by Maxene Novak
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
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Longing Hearts
Healing Hearts Book 2
Maxene Novak
MMF Bisexual Menage Romance
Cover Designed by Duong Covers
Important information…
“Longing Hearts” is the second book in the Healing Hearts Series. However, this book and every other book in the series (more books coming soon!) can be read as a stand-alone. Thus, it is not required to read the first book to understand the second (as so on). Each book can be read by itself
Contents
Important information…
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The story may be over but
CHAPTER ONE
Heather
“I still can't believe you're moving out,” Heather told Lorie while she helped her best friend pack up the last of her things.
Actually, Lorie was more than her best friend; she was her sister. Heather had considered Lorie family long before she lost hers and Lorie’s parents took her in and eventually adopted her into their family, making Lorie her sister officially. Heather and Lorie had lived together ever since. Considering they were both in their thirties that was a little sad when Heather thought really about it, but that didn't change the fact that she was still sad about Lorie moving out. She was happy for Lorie, and didn't blame her for wanting to move. Lorie had fallen in love with two amazing, gorgeous men and they all loved each other deeply. If Heather had found that kind of love she might never want to spend a night away from her lovers either, so she knew Lorie was doing the right thing in following her heart. It was still going to be lonely without her around.
Lorie sealed the last box and sat it with the rest by the front door. When she came back to the room she walked right up to Heather and wrapped her in a tight hug. “I'm really gonna miss you,” she told Heather. Lorie’s voice was shaky, and Heather knew she was crying, which only served to make the tears Heather had been fighting come crashing down. When they pulled back and got a good look at each other they started laughing and wiping away their tears.
“Look at us acting like a couple babies,” Heather said with a smile.
Lorie smiled in return. “You know we’ll still see each other all the time. I'm not going far, and I'm hoping to see you at the Children's Haven as a volunteer whenever you're free.” Lorie winked at her, and Heather chuckled and rolled her eyes.
“You know I'll be there. You tricked me that first day and made me fall in love with Paul. Now I have to go back to visit with him regularly.”
Lorie’s smile brightened. “He is easy to love, isn't he?”
Heather looked into her friend’s eyes and noticed a brightness that wasn’t usually there. Lorie always took joy from helping children, but this was different. There was something more when it came to Paul. Heather knew that Paul was going to be different. Lorie wouldn’t be able to let him go if a family came for him; she was attached in a very real way, and it wasn’t just her. Both of Lorie’s men, Spencer and especially Clay had bonded with Paul. Heather smiled to herself. She had a feeling that Lorie’s family would be growing to include more than the two hunky men she was currently packing her things to move in with. She’d bet her life’s savings that Lorie would be adding a beautiful little boy to her new family in the future, and that idea thrilled Heather to no end. She could totally see herself as Paul’s Aunt Heather, and she loved the idea.
“Yeah,” Heather said, “he really is.”
There was a knock at the door and Heather watched Lorie’s face light up as she made her way to open it. Clay and Spencer stood on the other side, and Lorie gave them both a chaste kiss before moving out of the way to let them enter the apartment.
“You get everything packed up, baby?” Clay asked.
“All done.” Lorie waved her hand towards the boxes her and Heather had stacked in the living room.
“Great,” Clay said. “Spencer and I will get all of this loaded up. We brought his SUV to make sure we would have room for everything.”
Heather laughed. Hearing Clay insinuate that Lorie might have too much stuff was comical. That man had more belongings than most six-person households, and he was constantly giving Lorie crap about her wardrobe and jewelry collection. Heather was sure his only real issue with Lorie having so much jewelry and nice clothes was that it limited what he could buy for her. The man was a bit extravagant, but he could afford to be so more power to him. Heather moved to pick up one of the boxes and help take it out to the car, but Spencer swiftly pulled it from her arms and shook his head slightly. “We’ve got this,” he said. “The two of you packed it up. The least we can do is load it all up. You and Lorie should just relax while we do this.”
Heather looked over to Lorie with a smirk. “I see why you love this one. Not so sure about that Clay guy, but this one gets my vote for sure.”
“That Clay guy?” Clay held his hands over his chest and let his jaw drop like he was in shock. Heather and Clay had made quick friends in the time he and Lorie had been together. They gave each other shit all the time. Clay had told Lorie he found it refreshing. Apparently when you’re as rich as Clay Hale, most people just blindly agree with everything you say and do hoping to wind up on your good side. Heather smiled to herself. He wouldn’t have to worry about that with her. She didn’t have a brown-nosing bone in her body.
Spencer winked at Heather and turned to his boyfriend. “Don’t be mad that the girl has good taste in men.”
Clay raised his eyebrows in response. “So, are you saying that you and Lorie have bad taste?”
“No,” Spencer said as he walked towards the door with a couple boxes stacked in his arms, “just saying she prefers the porter house over the filet mignon. Lucky for you, I like my men a little fancier than myself.” Spencer leaned in and kissed Clay on the cheek as he passed, then headed out the door with the boxes.
Clay started grabbing boxes and grumbling about not being fancy on his way out the door. Heather and Lorie glanced at each other and burst out laughing. “Okay, I don’t blame you,” Heather said. “Living with those two will be entertaining to say the least.”
“You have no idea.” Lorie wiggled her eyebrows at Heather, and Heather stuck her index finger in her mouth gagging. “Ha! Don’t be jealous. I can’t wait until you fall in love, and I can rub your face in all your mushy feelings.”
Heather rolled her eyes at that.
She wasn’t going to hold her breathe for love to fall into her life anytime soon. Lorie had been lucky. Most people didn’t meet the love of their life and know it within a matter of weeks, let alone meet two people that they were meant to be with. Heather doubted that her love story would be anything like her best friend’s, but that was life. She would just focus on herself, and whatever happened, happened.
CHAPTER TWO
Heather
“Hey, Alex, did Maria turn in the final draft of Down Spiral yet?”
Heather had been waiting on Maria’s final draft for the past three weeks so they could get it published. If it wasn’t on her desk, she knew it wasn’t turned in. Alex was an exceptional assistant and she would’ve had the copy on Heather’s desk the second it was received. Still, she wanted to double check before she called Maria and issued a final warning. Maria Torrent was a great writer, and her books always sold well, but that didn’t mean she could continue to be late for her deadlines if she wanted to remain on contract with Panda Publishing. She was going to have to meet with Maria and find out what was going on that had her suddenly missing deadlines at every turn.
Alex popped into Heather’s office, two coffees in tow, and sat one down in front of Heather. Heather picked up the cup in both hands and smiled as the heat warmed her before she even took the first sip. Alex took a seat across from Heather’s desk before saying a word. “Maria emailed me. She wants another two weeks.”
Heather’s head flew up and she felt her eyes grow wide. “Two more weeks? She’s already almost a month past her deadline. The book is already written. All she has to do is complete the edits and turn it in. Let her know she needs to come in right away. I think her sales have gone to her head and she thinks she has it made. It’s time to remind her of the terms of her contract with us.”
“Already done,” Alex said with a smile. “I knew you wouldn’t grant another extension, especially since she didn’t actually seek an extension for the extra weeks she has already taken. She said she can be here at three this afternoon.”
Heather picked her coffee back up and sat back in her chair with a smile. “This is why I love you, Alex. I dread the day I am forced to do all of this without you.”
Alex rolled her eyes. Heather told her all of the time that she was going places in the publishing business. The girl was brilliant, organized, and she didn’t take any shit. With that combination, it wouldn’t take long for her career to climb higher than being the assistant to a senior editor at Panda Publishing. Heather would never hold her back, but she would miss her when she moved up.
“I’m not going anywhere, Heather. Not for a while, so relax.” Alex glanced at her watch then stood up to leave. “Your new editor should be here by now. I’ll send him right in.”
“Thanks.” Heather was glad they were getting a new editor. They needed all the help they could get. Panda Publishing picked up ten new authors over the past month, and the editors were getting bogged down. She didn’t want to risk overworking them and having them approve subpar work, so she’d decided to hire a new editor. Unfortunately, she had gotten sick and had left the interviewing to her lead editor and human resources, which meant this was the first time she’d be meeting the new hire.
Only a few minutes passed before Alex was walking back into Heather’s office with a man following right behind her. When Alex stepped to the side and Heather met those familiar green eyes she felt her heart come to a halt in her chest. How had she not realized that the Blake Martin who’d been hired as her new editor was her Blake? Well, not her Blake. He hadn’t been hers for a long time—ever since his parents shipped him off to some private school and they lost touch. Texting and email wasn’t something everyone had when they were in high school, so keeping in contact when Blake had been sent to another state was pretty much impossible. It was the one and only time Heather had found herself with a broken heart. She’d been head over heels in love with Blake, and she had been convinced she would never get over it. Looking at Blake now, Heather knew she hadn’t gotten over it. Only the death of her parents outweighed the pain she felt over losing Blake, and with him standing in front of her right now, the full measure of that heartache slammed into her. She had to brace her hand on her desk to stay upright.
Alex pulled Heather out of her inner spiral when she spoke up, introducing Blake. “Heather, this is Blake Martin, your new editor.”
Heather cleared her throat to speak, but before she could get any words out Blake spoke. “We already know each other, actually.”
“Oh.” Alex looked confused. “I didn’t think you’d had the chance to meet yet.” Alex was looking at Heather, waiting for clarification. She didn’t like looking like she didn’t know what was going on, and Heather didn’t blame her.
Heather finally cleared her head and got herself together enough to speak. She couldn’t leave Alex hanging. “Blake and I knew each other in middle and high school, but we haven’t seen each other since we were seventeen. I honestly didn’t pick up on the connection when HR gave me his name.”
Alex visibly relaxed, assured she hadn’t dropped the ball and missed something. Blake’s smile faltered slightly when Heather said she hadn’t known it was him before he walked in, which made her wonder if he had known ahead of time who he would be working for. “Did you know I would be your boss when you interviewed for this position?” Heather asked Blake.
“They told me I would be working for Heather Young,” Blake replied. “I knew you as Heather Williams, so I didn’t realize it was you until I went home and did some research online. It’s great to see you, by the way.”
“Yeah, you too,” Heather said with little emotion. She needed to get back in work mode. She was thirty-four-years old, and she hadn’t seen Blake since she was seventeen. There was no reason for her to be nervous around him, and she definitely needed to keep her heart out of things. She was his boss, and she had to be professional. Heather looked at Alex. “Thank you, Alex. We’re all set here.”
Alex nodded and left Heather’s office. Heather gestured to the chair Alex had occupied only a short while earlier. “Have a seat, please, Blake.”
Blake nodded and sat down. Now that the shock had subsided, Heather took a real look at the man who’d once been the boy she loved. He had definitely grown up, and he’d done it well. He had short black hair, styled in that way that made it look messy. Normally that annoyed Heather, but it worked on Blake. His eyes were a sea-green and sat beautifully behind his thick eyelashes. He’d put on a bit of muscle since they were teenagers. He didn’t look like a body builder or anything, just solid lean muscle. Clearly he worked out and took care of himself. When Heather’s eyes made their way to his perfect lips Blake smirked. “I guess I look a lot different than what you remember.”
Heather quickly looked away from his mouth. “Yeah, but it’s been seventeen years. It’s kind of to be expected. I’m sure I look a lot different than you remember as well.”
“In a good way,” Blake said. Heather’s eyes shot up to meet his. “You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Heather felt heat rise up her cheeks and knew that her face had to be as red as fire. She needed to get them back on track, back to business. She could handle talking business. What she couldn’t handle was allowing Blake to dredge up old memories and feelings that she’d buried long ago. Just seeing him had done enough of that on its own. She pulled out a file she’d prepared for him. It was a few pieces that she had already reviewed herself so she could test the new editor to see if he could meet her expectations. She’d saved her copies with her notes on her computer for comparison once he’d completed his review.
Heather held the folder out to Blake. “You’ll work on these first,” she told Blake. “They are short stories, but they’ll give me the chance to see your work and know what direction to go from there.”
Blake reached for the folder, and when he did his fingers brushed over Heather’s for just the slightest second. That
light touch sent heat rushing through Heather’s body, and her heart took off so fast she was afraid it might literally escape from her chest. Her eyes met Blake’s and they both just sat there for a moment in silence, looking into each other’s eyes. When Heather dropped her eyes from his stare, her attention was caught by something she hadn’t noticed until that very moment. Her heart froze, and despite not seeing him since they were teenagers, she was certain that the pain that lanced her chest was the feeling of her heart breaking all over again. On Blake’s left hand he wore a ring. A ring which wrapped around that one finger that told the world he belonged to someone else. Blake was wearing a wedding band.
Heather had to swallow hard to get rid of the lump that had formed in her throat. All of a sudden she felt like all of the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. What the hell was her problem? Of course he was married. He was thirty-five and gorgeous, and if he was half the man he was when they had been together in high school then he’d have women throwing themselves at him regularly.
She took a breath and plastered a polite smile on her face. “Alex will be able to show you to your desk,” she told Blake once she was able to look him in the face again. “Of course if you have any questions I’m always available. If I’m not in my office I always have my phone and laptop with me to make sure I can respond to my employees and clients in a timely manner.” Heather stood up and held her hand out, prompting Blake to follow her lead. “I look forward to seeing your work. Please have those to me by the end of the day Thursday. Then we’ll get together Friday afternoon to go over it. Alex will send you an appointment request for an available time Friday afternoon.”
Blake took her extended hand and gave it a light shake. “And here I was hoping you’d be giving me the tour so we could catch up a little.”
Heather felt a flash of anger. Was he trying to flirt with her? She stared at him for a second more and decided to take it at face value. They had been close when they were younger, so it made sense he’d think they could catch up now that they’re working together. At least she hoped that was it. After letting her irrational moment of anger go, she gave Blake a genuine smile. “That would be nice, however, I have a meeting this morning with the other senior editors so I’ll have to take a rain check on that.”
