Need You Now

by Ali Parker

  “Were you eavesdropping?” I narrowed my eyes at her in a fake glare. “Shame on you.”

  She laughed. “Call it mother’s intuition. Go, honey. We’re fine. Agatha and I have decided to have a movie marathon this afternoon once we’re done unpacking anyway. We don’t need you judging our choices.”

  Agatha waved a hand at me, winking when she caught my eye. “Go on, Romeo. I’ll call you if we need you, but we won’t.”

  I shook my head at them, lifting my hands and walking backward out of the room while I spoke. “Chasing me out of my own home on your first day here? Real classy, ladies.”

  Their laughter followed me to the front door, where Haven was standing with an amused expression on her face. “I’d love to meet her sometime.”

  “You will,” I promised. “She feels exactly the same way.”

  Whether Haven and I made up or not, Mom still made me promise that I’d arrange for her to see Haven sometime. After years of desperately searching for their family, she was chomping at the bit for a chance to sit down with her.

  Haven smiled. “I’ll be looking forward to it. Are you ready to go? We can take the truck.”

  I stepped out and pulled the door shut. “Right behind you.”

  Her hand moved away from her side like she wanted to reach for mine, but she jerked it back before she touched me. Sliding her hands into her pockets instead, she started walking without saying another word.

  Once we were in her truck and on the road, she glanced at me in the mirror. “That wasn’t the article you set out to write, was it?”

  “No, you saw a draft of the garbage I wrote at first.” I wanted to say more, to launch into another apology, but this wasn’t about me or what I wanted. It was all about her.

  She kept both hands on the steering wheel and her eyes on the road. “You really thought I was a vet tech?”

  “Yep.” I gave her a sheepish smile. “I guess I was so blinded by my own bullshit that I never questioned it.”

  “It never occurred to you that it was really strange to have an intern and a vet tech running around doing absolutely everything and the veterinarian never being around?”

  “Like I said, I never questioned it. In my mind, that was part of the mystery. Part of the evidence of some kind of wrongdoing.”

  Nodding absently, she took a minute to absorb what I said before asking anything else. “When you asked me out that first night to get advice about Tiger, was that about getting close to me so you could interview me for the story?”

  “No. I told myself at the time that you would be a good source of information and that it was part of the reason why I asked you out, but it wasn’t. Not really. I asked you out because I wanted to get into your pants.”

  She blinked back surprise and let out a short burst of laughter. “Well, at least I know that was an honest answer.”

  I shrugged, smirking as I kept my eyes firmly fixed on her. “Every answer I’m giving you is an honest answer. I’ve told you before and I’ll say it again, I’ve never been blatantly dishonest with you. Everything I’ve said to you has been the truth.”

  “I suppose the lies were in what you didn’t say.” She tightened her grip on the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white, releasing a long, slow breath. “Why didn’t you tell me you were investigating the clinic?”

  “It never seemed important enough to ruin the time we spent together.” There was a tick in her jaw, but color was returning to her fingers. I took the fact that her hands were obviously relaxing as a cue to continue. “I planned on telling you every time we saw each other, but it never felt like the right time.”

  “But you really were planning on telling me?”

  I nodded. “All along. I wanted to speak to you as a source, yes, but I also just wanted you. In the interest of being completely honest, I often only remembered that I wanted to speak to you about the story after you were already gone again.”

  “I guess I can sort of understand how you felt. I kept wanting to talk to you about knowing it was you who had written that first article, but it never felt like the right time to bring it up.”

  “I’m so, so sorry about that. The thing is, I’m glad you didn’t know how to bring it up either. If you had, I probably would’ve told you that I was still digging and we would’ve imploded long before we got in as deep together as we did. We might never have gotten the opportunity to talk like we are now.”

  “So all the time we spent together, you weren’t constantly searching for an angle or a way to bring it up?”

  “No. The only angles I was constantly searching for were how to spend more time with you and how to get you in bed again.”

  She glanced at me, and the tops of her cheeks flushed. “The instant attraction I felt to you, the connection, was that real? Or was it fake?”

  I groaned. “It was very much real for me. Fuck, Haven. You felt how much I wanted you. You saw it. Do you really think it could have been fake?”

  Her cheeks turned even redder and she didn’t respond.

  “After everything we’ve done together, talking about it is too much for you?” I asked with a grin.

  She blew out a breath. “It’s not too much for me. It’s just awkward when it’s not in the moment.”

  “It’s not awkward for me, so let me do the talking. That okay with you?” She nodded and I sat back in my seat again. “Nothing about any of that was fake. I wanted you more than I’d ever wanted anyone. Still do. I’m willing to prove it to you right here and right now if you want.”

  “That’s not necessary, but keep talking.”

  “The first time I laid eyes on you, I wanted to fuck you. Crass, yes, but true. I thought you were hot and you were the first woman in a long time to have such an instant, primal effect of me. But then we started talking and I realized I didn’t just want your body. I wanted your mind too. By the time I realized it wasn’t just your body and your mind but your heart as well, it was too late.”

  “Do you still want it?” She cleared her throat. “My heart, I mean.”

  “It’s only fair. You have mine.” I was way past sugarcoating anything. The last few weeks had scrubbed me raw. “I love you, Haven. I think I knew the moment I saw you that you were the woman I could really love. I think that’s why I got so distracted by you that I couldn’t even think about the work that needed to be done to maintain the career I’d worked so hard for when I was with you.”

  “Do you mean that?” Her voice was thick with unshed tears.

  “Every word,” I swore.

  She turned off the main road and onto private property, driving until we passed beneath an arch. Frowning when I realized we were pulling up to a house, I wondered if she knew we were trespassing.

  “I’m willing to have this talk with you anywhere, but if you want to get me arrested as punishment for what I’ve done, you should’ve just told me. I could’ve stripped down and ran down Main Street naked.”

  She laughed quietly, silent tears streaming down her face. Shaking her head, she climbed out of the truck and beckoned for me to follow her. When I did, she came to stand so close to me that her chest brushed against mine with every breath she took.

  The mole above her lip lifted as she smiled through her tears. “You’re not going to get arrested. This land is mine. Before you think there’s a story behind how I could afford it, the answer is that I couldn’t. I can’t. It used to belong to Kayla’s family and her mother gave it me.”

  “I wasn’t thinking about a story at all.” I swiped my tongue across my lips, peering down into those soulful, coffee-colored eyes I’d missed so much. “I’m really happy for you, but I don’t understand why you’ve brought me here.”

  “We needed somewhere to talk and this is my home now. I wanted you to know where it was in case you’d like to come around every once in a while.”

  “Depends.” I searched her gaze while reaching for her hands, then almost fucking moaned when she willingly slid them into mine.
“What would I be coming here for?”

  “Me?” She tipped her head back, bringing her hands up to cup my cheeks. “If you still want me, of course. Body, mind, heart. I’m all yours.”

  “Does this mean I’m forgiven?” My heart thundered even as a grin started spreading across my lips.

  She nodded. “Your article about my Dad was more than I ever could’ve imagined. I never thought I would see that little boy again or get to know the man he turned into.”

  “It’s quite a coincidence, right?” I brought my head down until my forehead was hovering just above hers. “I wrote from the heart, Haven. I meant every word and I’ll give you a thousand more words just like that every day if you’ll let me.”

  “If there’s a reason for everything,” she whispered, lifting herself up until her lips moved against mine when she spoke again, “then I believe that this is the reason why my dad saved your life. I love you too, Colton. Maybe he didn’t know at the time that I would, but I do. I think he saved you for me.”

  Chapter 39

  HAVEN

  Surprise flashed in Colton’s eyes, but then his lips closed the last bit of distance between us and claimed mine in a kiss that made me forget even my own name. He gathered me up in his arms and held me against him like he wasn’t ever letting me go.

  His heart was beating so hard that I felt it against my chest from how tightly he held on to me. His lips were soft and warm but firm. He tasted like mint, lemon, and home. I didn’t know where the lemon had come from, but maybe he’d been cooking when I showed up.

  I didn’t really care where it’d come from. All I cared about was this man, this kiss, and how right it felt being back in his arms.

  Being away from him had felt like I was trying to stay away from a part of myself. As soon as I’d read who he was, a whole lot of things suddenly started making sense to me. The most overwhelming of which was how Colton and I had always been destined to be together.

  I didn’t know how I knew, but I just did.

  Fate had brought us back together after my father sacrificed his life so I could have the love of mine in it. Kayla had asked me before I left if I blamed Colton at all for my father’s death, but I didn’t. I never had. I had been there, had seen him notice what was happening and push the boy out of the way. Colton never even saw what was coming for him.

  My father made a split-second decision to save a stranger’s life. His death as a result of that decision was an accident. I couldn’t even blame the spooked horse.

  I really did feel like it was fate that Colton turned out to be the boy he had sacrificed himself for. Or maybe I was just a girl who was in love with a boy—the same boy who happened to have been the first one who had ever caught her eye—and my mind was rambling on about fate because that was what I wanted to believe it was.

  Right in that moment though, as I threw my arms around his neck and he lifted me off my feet to spin me in a circle like we were in a movie, it sure felt like we belonged together.

  His article had broken me before it built me back up. There was no way I could question any of what he’d written. I’d felt the truth of his words as if it was reverberating through my own chest with each one I read.

  Then when I got to his house and looked into eyes, I knew I hadn’t been fooling myself while reading. Colton Stark was Colt. The little boy with the beautiful hazel eyes and the cute, floppy dark hair. The little boy whose life my father saved and who had grown into the man I loved.

  He wasn’t perfect. He should’ve told me about the article earlier and never should’ve published that first one anyway, but I figured it was a living-and-learning situation. For years, all he had was his career.

  Everyone lost their way every once in a while, no matter how focused they were. I couldn’t not forgive him for being human, for not being perfect when I wasn’t either.

  As far as I was concerned, it was our imperfections that made us fit so perfectly together. And together was how I hoped we would stay forever.

  “Haven?” Colton murmured between kisses. “I love you so goddamn much, and I want to keep doing exactly what we’re doing, but there are horses looking at us.”

  I pulled away from him just far enough to look over his shoulder, smirking as I brought my gaze back to his. “Are you too shy for an audience? Pretty sure they won’t tell anyone what they saw here.”

  “I thought we’d established I’m not shy.” He walked us forward until my ass hit the hood of the truck, setting me down gently but keeping a firm grip on my hips. “I just wouldn’t want them getting jealous, you know? Poor guys.”

  “Is this where I’m supposed to make a comment about how you’re hung like a horse?” I ran my fingers through his soft hair, trying and failing to keep a straight face.

  He shrugged, settling himself between my knees and pressing up against me. “Well, if the shoe fits…”

  I smacked his chest playfully. “Since when does a shoe have to fit there? You’re putting your shoes on wrong, buddy.”

  Bending his head to kiss me again, he chuckled against my lips. “I don’t want to put them on. I want to take them off. I want to take everything off actually.”

  Nipping a path over my jaw to my earlobe, he sucked it between his teeth and made me moan. “Well, if you insist. No one’s stopping you.”

  “I know.” His hands burrowed between us and he dragged his fingers up and down the length of my bare thighs. “There could be an earthquake right now and I still wouldn’t stop.”

  “That wasn’t quite what I meant.” I ran my hands down the planes of his back until I reached the hem of his shirt. “But we might get burned to a crisp if we take anything off out here.”

  “My point exactly.” He punctuated each word with a kiss on my mouth. “Want to go show me the inside of your new house?”

  I cocked my head to the side. “Why? Would you like some coffee?”

  “No, but I would like some of you.” He rolled his hips against mine, grinding the bulge in his jeans over my core. I caught my lip between my teeth as I tried to hold back a moan, but he pulled it free and slammed his mouth back down onto mine.

  Our kisses grew more passionate until they almost took on a life of their own. I wound my arms around his neck again and hooked my ankles behind his hips. We moved together desperately, both of us searching for friction while letting our love for each other pour out of us and into our kisses.

  I was pretty sure my shorts were going to be drenched after this, but I wouldn’t even have cared if it meant they would be ruined. My clit ached and sparks of pleasure zipped through me with each rock of his hardness against mine.

  My nipples pebbled, begging for his touch. He didn’t make me wait much longer, unbuttoning my shirt and shoving my bra down to free them once the fabric fell open. His hands on my breasts pushed me higher until I couldn’t even try to hold back my moans anymore.

  Head falling back, I arched to push myself into him. Familiar pressure was building deep inside, every part of me bracing for that delicious release.

  “Not like this,” Colton groaned, resting his head in the crook my neck. “Fuck. Not like this. Not today.”

  He lifted me up again suddenly, his eyes burning into mine as he carried me toward the stairs. I practically mewled against his lips, my hips moving even though I knew I was making it more difficult for him to walk.

  “I know, baby,” he said. “Just point me in the direction of your bedroom and I’ll make it up to you, okay?”

  “It’s upstairs,” I said after opening the door when we reached it. “There’s a guest bedroom down here. It’s closer.”

  “No dice. I want to make love to you in your bed. In the bed we’re going to keep waking up in together for as many nights as you’ll let me stay. In the bed where I’m going to bring you breakfast and then put on fresh sheets for you after so you won’t fall asleep in crumbs.”

  “You say the sweetest things to me at the weirdest times.” I wiggled against him
to get down, not willing to wait as long as it would take for him to navigate the stairs with me in his arms. “Come on then. Let me show you our bed.”

  “I like the sound of that.” He grabbed my hand and we ran upstairs like two horny teenagers trying to get off before the parents got home.

  When we made it to my bedroom, Colton stopped in the doorway to take in the beautiful four-poster bed with the crisp white linen and white pleated drapes framing the window that looked out over the stables.

  “We have a beautiful room,” he said, gripping the top of the doorframe as if he was physically restraining himself from entering. “When you said our bed before, did you mean it?”

  I stood in the center of the room, shrugging out of my already open shirt. His pupils dilated even more when I let it fall to the floor, his gaze raking over my exposed abdomen. “Do you really want to talk about this now?”

  “Yes.” He brought his eyes back to mine. “I’m all in, Haven. Obviously, I’m not suggesting we move in together right away, but I’m also not settling for seeing you once or twice a week and driving home every night.”

  “You want a drawer?” I unbuttoned my shorts, hooking my thumbs into the waistband and watching as he fought to keep his eyes on mine.

  “I want a drawer, a cupboard, a fucking toothbrush.” His voice was rough, his cock straining against his zipper, but he stood his ground. “I want you to have the same at my home. Our other house. However you want to refer to it.”

  “Deal.” I unhooked my bra with one hand and let it slide down before rolling my shorts and my panties off.

  After I kicked them away, I walked back until my knees hit the mattress. Colton followed my every move with his heated gaze, groaning when I sat down on the bed.

  “Are you going to come make love to me now? Or is there something else you’d rather do?”

  “There is nothing else in this world I would rather do,” he said. “I was just taking a second to make sure this was real.”