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

by Violet Duke

  Haley waved her down. “Excuse me. Can I get a Bacardi and Coke?”

  “Oooh me too,” Becca added.

  The pretty server nodded and headed back to the U-shaped bar that was located in the center of the large space. She navigated easily through the crowds of people gyrating against each other on the dance floor.

  Haley’s heart sank as she looked at all of the couples moving to the music. Haley loved dancing. It was really the only part of going out to clubs she liked. She wasn’t a huge drinker and she’d never once used the bar scene to ‘hook up’. When Haley went to a club, she spent the time there shaking her tail feathers on the dance floor. Unfortunately, the only person she wanted to dance with tonight was Eddie.

  In the four years she’d been back, he’d never attended one of Haley’s birthday celebrations, which she completely understood. Since she and Emily shared a birthday, it meant that it was his daughter’s birthday too. Of course he would spend it with Emily. It’s not like he could get a babysitter for his daughter on her birthday. Especially since Haley was her babysitter.

  Still, she couldn’t help the fact that she was sad that he wasn’t here. She’d tried to dance away her melancholy mood, but maybe it was time to call in the big guns—rum.

  After the waitress delivered their drinks, Becca raised her glass. She spoke loudly to be heard as she made her toast. “To the best big sister a girl could ever have. Thank you for always being there for me. I love you so much, Haley. Happy birthday, sissy.”

  Just as they were about to clink glasses, a deep male voice said, “Hey, stranger.”

  Both she and her sister turned around at the greeting.

  “Brian!” Becca jumped off her seat and threw her arms around her childhood BFF.

  Becca and Brian had been inseparable growing up. The two of them had built forts in the backyard and skipped rocks down at the river. Then when they got older, they’d signed up for clubs together to support each other’s interests. Becca had joined drama club for Brian and Brian had joined science club for Becca. For a while there, Haley had thought that the two of them would end up together. But as far as Haley knew, they had never been anything but friends. They’d even double-dated to prom, each having their own dates. Whenever anyone would ask them about it, they would just say that they were like brother and sister.

  “What are you doing here?” her sister asked as Brian stepped into the partitioned area and sat down with them.

  “I just got in today. My dad’s having open heart surgery so I came home to help out.”

  “Oh my gosh, B. I’m so sorry.” Becca’s eyes filled with worry.

  “I’m sorry, Brian.” Haley’s heart went out to him. Brian’s mom had been wheelchair-bound for years and his dad was the sole provider in their household.

  “How long are you back for?” Becca asked.

  “Not sure.” Brian shook his head. “I might have to take a semester off. We’ll see.”

  Haley hoped it didn’t come to that. Brian had gone to community college right after high school for financial reasons. But he had done so well he’d earned a scholarship to NYU Film School and transferred as a true junior.

  “Are you meeting someone here or…?” Becca asked.

  “No, I ran into Bobby at the gas station and he said everybody was coming here tonight for Hales’s birthday. Oh, so yeah, happy birthday, Hales!” He stood and gave Haley a quick hug. “Sorry, I’m kind of out of it.”

  “Oh stop.” Haley waved her hand dismissively.

  “So do you guys want to dance?” Brian asked, nodding his head towards the dance floor.

  “You guys go ahead. I’m good,” Haley said as she took a sip of her drink.

  “No, Haley.” Becca shook her head, sticking to her guns and refusing to leave Haley by herself. She appreciated her little sister’s loyalty. She did. But she really just wanted to sit, drink her drink…and think about Eddie.

  “Seriously. Go,” Haley insisted.

  Becca was mid head shake when something caught her eye and she popped up like a spring-loaded jack-in-the box, kissed Haley on the cheek, and said, “Okay, if you’re sure.” Then she turned and practically dragged Brian onto the dance floor.

  Oookay. That was weird.

  Just as she picked up her rum and Coke, she heard a familiar voice beside her ear and chills ran up both of Haley’s arms. “Happy birthday.”

  It couldn’t be.

  Turning her head around slowly, she felt her heart slamming in her chest.

  It was him.

  Eddie was here. At The Grill. On her birthday. Wearing one of her favorite shirts. She’d told him so when he’d worn it to go out on a date a few months back. It was a charcoal-gray button-up shirt that fit his body like it had been tailor-made for him. Black slacks and just the right amount of stubble sprinkled across his face finished off his look. The man was oozing sex appeal, and for a moment, Haley forgot how to speak. Not that it mattered. Since she’d laid eyes on Eddie, her tongue had inexplicably swollen in her mouth to what felt like double its natural size. Haley knew that men had a particular muscle that swelled when they got turned on, but she had never heard of woman having any such thing.

  “Do you want to dance?” Eddie’s low voice could barely be heard over the music, but luckily, since Haley was already staring at his perfect lips, and she’d always had a talent for reading lips, she’d caught every word.

  Haley nodded. She stood, hoping her wobbly legs would hold her. Thankfully, there was a steel bar at the end the VIP section that she was able to grasp on to for support.

  Her mind was still attempting to process the fact that Eddie was here. She would have thought that this was just a drunken hallucination, but she’d only had a sip of one drink, so that theory didn’t really work. This didn’t feel like a dream. Usually in her dreams, she didn’t question whether or not it was or wasn’t a dream, so that pretty much nullified that notion. Maybe she’d actually gone crazy and lost her mind from a combination of no sleep, the stress of opening up the store, and constantly obsessing about Eddie. That was probably it. Eddie was a figment of her delusional imagination.

  As she descended down the two red carpet-covered steps that led to the lounge seating area, Eddie reached out and took her hand. The heat of his large palm and thick fingers surrounding her, radiated through her body. Nope. Not a figment of her imagination. Eddie was real. He was here. And he was hot as sin.

  “Where’s Em?” she asked loudly so that she could be heard.

  Eddie wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned down, his mouth next to her ear. “She wanted to spend the night with Chelle. For her birthday.” His lips brushed against her outer ear as he spoke and goose bumps broke out all over Haley’s body.

  “Oh no.” She looked up at him as her hand covered her chest, her lips tilting in an understanding smile of commiseration. “I’m sorry. I know that’s gotta hurt.”

  A look of intensity flashed in his eyes, but as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. “She’s growing up.” One side of his mouth lifted in a lopsided grin.

  As Eddie maneuvered them through the throngs of people on the dance floor, his hand rested on Haley’s lower back—exactly the way it had when they’d gone back stage at Emily’s performance. Haley loved when Eddie touched her. Every time he did, even if it wasn’t sexual, she felt more connected to him.

  As they made it to the center of the dance floor, the pounding club music stilled and a slow song began playing. Just as Haley started looking around to see if anyone else thought that it was odd the DJ was playing a slow song, she heard him announce from his booth, “This one goes out to Haley Sloan. Happy birthday, Haley.”

/>   The bar exploded in cheers and all of the couples surrounding them began moving slowly to the music. Eddie wrapped his arms around Haley and pulled her close to him. She looked up at him with a questioning look. This seemed orchestrated, but there was no way Eddie would dedicate a song to her. Was there?

  Staring down at her, he tightened his grip around her waist and stated simply, “I wanted to slow dance with you on your birthday.”

  Shock did not even begin to describe what Haley was experiencing.

  As they began to sway together, Eddie’s thumbs rubbed in slow circles on the small of her back. The calloused pads on his fingers brushed against her bare skin, causing every one of her feminine nerve endings to spark to life. She laid her head against the solid strength of his shoulder and melted against him as she breathed in his masculine scent.

  Thoughts were trying to overwhelm Haley like violent waves crashing against a shore. Every time she would get one to go away, another one crashed in its place. What did this mean? Did Eddie really care about her? Was it possible that there was a future for them?

  Haley didn’t know the answers to any of those questions, but she did know that tonight, on her birthday, she was slow dancing with the man she loved. And that was enough.

  *

  EDDIE LEANED BACK against the couch and checked his watch before he rested his arm along the back of it. Haley had been gone for almost twenty minutes. He knew girls took a while to use the bathroom, but this was ridiculous.

  It was almost last call. Most of her friends had already taken off. Her cousins Seth and Bobby and their wives Amber and Sophie had bounced over an hour ago. All of her sisters except Krista had left before them, and Krista was only still here to wait for Chris.

  As he sat and waited, Eddie tried to calm down his raging hormones. Since the moment he’d laid eyes on her in that slinky blue dress, he’d been sporting wood and wanting to take her home and get her out of it. He wanted to touch her. He needed to touch her. The one slow dance they’d shared had been over far too fast. If it had been up to Eddie, he would have had her on the dance floor pressed up against him all night. But this wasn’t that kind of place. In fact, he’d had to tip the DJ over a hundred bucks just to get him to play the one slow song he had played.

  But it had been worth every penny. The look on Haley’s face when he’d told her that he’d wanted to slow dance with her on her birthday had been worth ten times that amount. Priceless even.

  Eddie still wasn’t sure exactly how things were going to work out with Haley. He knew that they definitely had a lot to talk about. But not tonight. Tonight he wanted to take Haley home and make love to her—in a bed this time. He wanted to worship her body, and after they were both drained and exhausted, he wanted to hold her in his arms while they slept. They could talk tomorrow.

  If she ever came out of the bathroom.

  Patience had never been one of Eddie’s strengths, and whatever reserve he did have was now used up. Also, he was getting a little concerned that she was okay in there. He knew she wasn’t drunk, so he wasn’t worried about that. She’d nursed two drinks all night and drunk a ton of water.

  But maybe she’d gotten sick. What if she was in the bathroom and needed help and no one had come looking for her? He picked up his pace as he headed across the bar to the back hallway where the bathrooms were located. With each step, his heart rate picked up speed.

  He took the corner at full-out jog and almost plowed right over her.

  “Hi!” she exclaimed in surprise as he managed to stop just short of running her over.

  “Hey.” Embarrassment crept up inside of him at the fact that his mind had gone from ‘what’s taking her so long?’ to ‘oh my god, she’s probably passed out on the floor’ in about .000025 seconds.

  He needed to get a grip.

  “Have you met Trenton?” Haley asked, gesturing to the man standing next to her. “He owns The Daily Grind, the coffee house across the street from Tempting.”

  Eddie’s caveman instincts immediately kicked in and he wanted to throw Haley over his shoulders and pound on his chest. Knowing that probably wouldn’t go over too well, he held out his hand instead. “Nice to meet you.”

  The blond-haired, blue-eyed coffee shop owner tentatively shook his hand like a wet noodle. Eddie had to suppress a smirk.

  When Eddie and Riley had been about twelve years old, The Colonel had taken them and a few other boys to a World War II museum. That day, he’d talked to the boys about what it meant to be a man. To live with honor. To serve your country. To protect what’s yours. All that he’d said that day had resonated with Eddie, but one pearl of wisdom in particular stood out in Eddie’s mind, something he knew until the day he died he’d never forget.

  After making an impassioned, eloquent speech to the boys, The Colonel had finished by looking them all in the eyes and saying with conviction, “And always have a firm handshake. As a man, you’re only as good as your word and your handshake. When you shake another man’s hand, you lock your wrist and look him in the eye. A handshake says a lot about you. Don’t be a pussy.”

  At the time, all the boys had been so shocked to hear that word come out of The Colonel’s mouth that they’d just stared at him in stunned silence. Later, he and Riley had laughed so hard they almost cried talking about the fact that The Colonel had said the word ‘pussy.’

  But The Colonel had been right. A handshake did say a lot about a man, and in Trenton’s case, it said that he was in fact a pussy.

  “Trenton was just talking about cross promotions and maybe even putting together a ‘small business owners of the Riverwalk’ group.” As Haley spoke, her words sounded perfectly polite but her eyes were screaming ‘Help me!’

  Now, instead of suppressing a smirk, he was suppressing a smile. “We need to get going.” He tilted his head towards the door.

  “Oh, okay.” She mouthed, “Thank you,” before turning back to Trenton. “It was great seeing you. Let me know if you need any help organizing that group.”

  Trenton began to speak but Eddie wrapped his arm around Haley and guided her out of the hallway before Trenton had the chance to utter a peep.

  They stopped at the bar so Haley could say her goodbyes to Krista, who gave him a nod and said that she was glad he’d finally removed his head from his ass. Haley looked up at him with a questioning look in her eye. He just shrugged it off.

  As they walked to his truck, Haley was smiling from ear to ear. He could feel her happiness. It was palpable. Somehow knowing that he was the one who was making her radiate joy caused that caveman in him to rise back up. Haley felt like his. Not like he owned her but like she was his to take care of. He wanted to keep making her smile. To keep that joy radiating off of her like rays of sun beating down on the earth.

  Opening the door, he held her hand as she stepped up into the truck. She smiled down at him sweetly as she settled in, and his heart ached. It was like he could physically feel it cracking open. Haley was slowly breaking down the protective barriers he’d erected.

  They were there for a reason, and he didn’t want to think about what would happen if she tore them down completely.

  As he made his way around to the driver’s side, he tried not to think about it. Tried not to worry about the future. Tried to live in this moment and just…be.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  ��WHAT’S THIS?” Haley asked, holding up the small box he’d painstakingly wrapped before he came here tonight.

  “It’s for you. Open it,” Eddie said as he shut his door and put his key in the ignition.

  Her face shined with excitement as she carefully ran her finger beneath the taped wrapping paper, keeping it intact as she opened it. This was a far cry from what he’d seen his daughter do earlier today. Sheâ�
�™d torn into her packages like the Tasmanian Devil. He’d half expected to see her sitting in a puff of smoke when she was done.

  After Haley had unwrapped it completely, she carefully folded the paper on her lap.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  She continued her task, not glancing up as she answered, “Saving the paper.”

  “You save wrapping paper?” Eddie had always considered wrapping paper to be kind of like toilet paper; it was only good for one use.

  “When it comes from you, I do,” she said quietly, her light blue eyes peeking up at him through dark lashes.

  Time to go. Urgency roared inside of him. Since the moment he’d laid eyes on Haley tonight, he’d been sporting a half-stiffie. Now it was at full strength. As he pulled out of the parking lot, he was concerned that he was so hard he wouldn’t be able to drive.

  His eyes were trained on the road illuminated by his headlights ahead of him when he heard a gasp from the passenger’s seat. Stealing a glance to his right, he saw Haley cradling the antique silver locket he’d picked up in Chicago almost six months ago in her palm.

  “Happy birthday,” he said. Eddie really hadn’t planned this well. He hadn’t known when to give it to her. He hadn’t wanted to do it in the club or at his daughter’s birthday party. Now he wished he’d waited until he wasn’t driving so he could put the delicate silver chain around her neck.

  “Oh my gosh, Eddie. It’s so beautiful!” she exclaimed.

  “Open it,” he said.

  He heard the soft click of the locket separating. “Where did you find these?” she asked in a surprised tone.

  “Your mom gave them to me,” he explained.

  After he’d found the locket, he’d had no idea what to put in it. So he’d asked Chelle what girls liked in their lockets. His sister had given him a strange look before telling him that it was probably different for every girl but usually whatever they loved the most.