Smoldering Heart_Fleming Brothers [Book 1]

by Jennifer Vester

  Owen wanted to know why I didn’t date. It was hard to verbalize what it was like for me, to be a part of something that made me feel whole. And afterward, to feel like I was back to being an outsider. Except this time, instead of seeing annoyance in people’s eyes, it was pity. And I didn’t need that from anyone.

  “What—” he started to say, when the wails of a child interrupted him.

  We both looked to our left and saw that one of the little girls that had been playing in the playground had wandered dangerously close to the street. The traffic had picked up as the afternoon wore on, and the cars passing by, couldn’t see her as she stepped off the curb in front of a parked car.

  I threw a hand over my mouth. “Oh, my God!”

  Owen’s reaction was immediate. He launched himself off the bench and started running toward the little girl.

  A woman began screaming toward my right, who I assumed was her mother. I ran after Owen, along with the screaming woman.

  It was terrifying, watching the child walk closer to the oncoming traffic that was passing by the parked car that she stood in front of.

  I looked across the street and saw Patrick watching for a moment, then moving toward the street and waving his hands at vehicles.

  Owen reached out for the wailing girl, just as a truck came to a screeching halt beside the parked car. He folded her in his arms, sat down on the curb, rubbing her back and talking to her.

  When the other woman and I got to him, the blonde-haired child was eerily calm in his arms, sniffling and rubbing her nose against his shirt. It was a sight to see when he turned toward us. A huge man, with a toddler in his arms, patting her back like the child was his own.

  “Oh, Jess! Oh my God!” the blonde beside me yelled as she reached for the child. “Thank you. Oh my God, thank you!”

  The woman sat on the ground as her friends finally joined her. Owen said something to her that I didn’t catch. Patrick, who had stopped the cars on the street, walked over and gave me a smile as he kneeled beside the crying woman.

  When the woman calmed down, Owen came back to me and pulled me into his arms. We stood there for a moment, before he stepped back and took my hand again.

  “She’ll be okay. Just a close call.”

  “You saved her,” I said, as we walked away. “She could have died.”

  He squeezed my hand. “But she didn’t, beautiful. It was a good day.”

  It was something. He was something. I wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline or that moment when he turned, cradling a child in his arms. But it was a day I would remember for the rest of my life, all because he'd been there.

  Chapter Eight

  ~Owen~

  As close calls went, that was one of the most terrifying. Give me a gun, a criminal, throw in a tornado, some chainsaws, I'd take that any fucking day over what had just happened.

  I wanted to say I was holding onto Maddie’s hand to comfort her, but it was just as much for me as it was for her.

  When I saw that little girl walking toward the street all my instincts kicked in gear. And the one thought that crossed my mind was about my sister, Ava. Not that the kid looked anything like she had, but that blond hair had triggered some deep need in me to save and protect.

  It was a damn good day. Not only because the kid got to go home with her mom, but because Maddie was there too.

  Such a strange thought, and I wondered why the fuck it even made a difference. It just did.

  In everything I'd done in my life, I'd not once felt like going home and sharing my experiences with a woman. And right now, I was still feeling this shit out about Maddie. My head was messing with me, but my instincts pointed directly toward her. Hell, when we started for the park after lunch, my intention wasn’t to save a kid. It was to get to know Maddie and find a spot to get better acquainted with that mouth of hers.

  Jesus. That kiss. It was like touching a light socket, except I didn’t fry, and every sensation went straight to my balls. Afterward, I had so much restless energy in parts of my body, I knew I couldn’t satisfy any of it completely. Flipping over cars, beating my chest and dragging her to the nearest empty bed wouldn’t have gotten me anywhere. But, it was the first thought that came to mind.

  She wasn’t like the women in my past though. They'd all been a little cheap maybe, a lot easy. Probably why they didn’t stick around. That wasn’t Madison.

  She was complex. Worst words in the single man bible. Ever.

  There were layers and layers to this woman. Here I was kissing her, thinking of kissing her more, and thinking about really kissing her more. Every little part of her, in every little dirty way I could think of.

  It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours, and I wanted her. Wanted her in ways I couldn't even explain. And because she was different, I wasn’t going to take her to a bar to get drunk and get to know her. She was a walk to a park kind of woman. And for some reason, that didn’t bother me at all.

  I’m not sure where my mouth and brain started malfunctioning in that mix. Telling her that bad things happened. Telling her that my job affected me. I didn’t even tell my brothers that crap, and they were the only people that would understand. But she asked. It was like she’d given me truth serum and it all came pouring out.

  She was a tough puzzle to figure out, though. Didn’t like compliments, referred to herself as an ugly duckling when she was young. There was nothing ugly about her and it wasn’t just physically. I'd seen pictures around Bill’s house of her when she was younger. Smiling, posing like some goofy kid. She was all sunshine and joy in them. Bright, beautiful eyes, smiling so wide that it was hard not to smile back. It was like seeing everything innocent and wonderful in the world all wrapped up in one person.

  She said she wanted the whole deal and then nothing. If the kiddo hadn’t interrupted I might have solved a little bit of that puzzle. Why she gave up on all of that.

  What was done was done, though, and I would have to go about things a different way. I had a plan in mind, one that she might not see coming. It would just take a little longer.

  I pulled her across the street with me, always keeping her away from the cars and people. She hadn’t said much on the way to the park earlier and I'd tried to let her make the first move. But if I wanted her to keep talking, I was going to have to pull her out of her private little world, one inch at a time.

  “I saw a jewelry shop earlier. Interested?” She gave me a funny look and I laughed. “What?”

  “Coffee, now jewelry?”

  “Don’t say it. I’m odd, yeah, I know. Maybe I really should let you spend time with my brothers. Odd doesn’t even cover that shit.”

  She stepped close to me when a man on a bike passed and I put my hand around her waist briefly. I wanted to leave it there, but she moved away quickly after the man passed. I grabbed her hand again and kept walking.

  “Okay, so I won’t say you’re odd. I’ll say you’re…different.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. You like it.”

  “I didn’t say that,” she said, and started chewing on her mouth again.

  At a break in the buildings, I pulled her into a small alcove that was shaded in the afternoon sun. Unless someone was standing right in front of it, they wouldn’t be able to see anything.

  My arms wrapped around her waist as her hands pushed at my chest.

  “What are you doing?” she gasped.

  “Just proving that you like me,” I said, as I moved some hair out of her face. “Different is good sometimes, right? Better than what you already know.”

  She relaxed for a moment, her blue eyes staring up at me. “Sometimes.”

  “Well, maybe we can work with that.”

  I didn’t want to work with anything. My instincts were telling me to go full force. But I was willing to dance around this, whatever this was, if it meant she would eventually see things my way.

  “Owen—”

  “Just give me an inch, Maddie. Just one little piece.”<
br />
  She sighed, “I don’t know if I can. It’s not you.”

  “What went away, Maddie? Did someone hurt you?”

  “No,” she said immediately, as a look of sadness passed over her face. “Not like whatever you’re thinking. I lost something and I just…”

  I pulled her against me and brushed a kiss against her ear. “Just what?”

  She shivered in my arms. The same sort of shiver as earlier, when I'd touched her hand. But this was a full body reaction that I felt against every part that was making full contact with me. It did things to me that I couldn’t act on. But I wanted that inch from her before I let her go.

  “Give me something, Maddie.”

  “I lost something, and I can’t get it back. What are you asking me to do, Owen? What do you want?”

  Whatever she lost, I could see in her eyes that it had ripped a hole in her, and she was still struggling with it. I thought of that beautiful kid in the pictures and I wondered where that person had gone.

  “Not a lot. Just for you to consider things,” I said. “Before you blow me off, just consider the possibility of giving me a chance.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me. “Does this have anything to do with sex? Again?”

  I chuckled and watched her relax. “It could if you wanted it to, but no. Just have an open mind.”

  She opened her mouth and the look on her face told me that she was about to try and shut me down. Fuck it. If you were going to drag a gorgeous woman into the shadows for a talk, might as well be the villain and take advantage of the situation.

  My mouth covered hers and I gave her something to think about or maybe just to distract her. Either way, I was getting what I wanted.

  My tongue dipped in and out, licking at her and sliding over her bottom lip. She relaxed, melted into me, then started meeting me halfway.

  This woman. She wouldn’t give me much, unless I was kissing or prodding her. Everything I gained, I had to work for. I wanted to shake her and tell her that it didn’t have to be so hard. But shaking a woman, and scaring the crap out of her, just to get her to open up would probably get my ass kicked and thrown in jail. Not the direction I wanted to go.

  I pressed her closer and slanted my mouth over hers to deepen the kiss. The heat of her against me and the way she molded to my body like she was made for me, nearly undid me. My hand ran across the small of her back as the other one slid up her side.

  It was just like the first time. Sparks, insatiable lust, electricity.

  A car honked down the street and I pulled back reluctantly. Every instinct in me was screaming to haul her off to have more private time with her. But that wouldn’t be good for either one of us.

  I pulled back, then gave her several small kisses up her jawline and near her neck.

  She blinked up at me with those blue eyes and let out a soft breath between her swollen lips. She was an open book for a moment. Vulnerable, trusting, filled with hope and passion. Then she leaned back slightly and shut it down.

  Dating was going to be complicated. Just like her. But I had a craving for something, a challenge, and it all revolved around her. I wanted to put that look on her face so much that she couldn’t escape it.

  “You’re cute when you’re pretending not to like that.”

  A frown slid over her features. “What?”

  I pulled on her hand and stepped out of the alcove. No need to let her think too much about it. She would probably come up with something that didn’t fit into my plans.

  “Jewelry shop. I need to get something for my sister-in-law.”

  A total lie. I was a nice guy but buying something for Andi was the last thing on my mind. My brother gave her just about anything she wanted which really wasn’t much. She was low-maintenance that way and I could tell it irritated the hell out of him. But when trying to catch a reluctant woman, I wasn’t above using it as an excuse.

  I pulled her along down the sidewalk with me and made every excuse to touch her. A pole in our way, I pulled her toward me. Someone passing us, I slid an arm around her back. Anything to throw her off and keep her guessing where I might touch her next.

  We arrived at the shop and I opened the door for her, putting my hand at her hip to steer her inside.

  The place looked like it had seen better days. The wooden floors creaked as we entered, scuffed with age and use. They had several glass cases with silver jewelry on display and very little in the way of jewels or gold.

  She wandered around browsing, while I pretended to look at the contents on display. I wondered what she would like. Yet another thing that bothered me. Why did I want to know so badly what this woman preferred in this place of all places?

  I wanted to know what she wore to bed, what she looked like under her clothes. But there was also some stupid part of my brain that held a curiosity about other things. What she ate, what she liked to read, what would make her eyes light up like the images of her in pictures at Bill’s house.

  “See anything you like?” An older man behind the counter asked. He had a weathered face, and white shaggy hair that hung to his shoulders. He reminded me of an aging hippie type that had possibly found a craft later in life after all the drugs and rock’n’roll had ended.

  “I’m looking for a ring of some sort. Small. Not a whole lot of stuff on it.”

  Maddie wandered back to me and pointed over her shoulder. “They have some over there. Hey, Lenny, how’s business?”

  His face lit up when she talked to him. Mine, old man. Mine.

  I rubbed my chest once, trying to get a grip. Don’t punch the old guy for smiling at her. Very bad start to dating.

  “Oh, I’m good. You know how it goes with sales, it’s always off and on. How are you doing?” he asked and gave her an almost sad smile. Then he slid his curious eyes to me.

  “This is Owen. He helped with the break in yesterday. Stopped by to help me clean up today, and we took a walk.”

  She was babbling like she was trying to make an excuse as to why she was out with me.

  “I’m looking for a ring for my sister-in-law. I think she’s about Maddie’s size if we could see a few.”

  He didn’t believe me at all. I saw the slight nod, and barely there smirk. I didn’t care what he thought or suspected.

  “Sure, we have some over there,” he pointed toward the case Maddie had gestured toward. “Simple, silver ring, you said? Good choice. I know a few ladies that prefer that.”

  I moved Maddie across the room with me by her hip again. This time she elbowed me in the ribs.

  “I need a size, sweetheart. Can you measure your finger? You and Andi are about the same if I had to guess.”

  “Weird that you want to get a ring for her. Why not a necklace?”

  “Uhm, she really likes silver rings.”

  Another lie. Andi wasn’t even remotely a jewelry person.

  She complied for once and I got the size I needed. After she made a few suggestions I feigned disinterest, and we said goodbye to Lenny as we headed back to the flower shop.

  I set a slower pace, trying to take my time. Anything to extend my time with her. Get her used to me being around. Because that was going to be a certainty in the near future, one way or another.

  She might not feel like dating at the moment, but I was going to fix that. Whatever excuse she might have given me, it was bullshit. I could tell when someone was hedging, and she'd definitely been doing it for whatever reason in the park.

  Better for me, regardless. Knowing that she'd avoided dating up to this was a turn on. It meant that no other man was in the way. The main issue was if she would let me in after storming that castle of hers.

  It didn’t matter, I would win. She had no idea what she was up against. I wasn’t one to give up on anything and this seemed like something that was worth the time and energy for once. Something that would either spell disaster or be rewarding. But, oh the rewards.

  I looked down at her waist and legs as she unlocke
d and opened the door to her shop. Siege first, plunder later. My dick didn’t like the idea at all.

  Patience. Down boy.

  I needed a distraction pronto. I would finish what I'd started in the shop, because when I made promises, I kept them. Then I needed to check in on my job. The one I was getting close to leaving. I had even more reason to do that now that I'd gotten to know Madison.

  When that thought blasted through my brain, I had to shove it aside. I wasn’t much for self-examination. Especially not analyzing why I felt one way or the other. I might as well turn in my man card and start sipping tea if that happened. I would think about it later.

  She stopped in front of me and looked down at the floor. It was a fucking mess and I didn’t want her around it. She shouldn’t have to look at the aftermath of any kind of violence.

  Moving her toward the back, I said, “Don’t worry about it, sweet-tart. It’ll all be fixed soon. Better than ever.”

  I pulled off my shirt again in front of her, and smirked when a blush spread across her face. Fuck, it was beautiful and promised so many other things.

  Chapter Nine

  ~Madison~

  Four days later, I purposely had the day off and I was sitting in my car outside my dad’s house for a minute. I was trying to make a decision to go inside or not. I was pretty sure Owen was out of the house because I didn’t see his car parked out front.

  He was likely taking care of his fugitive issue, but I knew he was still in town.

  Thinking back on the deal I'd struck, I was wondering if it had been a completely spontaneous, idiotic move, or whether I subconsciously wanted to date the man.

  After our little lunch and park date that day, I'd endured a sort of sexual torture when he walked around half naked in my shop that afternoon. It had been difficult when he'd pulled off his shirt again, but I managed to live through it until he had left.

  I hadn’t even had a chance to talk before he had set out the terms again and had gotten busy with the mop bucket. My recollection of the deal didn’t involve being kissed in public in front of half my father’s co-workers. Much less in alcoves on the same block where I had my business.