This vacation wasn’t about her, Honey reminded herself. It was for Mattie and Sara to experience a Sapphire Falls Halloween. It was for them to spend with their father while she wandered around the small town and caught up on naps at the bed and breakfast.
She stopped in front of a wooden crate. The cutest zombie Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls smiled their jagged, bloody mouths at her. They had marker drawn scars and patches of their hair were blackened and torn, but they weren’t too ghoulish for a pair of toddlers, and they were cute.
Honey collected the two dolls into her arms and dug through her purse for her wallet.
“Raarraah!!!” A firm hand grabbed her and a knife stretched over her head.
Honey screamed and dropped everything. Her legs turned to jelly, and her heart flew from her throat.
A vampire bat spread his wings over her. His fangs dripped with blood, and he backed her into the wall, scattering a pile of beanbag gremlins.
“Help! Help!” Honey screamed over and over again, but what would Troy do? Nothing. He was the one who trapped her here. The nice family was a set up designed to lure her in.
Oh no! Mattie and Sara were alone with a maniac. Where the hell was Max? Did he invite them to this bucolic town to trap them? Maybe do away with them?
Once and for all?
Honey butted her head into the vampire’s jaw. She punched his chest and kicked him, but he grabbed her hands and lifted them above her head.
Panic set in. How was she ever getting out of this alive?
“Take my purse. Take my money. Just let me go, please. Don’t hurt me. Please don’t hurt me. What have I ever done to you?”
“You divorced me.”
Chapter Two
It was all Max could do to fend off the hysterical woman he wished was still his wife.
“You asshole. What the hell? Get away from me.” Honey snarled at him, struggling to get out of his grasp.
This hadn’t gone the way he’d planned. Troy was supposed to bring his kids along so he could surprise them with a stuffed monster of their choice. He could almost hear the squeals of “Daddy” and “Dada” popping from their sweet little mouths. He had a bag of candies and treats, and the four of them would mimic that happy family that had walked from the Petting Zoo a few moments ago.
Unfortunately, when he saw Honey step into the barn all alone, scared and chicken, the way she always was with horror movies and Halloween, some uncontrollable bratty impulse got the better of him. There she stood, so sexy and leggy, always put together despite traveling, wearing a pair of slacks, a soft cowl-necked sweater, and a white aviator jacket. Her honey-blond hair was longer and fuller than the last time he spied her, and her sweet perfume filled the small barn with the scent of apples and vanilla.
He hadn’t touched her hide nor hair since the divorce papers were final, and no matter what he did to entice her into a date, she always turned it into business. Sign this consent form. Go over the credit card statements. Approve the tax filings.
She used to be fun, a lot of fun, before Mattie was born, but as soon as their son showed up, it was like Honey flipped a switch. No more lying in bed on Sunday mornings, no more racing bikes in the park, no more lazy backrubs on movie nights, and no more teasing and cuddling or flirting and making eyes over morning coffee.
So he screwed up again. Decided to give her a fright. At least that got a reaction out of her.
But now? She was thoroughly pissed. And he’d bet the noise had attracted the entire town. Why, Troy was probably out there selling tickets.
Armed with cursing a sailor would be proud of, and certainly not the kind of language the sweet women of Sapphire Falls would ever utter, she pressed him to the wall.
“How dare you leave me and your kids at the airport? You didn’t call. You didn’t text. For all I knew, Troy’s a serial killer or a kidnapper.”
“Two kids woken from their naps.” His buddy ambled into the dark barn holding his son and daughter.
“Daddy!”
“Dada!”
“See? They recognized me in this costume.” He threw a snide remark at this ex-wife. It didn’t quite rub out the hurt that she wasn’t glad to see him, and she didn’t laugh at his vampire act.
“If you hadn’t scared me to death.” Honey wiped straw from her sweater, picked up her purse, and stomped toward the door of the petting zoo barn.
“Wait!” He had to stop her. The entire town was probably outside and someone was sure to report this situation to his parents. “You forgot the Raggedy Zombies.”
“Why don’t you hug your kids and give the toys to them yourself?” She snorted, nostrils flaring. “I’m going to the bed and breakfast and taking a nice hot bath.”
The hot bath sounded more than nice. But she was right about needing to hug his kids. He’d suggested this vacation for Mattie and Sara’s sake. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have agreed to come.
Max gathered his two little honeys in his arms and kissed them. He was glad to see them, but he wasn’t about to let this opportunity go by without getting his big honey back.
She turned to Troy, as if he would give her a ride. “Well, ready to go?”
Loyal Troy. Instead of answering her, he mumbled about being late for his Mama’s dinner and shuffled out the door.
Honey glared after him, then shoved a couple of bills into the milk can. “There, in case you’re not carrying cash.”
“How about a dolly for Mommy?” Max suggested to his kids.
“Or a stuffed bear!” Mattie said. “Mommy, come back here.”
“Mama,” Sara repeated.
“Come on, let me buy you something.” Max blinked his big blue eyes, hoping she could see them in the dark, and waited.
“Oh, I don’t need a toy,” Honey huffed. She did, however, reach out to Mattie. “Enjoy your weekend with your daddy.”
After kissing Mattie, she kissed Sara. “You too, baby girl, don’t eat too many sweets.”
“If you don’t want one,” Mattie said. “Can I pick a bear?”
“Yes, you may.” She turned to go.
“Ask Mommy to help you find one,” Max whispered to Mattie.
“I heard that, Maxwell Beauregard Wolff.”
The way she said his full name put a shiver through him. She only used his full name when she was either extremely unhappy with him, or she was hot and horny and wanted to taste his wolf.
He swallowed and shifted his children higher up in his arms. “It would mean a lot if we could stay together as a family this weekend.”
He could hear the laughter and conversation of the townsfolk outside, and while anyone could wander into the barn at any time, the fighting words and screams that came out of the barn had kept people from butting in.
They cared, and oh, they talked, but they had the decency to give privacy when conditions demanded it. Or if Troy was outside giving a juggling demo.
She came closer, her honey brown eyes challenging him. “I came here this weekend so you and your family can hang out with Mattie and Sara. You owe me a break, and I’m taking it.”
“A break from us?” He hugged his two darlings and nuzzled them, eliciting giggles and laughs.
Honey rolled her eyes. “I know what you’re doing, and it isn’t working. I have these two twenty-four seven. Give me one good reason why I can’t enjoy Sapphire Falls by myself. Alone and free, and don’t try and guilt me, because it won’t work.”
“I never wanted the divorce.”
“Because you had everything you wanted, including a sex slave.”
“Honey, that’s not fair.”
“Don’t call me honey.”
“It’s your name. Take it up with your folks.” He bit his lip, wondering what he could say to make her stay. He couldn’t bribe her. She got all the money she needed. He couldn’t threaten her, because he wasn’t that kind of guy, and he would never use the kids against her.
But then, maybe he could use his kids as a shield. It was trick
y, but he’d always been fast. He angled his head and went for her lips, then stopped a few precious millimeters from touching them.
Her breath caught in her throat. For a moment there, he prepared for a sharp slap on his face. But whether it was the children in his arms, or she was caught off guard, or maybe she was horny and unfulfilled, whatever the reason he didn’t care, she bridged that final space between them and touched his lips with hers.
He kissed her softly, no tongue, just lips lightly brushing and sucking gently. Once. Twice, three times, then four. The spark was still there, and the embers in his heart smoldered along with the gut-wrenching pain of having screwed up the best thing that ever happened to him.
On five, her brain cells finally caught up and she backed away, her eyes wide with either horror or astonished lust. He was never good at reading people, so he waited—again for the slap, or maybe another kiss.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I have to go. It’s the low blood sugar. It’s been a really long day.”
“I’m not sorry you kissed me, but I am sorry for every second and minute I missed being with you.”
“Maxwell Beauregard Wolff. I’m not here to start this all again. I’m making it clear.” She swung around on her heels and stomped toward the barn door.
“Mama!” Sara wailed as if she’d read a cue card.
“Mommy, you didn’t get your bear,” Mattie called after her.
“Mama!” Sara’s cries turned frantic.
“Honey, give us a chance.”
“Mommy!”
“Mama!!!”
“Honey, have dinner with us.”
“Waahrroo!” a wolf howled just outside the barn, stopping Honey in her tracks.
Chapter Three
Honey had barely enough time to freshen up, clean the kids’ faces and yes, feed them muffins from the Scott’s Sweets booth, before changing them into dinner clothes. And yes, she got stuck doing all the work because Max had to clean his vampire makeup off his face.
Whatever had gotten into her to kiss a guy wearing fangs? Okay, so it was Max, and it wasn’t as if she’d never kissed him before, and was it really her fault that her body got all electric whenever he was within two feet of her?
“Are you done with the bathroom?” She pounded on the door to the Jack and Jill bathroom between the two rooms of their suite. Max had splurged and booked both the Elvis and Johnny rooms, which she heard were the largest in the inn. Which had been another surprise in this day of surprises.
She’d thought he would crash at his family’s home with the kids, but maybe being an investment banker, he was used to the finer things in life, and sleeping on a couch in the basement wasn’t something he could stomach. That, or being back in the small, cramped house he grew up in with four brothers and sisters wasn’t his thing.
“Just a sec, Honey.” Max’s slightly imperious voice drove off any lingering effects of the kiss. Of course. Mr. Big Banker had first priority in everything, including the only bathroom between the two rooms. Thankfully, the two munchkins were occupied by the TV and already had their appetites ruined with muffins and toffee.
“You know, I’m really getting hungry,” she said as her stomach growled. She, of course, stuck to her plan of quitting sugar, and she was mighty proud that she had resisted, despite the sweet and tantalizing aroma of caramel, toffee, and peanuts—her downfall. “They don’t serve food on the airplanes.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll get enough to eat at Mom’s,” he called through the door as the sound of the taps stopped.
“Mom’s? Is that the name of a diner?” He couldn’t possibly assume she’d go to his parents’ place for dinner, could he? After all, the entire purpose of being divorced was to live their separate lives.
Which she was doing just fine back in San Francisco. She had her place, and he had his. She planned her own schedule, went out with friends the weekends he had the kids, and was beholden to no one as far as breakfast, lunch or dinner went, leaving her free to eat healthy sprouts and tofu—no fat, no grease, and definitely no sugar.
He opened the door, his face clean and shiny, blue eyes wide and hair a little wet at the edges.
Honey had to look away from the alluring vision. No matter what an asshole Max was, he was an alpha male asshole, and eons of evolution had ensured that those exact qualities would be the downfall of many fertile females.
“The only diner in town is Dottie’s, and I’m not sure a stranger like you should in there go alone.” He tipped her chin to bring her gaze back to his panty-melting one.
The results of her panties frying piped up before she had a chance to remove his fingers.
“Daddy! Daddy. Can we go to the haunted house? Please?” Mattie hugged his boy Raggedy Andy zombie doll.
Sara dragged her zombie Raggedy Anne on the floor and reached up to Max. “Dada, want candy.”
Max dropped Honey flat and strode toward his children, hands outspread, and grabbed them into a double bear hug. “Yes, yes, and yes. But first, dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Wolff’s.”
“Do they really have wolves?” Mattie’s eyes lit bright and blue. “Are they going to blow our house down?”
“They’re nice wolves, and they have a big surprise for you,” Max replied. He was talking about his family’s wolfhounds.
Big dogs always freaked Honey out, but she wasn’t going to transmit that fear to her kids, so she stayed quiet.
“Surprise?” Sara clapped her hands.
“Yes, but only if Mommy comes with us.”
Not that trick again. Honey crossed her arms and stomped her foot. She was going to have to have a word with Maxwell Beauregard Wolff after the children went to sleep.
“You didn’t tell me why I can’t go to the diner by myself.” She grabbed her purse from the bed.
“Oh, because you’re a stranger, and everyone will want to know everything about you.” Max pulled jackets onto the kids. “And without a ring on your finger, every single man from high school to the senior center will be hitting on you.”
“Seriously? Is that a bad thing?” She warmed at the thought that Max could be jealous.
“Not exactly.” He quickly dispelled her moment of insanity. “If you’re interested in football, apple cobblers, tractors, and dairy cows.”
“Maybe I am.” She shuddered at the memory of milking a cow during her brief stint in college where she’d thought she wanted to be a veterinarian.
After zipping up Sara and putting on her boots, Max took something from his pocket. “Go for it, but I suggest you wear this to keep the farm vampires at bay.”
Farm vampires? Like him? Or the werewolf who’d jumped at her outside the Petting Zoo and had sent her scurrying back to Vampire Max?
Honey wasn’t sure she’d chance the diner after all. Maybe she could call for pizza, or order room service—or wait until breakfast.
Or go to Mom’s.
“Are your parents expecting me?”
“Heck ya.” He took her hand and slipped the wedding ring she’d returned to him onto her finger. It was a simple gold band, but there was nothing simple about what he just did.
“If I’m going to your parents’ house, why do I have to wear this? No one’s going to be hitting on me there.”
“No one better hit on you but me.” Max’s voice lowered dangerously as he pulled her so she was pressed against his hard, heated body.
Goodness. When did he have time to work those muscles? Seeing as how he was too busy to spend time at home.
“Fine, let’s go have dinner, then you’re on your own with Mattie and Sara. I’m coming back here, and I get the bathroom after you put the kids to bed.” She took off the wedding ring and pressed it into his hand.
“Honey? Please wear the ring.” His voice broke, and for a moment, he sounded like a kid going through puberty.
She made the mistake of looking at his large hand, the one holding hers. “Why are you wearing our wedding ring?”
“Becau
se I haven’t told my parents we’re not married anymore.”
Chapter Four
The Wolff homestead was exactly as Honey imagined. Huge farmhouse, white wood siding, wraparound porch, weathervane on the roof. There was even an old tree with a tire swing in the front yard. A white picket fence surrounded the yard which was covered with multi-colored fall leaves. A giant wind turbine loomed over the farmhouse, and she remembered Max mentioning a few alternative energy deals he’d worked on.
Pumpkins, both carved and uncarved, greeted them on the front porch alongside a row of rocking chairs that ranged from large to small.
Twinkling orange and green lights were strung in the trees and hedges, and just like at the town square, iridescently colored spiders bounced up and down from the rafters, branches, and gate.
Her stomach grumbled as she held Max’s hand and stepped up onto the porch. Through the years, he’d neglected to keep in touch with his family, and she was the one who’d signed all the Christmas and birthday cards.
He’d also forgotten to announce their divorce—something she’d done with her family as soon as the papers were signed. Of course, they’d looked at her as if she needed her head examined.
Unpublished romance writers did not divorce investment bankers, especially if no one had cheated on anyone. She could still hear her sister Candi asking her if the divorce was a ploy to get Max to pay attention to her.
As tactics went, it hadn’t worked. Max had doubled down on his working hours, chained to his Blackberry, and disappearing into his office other than to suggest short meetings to discuss the children, all at his convenience, as if she had nothing to do but be at his beck and call.
Like now. She was in Sapphire Falls standing in front of his childhood home, masquerading as a happy couple with him when she should have been kicking him to his shins.
Sapphire Falls: Going Haywire (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 2
