by Tawny Weber
“That’s probably worse,” Jared remarked, opening another beer. “She’s a pretty lady. I’ve never known a guy with a pretty ex who didn’t harbor at least a little jealousy.”
“Not Harper’s ex. Firstly, because the scum-sucking pig deserted her before the babe had even formed in her belly.” Andi’s teeth snapped off the words but couldn’t do much to dim her fury at any man who’d leave the mother of his unborn child like that. “He never met his son, never offered support of any kind.”
“No way. None at all?”
“Absolutely none.” She shrugged when Jared gave a skeptical shake of his head. “And, of course, the guy is dead. Believe me—he won’t be any trouble.”
“Sounds like Diego’s in the clear then,” Jared decided with a hard-to-read look in his eyes. “Maybe we should get out of their way, give them a little time alone while we get to know each other better.”
“Should we?” Andi asked with a flirtatious look.
Jared’s smile turned unexpectedly wicked. Then he gave her a look, long, intense and interested.
“I know this great place. Good drinks, great music. You dance?”
Was he asking her out? No, he was asking her to bed. The Boy Scout features might fool some women but not Andi. She might have been living without sex since her divorce, but she easily recognized a proposition when it winked at her.
An unfamiliar quiver of nerves did a fast hustle through her belly. Enjoying that as much as the attraction, Andi slowly nodded.
“I’m a great dancer,” she promised. “But before we decide on the music, why don’t we dish that dirt? Tell me about Diego.”
Jared pursed his lips while studying her face, then finished off his beer. Always a good hostess, Andi automatically rose to get another from the small outdoor fridge Harper had stocked before dinner.
Apparently that gave Jared enough time to decide how he wanted to respond, because he had that distance in his eyes again. Who knew detachment could be so sexy?
“Diego is a good man. A little stubborn, a little narrow in his focus sometimes, but he’s good. That’s about the best compliment I can give.”
“Good in what way?”
“Good in that he’s a man who sees the right path, who does the right thing. Even when others question, he acts. Even when others doubt, he perseveres.”
Impressed with anyone who could inspire another man to wax poetic, Andi’s gaze shifted toward the window. Diego had Harper backed up against a wall, his hands braced on either side so she was barely visible.
Sexy.
“That sounds like business,” she mused, noting that Diego’s stance had shifted and he now trailed one hand down Harper’s cheek in what looked like a gentle caress.
Sweet.
“Business, sure. Usually he’s aces there.” Jared emptied the beer. “Usually.”
He added his empty bottle to the others on the table, then shrugged as if trying to shake off whatever worry had inspired that “usually.”
“But always pulling aces could get boring, right? Gotta have a few challenges now and then to keep things interesting,” he said.
Andi didn’t like the sound of that. “And whatever is challenging him?”
Jared’s eyes stayed clear; his smile didn’t shift. But she saw something there that made her breath catch in her throat. “Why don’t we hit that club, do some dancing?” he suggested before she could figure out what it was.
Heat flared, swirled, tempted.
Andi knew there was something bad about this good-looking man. He clung to secrecy the way her father clung to his financial portfolio. He talked in doublespeak with the skill of a politician while smiling like a choirboy.
Lips pursed, her eyes trailed over the tidy line of empty bottles. And he drank like a frat boy, yet showed no sign of inebriation.
She wasn’t a stupid woman. All of that should put him off-limits. Yet Andi found herself holding out her hand in invitation.
“I know the perfect place.”
* * *
DIEGO WOKE, HIS face buried in the soft scent of Harper’s hair and his arms filled with the delight of her curves. She hummed against his chest, stretching so her body slid over his like silk. She was such a study of contrasts. Soft and sweet, sharply sexy.
She made him feel...so much.
Too damned much.
“I don’t understand,” he murmured.
“Don’t understand what?”
“How a woman as amazing as you would end up involved with a man like—” Realizing what he’d been about to reveal, Diego bit down on the words and took a breath before shifting gears. “A man like Nathan’s father. He took advantage of you, Harper. He used you. Hurt you. Hurt Nathan.”
“And it’s over,” she said dismissively, pushing out of his arms. He let her go when he saw the expression on her face. Frustration battled anger, but under it was shame bordering on self-disgust. “Look, whatever else he did, Brandon gave me the most precious gift of my life. Nathan. How could I hate him?”
Because he’d left her, alone and pregnant and broke? Because at twenty-two, he should have known better than to screw around with a seventeen-year-old?
Because the fucker had kept tabs on her, using the kid he’d abandoned as a ploy to con the men he served with before screwing them over, injuring one and committing treason?
“Diego?”
“What?” It wasn’t until he’d blinked a couple of times to clear the fury from his vision that he realized his hands were fisted on the sheets, his face tight with the need to pound them into a man who was, in some people’s opinion, dead.
“Let it go,” she said softly. Either unaffected by or simply ignoring the violence emanating from him, she lay down again. Her thigh pressed against his, her eyes as gentle as the hand she laid against his cheek.
“I realize you’re angry on my behalf. That you’re the sort of man with a strong sense of right and wrong. But I’m okay with the way things turned out. I’m happy with the results. I have Nathan.”
From her expression, he knew she’d made her peace with that. He’d seen that same look on his mom’s face. Pain, resignation and an odd sort of gratitude because the worthless jerk had given her a son to love.
He’d thought it was crap then. He thought it was crap now.
Diego scrubbed his hand over his hair and, for her sake, tried to let the anger go. But it wouldn’t budge. The best he could do was set it aside and deal with it later.
He had other things to deal with now. Most important was getting that look of doubt out of her eyes.
She deserved better than Ramsey.
Hell, she deserved better than him.
Something he was pretty sure she’d agree with in a day or so. Diego pushed off the bed, needing to dissipate the sudden tension ripping through his body.
“Diego? What’s wrong?”
“Just trying to figure out what to do.”
“About what?”
Everything. Every damned thing. “Look, I care about you. A lot. More than I’d figured I could.” He threw up a hand when she started to rise. He needed to get this out before she touched him or he’d distract them both with sex. “But my career, it saved my life. It pulled me out of an ugly place. It’s been my whole world for my entire adult life. It’s who I am.”
Afraid he was about to apologize, knowing he probably should, Diego blew out a breath.
“Do you get what I’m saying?” he asked, grimacing.
“Of course I understand what you’re saying,” Harper assured him, crossing over to take his hand. “It’s the same for me. I mean, Nathan changed my life. Because of him, I became who I am now, I pursued the career I did, and to a huge degree it defines who I am.”
She did get it. He hoped she
still got it in a few days. He didn’t figure there was a chance in hell that she would, but he could still hope.
“You wanna take a ride today?” Diego skimmed the back of his finger over her face, tracing the sharp edge of her cheekbone before sliding his thumb along her bottom lip. “We can cruise down the coast, hit the beach, take it easy. Just get away.”
He saw the answer in her eyes. Before she could put the refusal into words, he tucked his finger under her chin to lift her mouth to his. A brush of the lips, a slow slide of the tongue.
“Oh, my,” she breathed, shakily enough to give his ego a nice, long stroke. Since his ego wasn’t the only thing wanting to be stroked, Diego pulled her tight against his growing erection. Her eyes blurred, and she gave a little hip swivel that sent the blood careening out of his brain, right down to his dick.
Oh, yeah. This was all the distraction he needed.
“No, wait. No.” Before he could stop her, Harper yanked herself out of his arms and hurried to the other side of the room. She threw out her palm and shook her head before he could grab her back. “I can’t.”
“Take it from me, babe. You can. You really can.”
“I’m glad you think so.” Her eyes lit with delight as she gave a breathless laugh, shoving her hair off her face. He didn’t need a stop sign to see that her no was firm. “But still...”
Her words trailed off into a sigh as her eyes narrowed.
“What’s up?” He had the urge to shove his hands into his pockets, but given that he was bare-assed naked and she’d already dry-docked the idea of sex, he didn’t figure it for a smart idea.
“I wouldn’t mind taking the ride, but today’s Saturday,” she said slowly, sounding like she hadn’t decided if she was going to tell him what was up or not.
“You said you weren’t working this weekend, didn’t you? So you’ve got something else to do? No problem.” Diego looked around, then snagged his jeans off the floor.
What a dumb ass. Had he thought that he’d sweep her away, give her a romantic day to remember? Prove to them both that he could hold his own romancing a classy woman like Harper Maclean? Hell, he wouldn’t know romance if it bit him on the ass.
Too pissed at himself to risk the zipper, Diego left the pants loose as he hunted around for his shirt.
He’d use the time to toss the house and see what he could find. Dig through the drawers, tap into her computer again. Might as well top off sleeping with the objective by pawing through her privacy. Bottom line, despite everything she’d said, she was still their only link to Ramsey. Stupid move or not, that was why he was here.
He looked around for his shirt, freezing when he saw it dangling from Harper’s finger.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her eyes intent on his face.
“Yeah, fine.” When he reached for his shirt, she pulled it away. Figuring he already felt like enough of an ass, he didn’t make a play for it. Instead, because they were there this time, he shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Why? What’s up?”
“Today is Parents’ Day at camp,” she said, sounding excited. “They do a tour, a demonstration and lunch, even.”
“Oh.”
“I know it probably doesn’t sound like much. It’ll probably take most of the day. Nathan says I’m not the camping type.” The rush of words was filled with doubt and a sort of apology that made him feel like a jerk. “But I have to go. I miss him like crazy, and this is the only visitation before camp ends next week.”
Diego offered the only apology he could under the circumstances. He stepped in, crowding her up against the dresser as he scooped his fingers through her bed-tousled hair. His eyes locked on hers, he rubbed a soft kiss over her lips.
“You’re a great mom. The kid’s gonna get a kick out of showing you all the fun he’s having.” He leaned in again, this time letting the kiss heat to a nice simmer. His tongue teased along the seam of her lips but didn’t delve deeper. He ended with a scrape of his teeth over the cushioned softness, then lifted his head. “I can be around when you get back.”
He didn’t bother to detail what he’d be around for. From the way her gaze shifted past his shoulder to the bed before meeting his again with a look, hot interest made it clear that she could fill in those details just fine herself.
“Um, yeah, that’d be good,” she murmured. Then she shook her head as if tossing off distraction. “Unless maybe you’d like to spend the day with me.”
Shit. Shit, damn, hell.
Diego knew he should stay here. He should assess the situation, make sure her house was secure before he left for good. He should spend this last day ensuring her safety instead of romancing a woman he had no future with.
* * *
“I KNOW IT’S not very romantic. Or probably very exciting. But we could spend the day together this way. And Nathan would love to see you,” Harper said, trying to slow her rush of words. She wrinkled her nose, mocking the nervous burst.
All her years of building a sophisticated shell seemed stripped away, leaving her bare but for the emotions rippling through her. “What do you say? Want to spend the day with me? No big deal if you don’t want to,” she added quickly, seeing the frown forming and the look of hesitation in his eyes.
“I should stay here,” he said in a tone that implied he didn’t want to. “I’ve got some things I should do.”
Harper bit her lip. As her mind warned her to let it go, she found herself sliding her foot along the length of his leg.
“I know it’s not quite the day you were thinking of. But you’re welcome to join me anyway.” She paused to run her tongue over her bottom lip, reveling in the way Diego’s eyes followed the move. “Parents’ Day only lasts until three. Maybe we could take an evening bike ride.”
“What time do we leave?” he asked with a wicked smile, his fingers dancing over her hips and down to cup her butt, tucking under her cheeks to lift her against his burgeoning erection.
Heat curled in her belly, wet pooled between her legs as Harper rubbed against him. Oh, man, what was she doing? Her breath shook, even as her heart trembled at the look in his eyes. He was so sweet. So supportive. And, oh my God, so sexy.
Nathan might not realize what it would mean when she brought Diego with her to a family-focused event. There was absolutely no way he’d clue in that his mom was sleeping with a man he considered a rival of Han Solo on his list of cool people.
And nobody else would care.
Except Harper. She’d care. She’d know what it meant to bring a man to Parents’ Day. She’d have to face how deep her feelings must be if she were to open that part of her life to someone, to Diego.
The only thing she wasn’t sure of was how much she was risking. Just a piece of her heart? Or all of it?
Ready to take a chance, Harper pressed both hands against the rigidly cut muscles of his chest, skimming upward. Teasing. Delighting.
It could be a mistake. But all Harper could do was listen to her heart. After all, what were the chances that it’d steer her wrong twice in a lifetime?
“Oh, I’d say we have time for at least two more orgasms before we leave,” she murmured with a sigh of pleasure.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
OH, BABY.
She liked riding a Harley.
Lips carefully closed over her teeth—she’d heard enough bug jokes to be careful—Harper smiled as the power, the rhythm, the intensity roaring between her thighs reminded her of Diego.
The erotic charge was intense, maybe because she was still oversensitive from their morning bout of lovemaking. Bouts, she corrected herself with a sigh as she watched a pair of sailboats disappear from view.
They’d made love when they woke, again after they’d decided to spend the day together, once in the shower, then he’d taken her one more time
—one crazy, shocking time against the wall before they’d walked out the door. She’d still had her purse across her body and her boots on her feet when he’d plunged into her ready heat.
Harper trembled at the memory and wrapped her arms tighter around his waist. Taking a break from the view, she rested her cheek against his back. His leather jacket was warm in comparison to the chilly air sweeping over them.
The view driving up the coast was like something out of a movie reel. Blue oceans, bluer skies and so much green between as they moved from coast to mountain to coast again.
Mmm, this was good. A new experience, a sexy man and a ride to see her son. A contented pleasure filled Harper, making her think that she could get used to this sort of thing.
So it was with regret that she eventually swung her leg off the bike once Diego parked in the ferry lot.
“Whoa.” She grabbed him when her legs, thrumming from the ride, went lax from thigh to ankle.
“Careful.” Grinning, Diego wrapped one arm around her while he removed his helmet with the other. “Take a second. It’s like getting your sea legs.”
Tugging her helmet off, Harper laughed. “It’s fabulous. I had no idea.”
Like hers, his eyes were shielded by sunglasses. But she could feel the answering heat, knew he was just as affected as she was.
There was so much power in that.
Harper leaned into him, letting her breasts press against his chest. She liked the pressure, even through the jacket’s layers of leather.
She knew he was looking at her mouth. She could practically feel his eyes caressing her lips. She wet them, hoping to lure him into doing just that.
One hand shifted from her hair to slide her glasses free. She should feel vulnerable. Naked.
Instead she felt powerful.
His eyes still shielded by mirrored glasses, he leaned in, using the earpiece of her own glasses to tilt her face a little higher.
Then his mouth took hers.
The kiss was sweet. A slide of his damp lips across hers, the skim of his hot tongue. Gentle, soothing. And so, so exciting. Mmm, yeah. So much power.