Sweetheart Read online

  “Liar,” I said, softening my words with a smile.

  I stepped closer and reached for her shoulder. Her bare skin was soft and warm beneath my hand. She watched me with slightly open lips as I caressed the slope of her shoulder before sliding my hand around to palm her nape. She was already lifting her face for my kiss as I lowered mine. I let out an involuntary grunt of appreciation when she opened her mouth to me, lust hitting me like a sledgehammer as I tasted her again.

  What was it about this woman that did it for me so bad?

  Whatever it was, I wanted more of it, pulling her closer. Her ample breasts pressed against me, her hands sliding onto my butt as she urged my hips against her own. I could feel my self-control slipping away, and I broke the kiss and took a step backward. She blinked at me like a sleepwalker who’d been startled awake, and I caught her hand in mine.

  “Office,” I said, and she came with me willingly as we made the short trip.

  I kicked the door shut behind us, engaging the lock. Then I turned to face her. Her breasts rose and fell erratically, her pulse fluttering at her neck.

  “How wet are you right now?” I asked.

  She swallowed, then lifted her chin, accepting my challenge. “Very.”

  “Show me.” I indicated my desk with a jerk of my chin.

  She glanced over her shoulder toward it, then back at me. Then she turned and walked to my desk. She pushed my laptop to one side before slipping her hand under her skirt. My cock jerked to attention as she slid her panties down her legs, stepping out of them gracefully. I moved closer as she parked her butt on my desk and lifted a foot to rest it on my chair. Holding my gaze, she pleated the fabric of her skirt in increments, slowly drawing up the curtain on our two-person peepshow.

  I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until she was on full display, and then my breath gusted out an appreciative sigh. Her hair was slightly darker down there, her position offering me a perfect view of her pretty pinkness.

  “Good girl,” I said.

  Then I sank to my knees and put my hands on her thighs.

  22

  Haley

  My whole body trembled with anticipation and excitement as Beck’s head lowered toward me. I felt the warmth of his breath, then the press of his lips on my inner thigh. I gripped the edge of the desk as he lifted a hand to stroke me open with his fingers. And then he was kissing me in earnest, and my eyes almost rolled back in my head because HOLY SHIT HE WAS GOOD AT THIS.

  He seemed to know exactly what I wanted—pressure here, a quick flick of the tongue there. When he slid a finger inside me I let my head fall back, and when he sucked on my clit, I moaned my approval.

  His hand clenched around my thigh, and I remembered how much he’d enjoyed it when I let him know how good he made me feel last time. So even though I was panting and increasingly desperate, I told him what he was doing to me, how good it felt, how much I wanted him to fuck me.

  He responded by redoubling his efforts, and I gave up my grip on the desk to drive my fingers into his hair, holding him where I needed him as my climax roared toward me like a tsunami. I was panting and limp and barely able to hold myself up when he was done with me. He sat back on his heels and grinned up at me, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, and my pussy tightened in response to the pure, appreciative lust in his eyes.

  “You were right. You’re very wet,” he said.

  I barked out a shocked laugh. “You’ve only got yourself to blame,” I said as he pushed himself to his feet, his hands going to his belt buckle.

  Which was when I understood this wasn’t over yet. Hallelujah.

  “Oh, I know,” he said, clearly proud of how much I wanted him. How much he turned me on.

  I watched as he lowered his fly and reached into his boxer briefs to free his cock. I’d forgotten how fucking nice it was, thick and hard, rising from a thatch of dark-blonde hair.

  “Please tell me you have a condom,” I said.

  Full of confidence, he patted his rear pocket only to come up empty. A flash of panic tightened his face. Then he yanked open the desk drawer, his shoulders dropping with relief when he spotted his wallet.

  “Lucky,” I said. Then I reached into the bodice of my dress and pulled out the foil pack I’d hidden there before I left home.

  He laughed. “Such a liar,” he said, reminding me of my earlier claim that I’d only come to clear the air.

  But honestly, until he’d kissed me, I’d been on the fence about staying or going, torn by how much I wanted to be with him again and how impossible our situation was. It was nuts to start something that couldn’t go anywhere.

  Wasn’t it?

  My brain was incapable of grappling with complex subjects while Beck rolled a condom down his thick shaft, and I reached eagerly for his shoulders as he stepped between my spread-wide thighs. He kissed me as he used his hand to guide himself to my entrance, teasing my swollen flesh with the head of his cock a few times before sliding inside me.

  After that, I was lost in the waves of pleasure we created together, my body clinging to his, his body stroking into mine. Everything seemed to pulse when I came the second time, my legs wrapped around his hips, my mouth glued to his. I felt his body tense as his own climax hit, his fingers digging into my hips as he drove himself deep.

  Beck pressed my face into his neck afterward, his hand on the back of my neck, his body warm and slightly damp against mine.

  I wondered if he was marveling, like me, that of all the people in all the world, he was the one who could do this to me.

  Because, seriously, our chemistry was nuts. Totally off the planet.

  And our situation was complicated. To say the least.

  After a moment, he eased back from me, being careful to hold the base of the condom to prevent any accidents. He turned away to dispose of it, and I used the small moment to shake my head, hoping to knock a bit of sense into myself. I pushed my skirt down and slipped off the edge of the desk. My panties were in a scrunched up bunch behind me and I stepped into them briskly. I smoothed my skirt and looked up to find Beck watching me, his phone in hand.

  “I don’t have your number,” he said, his voice a deep, sexy rumble.

  I was powerless to stop the smile that curved my lips. “I guess that’s because I never gave it to you.”

  He tilted his head, a question in his eyes, and I rattled my number off—because of course I wanted him to call. Only a mad woman wouldn’t want more of what he’d just given me.

  He finished tapping in my number, then he stepped closer and smoothed my hair, his expression very focused.

  “You looked like someone just fucked you on a desk. But I’ve destroyed the evidence now so you’re fit to go out in public.”

  I laughed. “Thank you. Very gallant of you.”

  “I try.”

  We were smiling at each other, a million questions hanging in the air. I wasn’t game to ask any of them, which meant it was time to go. I took a breath, but he beat me to it.

  “I’ll walk you to your car.”

  I wasn’t sure how to feel about how easily he could read me. Most of the time he was an enigma to me.

  He touched the sketch, which we’d somehow managed to not destroy while he made me see stars on his desk.

  “This is really good, Haley. Thank you. We were about to go with a mediocre design neither of us liked, and you just saved our asses.”

  His gratitude—his approval—made my chest feel a size too small, so I waved my hand dismissively.

  “It’s just a sketch.”

  “It’s more than that. It’s amazing, and it’s going to be on the sign above the door.”

  It gave me a thrill to hear him say that. To know that he’d connected so fully and completely with my art.

  “Well... I’m glad.”

  He laughed and hooked an arm around my neck, pulling me close for an unexpected hug.

  “I won’t make you squirm any more. But be warned, I’ll be
looking for a way to repay you.”

  “I’m quaking in my boots.”

  We walked through the workrooms and out the front entrance. It was surreal to step out into a sunny Vermont afternoon after everything that had transpired in the last hour.

  It had just been sex, but it also felt as though the world had changed somehow. How much and by what degree, I wasn’t quite sure yet.

  “What are you up to tomorrow night?” Beck asked as we neared my car.

  I had to think for a minute. “Nothing at the moment.”

  “Come over for dinner and a movie. Do you like classic horror?”

  “Define classic for me. Are we talking swamp monsters or chainsaws?”

  “Swamp monsters. B-movies, if you want to get technical. I just scored a copy of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”

  “Here’s the thing,” I said, because I have learned over the years that it’s best to be honest in situations like this. “I don’t like being scared. So is it scary, or schlocky? I am very up for schlocky. Scary not so much.”

  “I haven’t seen it in years, but I’m pretty sure it’s more at the schlocky end of the spectrum,” Beck said.

  “Then I’m in.” I was proud of how casual I sounded, when inside I was punching the sky and doing back flips.

  Beck was going to cook me dinner. We were going to sit on his couch and watch a movie together.

  “Here is my promise to you,” Beck said as we reached my car. “If you get scared, we’ll watch something else.”

  “I’m holding you to that.”

  “You can hold me to anything you like,” he said. He planted a hand on the roof of my car and leaned in to kiss me.

  I sank back against the door and let myself get swept away by how good he made me feel. The sweep of his tongue against mine. The weight of his big body pinning mine to the warm metal of my car. The growing evidence of his arousal pressing against my belly.

  The obnoxious toot of a horn made us a break apart, and Beck frowned as his brother turned into the driveway, a knowing grin on his face.

  “Smartass,” Beck muttered.

  “Probably just as well. I don’t trust myself around you,” I admitted.

  Beck’s eyes were bright with desire. “Same.”

  It was tempting to simply stand there and bask in our mutual lust, but a little voice chose that moment to pipe up in the back of my mind. Don’t get too carried away, it warned me.

  That would be so easy to do with Beck. Let’s face it, I was well and truly primed to fall hard for this man before he’d even laid a finger or a single smoldering glance on me, and two bouts of smoking-hot sex weren’t exactly a deterrent.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, fumbling my car door open. Then a thought hit me. “I don’t know where you live.”

  “Yeah, you do. There’s an apartment behind the workspace.” He gestured over his shoulder toward the barn. “Just big enough for me and Larry.”

  “You share with someone?” I asked, mentally recalibrating my expectations for the evening.

  “Larry doesn’t so much share as mooch. She expects two meals a day, lots of road trips, and at least an hour of tummy scratches in any twenty-four hour period.”

  “Larry is your dog,” I guessed, belatedly remembering the time I’d seen him hanging out by the river with a long-legged black dog.

  “Correct.”

  “I look forward to meeting her.” I climbed into my car, even though I wanted to keep talking to him. It seemed wise to start exercising some self-control where he was concerned.

  Even if it was just a little.

  “See you tomorrow,” Beck said, leaning down so he could see in the window.

  “You will.”

  I started the car and waited till Beck had moved out of the way before signaling and pulling onto the road. He waited until I was well on my way before turning and heading back toward the barn, and I would be lying if I pretended I wasn’t touched by the way he’d escorted me to my car and hung around to see me off.

  He liked me. He’d asked me over for dinner. We’d moved beyond crazy-good spontaneous sex to...something else. Just exactly what that was, I had no idea. But I really, really wanted to find out.

  23

  Beck

  My brother was waiting when I let myself back into the barn. The smirk on his face told me he was about to give me a hard time and that he was planning on enjoying every second of it.

  “So... Haley Elliot.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

  “How did the deliveries go?” I asked, hoping to divert him.

  “You’re a sneaky mo-fo, warning me off when you were interested in her yourself.” To his credit, Sam looked more amused than annoyed.

  “I wasn’t being sneaky.”

  “But you are interested in her.”

  I sighed. “Since when did you give a shit about my private life?”

  “Dude, you’re the one who was freaking out about Haley turning up here a couple of weeks ago. You’re the one who warned me to stay away from ‘that family.’ And you’re the one who was just playing tonsil hockey with her.”

  I was uncomfortably aware that he was right on all scores, and I turned away with a frown. “This is a bullshit conversation.”

  I headed for my office, but Sam fell in behind me, unwilling to let it go.

  “You should have seen your face when you realized she’d come to visit. Like someone gave you a puppy for Christmas.”

  “Shut up.”

  “You stood up so fast I thought you were gonna take off.”

  We’d reached my office and I attempted to shut the door in his face, but he ducked under my arm and into the room.

  “I don’t get why you’re being so cagey about this,” Sam said.

  I spotted Haley’s drawing on the desk and made a beeline for it, knowing it was a bulletproof way to distract him.

  “What do you think of this for our logo?” I asked, passing him the sketch.

  He laughed, instantly engaged by Haley’s lively drawing, confirming my gut instinct that her sketch was perfect for our business.

  “This is awesome. Where did you find it?” my brother asked.

  “Haley drew it.”

  “No shit.” He studied the horse again. “It’s perfect. She totally nailed it. What does she want for it?”

  “Nothing. It’s a gift.”

  Sam frowned. “You’re serious?”

  I nodded.

  “Okay.” He shrugged. “I’m not dumb enough to look a gift horse logo in the mouth. I don’t know what you did to earn this, but this is gonna look great on our bags.”

  “Try to keep your mind out of the gutter.”

  “You’re the one prostituting himself for graphic-design work.”

  I took the sketch from his hands. “You can go now. Dickhead.”

  Sam laughed. “Give it back and I’ll scan it in and start playing around with some ideas.”

  I handed Haley’s sketch over, and he headed off to the front room where we had a workstation set up with a scanner and printer. I congratulated myself on successfully diverting him then dropped into my chair and spun to face my computer.

  Calling up a search engine, I typed in the words “easy meals for two” and watched as my screen filled with results. After reading through a couple recipes, sanity returned. There was no way I was mastering a new dish by tomorrow night. A smart guy would stick to something he knew how to do blindfolded, which meant we were having spaghetti carbonara, the one meal I knew I could nail.

  Jess had hated it, claiming I was trying to sabotage her with fats and carbs whenever I made it.

  I blinked slowly, then very carefully, very deliberately pushed the thought from my mind. I was not going to start the ‘compare Jess with Haley’ game, because it would be never-ending and it would fuck me up, big time.

  I’d already proven I couldn’t stay away from Haley. There was no point torturing myself with worries about the future or memorie
s from the past. I liked her. At some point I’d have to deal with the reality of who her sister was, but not yet. Not right now. Right now I was going to let myself be nervous-excited-pleased that she was coming for dinner tomorrow night. Everything else could go hang.

  I wrote a shopping list for myself, then stuck the note on my wallet. Later, after work, I stripped my bed and changed the sheets, then gave the bathroom a thorough going-over. Once I had it looking as good as it was going to get, I turned and surveyed the rest of my apartment. There was dog hair on the couch, dust bunnies under the TV console, and a bunch of junk littered all around the place—discarded sneakers, old magazines, paperwork from the business, dirty dishes.

  No way could I let Haley walk into this hellhole. I spent the next hour cleaning, much to Larry’s bemusement, then spent another hour doing paperwork before getting ready for bed. There was a pleasant little buzz of anticipation in the pit of my belly as I turned off the light.

  I was seeing Haley again tomorrow. The odds were good we were going to get naked again, but even though I was very on board with that idea, mostly I was just looking forward to spending more time with her.

  It was quite the turn-around from the way I’d felt after leaving her place yesterday afternoon, but I was sick of questioning every move and motive when it came to her. When she laughed, the end of her nose wobbled a little. And she smelled good, like sunshine and lemons and something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. She was smart, too, and talented and generous. And very, very sweet.

  And, yeah, she was Jess Elliot’s little sister, but I was starting to feel like I would be missing out on something really special if I let that come between us.

  Not that there was an “us” yet.

  But there was definitely potential. Good potential.

  It was my last thought before I fell asleep.

  The next morning I spent extra minutes actually making my bed, further confusing Larry. Between the vacuuming last night and the bed-making this morning, she was giving me some serious side-eye.

  “I don’t want you jumping up there the moment I walk out the door,” I told her. “We have a guest coming over. She probably has feelings about dogs who sleep on pillows.”