Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors)

by Violet Duke

  “Everything okay?” Eddie asked.

  “Yeah, it’s fine. Chelle’s out with Katie and I’m having a tough time getting Mya down. She wants her momma.”

  Those words caused a tightening in Eddie’s chest. He wondered how many nights Emily had cried herself to sleep because she’d wanted her mom. They didn’t talk about Lacey much, but Eddie knew that his daughter thought about her a lot. He’d overheard her talking to Haley about it, and sometimes she would draw pictures of her.

  Not that she’d ever seen her because Lacey had left when Emily was still an infant. But Eddie had shown her pictures of her mom.

  “Man, I don’t know how you do the single dad thing. The Marines were nothing compared to this. I’m exhausted.” Riley’s voice sounded worn out.

  Eddie had to smile. His friend was a badass Marine. Riley had served ten years in the military and been Special Ops. But Eddie could definitely relate to the fact that one crying baby could make that seem like a walk in the park.

  He could remember countless nights walking the floor with Emily, not having a clue if what he’d been doing was right or wrong. He wasn’t close to his parents so he hadn’t reached out to them, but he’d already been working for Bob, Riley’s dad, at Sloan Construction. And Bob had raised five boys practically alone, so he’d helped a lot.

  “I remember something your dad told me that helped. You can’t always fix what’s wrong. Sometimes they just need to cry.”

  “Damn, I forget sometimes that my dad did this five times.” Riley’s voice quieted as the sounds of the crying faded. “She’s asleep. Finally.”

  “You’ll be fine, man. And luckily for you, Chelle doesn’t go out much.”

  Eddie’s little sister had always been a homebody. Even before she’d gotten married and had a baby, she’d always preferred a quiet night in to going out and partying. But if there was one person who could entice his sister to leave the house, it would be Katie. Those two had been inseparable from the moment Eddie and Chelle had moved to town when Chelle was in the second grade. They’d always been as close as sisters, and now, because Katie was married to Jason, Riley’s brother, they actually were family.

  “Hold on a sec. Just let me put her down.” Eddie heard rustling over the line and then Riley’s voice came back on. “You got plans tomorrow?”

  “Nope.” Eddie tried to spend every Sunday doing whatever Emily wanted. It was ‘their’ day. So chances were there would be roller skating and Barbies in his near future.

  “I’m grilling around noon. You and Em want to come over around nine?” Riley asked.

  Eddie was suspicious. “If you’re not grilling ’til noon, why do we have to be there at nine?”

  “So you don’t miss the swing set assembly.”

  There it was.

  “Don’t you have four brothers who can help you with that?” Eddie was just busting his balls. He didn’t care about helping out.

  “Yeah, so you should feel honored that I asked you,” Riley said.

  “They’re busy,” Eddie guessed.

  “Yep.”

  “All right. See you tomorrow.” Eddie smiled as he hung up.

  As he palmed the steering wheel while turning onto his street, his heart started pounding harder in his chest. Flexing his fingers open and closed around the plastic wheel, Eddie tried to calm down his body’s reaction to the fact that in about sixty seconds he would be seeing Haley. In that dress. In his house.

  He’d made up his mind on the drive home, that he would not be engaging in their normal pattern of heading out to the patio or sitting in front of the fireplace on the couch and talking for hours.

  Boundaries. Rules. Discipline.

  Those were the things that he needed to enforce when it came to the all-too-tempting Haley Sloan. Otherwise, he didn’t have a chance in hell of keeping his hormones, his hands, and he feared even his heart, to himself.

  Turning off the ignition, he got out of his truck and made the short walk to the front door. He wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to avoid their ritual time together. Luckily, he’d never cut a night out short before so he could just say that he was tired. She’d get the hint.

  Yep. That was the plan. Tired.

  When he walked in through the front door, the first thing he noticed was the fresh smell of lemon that wafted through the air. As he took off his shoes, he noticed that he was standing on newly vacuumed carpets. Haley.

  He’d tried to tell her not to clean up while she was here. She did him a huge favor by staying with Em and she wouldn’t ever take a dime from him, always maintaining that she looked forward to the time she got to spend with Emily. At first he’d felt like he had been taking advantage of her. And it wasn’t like he didn’t have other people to leave his daughter with. He did. But he always just felt better when Emily was with Haley. Not that he wanted to delve into the reasons behind that fact.

  The light was on in the kitchen and he heard the sink water running, as well as, if he wasn’t mistaken, singing. He couldn’t make out if it was bad or good singing. But for some reason, it was music to his ears.

  As he moved into the doorway that led into the kitchen, he saw Haley standing at the sink, her back to him, suds up to her elbows, barefoot, and singing softly but with enthusiasm. His pants grew tight as he watched her hips swaying back and forth to the rhythm of the music that was playing through the headphones she wore.

  Damn, she looked like a pinup girl from the ’50s. His blood was not just heated; it was also quickly headed down south. Arousal, like he’d never felt before, crashed through him.

  He needed to get her out of here. Now. While he could still think fairly straight and exercise some self-control.

  “Hales.” He had heard the need in his voice as he spoke her name.

  She, on the other hand, hadn’t. It seemed she hadn’t heard him at all. Singing into a large spoon, she whipped her head back and forth as she sang along with Prince…

  I want to be your fantasy, maybe you could be mine.

  You just leave it all up to me. We could have a good time.

  You don’t have to be rich to be my girl.

  Don’t have to be cool to rule my world.

  Ain’t no particular sign I’m more compatible with

  I just want your extra time and your…

  Kiss

  And with the word kiss, she rolled her body more seductively than any stripper he’d ever seen and Eddie thought he might explode in his pants. He was having trouble breathing. His thoughts were clouded with lust.

  She had to go. Now.

  Stepping forward, he hesitated. He was only a foot behind her, but he didn’t trust himself to touch her. He didn’t want to raise his voice to alert her to his presence because he might wake up Em and he didn’t want to scare Haley.

  Before he had a chance to figure out a plan, Haley glanced up and caught his reflection in the window that sat above the sink. He saw the split second of panic in her eyes. Okay, so much for not scaring her.

  “Haley, it’s me,” he said as she jumped about a foot off the ground and spun around, sucking in a terrified breath.

  On instinct, his arms wrapped around her and he pulled her close to him. For a moment she was tense and poised to fight, but then her eyes softened with recognition as her body molded against his. She was clutching her hands to her chest, but he could still feel her full breasts pressed against his chest as he held her.

  His hands spread out on the small of her back and his fingers rested against the delicate dip of her spine. For just a moment, Eddie closed his eyes and let himself feel.

  Never before had they been this close. Body to body. Pressed up against each other. He’d made it a po
int never to touch her. Whenever she would hug him, he’d made sure that full-body contact had not occurred and he’d always done the one-arm pat move.

  Now he knew for a fact that had been the right thing to do because the feel of her in his arms was…amazing. Right. Perfect.

  “You scared me.” Her quiet voice drifted into his consciousness.

  “I’m sorry,” he rasped as he opened his heavy-lidded eyes. Looking down, he was temporarily speechless at what he saw. Her huge baby blues were staring up at him through long, inky lashes. Her full, pink lips parted as she took in short pants of breath. The seductive line of her cleavage was heaving against him through labored breathing.

  Need. Arousal. Desire. All of those things coursed through his veins like raging water in the rapids. His fingers tightened at the strength of it, pulling her body even closer to his. A groan ripped from his chest as a needy sigh escaped Haley’s perfect mouth.

  Dammit. This had to stop.

  Forcing himself to release his hold on her, he took several steps back until he clumsily hit the kitchen table. He was off balance. Off kilter. Off his game. Looking down at the Spanish-tiled floor, he raked his hands through his hair as he took in a deep breath to try and regain his footing.

  When he didn’t feel like he might pass out or fall over, he looked up to find Haley’s eyes transfixed, mesmerized even, on the area just below his belt. A glance down told him why.

  His reaction to her was on serious display. A ‘bulge’ didn’t begin to describe what was happening beneath his zipper. Someone else definitely wanted to join their party and he was not being shy about it.

  “Sorry about that too,” Eddie said, figuring he might as well just address the elephant—or if he was going to use an animal metaphor, he guessed it should be cock—in the room.

  Slowly shaking her head from side to side, Haley said in a barely audible tone, “You shouldn’t be.”

  For whatever reason, her words just struck him as funny. He wasn’t sure if it was the wide-eyed honesty in her delivery or the fact that she hadn’t gotten all shy and embarrassed about the situation. Maybe it was as simple as his body’s way to release some of the pent-up tension it was feeling.

  But whatever the reason was, he laughed. Harder than he could remember laughing in a long time. It took a few beats, but Haley’s mouth turned up in a smile, and although at first she looked at him like he had lost his mind, which that was actually a distinct possibility, she too started chuckling and before long joined him in his hysterics.

  It took several minutes for them both to compose themselves. Eddie wiped beneath his eyes. He’d laughed so hard his eyes had begun watering.

  Haley sighed happily as she reached behind her and turned off the water that had been running the entire time. Grabbing a hand towel off the kitchen counter and wiping off her hands, she asked, “Is everything okay? You’re home early.”

  Right. He was. Plan ‘tired’ engage.

  “Yeah, it’s fine. I was just tired,” Eddie explained.

  Haley nodded, but he could see in her eyes that she was not convinced by his explanation. Setting the towel down, she began walking out of the kitchen. “Oh, okay. Well, I had wanted to talk to you about Em, but if you’re tired, we can do it anoth—”

  As she passed, he reached out and grabbed her arm. “Stay.”

  She froze and looked up at him in surprise. He didn’t blame her. His actions were surprising him too. Not only was he asking her to stay, he was touching her. Again.

  Way to stick to the plan.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  THE FEELING OF Eddie’s roughened, work-worn hand wrapped around Haley’s arm sent a tugging pull deep in her core. He was touching her, skin to skin. It was almost too much for her to process.

  After years of nothing, no hint that he might even be the slightest bit attracted to her other than the heated gazes she would catch him in when he didn’t think she was looking, now in the last five minutes he’d held her tightly in his arms, which logically she knew was mainly the result of her jumping into them. But it wasn’t as if he’d let her go as soon as they found themselves in the intimate predicament. He’d not only stayed right where he was, he’d closed his eyes and pulled her closer.

  Then, out of nervousness, she’d stupidly broken the spell that had seemingly fallen over him by speaking, and when she was about to kick herself over the fact that he’d moved away from her, she’d caught a glance at how very affected he was by her. And now, here he was, touching her again and asking her to stay.

  Best. Night. Ever.

  “Okay,” she agreed easily.

  Heat flashed in Eddie’s eyes. For a moment, a brief, heavenly moment, Haley was sure that he was going to lean down and press his mouth to hers. She felt her tongue run along the seam of her lips as she nervously waited to see what his next move would be.

  His eyes followed its path and she heard a sound of male appreciation rumble in his chest, but the next thing she knew, he was halfway across the kitchen, opening the fridge. At his sudden departure and the intensity of the last few minutes, Haley’s head spun. Reaching out, she held on to the back of the kitchen chair to steady herself. She almost felt as if she were floating away. Everything seemed very surreal.

  “Do you want a beer or tea?” Eddie’s voice brought her back to the here and now.

  Shaking off the strange feeling, she answered, “Beer.” Tea was nice. She loved tea. But right now, she wanted—scratch that, needed—a beer.

  As Eddie stepped past her while heading towards the back door, his body brushed hers, sending a thrill racing through her from head to toe.

  Oh boy.

  If she felt like this from innocent-ish brushes and his hugging her against him while they were both fully clothed, would she even be able to handle it if he ever really touched her? Kissed her? Made love to her?

  As she followed Eddie out to the wooden deck that overlooked the grassy area in his backyard, she pondered those questions. Sitting down on the cushioned patio chair, she brought the bottle to her lips and took a swig of cold beer as a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She might not know the answer to her questions, but she sure did want to find out.

  “So what’s up?” Eddie’s deep voice sounded beside her as he casually sat down next to her. Leaning forward, he rested his forearms on his strong, muscled thighs as he stared out over the yard, his beer dangling loosely from his fingers. Haley tried not to drool as her eyes traveled up the lines of his ripped arms. The night sky was lit up with stars and the moonlight caressed his olive skin.

  A hum of awareness thrummed through her entire being at his closeness. That happened more often than not when Eddie was in the same vicinity as Haley, but tonight, after being in his arms, feeling the rough pads of his fingers against her soft skin, the hum was definitely stronger.

  Trying to focus on what she needed to say, Haley diverted her attention back to the grass also illuminated by the rays of light shining from the full moon in the black sky. It wasn’t nearly as nice a view, but hopefully she would be able to hold on to her train of thought.

  “I’m not sure how to bring this up. And I know it’s none of my business, but…” Haley hesitated, not sure of how to continue. What should she say exactly? Anyone who knew Eddie knew that Lacey was a sensitive subject. More than that really, talking about her was kind of like walking through landmines—one misstep could be disastrous.

  “This doesn’t sound good,” Eddie said. Haley still wasn’t looking at him, but she could feel him staring at her. His gaze was palpable.

  “I just…” She took in a calming breath and set her beer down on the small table beside her. This conversation wasn’t about her or for her. It was about Emily. For Emily. Haley needed to know what to say to
the little girl when she brought up the subject of her mom, which was happening more and more frequently.

  “Hales.” Eddie’s serious tone made the tiny back hairs on her neck stand up. When she turned her head, her eyes locked with his. God, she loved his eyes. The deep brown pools reminded her of milk chocolate that melted in her mouth. “You know you can say anything to me.”

  She almost laughed out loud. Luckily, she must have used up all of her fits of giggles in the house because she was able to refrain. But her mind was screaming, Ummm, no. No I can’t.

  It was sweet of him to make that offer though. She knew for a fact that Eddie wouldn’t say that to just anyone. Especially someone who had started a conversation with, “It’s really none of my business.” He was private. He minded his own business and he expected others to do the same. But as much as she appreciated his faith in her, she absolutely could not tell Eddie anything.

  She couldn’t tell him that she loved him. That, she had for so long, she couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t. That she compared every guy she met, dated, or got into a relationship with to him and that they’d all come up short. It probably wasn’t a good idea to spill the beans about the fact that she dreamt about him on almost a nightly basis, and after the nights she didn’t, she was in a bad mood the following day because those dreams were the most action she was getting.

  Yeah, full disclosure was definitely not the way to go here.

  Instead of pointing that out, she nodded and tried to refocus on what she did need to tell him. “Like I said, it’s none of my business, and I’m sure I’m not telling you anything that you don’t already know but”—she cleared her throat—“Em has been bringing up Lacey. A lot.”

  Haley watched as the expression on Eddie’s face changed from intensity directed at her to inner conflict. He sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He brought his bottle to his lips and tipped it back. Haley wasn’t sure but she thought he might have finished the entire thing in one drink.