Love is Lovelier

by Donna Simonetta

  What the hell?

  She sat up and pulled the covers over her breasts, suddenly feeling shy and vulnerable in front of this man, who had explored every inch of her naked body the night before. “You were going to get dressed and sneak out while I was sleeping?”

  He pulled on his boxer briefs and shook his head. “No! What kind of man do you think I am? I was going to wake you up to say goodbye.”

  “Goodbye?” She managed to croak the word out around the lump in her throat. “Is that what this is?”

  He found his shirt, and clutched it in one hand as he sat on the bed next to her. The mattress dipped and squeaked, causing Mick to chuckle. “You were right about this bed being sturdier than it sounds. If we didn’t break it last night, nothing ever will.”

  He pried one of her hands off the covers she clutched against herself, like a shield, and held it in his big, warm hand.

  Heather bit her bottom lip. She was so confused. Last night had been unbelievably special to her, and she thought she’d seen the same wonder she was feeling reflected in Mick’s eyes. But here he was, getting ready to bolt out of her apartment before dawn.

  “What’s going on, Mick?”

  “Nothing. I know you like to get to the office early on Monday morning, and I was trying to find my clothes so I could go home and grab a shower before I headed into work too. Your unorthodox approach to clothing storage made it hard to find my clothes. I’ve heard good things about dressers and closets; you might want to give them a try sometime.”

  Heather looked around the room, which did seem to have a good portion of her wardrobe strewn about everywhere but the closet or dresser. There were jeans on the floor, her work polos crumpled on a chair, and one bra was even artistically draped over the mirror above her dressing table. She was pretty sure it was the bra she had on last night.

  She lifted one bare shoulder. “If you’re looking for Suzy Homemaker…”

  “I’m not,” he interrupted firmly. “I was teasing you, Heather.”

  “Okay, then on to your second point—my apartment may not be the penthouse of the Ritz, but I do have indoor plumbing. You could shower here; you don’t need to sneak out while I’m sleeping to go home to shower.”

  “I wasn’t sneaking! I was going to wake you. I just didn’t like the odds of us actually making it into the office today at all, if we were both naked when I did it.”

  “You have a problem with showering here?”

  “Your brother is my boss, and he’s one of my oldest friends.”

  “I’m not seeing the connection to my shower.”

  “It’s not your shower, per se, but I’m seriously breaking the guy code by sleeping with a buddy’s sister, and I don’t want him to find out about us by the two of us waltzing into the office together, with a just-laid glow about us.”

  “There’s a glow?” She grinned, in spite of her misgivings.

  “You glow,” his answer was serious. “It’s one of the best things about you. Wherever you go, you bring the sun with you.”

  She blushed, and looked down, feeling pleased and a little bit like a jerk all at once. She’d allowed Danny’s snarky comments from the wedding to worm their way into her head. When she woke up and thought Mick was sneaking out, she’d heard Danny’s voice in her mind. You’re good enough to sleep with, but not good enough to be seen in public together.

  She mentally stuck her tongue out at Danny. After spending the whole weekend telling Mick to ignore his brother’s jibes, it turned out she was the one who let Danny get to her.

  Chapter 13

  Heather drummed her fingers on her desk, as she booted up her computer. Never a real girly-girl, she was showered, dressed, and at work in no time. She’d even beaten Mick into the office. She wondered if she could be happy with a man who took longer than she did to get ready, but decided if it came with nights of unbelievable sex like last night, she could make the sacrifice.

  What she wasn’t so sure about was if she could be with someone who was so uncomfortable in his own skin. She furrowed her brow. Maybe Mick’s prep time took so long, because he wasn’t comfortable with himself. And he needed the time to make his appearance perfect before he went out in the world.

  When Mick was alone with her, he was a very different person from the one he chose to present to everyone else. She hoped her Mick was the real one, but she didn’t know for sure if he was. Danny’s words still flitted around her consciousness—was she just a dirty, little secret for Mick?

  Seeing him over the weekend with his family, in his native West Virginia, had been a real eye-opener for her. His father and Danny were so awful to him, but was the custom-tailored, handmade Italian leather shoe wearing man, more a response to them, or was it based in snobbery and a rejection of his coal-mining roots? She sincerely hoped it was the former, because avoiding their nastiness was something she could understand. If it was shame about his family history driving him, it would be a deal-breaker for her. Heather might have her flaws, but she was a woman who was comfortable in her own skin, and she had never been ashamed of her family’s farming lifestyle.

  Only time would tell which Mick was the real Mick, and she needed to seriously consider how hurt she would be if the snob turned out to be the real person. He broke her heart the first time around, and she suspected this time, with grown-up feelings at play, it would be even worse. What they had together—when they were in private, Danny’s snide voice in her head reminded her—was real, and true, and it deserved the chance to develop. It meant leaving herself open to the kind of heartache she’d spent her whole adult life avoiding.

  She realized her computer had started up while she was sitting here lost in thought. She shook her head, as if the movement would clear away the confused thoughts like cobwebs, and clicked on the keyboard as she got to work. First things first, it was Monday, which meant she had to get the week’s calendar ready for Jeff, Cisco, and Mick.

  “Damn,” she cursed as she opened her calendar, and saw a reminder for the gala to benefit Jeff’s organization to help inner-city kids. With everything else going on she’d totally forgotten it was taking place this weekend. And given developments with Mick it had also slipped her mind she was going to the benefit with Chase Harper. A bass player with an up and coming alt-country band, Chase was on the road most of the time, but he was playing in the Mid-Atlantic region this week, and had agreed to meet her in Baltimore for her brother’s charity event.

  Chase and she weren’t serious. He had too much of a gypsy soul to give up the road and settle down in one place, and Heather’s roots ran deep in Rivers Bend, but she didn’t feel right about going on a date with him in light of her budding relationship, or whatever it was, with Mick.

  She glanced at the time on her computer screen—seven o’clock. It was too early to call Chase. The only time he had ever seen this hour of the morning was if he still hadn’t gone to bed from the night before. She tapped on her keyboard to set a reminder to call him this afternoon when he’d be awake and explain about things with Mick. They flirted with each other some, but Chase was her friend, and she knew he would understand. She knew Jeff was looking forward to seeing him, so she wanted to let him know he was still welcome to come to the benefit, but she wanted to make it clear to him if he went, it wouldn’t be as her date.

  A little later, Heather heard her brother’s voice in the hall. She felt butterflies in her stomach when she heard him talking to Mick.

  They paused at her door, and she made a concerted effort not to gaze past Jeff to look at Mick like a smitten schoolgirl. Get a grip, Braden!

  “Hey, Heather, do you mind if we interrupt you for a minute? I want to go over this week’s schedule.”

  She spun her desk chair to face them. “Sure. I emailed it to both of you.”

  Jeff waved his smart phone. “Got it right here!”

  As her brother began to discuss the groups booked at the Retreat for the upcoming week, Heather risked a glance at Mick and received
a slow, sexy wink. Her heart pounded, and she felt her face flush. Man she was so far gone for this guy!

  “Okay, that’s it for Retreat business. One more thing though, this Saturday is the benefit.” He tapped on his phone to call up a document stored there. “Mick, I have you down with one guest.”

  Heather’s head shot up from the schedule in her hand so fast she was amazed she didn’t give herself whiplash.

  The muscles in Mick’s jaw worked, so she knew he was tense, but his answer was like a direct hit to her solar plexus.

  “That’s right. I’m taking Gloria Peterson.”

  What did he mean? He still intended to go with Gloria after what happened between them last night? Heather felt her stomach lurch, but fortunately, Jeff was staring aghast at Mick, so her brother didn’t notice her discomfort.

  “Dude, I thought I warned you about that woman! She’s poison”—he shrugged—“but you’re a big boy, so I guess it’s your funeral.”

  Mick didn’t answer. Probably because his jaw was clenched so tightly it locked up on him.

  “Heather, I have you down with Chase. I’m looking forward to seeing him again; glad he’s in the area this weekend.”

  Mick’s gaze burned into her, and she thought she saw an actual wisp of steam come out of his ears.

  Heather had no idea what was going on in his head, but in hers, she heard Danny’s voice on an endless loop. Good enough to sleep with, but not to be seen in public together. Was Mick’s brother right? Danny even specifically asked about charity events like this one, so maybe he was on to something. He didn’t seem to know much about Mick, beyond his preconceived ideas about him, but even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes.

  Well, she knew one thing for sure, if Mick was going with Gloria, she wasn’t about to cancel her plans with Chase. She didn’t trust her voice not to wobble, so she swallowed hard and nodded mutely in response.

  Jeff was too preoccupied with the file on his phone to notice. His head bobbed as he tapped on the small screen. “Good. Thank you both for your support on this. It means a lot to me.”

  He wandered out of the office and left her alone with Mick. The tension between them was as thick as the fog had been on the Potomac this morning.

  “Who’s Chase? Were those his condoms at your place?” Mick ground out between clenched teeth.

  “What? Where did that come from?”

  “I was wondering whose condoms they were last night. So…are they his? Chase’s?” He spat out the name.

  Heather could still hear Danny’s voice pounding in her head like a tribal drum—good enough to sleep with—but anger was starting to mix in with her shock. “So what if they do belong to Chase? Have you been celibate? What about Gloria?”

  “I haven’t slept with Gloria,” he said through gritted teeth.

  She shrugged with feigned indifference, but his answer was worse than if he was sleeping with Gloria. Danny’s words played on a loop in her mind—good enough to sleep with. “Maybe not, but you think she’s worthy to be seen in public with you. It’s why you’re going to the benefit with her and not me.”

  His eyes widened, and his jaw finally unclenched enough to drop. “What the hell do you mean? I asked Gloria to the benefit before things started between us, and I don’t want to cancel on her so close to the event. It would be rude.”

  “And God forbid you be rude to a lady like your precious Gloria.”

  “What are you talking about? And who are you to be so angry about me going with Gloria? You’re going with someone else too—remember, your date with Chase?”

  She pounded on her keyboard to open up her calendar and poked her finger at the reminder scheduled on her screen. “I was going to call Chase this afternoon to tell him about us, but now I guess there’s no point—there is no us.”

  He frowned and stepped up behind her to look at the screen. “We both made dates before, but it’s no reason to say there is no us.”

  She felt small as he towered over, and she didn’t like the feeling so she stood. Even standing, she needed to tilt her head a little to look at his face, which given she was 5’9” was an unusual experience for her, but she felt less vulnerable this way.

  She tried to turn off the sound of Danny’s voice in her head, but it just echoed the fears she started to suspect were reality. “But you don’t plan on canceling your date with Gloria.”

  He glanced away from her steady gaze. “No.”

  She raised her voice, in part to drown out Danny’s voice, but the words she spoke were the same. “So I’m good enough to sleep with, but Gloria’s more acceptable to be seen with at a social function like Jeff’s benefit.”

  Mick’s eyes bulged at her words, and he raised his voice too, “You’re more than just someone to sleep with…”

  “Since I’m her honorary big brother, I’m pleased to hear it,” Cisco’s Brazilian accented voice interrupted him from the doorway to her office. “But I’m not sure her blood brother would feel the same.”

  “Cisco,” Mick began, but was cut off by his friend.

  “Don’t explain it to me—save it for Jeff, and be glad his office door is shut, or he would’ve heard this whole thing.”

  He tossed a set of keys to Mick. “There’s a golf cart out by the barn. Since you two seem determined to yell at each other about your personal business, take it and go somewhere private to finish this argument.”

  ****

  Mick glanced at Heather as she drove the golf cart on a trail bordering the river. The silence between them was as strained as the tight expression on Heather’s normally sunny face. God, was it happening already? Was he sucking the joy and vitality from her the way his old man had done with his mother?

  She veered off the path, and he grinned in spite of the situation. She drove the golf cart as wildly as she drove a car, and with as much abandon as she lived her life. His smile faded. She had been happy, until one night with him, and now there were lines of tension bracketing her beautiful lips.

  She turned off the cart’s motor and hopped out; she walked to the riverbank, and wrapped her arms around herself in a defensive gesture. It was like a kick in the gut that Heather felt the need to protect herself against him.

  She stared down the incline to the river and asked, “Think this is far enough for privacy?”

  “Depends on how mad you are at me, and how loud you think you might yell.”

  “The drive calmed me down some; I don’t think the hollering will be too loud.”

  Mick stepped up to her side, and looked out at the constantly rolling river. He wanted to draw her into his arms, to reassure her everything would be all right, but he couldn’t. He didn’t know if it would be, and the way Heather still held herself protectively away from him made him think it might not be.

  “Want to tell me what you meant back at the office about how I view you and Gloria, because I sure as hell didn’t understand.”

  She shrugged and he thought he saw a glimmer of tears in her eyes. Great. He was a helluva guy. Now he made her cry. He ground his molars together—he would not be his father.

  “Okay. I won’t press you on it, so how about this one, who’s this Chase guy, and what is he to you?”

  “He’s mostly a friend, but we’ve gone out sometimes too. Nothing serious, or exclusive.”

  The man must be a fool. If Mick was ever lucky enough to go out with Heather, he couldn’t imagine ever looking at another woman. But he couldn’t afford to think that way, because if there was one thing this morning was proving to him, it was Mick Evans was not the best man for Heather Braden. Still he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Why not?”

  “He’s a musician. He’s on the road a lot, and he’s a real free spirit.”

  “Just like you. I mean the free spirit part is like you, not being a musician.”

  She darted a glance at him and then looked out at the river for what felt like hours, but was just a few moments. When she spoke, her voice was small and hurt.
“You don’t know me at all, do you?

  “I think I do.”

  She shook her head. “But you don’t. You always say things about me being wild, a party girl, a free spirit, and that’s not me. Yeah, I’m generally a happy person, but I’m not a flake. I work hard; I love my friends and family. I’m smart. I was valedictorian of my high school, bet you didn’t know that about me.”

  “No, I didn’t. How could I know it, if you never told me? Like the M.I.T. thing, I didn’t know about it either, even though you turned down the scholarship right before we met. You’d think it might have come up in conversation.”

  “All the fighting with my mom about my decision was too raw back then; I didn’t want to talk about it.” She squinted as she thought, and then said, “Maybe it’s my fault you see me the way you do.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She took a deep breath. “When we met I was ready to reinvent myself. You didn’t see me as ‘good girl’ Heather.” She made air quotes, then wrapped her arms around herself as though she were cold, even though the warm spell they were having made the day a comfortable temperature. “You didn’t see the nerdy girl, the captain of the girls’ lacrosse team, the senior class president.”

  “You did all those things?”

  Her mouth curled as she looked at him. “Thanks for the shocked tone of voice. It’s very flattering.”

  His grin was sheepish. “Sorry. I just had no idea.”

  “No, you didn’t, and so you treated me like a regular girl, a fun girl. I liked it, but a little part of me always hoped you’d see the real me. No, not the real me, because fun Heather is a part of me too, but I wanted you to see the whole me. And you never did.”

  Mick exhaled with a whoosh. “Is that what you meant about me asking Gloria to the benefit? You think I see you as some sort of wild-girl-fuck-buddy I enjoy in private, but Gloria is the lady I take out in public?”

  “Well, Danny said…”

  He held up his hand like a traffic cop telling her to stop. “Wait. Danny said? My brother Danny? The one with the ax as big as Paul Bunyan’s to grind with me? Please, enlighten me, what did Danny say to you?”