by Avery Flynn
Weston sat down on the corner of Gabe’s desk. “So the nonprofit consulting job?”
“I had that,” she said. “I just happened to be at the very bottom rung of the ladder, and then I got fired.”
“And you don’t have an apartment?” her mom asked.
“I do, but it’s tiny, and I have a roommate.”
“And the guy out there who looks at you like he can’t wait to carry you off and do things I won’t mention in front of Mom, Gabe, and the boys, he’s pretend?” Adalyn asked.
“No.” She glared at her sister, whose expression had changed to one of smug I’m-right-and-you’re-wrong that only a sibling could give. “He’s real. He just hates me.”
Gabe lifted a dark eyebrow. “Huh.”
“Sounds to me like yes, you’ve been lying to us, but the bigger issue is that you’ve been telling a helluva lotta lies to yourself,” Knox said as he looked at her like she was the world’s biggest dumbass.
What in the hell was going on? She’d fucked up, but it wasn’t because she was being willfully obtuse. She’d been protecting them.
Hadley looked from one member of her family to the next. “What are you talking about?”
“We don’t care how fancy you are in the big city or if the guy you are obviously head over heels about is fake,” Adalyn said. “We just want you to be happy. Are you?”
Swallowing the urge to spill even more feelings onto the floor in Gabe’s office—what was it about this room that always seemed to encourage confessions?—she ignored her sister’s question. “I didn’t come back here to deep dive into my brain but to apologize for making you feel like you had to throw this big wedding to impress me.”
“So you’re good with me holding a bouquet of wildflowers out on the prairie with Gabe singing Elvis?”
Hadley laughed. The mental image was too funny not to. “I’d recommend against the Elvis part, but if that makes you happy, then yes, do that.”
Adalyn’s smile faltered and then disappeared. “What if I’m not sure what makes me happy?”
“Does Derek?” her mom asked as she sat down on the couch with her daughters.
“When we’re together, yes.” Adalyn let out a heavy breath before her chin went all trembly. “But when it’s like some kind of missed connections personal ad for the guy who is my fiancé? Not as much. It’s probably just wedding nerves.”
Her strained chuckle did nothing to lessen the impact of her words.
“Are you sure?” Hadley asked.
Adalyn shrugged. “Maybe.”
“You know we’ll support you no matter what,” Knox said. “It’s the Donavan-Martinez code.”
Gabe nodded. “That it is.”
After a group hug during which she may or may not have cracked a rib—Weston still acted like he was the younger brother from hell sometimes—her brothers left with Adalyn to raid the fridge and inhale the leftover casserole. Judging by the stay-right-here-a-minute look her mom sent her way, Hadley was not invited to join in on the gluttony.
“So what are you going to do now?” her mom asked.
“I don’t know.” Hadley sank back against the couch and let her head drop to her mom’s shoulder. She hadn’t sat like this in forever and had forgotten just how nice it was to let down her guard around her family. “Fiona—who, surprise, isn’t just my friend but also my roommate—says it’s a sign that I should finally start my own company, but I don’t know.”
“You don’t think you’re ready?” Gabe asked as he took Weston’s spot, sitting on the corner of the desk.
“I am.” Okay, so she hadn’t said those words out loud before, but it was true. She was ready for this. Mentally, at least. “It’s just, there are a lot of logistical and financial hurdles.”
“Adalyn does have an accounting degree, you know. She can help with your books,” her mom said. “And Knox’s business degree doesn’t just apply to running a ranch.”
“And we can lend you some seed money,” Gabe added.
For a second, there was nothing in Hadley’s head but white noise, blocking out everything as she tried to wrap her brain around what they were saying. Money. Expertise. Support. All of it had been right there all along, if she’d only looked past her own pride and seen the people she loved for who they were. Instead, she’d spent too long projecting her version of an interfering family because that’s what she’d needed to believe because of how she was treating them. God, she’d been so dense.
“And I don’t want to hear a word about you thinking you’re taking advantage of us,” Gabe said, his voice low and hard. “If anyone in your family needed help, would you step up?”
She didn’t need to think about her answer. “Yeah.”
“Well, it isn’t any different if it’s us helping you,” her mom said.
Hadley mashed her lips together and blinked really fast to keep the tears at bay. All this time she’d wasted because she was afraid and, yes, too full of herself to be vulnerable and honest with the people she cared about.
“I don’t know what to say,” she said once she finally could say something.
“Say you’re done pretending the world isn’t hard on you.” Gabe pulled her up from the couch and into a huge bear hug. “It is. It’s hard on all of us, but together is how we make it through. We’re your family and we love you just the way you are.”
“I love you, too,” she said, her voice muffled by Gabe’s shoulder.
Her mom stood up and joined in their hug, and they all stood there for a second cementing what had been there the whole time. Strength. Support. Love.
“Okay,” her mom said as the hug broke up. “We better get into that kitchen before we miss out on all the leftovers.”
“If Will isn’t with them already, you should invite him back to the house,” Gabe said. “I’m pretty sure you’re wrong about how he feels about you.”
Hearing his name was like having someone turn on a light in a dark room. Suddenly, she saw things differently. If she’d been so wrong about her family, could she have been wrong about him, too? What if everything that had been happening between them wasn’t just because of them having to team up to survive a trip to the sticks? What if they’d both been fighting something bigger and it was past time to hang up the gloves?
“I gotta go.”
She gave her parents another quick hug, then hustled out of the house and all but sprinted back to the cabin.
Chapter Seventeen
Will was well on his way to memorizing every single knot in the ceiling beams when he heard Hadley’s footsteps on the front porch. How did he know they were hers? The same way he’d always known when she was on the sidelines at a rugby game or just around the corner at a charity event. His heart beat faster, his muscles tensed with anticipation, and a certain sense that the fun was about to start had him grinning.
The lone light in the cabin was the single beam coming from the half-closed bathroom door. It was more than enough, though, to watch her as she walked in—whatever of her that he couldn’t see in the dim light, his imagination filled in. He didn’t even have to work at it; he’d been memorizing her every curve since the moment he’d first laid eyes on her. Damn, for being someone who was thought of as a killer when it came to business smarts, he sure was an idiot when it came to Hadley Donovan.
“Did you and Adalyn work everything out?”
Hadley gasped, slapped her palm to her chest, and did a quick turn so she was facing the pullout bed where he was lying. “I thought you were asleep.” She let out a long breath that ended in a giggle. “You owe me about five years back on my life span.”
He sat up slowly, looking her up and down as he planned out every spot he would kiss, every curve he’d caress, and every inch of her he’d worship. “I think I know how I can make it up to you.”
“Really?” She flicked op
en the button of her jeans, lowered the zipper, and shimmied out of the denim. “I have some ideas, too.”
“Glad we’re both thinking the same thing.” Thank God.
He rolled off the bed and reached behind his head, grabbing his shirt before pulling it off and flinging it across the room. By the time he had his jeans and boxers off, Hadley stood on the opposite side of the bed wearing nothing but a plain white bra, cotton panties, and his black cowboy hat. He’d never seen anyone look as good or wanted someone more.
Having enough of there being a bed between them, he started toward her. “You look good in my hat.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.” She nodded toward the floor. “And your boots look pretty damn fine under my bed.”
“Your bed?” He rounded the end of the mattress. “It’s been ours since we got here.”
Hadley shrugged one shoulder as she wound a strand of dark hair around her fingertip, not moving, no doubt knowing she didn’t have to. Wherever she went, he’d be there. “I’ve made many sacrifices.”
“I’ll be forever grateful.” For her. For this trip. For all of it.
His entire body humming with anticipation, he finally got close enough to touch her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against him.
Then he fell backward, taking Hadley with him so she landed on top of him, loving the feel of every inch of her pressed against him.
With her long legs straddling him as she pressed a palm to his chest and lifted herself up, she said, “That was quite a ride.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet, darlin’.”
She tipped the brim of his hat as she undulated against him. “Yeehaw.”
It was ridiculous and hokey but still the hottest situation he’d ever been in. No doubt being with a nearly naked Hadley had something—everything—to do with it.
She leaned down and kissed him, her full, soft lips demanding against his. Lifting his hips, he gripped her waist and held her to him as he kissed her back just as hard and hot as she was giving. God, she was wet, so much so that he could feel her damp heat through her panties as she rocked against his cock. When she sat up and laid her palms on his chest, changing the angle as she ground her core against him, he let out a harsh hiss of breath. This woman. She was going to kill him. He couldn’t care less. Reaching up, he cupped the back of her head, tugging her down so he could kiss her again.
The feel of her, the taste of her kisses, the way she had him on edge with just a look, all of it meant that if she kept doing that, he was going to lose it, flip her over, and sink inside her, and he didn’t want that yet.
Breaking the kiss, he lifted her hips up off him. “Be sure to hold on.”
He glided his hands down so he cupped her ass and then pulled her north until her sweet panties-covered pussy was right above his mouth. Heaven didn’t even begin to describe it. And just as soon as he thought it couldn’t get any better, she stood up, balancing on the bed as she took off her panties, tossed his hat across the room, and slipped off her bra. Always one step ahead of him, she gave him a sassy gotcha wink and then lowered herself to her knees above his face. It was close, so fucking close, but it wasn’t enough for either of them.
Barely breathing, hard as a fence post, and desperate for her, he glided his palms up the outside of her legs, rounded the curve of her hips, and pulled her down so he could taste her. The moment his tongue lapped at her clit, her thighs tensed on either side of his head before she started rocking against him in tandem with him as he licked and sucked and teased her. Listening to her breathing catch as she edged closer and closer to coming was better than any other sound. This was what he wanted, needed—to take her higher, to show her that what was between them was more than just two people stuck together for a week pretending to be who they weren’t. This could be them. It should be them. Here. In Harbor City. Anywhere. They belonged together.
Her ass, overflowing his hands in the absolute best way possible, tightened as she bit down on her bottom lip and increased the pace of her rocking, telling him without words what she wanted from him. She didn’t have to worry. He’d always give her exactly what she needed. Pulling her more firmly against him, he closed his eyes and got lost in the slick sweetness of her swollen folds. He swept his tongue over her clit again and again, harder and faster with each pass, until her orgasm pulled her body taut above him and she cried out.
Holding her, steadying her, she came down from that high and collapsed onto the bed next to him. If there were words to explain everything he wanted to tell Hadley at that moment, he didn’t know them. It was all too big, too new, and too important. Then he rolled onto his side so they were face-to-face and the sight of her, flush and satisfied, took even the possibility of forming words out of the realm of possibility.
“I’m done pretending,” she said and kissed him as if she’d been waiting her entire life to do it.
Will knew the feeling because that was exactly how he kissed her back.
…
It was like Hadley was high—when Will touched her, it was more intense, more pleasurable, more perfect. Something had changed tonight when she’d come clean with her family. It was as if the oppressive fog that kept her from seeing anything clearly had finally lifted and the world was practically glowing with possibilities. And the man in her bed? He wasn’t just a possibility, he was a promise, and she was done lying to herself about how she felt about him. How she’d always felt. All that denial was a footnote in the history of her life because starting tonight, it was all about tomorrows.
Breaking the kiss, she trailed her lips over the barely there stubble along his jaw, down the column of his throat, over his quickly beating pulse point, and across his muscular chest to lap at the flat nub of his nipple. Of course, it wasn’t just her mouth staying busy; she was exploring with her hands, too. What could she say, women were natural born multitaskers. The second she wrapped her hand around the hard length of him, his entire body moved with his groan of appreciation.
Keeping a firm grip, she stroked her hand up and down. “You like that?”
“I like it any time you touch me,” he said, each word coming out deep and growly.
She glanced up at him, putting on as much of an air of innocence as possible when they were both naked and she had her fingers curled around his cock. “Only when I touch you?”
He grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand away from him, and rolled them both so she was on her back and now he was above her, a nearly feral, possessive gleam in his eyes.
“I like it when you walk in a room. When you walk out of one.” He trailed his fingers across her sensitive skin. “When you look at me.” He rolled her nipple between his fingers with expert ease. “When you smile. When you shoot me that little smirk telling me you know you’ve one-upped me again. The absolute best, though…” Dipping his head down, he delivered a string of soft kisses across the upper swells of her breasts. “Is your snore.”
It took her brain a second to override the delicious sensations he was delivering with his mouth, but once it did, his words had her spluttering. Planting her palm in the middle of his chest, she pushed him up so he loomed above her without touching. “Are you kidding me?”
“Nope.” Will grinned down at her. “Because whenever I hear it, I’m going to remember our first night together and how it was the beginning of everything changing.”
If she hadn’t already been lying back on the bed, she would have collapsed from the shock of it. Will “The Evil Twin” Holt had a gooey, soft, everyday-hero kind of center. “You’re such a sentimental softie underneath all your assholery.”
His smile faded, replaced by a look of raw honesty. “Only when it comes to you.”
Her breath hitched and her heart sped up as she bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep the sudden onslaught of emotion at bay. Looking past his shoulder at the ceiling, she inhaled
a deep breath and blinked about a million times before she could speak.
“You’re the worst, Will Holt.” How often had she said that in her head or out loud? A million? Two? But this time, she could finally admit that she had never really meant it. “How dare you make me tear up while we’re both naked?”
Here’s where she would have expected another teasing remark, a smart comment, or something else to lessen the emotion of the moment. Instead, he leaned down and kissed her, his strong lips demanding and gentle at the same time, pushing her toward the edge of losing-her-mind need. She reached up and cupped the back of his head, intertwining her fingers in his hair, matching him move for move as the kiss deepened and he rolled them so she was on top again.
His hands were everywhere on her, skimming down her sides and then coming back up to her breasts. Touching and teasing, he whipped up every sensation from damn-that-feels-good to oh-my-take-me-now. By the time he added his hot mouth to the mix, letting his tongue lap at her nipple in a slow, torturous motion before grazing his teeth over the hard bud was almost too much to take and yet she still wanted more. She wanted all of it—all of him.
Pulling back, she slid her body down his, kissing her way from his shoulders, over the hard lines of his abs, and following the light-brown line of hair to his hard cock. Watching his face, she traced her tongue around the swollen head and then took him deep inside her mouth as he fisted the bedsheets in his large hands.