.”
Chapter Fourteen
FRIDAY BROUGHT SUNSHINE and conflict. Two opposing forces that wreaked havoc with Ally’s mind. On her way to meet Amanda for lunch, Ally read through the thread of texts she and Heath had exchanged over the morning.
Heath: Good morning, beautiful. Missed you last night.
Ally: I missed you, too. Can’t wait to see you tonight.
An hour later…
Heath: What do you want to do tonight?
Ally: You.
Heath: Shouldn’t you wine and dine me first?
Ally: If you’re into that sort of thing, sure.
Heath: I’m more than a sex machine. I think I’ll wine and dine you. Do you like clubs or someplace quiet?
Ally: Your choice. I just want to be with you.
Heath: Careful, sweetheart. That sounds an awful lot like you’re falling for me.
Ten minutes ago…
Heath: How about if we go to my place after dinner? You’ve never been there.
Ally’s pulse quickened at the idea of entering Heath’s private lair. Part of her saw spending time at her apartment as having a modicum of control, only she hadn’t realized that until she’d read his text, and now, relinquishing control to Heath was surprisingly easier than it had been last night.
Ally: Yes. But I still don’t think I can stay over.
Heath: Way to kill a guy’s hopes.
Ally walked into the café around the corner from the hospital to meet Amanda and sent a quick response.
Keep hoping. You never know when I’ll change my mind.
She stood just inside the doorway of the café, surveying the tables and booths, looking for Amanda. The line to the counter at the opposite end of the café ran along the wall to her left and stopped just a few feet short of where she stood.
“Ally!”
She spotted Amanda in a booth by the wall. The heels of Ally’s boots clicked as she made her way to the booth and slid in across from Amanda.
“I didn’t see you. Sorry.” She set her purse behind her and eyed Amanda, whose blouse was unbuttoned lower than usual. When they’d spoken in the morning, Amanda had said that her date was a dud. He’d been cute and sweet, but too nice. Ally didn’t know a guy could be too nice for Amanda. For her? Sure. But for her conservative sister? She needed details.
“What is up with you?”
Amanda’s eyes widened. “Nothing is up.” She straightened her napkin on her lap, and when her name was called, indicating their food was ready, she jumped up to get their order. “I’ve got it.”
Ally hadn’t seen Amanda look so excited in a long time. She watched her sister hustle across the floor in a pair of black heels that were higher than what she usually wore. She knew her sister reserved these particular sexy heels for special occasions. With them, Amanda wore a tight black skirt that accentuated her tiny waist, and if Ally wasn’t mistaken—which, after twenty-six years, she surely was not—her sister’s ass swayed in a way that had available written all over it.
What the hell?
“Here we go.” Amanda set the tray on the table and slid into the booth, handing Ally the salad she’d ordered for her. She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear, while Ally tried not to sneer at the two guys checking out her sister from a nearby table.
“Here we go? Like I didn’t just watch some sex kitten who used to be my conservative sister slink up to the counter?” Ally smiled as she stabbed a tomato and pointed it at Amanda. “What happened to you last night?”
Amanda shrugged. “I don’t know. Jeb was really sweet. He was smart and funny and nice.”
“Yeah, you gave me that already. Too nice, if I remember correctly.”
“Right. Too nice. And it got me thinking.” Amanda took a bite of her salad.
“Are you going to clue me in, or am I supposed to guess this part?”
“Remember Kevin?”
“Boring Kevin? How could I forget?” Amanda had dated Kevin for two months. He was so quiet that Ally had thought he was mute the first time she’d met him.
“And do you remember M.J.?”
Ally rolled her eyes. Another boring boyfriend Amanda had dated for a few weeks.
“Right. Well, what do my previous boyfriends tell you about me?”
“That you like boring guys?”
“No, that I’m a boring-guy magnet. Whereas you’re a hot-guy magnet.” She raised her brows. “Speaking of hot guys. I saw your man walk out of NightCaps last night.”
“Yeah, I know. We can go back to him in a sec.” She set a serious stare on Amanda. “Tell me about you. You do realize that you’ve sexed yourself up enough that guys will expect more from you than hand-holding and fluttering eyelashes, right?”
“I am the older sister, you know.” Amanda set down her fork and wiped her mouth, then folded her hands in her lap and pulled her shoulders back. “I’m just testing the waters. Last night one of the partners in my firm, Mick Bad, was at NightCaps. I told him I was going there on a date with a guy from our building, and then I saw him up at the bar with some other guys, and he kept stealing glances at me. Mick’s a real sex machine. I mean, our female clients dress in six-inch heels when they have meetings with him, and I know it’s for his benefit.”
“Mandy, those women can probably handle six-inch heels and sex-machine guys. But you’re not that girl.”
“Relax. I don’t want to sleep with Mick.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Or maybe I do, but I won’t. He’s way out of my league. But it made me think about what I do want. I liked that he was looking at me last night. I like the way he was looking at me. I was more intrigued by him than my date. So…” She motioned toward her outfit. “I’m running an experiment. To see what happens if I dress a little sexier.”
Ally shifted her gaze to the guys who were still eyeing Amanda, only now they were eyeing Ally, too.
“I’d say you’re definitely gaining a wider audience. Are you sure you want to do this? I’m not sure you can handle the kind of guys you’re going to attract. You have a killer body, you know.”
Amanda blushed. “Thank you, but just because I gain attention doesn’t mean I have to go out with the guys. I’ll be careful. I promise.”
“Well, I can’t say it’s a bad look for you. You’re totally hot, but I know what dressing provocatively can bring on, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I get it. Okay. Now can we move on?” She touched Ally’s hand. “What’s up with your guy?”
“My guy.” Ally sighed. “I really, really like my guy.”
“You’re gushing. You never gush.”
“I know. I’m conflicted and I’m not conflicted at the same time, which makes no sense.” She met her sister’s curious gaze.
“I’m really good at deciphering things, you know. Maybe I can help. What’s got you worried?” Amanda crossed her arms and settled back in the booth.
“How much I feel and how fast I feel it.” Ally glanced at the people walking by, trying to determine why it was bothering her that she and Heath were moving fast.
“That would probably throw me for a loop, too, but you know fast is how you are in everything you do. You knew with your last boyfriend that he was going to be a long-term boyfriend right away, but you also knew he wasn’t the one.”
“My cheating ex?” She’d
stopped using his name after they broke up.
“Yes, but you knew he wasn’t the guy you were going to marry. You told me that the first week you dated him. You said he wasn’t marriage material but he was more than a few nights’ material, remember?”
“No.” Ally didn’t remember saying that, but she did remember feeling that way.
“I think you’re pretty intuitive. You knew you wanted the job at the hospital after talking to the HR person over the phone. And you have always said that you get a feeling about things and you follow your gut, so what does your gut tell you?”
“That’s the problem.” Ally pushed her salad around on her plate with her fork, no longer hungry. “Every part of me wants more. More time with him, more time to get to know him. But it scares the heck out of me. What if I’m wrong? What if we spend more time and then…I don’t know, it just goes to shit?”
Amanda shrugged one shoulder. “I’m the careful one, remember?”
“Mandy, I need your help.”
“No, you don’t. Not really. You need to figure out your pros and cons. What do you have to gain?”
“Possibly the happiest, greatest feeling of my life on a daily basis.” Ally couldn’t suppress her smile at the thought of spending more time with Heath, but as Amanda asked what she had to lose, her smile faded.
“Lose? You mean my cons list? What if I get hurt?” The knot in her stomach tightened.
“What if you do? Don’t all relationships have that risk? And why are you being so careful anyway? You usually make a decision and go with it.”
“I’m afraid of getting hurt.”
“You’ve been hurt before and you survived. How is this different?”
Ally chewed on that question for a few minutes, trying to figure out why she was hesitating. When the realization hit, it stung like a swarm of bees.
“Because this time I care. I’m falling in love with him, and I’ve never been in love before.”
“Oh, Ally.” Amanda reached across the table and took her sister’s hand. “If you’re really falling for him, then that’s a wonderful thing. You’re supposed to feel scared and wonderful at the same time. Trust me. I’ve done my research. I’ve read every romance novel written in the last ten years, watched every romantic movie, and sat in the wings of life longingly watching couples that are in love.”
“Aw, Mandy…” She squeezed her sister’s hand, and when her sister waved her off, obviously not wanting her pity, Ally said, “So you don’t think I’m crazy?”
Amanda laughed. “You’re one of the sanest people I know. Okay, this is the truth.” She narrowed her eyes and lowered her chin in the listen-to-me-baby-sister way she always had. “I might give you shit about your sexual escapades, which I know are not that plentiful but scare me all the same, because you’re my sister and I never want anything bad to happen to you. But you’re out there living life, following your desires. You know what you like and what you don’t like, and I don’t just mean sexually. You’re that way with life in general, and that’s a huge thing. So whatever you’re feeling for Heath is probably very real. I might be older than you, but I’m only now beginning to even think about those things. And even just dressing differently today was empowering. I’m beginning to understand what you’ve known all along.”
“Really?” Ally soaked in her sister’s praise, so thankful for her honesty that she felt near tears.
“Really.”
“I don’t want to be blamed if you meet creeps. In fact, you should tell me where you go with your dates so I can keep an eye on you.”
“Hopefully you’ll be too busy with Mr. Right to hang around watching me.”
Mr. Right.
She’d never really contemplated finding Mr. Right. Then again, she’d never contemplated adopting a blind kitty until she’d found Fifi, either—and she’d never once regretted adopting her.
Maybe some things are meant to be.
Chapter Fifteen
HEATH HADN’T BEEN able to take his eyes off of Ally all evening. Not while they ate dinner, not while they walked through the city, and not now, as he hailed a cab to take them to his mother’s house. She looked too damn sexy in a form-fitting black dress that skimmed her knees. Everything about her was mesmerizing, from the way she twirled her hair when she was nervous to the way her eyes lit up when she spoke about her sister and parents. As he draped an arm over her shoulder and they watched a cab approach, he still couldn’t pinpoint what it was about her that had completely enraptured him from the start. And he no longer cared. Being with Ally was right as rain, and he wasn’t going to pick it apart or look for holes in it.
All day he’d been looking forward to seeing her and bringing her further into his life. He’d almost asked Logan to take his place visiting his mother tonight, but at the last minute he’d realized that if he really wanted Ally in his life, she had to accept all of him, including the time he dedicated to his family. Ally had actually sounded excited to meet her.
“Are you sure you’re still okay with stopping by my mom’s?”
“Of course. I can’t wait to meet the woman who raised you.” She smiled and touched his cheek. She touched him a lot, and it never failed to make him smile. He loved how affectionate she was and how nothing felt forced or unnatural.
“From everything you’ve told me, your mother sounds pretty incredible.” She took a step back as the cab pulled up.
Heath held the door for Ally. “Four rambunctious boys, each two years apart? She had her hands full.”
He tried to ignore the fact that Ally’s dress inched up when she sat down. She gazed up at him through thick lashes, her hair tumbled over her shoulders in loose curls, and her seductive femininity was too potent to resist. He slid a hand to the nape of her neck and pulled her in closer. He brushed his lips over hers, gently covering her mouth, and when she responded, he devoured her softness. Taking every breath she was willing to give, he deepened the kiss, and his hand touched the edge of her dress. He fought the urge to touch her, to seek her heat, and he was surprised by his own restraint.
As their lips parted, her eyes remained closed, and he wanted her more than ever. But he wanted more than the cheap thrill of touching her or taking her over the edge in the back of a cab. He wanted that, too. Of course he did. Naughtiness was part of their relationship. They both knew it. But everything was changing in his heart and his mind, and the thought of the cabdriver seeing her midorgasm made his gut twist with jealousy.
In that moment Heath knew that everything had changed.
He’d completely fallen in love with Ally, and he never wanted to look back.
***
HEATH’S MOTHER’S HOUSE was not what Ally had imagined for a family of six. The small, two-story had a long driveway and sat among other similar houses, with a narrow front porch and two dormers on the second floor.
“This is where you grew up?” she asked.
“Yes. It seems small, right?” Heath asked as they followed a sidewalk from the driveway around to a postage-stamp-sized fenced-in backyard.
“A little.”
“There’s only one bedroom upstairs, which Logan and I shared. It was barely big enough for our bunk bed. Jackson and Cooper shared a bunk bed in the loft.” He led her up a set of concrete steps to a small covered porch.
“Did you mind sharing a room?” She and Amanda had each had their own room growing up, and she wasn’t sure she would have wanted the constant companionship of a roommate when she was a teenager.
“Sometimes, but it’s probably why we’re all so close. We had to work out our differences. There was no place to hide from them.” He knocked on the door and peered in the window, before walking into a tidy modern kitchen.
“Mom?” he called toward the living room, which Ally could see through an arched opening as they passed through the kitchen.
“Heath? Honey? Is that you?” Heath’s mother held on to the railing as she came down the stairs. She was a pretty woman, with dark
shoulder-length hair and a warm smile. Her olive skin looked soft and youthful, though as Heath went to her side and Ally stepped closer, the fine lines around her eyes and the soft etching in her cheeks gave away her age.
“Yes, it is.” With one hand on his mother’s lower back, he held his other arm out to guide her as they descended the stairs to the living room.
“Ally is with you?” She lifted gray-blue eyes directly toward Ally.
Ally reached for her hand. “Hi. Yes, I’m right here.”
“Hi, Ally. I’m Mary Lou. What a pleasure it is to meet you.” She opened her arms and embraced her, holding her a moment longer than Ally expected.
“Won’t you please have a seat?” She motioned toward the couch, still holding Heath’s arm as he guided her around a recliner to an olive-green couch.
Ally sat in a recliner, and Heath came to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. Ally could feel nervous tension in his touch. She placed her hand over his to let him know she was okay.
“Heath tells me that you work at the hospital, too. In the lab,” Mary Lou said. Before Ally could respond, she added, “Lovey, sit down. You’re making me nervous.”
“How do you know I’m not sitting in the other recliner?” Heath said as he sank down on the other side of the couch.
Mary Lou smiled and folded her hands in her lap. “Mothers have eyes everywhere.”
Ally liked Mary Lou’s easy nature. “My mother says that she knows where we are in her house at all times by the feel of the room.”
“That is very true for me, too,” Mary Lou said. “The minute my boys walk into the house, I can sense their moods. Take Heath, for example. He’s been smiling since he arrived, yes?”
She glanced at the easy smile on Heath’s face. “Yes, he has.”
“But I can tell he’s a little nervous, too,” his mother added.
“Okay, thanks for that, Mom.” Heath shook his head.
“Well, you are a little nervous, aren’t you, honey?”
Heath sighed, and his mother waved dismissively in his direction. “When Cooper, my youngest, comes over, he’s a whirlwind of energy. I can always tell if he’s had a bad day, because the whirlwind has a heaviness to it, and it has nothing to do with losing my sight. It was the same way when they were little. I could hear the door open after school, and from the sound of the feet on the hardwood I knew who it was. Heath’s a careful stepper, soft and direct, while Logan’s steps have always been determined.” She turned toward Heath. “Don’t you agree, lovey? And Jackson, he’s a little complicated. He’s either stealthy, like he’s on the prowl, or he’s determined.”
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