Even though Hayden resented the question, Alec didn’t change the subject, so she felt obliged to answer. “We haven’t been engaged for long, at least not officially,” she explained. “But we’ve been a couple ever since elementary school. We moved in together in our early twenties, and then we bought the house two years …” She suddenly stopped, realizing what she had just said. “I mean, we … we were a couple. I … I’m sorry.”
She was horrified that her voice had begun to tremble, so she lowered her eyes.
Thankfully, Alec didn’t press on. Instead, he said, “I didn’t tell Shane we’re having dinner tonight.”
First Heath, and now Shane. It seemed she was doomed to spend her evening discussing the Fitzpatricks. “Oh, I didn’t know that. Were you afraid he would make a stink?”
“Well, Shane hasn’t been my partner for very long, but I don’t want to irritate him. I got the feeling he didn’t like the thought of you seeing another man.”
“That’s his problem, though.” She shook her head firmly. “I don’t owe him an explanation for anything I do.”
“Maybe you don’t,” he joked dryly, “but it’s a little different for me. He is my partner, after all. If his brother—”
“His brother,” she interrupted quietly but insistently, “broke up with me. Heath has no right to tell me what to do. And neither does Shane.”
“Well.” Alec scratched his chin with a sheepish expression. “A furious Fitzpatrick can be a rather frightful sight.”
Hayden snorted with righteous anger. “The Fitzpatricks really ought to step off their high horses and take a good look in the mirror.”
Alec chuckled and took a sip of his beer. “Does that mean you’re not on good terms with the clan?”
She shook her head abruptly. “The Fitzpatricks have always been like family to me. Kayleigh is my best friend, and Shane, Kyle, and Ryan are like brothers, but …”
“But what?”
“Sometimes it’s not easy,” she confessed, wrinkling her nose, “because they’re just everywhere. At the moment, I feel like I can’t do a single thing without all of them knowing about it and of course telling me what they think about it. That can be a little exhausting.”
“Have you ever thought of moving away, like your mother did?”
“Well, not really. My mom’s originally from Illinois and wanted to leave Boston as soon as my dad died, but she stayed here because of me. And then once I’d grown up, I decided to stay, because Heath was here, after all.” She maintained an impassive face, although she felt more like crying. And then she surprised herself by telling the relative stranger, “But recently I have been thinking about moving. The Fitzpatricks are great, and I really don’t want to lose them, but they’re Heath’s family, not mine.”
“That would be an awfully big step,” her date pointed out.
“Yes, it would be,” she murmured. She had a closer relationship with Ellen than she did with her own mother. She loved the boys and couldn’t imagine not seeing Kayleigh every day. On the other hand she knew she would never get over Heath if she remained a member of the Fitzpatrick clan. Apart from a few fellow teachers, she had no friends in Boston that weren’t somehow connected to Heath and his family. She felt as if she were stumbling through life, surrounded by constant reminders of him.
A move was the only sensible thing to do, but it was also the most difficult decision she could ever make.
“From my own experience, I can tell you that a move was the best thing for me.” Alec smiled broadly. “But of course I’d rather see you stay here.”
“And here I thought you were eager to get rid of me.”
“No way!” In a slightly more serious tone, he added, “Before I moved, I was just about to ask my girlfriend if she would marry me, but then I found out that she’d slept with a few of my colleagues. Believe me, Hayden, I know what it feels like to be hurt to the core.”
She was glad that her own broken engagement was no longer the topic of their conversation, so she asked, “Could you have forgiven her for that?”
After a few seconds, he shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. How could I have trusted her again?”
“Oh.”
He ran a hand through his blond hair and gave her an apologetic look. “As you can see, I’m pretty strict. Once a cheater, always a cheater, that’s what I believe. So my ex can fool whoever she wants now—but she won’t fool me ever again.”
Hayden shrugged, looking thoughtful, and then mustered a sad smile. “I think I could forgive a lot of things. We all make mistakes. The important part is, do we regret them?”
Hayden walked home slowly, enjoying the evening air. She was strolling down her block, her handbag swinging from her wrist, when she suddenly paused mid-step.
Heath was sitting on the steps of her front porch.
She was stunned to see him there, watching her come closer, a frown on his face.
Automatically squaring her shoulders, she stepped along the driveway and through the front yard.
After the lengthy dinner, which had left her feeling rather dejected, a late-evening visit from Heath was the last thing she had expected.
“Hello,” she murmured when she’d reached the porch.
“Hi.” Heath tilted his head back and stared up at her, his face unreadable. “Where have you been?”
“I was out,” she said tersely. “Why didn’t you go in? Did you come to pick up your things?” She opened her handbag and rummaged for her keys.
“Who were you out with?”
The hairs on the back of her neck rose at his gruff tone. When she looked up from her bag, she was staring straight at his chest. He stood tensely on the steps. Adjusting her gaze, she met his frown with an angry glance. “With Shane’s new colleague, Alec. He asked me out, so we went to dinner.”
Lord! Why did it give her such an irrational sense of satisfaction that his face turned dark red?
“You went out with Shane’s new partner?”
“Yes.” She pushed past him, climbed the steps, and unlocked the door, her fingers trembling a little. She could hardly hear his heavy steps following her inside above her own heartbeat pounding loudly in her ears.
Ignoring his fuming anger, she put her handbag on the old table in the hall, the one they had picked out together at a flea market last summer and remodeled. Then she slipped out of her shoes and pointed to the large boxes she had packed for him. They had been standing next to the staircase for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for him to pick them up.
So far, he hadn’t bothered to do so.
“Did you come here with the car? Two of them are rather heavy, and—” She gasped as he grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. “Heath!”
“You went out with another man?”
His self-righteous manner infuriated her and made her want to jerk free from his steely grip. She stuck out her chin angrily and looked him in his green eyes, which seemed to glow with an unholy fire, while his dark brows knit together in a deep frown.
“Let go of me right now, you ogre!”
“Did he try anything? I’m going to beat the living shit out of that—”
“Shut up!” she hissed at him. “You have no right to get angry about the fact that I had a date!”
“But—”
“You broke up with me, Heath!” Hayden yelled, struggling to ignore the warm feeling of his strong, familiar body so close, refusing to acknowledge the goose bumps that started to spread over her entire body at his touch. “We’ve been broken up for over three months! So stop acting like you have any right to ask me where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing!”
“Dammit, Hayden!” he growled, pushing his face closer to hers. “You can’t go out with a cop! You can’t go out with any other man!”
If she were still wearing her shoes, she would have kicked his shin right now, she swore herself. Instead, she pulled at his grip and shouted, “Excuse me, but you are the one who sleeps with other
women!”
When he pressed his lips together and shook his head violently, she cringed. “I did not sleep with another woman, for heaven’s sake!”
Hayden was dumbfounded and ceased struggling against him. She stood motionless and opened her mouth in confusion. His grip relaxed immediately.
“What? What’s that supposed to mean?”
When he didn’t answer, she yelled at him, “HEATH! Tell me the truth right now!
He let go of his arm and stepped back. “I should go.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Hayden threw the door shut and slammed her body against it. Her heart beat in her throat, and one look into his carefully impassive face made her left eyelid twitch nervously.
“Hayden,” he demanded darkly. “Get out of the way.”
“You make me so mad!” She was torn between wanting to hit him and wanting to burst into tears. She settled for balling her hands into fists. “What do you want from me, Heath? First, you avoid me like I’m some pest and tell me you’re sleeping with other women! Now you show up here unannounced and think you can play the jealous lover?”
“Of course I’m jealous!” he yelled. “What did you think would happen? Oh, but don’t mind me. If you’d rather be with a cop, I won’t stand in your way!”
Hayden put a hand to her forehead and gasped at the stupidity of this argument. “You were the one who moved out, Heath,” she said, quieter, closer to tears. “I thought it was over …”
“And that’s reason enough for you to put out for anyone who asks?”
She came at him so fast he didn’t have time to react, and she slapped him as hard as she could. “YOU … YOU ASSHOLE!”
Before she could slap him again, he grabbed her and squashed his lips against hers.
She struggled for a long moment, with a mind to gouge out his eyes, but as soon as his lips lost their fight and became softer, tenderly sucking hers, she gave up all resistance. Her hands slid along his strong neck, wrapped around it, and stroked his dark, unruly hair, which was a lot longer than three months ago.
She almost cried with relief, but his deep kiss pushed away every other thought. Hayden felt his hands glide underneath her dress, grab her butt, and lift her up like a feather. Automatically, she wrapped her legs around his hips and rubbed her chest against his. Even through his t-shirt, his body exuded masculine heat.
She moaned and wriggled on top of him. She devoured his mouth and tilted her head sideways to better reach his lips, inhaling his scent and taste. As his fingers dug into her flesh and his moans started to echo hers, he kissed her like a drowning man. Hayden could only think of feeling his naked skin on hers. Gasping, she broke the kiss and lowered her head to his throat, so she could press her wet lips against the ultra-sensitive spot between his collarbone and throat. His body convulsed, and he pressed her against the rock-hard erection bulging beneath his jeans. She could feel it push against her pelvis.
Only seconds later, he was carrying her into the living room, and then they sank together onto the comfortable couch. Straddling him, she pulled hectically at the hem of his t-shirt, jerking it upwards. The sight of his muscular chest and the throbbing pulse on his neck made her feel all weak inside. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him desperately, barely noticing how his fingers found the zipper on the back of her dress and pulled it down. She didn’t want to break the kiss, fearing he might come to his senses, get up, and leave at any moment. So she pulled her lips away from his for a mere fraction of a second while he pulled the dress over her head, and then she again attacked his mouth with hers.
Her fears seemed groundless, because he lavished all of his attention on her body, letting his warm hands slide over her naked back. Before she’d noticed, her bra had come off, too, and she was sitting on his lap, wearing only her panties.
His hand snaked around her neck and pulled her close to his body. She shivered as she rubbed her naked breasts against his bare torso. She reveled in his passionate kiss, which was getting increasingly tender and loving. A bittersweet feeling swept over her and settled in the area where her bruised heart sat.
She didn’t object when he cautiously turned her over onto her back and leaned over her, bracing himself above her with his strong arms. She looked up at him with heavy-lidded eyes, nestled into the couch, and watched as he pulled down her panties and then his jeans and boxers. When he bent his dark head and kissed her, Hayden arched her back and placed her hands on the steely muscles of his upper arms.
With a feather-light touch, she stroked the muscles that bulged beneath his warm, soft skin. When his lips caressed her cheek and pressed against her throat, she closed her eyes. A choked cry escaped her lips, and the back of her head pushed into the couch as his lips wandered south and closed around her hard nipple. It was like a cue. She wrapped one of her legs around his hip and dug her fingers into his shoulders.
Her husky voice betrayed her arousal when she demanded that he lie on top of her, that he cover her with his body. Her hand slid down across his sweating torso, snaking around the throbbing erection that was pressing relentlessly against the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. Like the rest of his body, his erection was unbelievably hard, and not only did it feel scorching hot under her fingers, it also possessed the allure of a magic wand. She massaged him slowly, pressed the tip tenderly, and let her hand glide down to the root.
Heath uttered several tortured moans, before asking her not to stop, and then pleading for her to stop, shuddering and whispering her name. All of this gave her an increasingly exhilarating sense of power.
Her own tension was about to escape her throat by way of a giggle, but then she gasped instead, for he finally lowered his body completely on top of hers. His weight pressed her deeper into the soft couch while his mouth conquered hers with a deep and passionate kiss and he pushed his hand between her legs. She almost bit her lip when his thumb found her clit, arousing her with slow, lazy strokes. Feeling a series of pleasurable shocks, Hayden jerked under him, and her hands slid up and down his broad back.
“Please, Heath …”
“Not yet,” he murmured huskily against her lips and ran his left hand tenderly through her hair.
But Hayden had waited too long for this, so she arched her back again and whispered into his ear, “Now, Heath.”
“But—”
She interrupted him by sliding her tongue down his jaw and sucking on his throat, simultaneously grabbing his penis again.
Heath moaned loudly, spread her legs, and positioned himself, and then he buried himself in her with one deep thrust.
Hayden gasped, feeling as if that first thrust had dissolved her into a thousand drops of liquid bliss. Breathlessly, she clung to his body and felt the goose bumps spring up all over hers, as his hot breath fanned her ear and his hands held on to her hips. Her mouth sought his, and she turned her head so she could capture his lips. Hot bliss was running through her veins when he kissed her with even more passion than before, let his hands glide up her body, and finally interlaced his fingers with hers.
The unbearably sweet kiss, the warmth of his body, and the soul-thrilling sex they were sharing—all of this conspired to bring back the hope in Hayden’s heart. The hope that everything would be okay again. When she reached her climax shortly after that flood of hope, she whispered his name and smiled happily, for he came almost in the same instant, collapsed on top of her, and stammered sweet nothings into her ear.
Chapter 12
Heath was sitting on the couch, his head lowered, eyes on the wooden floor, when he heard Hayden step back into the room. He raised his eyes very slowly and stared at her. She came sauntering towards him and handed him a glass of water with a smile. He had already put his jeans back on, but she was wrapped in nothing but the thin summer blanket that had fallen from the couch while they were having sex.
Her blond hair was tousled, her face had that rosy shimmer, and her lips looked swollen, while her blue eyes shone like polished sapphires. She lo
oked exactly like a woman who had just been loved to exhaustion, and who was very happy about it. The light gray blanket, which clung to her slim figure, together with her bare shoulders and arms, made her look vulnerable and in need of a hero who could protect her.
Heath nearly shook his head as he silently took the glass of water from her hands and ignored the tender look she was giving him.
What the hell had he been thinking? He hadn’t come here to sleep with her, or to make up with her, for that matter. He had only wanted to talk to her. Because he knew Hayden would be there for him, even though they’d broken up, he’d wanted to tell her about his suspension. It was more than embarrassing, but she was the only person he could talk to. Now he felt like a selfish asshole, both for wanting to burden Hayden with his problems, and for sleeping with her instead.
The fact that she’d had a date with another man had caught him off guard and sent him off the rails. He couldn’t think clearly after that—he’d blown a fuse. And before he’d been able to give it a second thought, he’d already been kissing her. Hayden hadn’t protested, either. She’d wanted him every bit as desperately as he had wanted her.
The kiss had gotten out of hand and swept them both away. Before he knew what had come over him, they had undressed and ravaged each other. He’d wanted to make up for the disastrous night before his dad’s funeral, when he had heedlessly, recklessly taken her, but instead, he had all but repeated it. He’d been so aroused he’d wanted to enter her immediately, and then Hayden had urged him on, dismissing foreplay altogether. The result of it all was that he was now sitting on his former couch, feeling a piercing regret, squirming under Hayden’s hopeful gaze, and trembling with the thought that he would hurt her again.
The Heat Is On (Boston Five Book 1) Page 14