Longing Hearts (Healing Hearts Book 2)

by Maxene Novak

  “Hey,” Alex popped into his office, “some of us are going to grab drinks after work. You in?”

  Blake looked up from his screen. “Thanks for the invite, but I’ve already got plans.” He didn’t want to mention that those plans included Heather. He hadn’t read or heard anything about a company fraternization policy but he wasn’t pushing his luck. Plus, he had no idea if Heather wanted people at work to know she was currently staying at his place.

  Alex snickered and it drew his attention back to her. “Those plans wouldn’t happen to involve a certain senior editor, would they?” Evan stared at her not sure what to say, and Alex waved her hand at him dismissively. “I know she’s at your place with your husband.”

  “Does everyone know?” he asked. He honestly didn’t care, but if Alex knew he was curious if that included the whole team.

  “No, just me,” Alex said. “Heather and I don’t have many secrets. It would be hard for her to keep too much from me since I basically schedule her life out for her.”

  “So you know everything about her personal life too?” he asked.

  Alex shrugged. “I don’t know if you’ve realized this yet, but she’s kind of a workaholic. Other than Lorie and volunteering at the children’s home she spends most of her time on things related to work. At least she did. She has cut back a lot since her first day at your place. Something about your paramedic husband insisting she has to take it easy while she heals.”

  Blake sat up straighter, ready to argue that point himself. Evan was right. Heather needed to take care of herself. Work could wait. “She is supposed to take it easy. That actually came from her doctor. Evan’s just trying to make sure she listens, which is not an easy task.”

  “Oh, I know, and I agree. I told her she should just take the time for herself and leave all of the work to the rest of us here, but she wouldn’t listen to me. I’m glad Evan was able to get her to slow down at all.”

  Blake relaxed back in his chair. He liked Alex. She was a good person and a good friend to Heather. Anyone who wanted the best for Heather was cool with him.

  “Well, I’m going to go finish up so I can get out of here soon,” Alex said. “I guess I’ll see you next week.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Blake said glancing at his computer screen. “See you Monday.”

  ***

  When Blake got home he found Evan in their room packing a bag. “What’s going on?”

  Evan gave him a kiss before opening Blake’s top drawer and pulling out boxers and socks to add to one of the bags. “We’re taking a mini-vacation.”

  “What about Heather?”

  “I’m coming too.” Blake turned to see Heather walking in with her own bag in tow. “I’m ready when you are,” she told them.

  “Somebody going to tell me where we are going?” Blake asked.

  “We’re going to visit the Biltmore Estate!” The excitement in Heather’s voice was unmistakable. “I’ve had people telling me stories about their visits and how beautiful it is for years, but I’ve never taken the time to go. I’m dying to see the library. I heard it’s one of a kind.”

  “Is it okay for you to travel?” Blake wasn’t trying to be a party pooper, but he also wasn’t willing to risk anything happening to her.

  Evan turned to look at him with an eyebrow raised and a look that said Really on his face.

  “You don’t actually think my caregiver here would be on board if the doctor hadn’t sanctioned the trip, do you?” Heather told him.

  Evan turned his raised eyebrow on her at her caregiver comment and stuck his tongue out at her before they both started laughing.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Blake said, drawing their attention back to him. “I have a feeling you could convince him to do just about anything with the proper motivation.” Blake ran his eyes down her body and when he brought them back up to her face he was happy to see the blush he’d induced.

  Heather smacked his shoulder and laughed. Evan looked between them with an over-embellished look of shock on his face. “You mean I could have held out for sexual favors before saying yes?”

  “Too late,” Heather goaded him. “You already bought the tickets and booked our room.”

  Our room? That caught Blake’s attention. Did she really mean they would all be sharing a room, or was he looking into her word choice too much?

  “We’re sharing a room?”

  “Technically, yes,” Evan said, “but we’ve got two separate queen beds.”

  “Oh, okay.” Blake’s excitement lessened slightly but he wasn’t going to let something like a foot or so between their beds ruin what was bound to be an amazing weekend away for the three of them. He turned to Evan. “I can grab the rest of my stuff.”

  Evan shook his head. “You’re all set. The boxers I just grabbed were the last of it. We’re all set to go unless you want some time to unwind from work before we leave.”

  “No, I’m good, but speaking of work,” he looked at Heather, “you told Alex you’re staying here?”

  “Of course I did,” she answered him. “Did you not want people to know?”

  “No, no,” he quickly rejected her question. “I was just surprised you told anyone at work since you’re my boss. I was glad she knew. I don’t like hiding things from people. It only complicates things in the long run.”

  “I agree,” Heather said, and he saw Evan nod.

  “Good because I won’t hide it from anyone if we become a thing either,” she said.

  Blake smirked at her. “A thing? Just what kind of thing are you talking about?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I think I like the term throuple. Evan used it before and it has a nice ring to it.”

  Blake and Evan laughed. “I agree,” Evan said, throwing his arm over her shoulder and kissing her cheek.

  “So, are you two saying we are a throuple now?” he asked.

  Nobody said anything for a minute. He was worried he’d pushed too fast, but Heather finally broke the silence. “I think we should spend this weekend together first. It will give all three of us time together. It has mostly been just me and Evan, and I think we owe it to each other to see how we all three get along when we’re cooped up together on this trip.”

  “I can live with that,” Blake said.

  “Me too,” Evan added.

  “And we can go ahead and go,” Blake told them. “Just give me a minute to change into something more comfortable for the drive.”

  “No problem. I’ll go ahead and take our bags out to the car.” Evan grabbed all three bags and headed out of the room with Heather right behind him, insisting she could roll her own bag out. Evan was sure that this was the first time Heather had ever allowed anyone to take care of her, and she wasn’t doing a great job of it. She had been taking care of herself long before she should’ve had to and it showed in the many ways she fought against Evan’s help every day. Blake hoped she’d let them spoil her over their weekend trip. He wanted her to truly relax and let them handle all of the details.

  The ride to Asheville was only a couple of hours and Evan drove. Blake insisted Heather ride in the front. Telling her he might take a nap had been the only thing that got her to agree. It turned out she was the one who needed a nap and she fell asleep thirty minutes after they left. Blake leaned forward and reclined her seat so she didn’t end up straining her neck. He moved her head, which she’d been holding up on her hand, to lay it back and brushed her hair out of her face gently with his fingertips.

  “She’s beautiful, isn’t she,” Evan said from the driver’s seat.

  Blake looked over at his husband and smiled, then he looked back at Heather’s sleeping face. “Yes, she really is.”

  “She’s worried that she’s going to have a bad scar once they remove the bandages from her forehead,” Evan told him.

  Blake looked at the bandage covering her forehead and the area where the doctor had performed the surgery to stop her brain from hemorrhaging. “What do you think?”

&
nbsp; Evan let out a low sigh and glanced at her. “The cut was deep and jagged. Thinking about it now makes me sick to my stomach.”

  “Because you care about her now,” Blake interjected.

  “Yes. I do. Way more than I ever thought I would or could so soon, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since I fell in love with you pretty much right away.” Evan smiled.

  “Me too,” Blake told him.

  “It’s because I care about her that I don’t want to lie to her,” Evan said, “but I don’t want to upset her either, and that gash is most definitely going to leave behind a scar. There are things the doctor will be able to do to minimize it, but I don’t think they can get rid of it completely. Not unless she wants to undergo some pretty painful surgery with skin graphing or something.”

  “Don’t lie to her,” Blake told him. “Her parents lied to her all of the time when we were kids. Always telling her they would stop doing drugs. That they just needed one last hit, and then they’d never touch it again. The next day she’d come home from school and find them having a party or passed out because they were so fucked up they couldn’t stay awake in the middle of the day. When they died she said she would never care for anyone who lied to her again. If you ever lie to her, she will walk away.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Evan reached back and Blake took the hand he offered and kissed it.

  They talked about the things they wanted to do over the weekend for the rest of the ride. Blake had to admit he was also excited to visit the Biltmore Estate. He didn’t think anyone working in the literary community could honestly say they had no interest in seeing its library. He was pretty sure you weren’t allowed to touch the books, which sucked, but it didn’t make him want to stand in the library any less. Evan would probably stick out there, he thought. He looked more like he should be going to a car show or motorcycle rally with his large, muscular body and sexy bald head.

  “What are you thinking?” Evan asked.

  “I was just thinking about you standing in the middle of the Biltmore library looking like a character from Fast and Furious.”

  Evan was looking at the road, but Blake didn’t miss his eye roll. Blake scooted closer up behind Evan. “You know what would be sexy as hell?”

  “I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

  “You naked, in that library, surrounded by thousands of books and splayed out for me to have my way with you.” Blake watched Evan as his hand moved down and adjusted himself in his pants, and he grinned. “Looks like you like the sound of it too.”

  “Mmm hmm,” Evan nearly moaned. Blake didn’t miss it when Evan’s eyes flashed over to Heather, still sleeping in the passenger’s seat beside him. Blake knew what he was thinking. He knew that Evan was imagining Heather there with them because he was thinking the same thing.

  His eyes were still on Evan when he heard Heather’s voice. “You just going to leave me out?” Blake’s eyes flashed to the passenger’s seat just as she opened her eyes. “The two of you are going to have sex in one of the most beautiful libraries in existence and you didn’t think to include me in your little fantasy. Some throuple we are.”

  Hearing the mention of her being involved in a sexual fantasy with him and Evan, even if she was complaining they hadn’t included her, had his dick stiff as a board in record time.

  “Fuck, woman,” Evan swore, “you’re going to make me wreck talking like that.”

  Heather looked down at Evan’s lap, then she smiled like she’d won the lotto.

  “I thought it would be rude to voice that part of the fantasy since you were asleep,” Blake told her. “Doesn’t mean we weren’t thinking it.”

  “Good. Are we almost there?”

  “We should be there in the next five minutes,” Evan answered her. “We thought that we could all clean up and go grab a nice dinner.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Heather agreed. “I’m starving. A steak would be great right about now.”

  Steak was not what Blake was in the mood to eat right then, but he’d keep that to himself. For now. He couldn’t promise what he might say or do once the three of them were alone in a hotel room for the night. It was either going to be the best weekend of his life or the most frustrating. He kept his fingers crossed hoping it would be the first option. Seventeen years was way too long to go without touching someone you loved.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Evan

  When they arrived at the hotel Blake ran inside to check them in while Evan parked the car. When Heather and Evan got inside they expected to find Blake waiting for them with the key to their room. Instead, he was still at the counter and Evan noticed the person behind the desk was shaking their head a lot and he was pretty sure they were apologizing. “What’s up?” he asked when him and Heather stepped up next to Blake.

  “Your reservation got messed up,” Blake told him.

  “What do you mean?” Evan looked to the employee behind the counter for an explanation.

  “It seems there was a system error when you booked your room and someone else booked it at the same time, and those guests arrived an hour ago and are already settled into the room. We have a room for you that is actually an upgrade at no extra cost if it suites you.”

  If they were offering an upgrade Evan didn’t know why Blake was arguing with the guy. “An upgrade sounds good.”

  Blake shot a glare at the guy. “What he didn’t tell you is this upgrade only comes with one bed instead of two.”

  “A king sized,” the desk clerk spoke quickly.

  “Oh.” Evan understood. He’d gotten two beds so Heather wouldn’t feel pressured into sleeping with him and Blake. “Well, does it have a pull out sofa or something like most of the other rooms at least?”

  Heather stepped up and put a hand on each of their shoulders. “Guys, nobody is sleeping on a sleeper sofa. A king bed is plenty for the three of us.”

  The clerk’s eyes grew wide as she looked between the three of them. Evan cocked an eyebrow at her and watched her cheeks flair hot pink. Heather noticed too, and stepped up closer to the desk to talk to the girl. “See, she knows it wouldn’t be a hardship to be sandwiched in between the two of you for a couple nights, right,” she looked at the girl’s name tag, “Allie.” Heather’s attention only made the girl’s blush grow brighter, but Evan saw her give Heather a timid nod of the head. “Great. It’s settled then. Can we have our key to the room?” Heather held her hand out and the girl gave her two key cards.

  “It’s room 338,” she told Heather.

  “Thanks, Allie.”

  Heather turned back around to face Evan and Blake. “Can we take this stuff to our room now so we can get dinner before everything shuts down for the night, please?”

  Blake gave her a quick kiss. “I swear I love you woman.”

  “I thought you did, but now that you’re trying to starve me I’m beginning to have some doubts.”

  Evan shook his head and laughed at the two of them as Blake put on a fake pained expression. “That’s enough you two,” he told them. “Let’s go change so we can get her fed. I’m pretty sure if we wait too long she’s going to change into one of those evil gremlins, and nobody wants that.”

  “If I turned into a gremlin I’d be the cute one: Gizmo. Not one of those slimy assholes, thank you very much.”

  “Just keep telling yourself that, babe,” Blake told her as they made their way to the elevator. By the time the elevator doors opened they were all laughing. The weekend was off to a good start.

  ***

  Evan threw on a pair of black dress pants and a button-down blue long-sleeved shirt. Blake was wearing the same thing but with a mint green shirt. He and Blake had turned their backs so that Heather could get changed without an audience, despite the fact that he had felt her eyes on them the whole time they spent undressing and changing into nicer clothes. He had to admit that it was hard not to peek. He wound up smacking Blake on the back of the head twice for failing to keep his eyes tu
rned away.

  “Okay, I’m dressed,” Heather said behind them. When Evan turned around his breath was knocked right out of him. He was pretty sure his eyes popped out of his head like a Looney Toons wolf. Heather laughed. “I wish the two of you could see your faces.”

  Evan looked at Blake and saw that he too was ogling Heather like a deer in headlights. Surely she knew what she was doing when she picked out that dress. It was a dark purple and it molded to her upper body showing off her beautiful cleavage, then it flared out at her waist and stopped just above her knee. She’d paired it with a pair of silver heels and Evan found himself having to look away and count backwards from twenty to keep his dick from making a statement in his slacks.

  “Are we going to go to dinner, or are the two of you going to stay there staring for the rest of the night?” When Evan looked back at Heather she was smiling playfully. She was without question enjoying their reaction. “I’d hate to actually become the gremlin the two of you seemed so worried about moments ago.”

  “She’s right,” Blake said. “We better go. I can’t remember what the cutoff time was for feeding them, and I don’t want to risk waiting.”

  Heather reached for the shirt she’d taken off and threw it at him. “You better watch out, babe,” Evan told Blake. “She’s not taking any hostages this trip.”

  Heather looked to Blake. “Listen to your husband.”

  Blake held up both of his hands. “Alright, alright. I surrender.”

  When they went to leave the room Heather stopped to look in the mirror. Evan noticed her fidgeting with her bandage and for a second she let her shield drop and he saw sadness creep into her eyes. He stepped up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, then he leaned in and kissed her cheek. “You’re beautiful. That bandage will be gone before you know it, and you’ll still be beautiful.”