Running After a Heartbreaker (Brides on the Run #4)

by Jami Albright

Hailey’s shoulders hitched up in a quick shrug. “There’s a price for forgiveness.” She raised the scissors and snipped the air twice. “This week it cost me some snowflakes.”

  Rational or not, she believed that if she just did enough, volunteered enough, took on one more shitty job, then the town would eventually forgive her.

  When it all went down ten years ago, it’d been horrible. But as time passed she naively believed that it would all blow over. Boy, had she been wrong. Especially with Derek using her as his scapegoat and blaming it all on her.

  Admit it. You enjoyed seeing him fail.

  And that was the part that no one knew, not even May. It’d taken her a long time to admit the truth to herself. There had been some sick satisfaction in knowing Derek’s life had been ruined just like hers. She could’ve waited until after the state game to tell him, but then he might’ve gotten a scholarship that would’ve taken him away from Zachsville…away from her. It was ugly, and she wasn’t proud of it, but it was the truth. A truth she’d take to her grave.

  “The school always needs volunteers.” She picked up another pattern and began cutting. “In no time at all, you too could be cutting out a million snowflakes.”

  May laughed. “Thanks for thinking of me, but…no.” The kettle whistled, and May removed it from the stove and poured boiling water over the tea bags.

  When she set Hailey’s cup in front of her, Hailey took her free hand. “You know you’ve saved my life with Lottie, but if there ever comes a time when you want to move on and enjoy your retirement, you know I’ll understand.”

  May disentangled their hands and ran hers over Hailey’s hair. “I appreciate it, but I’m very happy here taking care of you and Lottie.”

  Hailey knew better than to argue with the woman. May was just as stubborn as she was. The steam from the tea rose. She blew it away and took a sip. “Oh, I need to tell you something.”

  “Yes?” May sat and sipped her tea.

  “Do you know Beau Callen?”

  “The Heartbreaker? Zachsville’s newest celebrity? The hottie most likely to make your panties wet?” May grinned over the rim of her cup. “No, I don’t believe I do.”

  Hailey laughed. May was a no-bullshit kind of woman and totally unapologetic for it. “Well, he’s now living in the slut hut.”

  The surprise was all over May’s face. “Do tell.”

  “It’s a long story, and one I don’t have time to tell because I need to pick up Lottie from school.” The thought of what Beau had witnessed the day before twisted her stomach. “I’ll drop her off on my way to the bar.”

  “No problem.”

  Hailey gathered up her mess and threw it in the garbage. Then she grabbed her keys and her purse and headed for the door.

  May waggled a finger at her. “You owe me a story about how The Heartbreaker came to live here.”

  “You got it.” She shut the door behind her and scurried down the steps to her car. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about Beau Callen.

  A man she was definitely not interested in or attracted to.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Beau pulled into Hailey’s driveway and cut the engine. He rested his elbow on the steering wheel and pinched his nose. What a long-ass day. His bones ached. All he wanted was to walk Walter, eat, and veg out on the sofa in his new apartment. He didn’t want to see or talk to another female for the next twelve hours.

  Who knew trying to control his propensity for flirtation would’ve been so draining. It was demoralizing to know that everything Jack, Luanne, Gavin, and Hailey said about him was true.

  And the women… Some of them had all but thrown themselves at him. He’d found himself wishing for Hailey during the day. She and Luanne seemed to be the only women who weren’t impressed with him. He hadn’t realized how much he needed that until he spent the day in the company of women who kept undressing him with their eyes. Now he understood the shitty feeling women talked about when men did that to them.

  But the worst were the ones who were so nervous they couldn’t string two words together. It was like the more awkward they were, the flirtier he’d become.

  He opened the door of his truck and made his way to Hailey’s back door. A beautiful middle-aged woman with intelligent eyes opened the door. She held it with one hand and placed her other hand on her hip. “As I live and breathe, it’s the Beau Callen.”

  An automatic smile went to his lips. “You must be the lovely May Martin.”

  A huge dimple formed on each cheek. “I am.”

  He immediately liked this lady. “I do love a confident woman.”

  She threw her head back and laughed. “Boy, you are bad. Hailey said I needed to watch out for you.”

  His fingers went into his front pockets, and he dipped his head. “She did? Did she?”

  May stepped out of the way. “Come in. What can I do for you?”

  “I was hoping Lottie could play with my dog, Walter. I have to run an errand, and I hate to leave him alone for much longer.”

  The amusement on the woman’s face confused him. She didn’t say anything, just crooked her finger and turned to walk down the hall. He heard Lottie and the music before they got to the girl’s room. It was his song.

  May stopped just outside the princess room. “You mean that Walter?” she whispered.

  His dog lay on the ground, head on his paws while Lottie used him as a pillow. She was facing away from the door, one leg crossed over the other and her little foot swinging back and forth. She was battling a bunch of ladybugs on the tablet screen propped against a kid-sized guitar resting on her stomach. She sang along with the music, and she was good. Really good.

  Walter raised his head when he saw Beau.

  “What is it, Walter? You want to listen to it again? Okay, fine.” Lottie never looked their way. She slid her finger across the tablet screen and started the song again.

  The dog huffed out a huge breath as if to say, what can you do, and put his head on his paws.

  Beau might’ve fallen in love with the kid right then. He and May made their way back to the kitchen.

  May slipped her hands into the pockets of the blue sweater she wore. “I’m sorry, she heard him barking, and said she had to rescue him, said you wouldn’t mind.”

  He grabbed the front of his hair and pulled it out of his face. “Naw. I don’t mind at all. I guess it’s good that I left the door unlocked.”

  May laughed. “Oh, she took the spare key. She was prepared to spring the dog from his lonely cell.” She went to the oven and checked the contents. Something that smelled like heaven filled the room. “They played for about an hour, then they came inside, and Lottie and I made dinner. They’ve been listening to that song over and over for the last thirty minutes. He’s a very patient animal.”

  “He is. I hate to break up the party.”

  “Oh, don’t take him home. He’s fine here.”

  “If he gets to be too much trouble, put him back in the apartment. If not, I’ll be home in a couple of hours.” He held his hand up between them. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”

  “No, sugar, I don’t mind. Besides, he’s good for Lottie.” She wiped her hands on a dish towel and opened the door for him. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but you have a fan in our girl.”

  “You think?”

  “Oh, yeah.” She pushed her hair from her face with the back of her arm. “We’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

  He grinned and made his way to his truck. The pink glow of the princess room shined from Lottie’s window and matched the glow in his chest.

  The kid had a fan in him too…and didn’t that just complicate the hell out of everything?

  Hailey over-poured a Jack and Coke for the next order. The call from Marla Yates asking her to organize a father–daughter dance for the PTO had her mind reeling.

  This was a volunteer opportunity that she could get behind. It would be good for Lottie to have Derek take her, and he would. It wa
s an opportunity for him to be seen in public and therefore be the center of attention.

  Also, this was a big deal to the PTO and the school. It was the largest event the organization put on every year. A small flicker of hope that she could put all the ugliness of the past behind her for Lottie’s sake glowed through her whole body.

  True, Marla had asked her because the original organizer’s husband got a new job and they were moving, but it was still a damn sight better than cleaning up after the paint-a-thon.

  “Whatcha grinnin’ about?” Beau slid onto the barstool in front of her. “Thinkin’ about me?”

  She placed the drink at the end of the bar for the waitress, along with the ticket. “As a matter of fact, no, I’ve not thought of you all day.”

  “Liar.”

  “I’m not.”

  “I think you are.”

  “Then you’d be wrong.”

  He leaned his arm on the bar and cocked his head. “I met May, and she said you’d told her to be careful of me, so clearly you were talking about me.”

  She rested her elbows on her side of the bar. “I warned her that you were living in the slut hut in case she saw a strange man wandering around my backyard. That’s not the same as thinking about you.”

  “We’re really going to have to give that place a new name. How ’bout the stud hub?” He turned his head to the side and posed.

  The look of pure mischief was more adorable than it should’ve been. As hard as she tried to control it, a laugh bubbled up her throat. “You are incorrigible.”

  The contents of a peanut shell disappeared into his mouth. “Tell me why you were smiling when I came in. I need a distraction from my day.”

  She slid a beer across the bar to him. “That bad?”

  “Thank you.” He took a long pull.

  She cursed her eyes for watching his Adam’s apple as it moved up and down. Damn him, even that part of him was edible. How did a man get to be that hot? “I’ll tell you about my day if you’ll tell me about yours,” she said.

  The beer bottle tipped toward her. “Deal.”

  “You first.”

  His long finger threaded through his hair, and he held it away from his face. “Today we started auditioning female backup singers.”

  She grabbed a couple of highball glasses. “What’s the problem? None of them could sing?” Drinks mixed, she pulled the ticket and set them on the end of the bar for the waitress.

  “I have no idea if they can sing or not.”

  She stopped what she was doing to look at him. “I don’t understand.”

  “The first round of auditions was just a get-to-know-you meeting.”

  “Uh-huh.” She had a feeling where this was going.

  “To see if the women could be around me without…” He made a waving motion with his hand. “You know.”

  Oh, this was classic. “No.” She cocked her head. “I don’t think I do.”

  “You’re going to make me say it?”

  “’Fraid so.”

  The look he gave her from under his long bangs should’ve burned her alive. “To see if they could be around me and…stay professional.”

  “You mean, not come onto you?”

  “I guess.”

  She choked on a strangled laugh.

  “It’s not funny.” He scrubbed his face. “Jack, Luanne, and Gavin were also making sure I could resist…” He made a rolling motion with one hand. “You know.”

  “Being your normal heartbreaker self?”

  “Yes.”

  The flat line of his mouth matched the tone of that word, and she did laugh then. “How’d that go?”

  His big hand wiped over his mouth, but not before she saw the smile behind it. “How do you think it went?”

  She lost it. “Ba…” She couldn’t catch her breath. His tortured look was hilarious. “Bad?”

  He turned his head, refusing to look at her. His lips twitched and puckered, but he finally lost the battle and laid his forehead on his crossed arms. The laughter shook his shoulders and made a little wheezing noise come from his mouth. Then he sat up and smoothed back his hair. “It was so bad, Hay. Some of them were incredibly uncomfortable, and my default is to flirt and flatter women to make them feel better. Then some made me incredibly uncomfortable, and my default is…” He shook his head.

  “The force of The Heartbreaker. It’s a mighty powerful thing.”

  A pink flush spread across his cheeks and Lord have mercy if that didn’t up his appeal about a million percent. “Shut up.” He took another sip of his drink. “Your turn.”

  “Marla Yates called me today.”

  “And you told her to shove whatever shitty job she had for you up her uptight ass?”

  She rolled her eyes. “No. The PTO is having a father–daughter dance this semester. It’s going to be their big fundraiser for the year.” She flipped the cloth she’d dried the glasses with over her shoulder. “Anyway, she asked me to organize it.”

  “And this is a good thing?”

  “Yeah. I mean, it’s a big job, but not a crappy job.”

  He shrugged and grabbed a handful of peanuts. “If you say so. It sounds like a lot of work to me.”

  “It is, but it’s a good thing. Also, it’ll be good for Lottie and Derek. No way he’d miss something like that, so I know he won’t let her down.”

  “So what do you do at a father–daughter dance, besides dance?” He chucked a few peanuts in his mouth. “I mean, what will you have to coordinate?”

  She adjusted the bun on top of her head. “The volunteers, food, a DJ, decorations.”

  “So, basically, it’s like a mini prom?” He deposited his empty peanut shells into a small galvanized steel bucket that sat on the bar.

  “I guess.” She grabbed another glass and dunked it into the soapy water. “I wouldn’t know.”

  “Ha! Were you drunk during yours? I know I was.”

  Her arms went across her chest. The bite of memories never got easier. “I didn’t have a prom. When I got pregnant with Lottie, I dropped out of school. I got my GED after she was born. So, no prom, no graduation, no normal high school stuff.” Derek hadn’t let her hire someone to keep Lottie during the day. Hadn’t let her… Truth be told she hadn’t fought him very hard. There’d been nothing but contempt waiting for her at Zachsville High.

  “Hailey…” He reached across the bar, but she kept her arms crossed and took a step back. She didn’t need his pity.

  “It’s not a big deal. I got Lottie. I also got to see what people are really made of, and I got this place.”

  “Still, it must’ve been hard.”

  She reached for another dirty glass and dunked it into the water. “We all have to do hard things, Beau. I just had to do some of them sooner than most.”

  “You’re a hell of a woman, Hailey Odom.”

  The desire to crawl over the bar and bask in the genuine admiration in his eyes was so strong that she took another step back. She dried her hands and looped a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “Thank you.”

  The wooden surface of the bar divided them, but it didn’t matter. The caress of his gaze locked her into place and refused to let go of her. Their unspoken conversation couldn’t have been clearer if they’d used a bullhorn.

  You and me…

  Bad idea.

  Terrible idea.

  Yeah.

  Finally, he wrenched his eyes from hers and knocked his knuckles on the bar. “Then congratulations. Let me know if you need any help.”

  The air between them discharged, and she could breathe again. “Thanks.”

  “Can I get something to eat and another beer? I almost begged May to let me eat with them.”

  She handed him a menu. “You should’ve. She’d have loved that and so would my daughter.”

  His long fingers slid the menu back to her. “I’ll have a burger and fries.”

  “You got it.” She rang it up and got his beer.

  “Y
ou’re not gonna believe what I saw when I got to your house.” He cracked another peanut and tossed the shell into the bucket again.

  “What?”

  He ate the nut. “Evidently, Walter was barking, so Lottie went to rescue him. She told May that he was in prison.” He chuckled. “Where does she get this stuff?”

  The glass she’d been washing went on the drying rack. “I have no idea.”

  “Anyway, when I got there she and Walter were in her room. The dog was on the floor. Lottie was using him as a pillow, and she was listening to my song. Actually, she was singing my song.”

  She wiped the bar down with a wet cloth. “Poor Walter.”

  “He was lovin’ it. If not he would’ve moved away from her.” He took a drink of his beer. “She had a guitar with her. Does she play?”

  “No, she got it for Christmas last year. I was going to get her lessons, but she lost interest.”

  “Hailey, she can sing.”

  There was no stopping the smile that split her lips. “She’s always been able to. Even as a toddler she could carry a tune, funniest thing you’ve ever seen.” She stuck the rag in her back pocket and popped the top on two beers for another order. “I taught her to harmonize, though she didn’t need a lot of help.” She handed the beers to two customers next to Beau.

  “You sing?”

  Crap. Crap. Crap.

  Heat crawled up her neck in a stinging, fiery path and settled in her cheeks. “No… Well, I guess I used to like to sing, but not anymore. Derek used to call it caterwaulin’.” Her hands disappeared into the soapy water to hide how they shook. Singing was what she did for herself. No one knew how much she loved it, and that’s how it was supposed to be.

  “I’d like to hear you sometime.”

  A bell dinged in the window between the kitchen and the bar. “Order up, Hailey.”

  “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.” She dried her hands, retrieved Beau’s food and set it in front of him. “Funny story. Charlie and I were supposed to sing a duet in a talent show when we were in third grade. We were singing a Reba McEntire song.”

  He wiped his mouth with the paper napkin. “Excellent choice,” he said around a bite.