"Shut it, John," Heath snapped. "Just make the call. She's friends with Lisa."
"Keep telling yourself that, bud," John said as he walked away. "You're screwed."
"I'm sorry for giving you a hard time last night. I didn't realize you were dealing with so much. He can't do this to you. I don't care who he is. Please stay at my house tonight. I don't think you should stay here. We can talk about what you're going to do."
"I'm not your problem, Heath. Just because I know Lisa doesn't mean you have to do this."
"I don't have to do anything," he said. "I'm doing it because I want to."
The police arrived only minutes later. John spent time talking to them and filling them in on what happened and who they were pretty sure did it. There were no prints and whoever did it left nothing behind. There was no forced entry, just as she thought. They filed a report and took pictures so she could have it on record in case anything else happened. When they were finally gone, she looked around again and tears began sliding down her cheeks. Heath wrapped her in his arms and held her. With the hugest mess around her, she had never felt safer yet scared at the same time.
He waited for her to pack a bag and had her follow him to his house. She looked around at the beauty around her. It was huge and had land as well. There weren't as many trees surrounding him for privacy, but it wasn't that far off. She got out of her car and looked over at him.
"Your home is beautiful," she said. "You built it yourself."
"I did," he said looking confused.
"Lisa told me all about it when you were doing it. We talked about it after as well. She told me it was beautiful, but I had no idea. This is breathtaking. I love the porch. It's exactly how I wanted mine. Look at that swing."
She walked onto the porch and sat down on the swing.
"I bet you sit out here all the time," she said.
"I don't," he said. "When I built it, I was hoping to have a family to sit out here with. That never worked out."
"Lisa," she said. "You love her."
"What?" he asked.
She patted the swing bench next to her. He walked over and sat down.
"I'm not stupid. I know you do. She was the one that broke your heart. She was the one that made you stop believing in love."
"No," he said.
"Yes she is. I remember things she would tell me about you. She loved you so much. She still does. I used to wonder why the two of you weren't together. She said she never wanted to risk losing her best friend. I remember her telling me that you liked her. When that fire happened, she felt horrible for hurting you. She said you felt guilty for not being the one to save her. I knew she had a crush on Josh. She used to tell me how bad she felt for liking your friend. When she fell for him, she knew she hurt you. You wanted to be with her. That's why you don't hang out with them."
"You know everything about me. Is that it? I'm the poor guy that got hurt by his best friend. That's bullshit. I don't need you trying to figure me out, and I don't need you feeling sorry for me. I don't believe in love. You're right about that. It never works out. Look at you. I bet you thought you be with him forever. You had kids together. Love is for suckers. It's not for me. I do just fine on my own."
Heath stood up and unlocked his front door. When Tara walked in behind him, she let out a gasp.
"This is awesome. You are one talented man, Heath."
Chapter 12
Heath
"Thanks," he said. "Let me show you around. It's the one thing I'm good at. I can build a house from start to finish by myself."
He walked her through the house and showed her each room. Heath was very proud of his home and what he had done with it. His bedroom had floor to ceiling windows that looked out into the woods. There was a fireplace in the corner of his room and a large television on one of the walls. His king size bed faced right out those windows, and anyone on it also had a great view of both the fireplace and television.
"This room is like a dream. I can't believe this," she said filled with excitement.
She couldn't believe his master shower and bath and told him how awesome it was. There were multiple shower heads coming from every direction. It was a walk-in shower with a marble look to it. His tub had jets everywhere and could fit three people. It was actually his favorite part of the house. When they walked into the other bathrooms, she laughed.
"How come only you have the awesome bathroom?" she asked with a smile.
"You can use my bathroom," he said. "I spent a lot of time working on it. It was so worth it."
He opened the door to a home gym and her eyes widened. It made him proud to see how much she liked it.
"Have you built any houses for your friends?" she asked.
"No," he said. "They all moved while I was building my house. Now they're all talking about buying homes in Hawaii. I do a lot of building for charity though. It keeps me very busy. I work on those homes myself. My crews help as well. This is the only house I built completely by myself. It took me years, but I wouldn't change it for anything."
"What do you do for charity?" she asked.
"I build homes for people that can't afford it. They aren't huge or anything amazing, but they're roofs over their heads. It feels so good to hand a family keys to their new home."
Heath liked talking about the work he did. His friends really didn't ask him much, and he never got around to it with any of the women he spent evenings with. Tara was the first person who actually seemed genuine when she asked him about it.
"Where do you get the supplies? Are they donated by companies for the projects?" she asked.
"I supply everything for them," he answered.
Her eyes widened.
"How?" she asked.
"It's important to me. I had a nice home growing up, but a lot of people didn't. The thought of a child being without a home is one I can't deal with. I may not want children of my own, but I still care about kids. If they can get the land, I supply everything for the house."
"Wow," she said. "How many homes have you been able to build that way?"
"We finished number fifty a few months ago. I want to build at least fifty more."
Tara sat looking at him. He couldn't help but want to comfort her. It irritated him that she had been trying to figure him out though.
"So, you're in the middle of a divorce," he said. "How did it come to him trashing the place? Has it always been like this?"
"No," she said. "It wasn't always like that. We met in college and had been together since. I quit working when we got married. He changed but I didn't want to see it. I see it now though. The boys were born, and all of my time went into being with them. He became very controlling. I guess he always was, and I had just missed it. I know that sounds crazy, but it's the truth. My friends didn't like him. My parents liked him more with each year his income rose. Once the business grew, he thought it was my job to bow down like everyone else. I never argued and always did as I was told. It was important that the boys had what they needed. He gave us that. One day, I surprised him at the office. We hadn't been able to spend much time together that week. He had been working late. It sounds like the typical story out of a book or something. I walked in on him and another woman while he was fucking her. That was it. I turned around, walked out, and never looked back. At least I tried to never look back."
"I'm sorry," Heath said.
"You didn't do it," Tara said with a small smile. "I moved into the house and filed for divorce. It's been over a year. Every single time we meet with our lawyers, he has something new up his sleeve. He is a nasty man. I'm not sure how he can say he ever loved me when he treats me the way he does. Each time, he wants something else to happen. I think he's just dragging it on for control. He's always held all of it. I normally end up sitting there quietly letting the lawyers talk. This last time something changed. I don't really want to get into what set me off, but it happened. He mentioned fighting for custody, and I couldn't deal with it. It had nothing to
do with the boys. He was making me pay for everything I was getting, and he knew that was the way to get to me. Those two are my life. I would do anything for their safety. I stood up and shocked them all at that meeting. I told him he could keep it all. The only things I wanted were the house, my car, a few hundred grand, and him to sign off on the boys. He was pissed when I turned and walked out of there. That was yesterday. Here we are. I think it freaked him out that he was losing control. I just don't understand how he could risk everything by doing what he did. I also know he would never do it himself."
He didn't interrupt her thoughts. She was deep in thought about everything. It was like she was talking her way through it all.
"He ruined so much for me. I don't trust anyone, and I never will. I can't believe he cheated on me. I did everything he asked of me. Why I wasn't enough, I will never know. I'm glad that it happened. It made me realize what we had wasn't love. That wasn't possible. It's sad that I had given him all of those years of my life. At the same time, I wouldn't go back and change it. I have the two most amazing gifts in the world. My boys are my everything."
She shook her head and laughed.
"I'm so sorry for unloading all of that on you," she whispered. "I'm so fucked up. Lisa is one of the only friends that stuck by me through all of his shit. I bet you never thought you would have a client so crazy."
Heath shook his head and laughed too. He got up and walked away. When he came back, he had two cups of coffee.
"I thought I had you all figured out, and now you get to see that I'm more messed up than anyone. Lisa's lucky to have you. I know you offered for me to stay here tonight because of her. Thank you for that. I still can't believe you have been able to build all of those homes. That's really amazing."
"Thank you," Heath said. "We'll figure things out with the house. I don't think you should move. We can still fix the house up. It's your home. You can't walk away from that. You want it to look different because of him, don't you?"
"Yes," she said. "When I look around, I don't want to think about him. I can't believe I thought he cared. He used to be nice to me. I learned my lesson there, and I will never make that mistake again."
"I know what you mean," he said.
"Lisa?" she asked.
Heath slid down and rested his head on the back of the couch he was sitting on.
"Yes," he said. "We've been best friends for so long. I honestly thought we were going to end up together. It sounds stupid, but it's true. I didn't follow her around like a lost dog or anything. We lived normal lives. I dated and she dated. It's just I pictured us having a family. She had always had a crush on Josh. He was my neighbor. She'd watch him outside. It was never anything though. When I got the call the night of the fire, I was devastated. I promised myself that I would tell her how I felt and never let her go. I went to the hospital to find out that Josh was the one that saved her. He went into that building when nobody else was going to. He had no idea she was the one. I didn't know what to do when I found out. She would have died if it weren't for him. I was torn in so many ways with my emotions toward him. There was a bond created between them. He had her stay with him and cared for her. They fell in love, and I was so lost. She was almost gone. I had gotten her back. Then I had lost her to him. I can't explain it all. It fucked me up huge."
She moved closer and put her hand on his knee.
"She really loves you, Heath. I can't tell you how much she talks about you."
"I know," he said. "They had a baby. That was hard for me. She's so happy. It makes me happy to see her that way. It's just so hard for me to see her with him. He's an amazing husband and father. I couldn't have picked anyone better if I had to. He is deeply in love with her. I wouldn't want her to not be happy. I don't even know what I feel. All of my friends are happily in love. They are all having kids. I don't want that. She was the only one I could have imagined having kids with. I knew we would never hurt our kids because of the other. I could never have kids with someone else. What if it didn't work out? I could never be the every other weekend dad. It would kill me not to see my babies every single day."
"Do you still love her?" Tara asked.
Heath shook his head with his eyes closed.
"She's my best friend. I'll always love her and look after her," he said.
"Are you in love with her?" she asked.
"I don't know," he said. "I thought I was, but something feels different lately."
"What feels different?" Tara asked.
Heath smacked his hands down on his knees and sat up. He looked at the clock and laughed.
"Do you realize we've been sitting here for three hours? It feels like five minutes have passed. You can have my room tonight. I'll take the spare room. You can even use my shower and tub."
Tara burst out laughing. She stood up and stretched before turning to walk away.
"Thank you so much for being so kind. I'll be out of your way in the morning."
He let out a sigh and followed behind her. When they got to his room, he grabbed some clothes and walked to the door.
"We're both pretty fucked up," she said, just as the door closed.
He walked to his spare room and couldn't help but think about how right she was.
Chapter 13
Tara
Tara drew a hot bath and slid down into the bubbles that surrounded her. She moaned as the water from the jets smacked against her skin. It really was the nicest tub she had ever been in, and that was saying a lot since her ex had to have the best of everything. There was a light knock at the bathroom door.
"Yes," she called out.
Heath opened the door just a crack and put two towels on the edge of the sink.
"Enjoy," he said.
"Heath," she called out.
"Yes," he answered.
"I have to have one of these," she said.
He laughed as he shut the door behind him. She got out of the tub and pulled on a nightgown. It made her laugh when she realized all she owned was something her mother would wear. She wasn't looking to take advantage of Heath or anything. It was just shocking how her life changed when she moved out on her own. She'd purposely not been with a man in any kind of way. She didn't want to give her ex any extra ammunition. There had been no need for sexy wear. Was it time to quit hiding, she wondered? She didn't want a relationship but making some new friends didn't sound so bad.
She pulled back the covers and crawled into bed. The comforter was so soft and thick. She felt like she could get lost inside of it. Her head hit the pillow, and she smelled him instantly. She wrapped her arms around the pillow, snuggled into the blanket, and drifted off feeling safer than she had ever felt in her life.
In the morning, the bright sun filled the room. She got out of bed and walked to the windows. Somehow she had missed that there was a door there the night before. When she opened the door and walked out, the site before her took her breath away. There were two deer in the yard just in front of the woods. There was a small pond surrounded by beautiful flowers. Next to the pond was a bench. Woods surrounded the house on three sides. There was a chair and table sitting on the balcony in front of her. She stood in the quiet and enjoyed the sounds of nature for a few minutes before turning and walking back into the house.
The least she could do was make Heath breakfast after everything he had done for her, she told herself. When she came down the steps, the smell of coffee and sound of sizzling bacon made her stop frozen. He was already up and was making breakfast for her. How could Lisa have been so lucky to have two amazing men in her life, Tara thought? She hadn't even been able to get one. Her ex wouldn't dream of making her food.
When she rounded the corner, her mouth fell open and she stopped to look at the gorgeous man in front of her. He had on a pair of shorts and no shirt. His ass looked amazing in those shorts. Her eyes traveled down to the perfect muscles on his legs. When they moved passed his ass again, she wanted to feel the tightness and smiled. His back was tight. She
could see it in each movement he made. His shoulders were so big and beautiful. He'd worn a t-shirt around her before, so she knew he was built. That didn't matter. The bulk of his arms blew her away. It made sense. He worked with his hands. Even if he hadn't worked on jobs other than hers, he was building homes for less fortunate. Tara stood watching him. She memorized each movement in front of her.
When he turned around, he jumped. She felt like she was in high school and had been caught checking out a guy.
"You scared the shit out of me," he said with a growl.
"I'm sorry," was all she could force out.
Her eyes were glued to his perfect, bare torso. His chest and abs were like something out of a magazine. She had no idea those men really existed. Speak, she thought. Shit! She knew she looked like a fool, but there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. He had just a few hairs placed perfectly on his chest. The line of hair below left her so curious about where it was leading. Knock it off, she told herself. You are a grown woman. Stop acting like a teenager. You've been married and had babies. There is nothing in front of you that you haven't seen before. Screw that, she thought. He was like nothing she had seen before. Her ex was handsome, but his body had nothing on Heath's.
"You okay?" he asked, as he stepped closer to her.
She nodded and forced her eyes to move up to his face. That was no better. He had stubble on his chin from the day before. It was the first time she really noticed the manly yet rough look he had. His eyes were so big and dark, and his hair, oh shit the hair. It was dark and messy. She wanted to run her hands through it to see if it was as soft as it looked. When her mind moved to the thought of grabbing it tight with his lips on hers, she coughed. She'd never had a thought like that before. She'd never wanted to kiss a man as badly as she did right then. Her body shook her back to reality. He's your friend's best friend. He's just being nice to you.
"Are you cold?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she said. "I was coming down to cook you breakfast as a thank you for letting me crash here last night."
Built for Love (Bachelor Billionaire #5) Page 6
