Runaway Heart (A Game of Hearts #2)

by Sonya Loveday

  She was that confident.

  I might be in love.

  Shaking my head out of its haze, I took the long way around the room, hoping to go unnoticed. She was leaning across the bar, telling what I assumed was a hell of a good joke, because the bartender tipped his head back in laughter.

  Damn, she had skills. I couldn’t recall a lass I’d come across who’d go along with my shenanigans the way Hannah had so far.

  I glanced around, ensuring no one watched. Nope. Every eye in sight was on her, including mine.

  My heart raced a little as I greedily traced the outline of her body. I nearly toppled over my own feet when she leaned closer to whisper something to the bartender, showing off her supple cleavage, and my stomach clenched as an off feeling passed through my chest. Like ice and fire, all at once.

  I rubbed at the back of my neck, trying to figure out what the hell it meant. And then it hit me—discontent.

  He flirted back with her. Enjoying her. Thinking of her in a way I didn’t want him to think of her.

  She shot a quick look in my direction, telling me to get on with it. Her distraction came seconds later as she pointed at something in the opposite direction. The bartender’s gaze followed.

  I aimlessly reached for a bottle. With the cool neck of one clutched in my hand, I hightailed it to the far side of the room and waited for her. She said something else to the bartender before she turned away, throwing a small wave over her shoulder.

  With a sloshing bottle under my arm and recounting laughter, Hannah and I made our great escape from the reception hall, only stopping after we’d cleared the doors and found our way to the path leading to the beach.

  The early evening air cooled my overheated skin, but only briefly.

  Standing in Hannah’s presence kicked my hormones into high gear, and there was no one about as a buffer. It was just her, me, and a bottle of… I hoisted it up to take a closer look and couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Orange liqueur?” Hannah said, swiping the bottle from my hand and unscrewing the lid. She sniffed the contents, making the cutest, awful face I’d ever seen. Her nose scrunched and her lips puckered, making her look like an offended kitten.

  “What?” I took the bottle back from her, glad she decided to go along with me. “It can’t be that bad.”

  “You swiped a bottle of cooking liquor, genius.” She laughed as she drove a hand through her silken hair, ruffling it.

  It was no wonder I did.

  “It’s safe to say I’m not drinking that,” Hannah added, pointing at the bottle.

  “After all the trouble I went through to get this, ye don’t mean to drink it?” I asked, giving her my best ‘I’m hurt’ look, even bringing my hand up to my heart for emphasis.

  It didn’t faze her one bit. “Um, no. In fact, maybe I should just head back to the house and catch some zzz’s before my flight tomorrow. Mornings aren’t really my thing.”

  She looked past me, her face pulling into a slightly confused pout. I wasn’t sure why, but I had the strangest urge to kiss her. To kiss that look away and put the smile she donned only moments ago back on her lips.

  I sure as hell wasn’t ready to call it a night. Hell, the night was young. Well, it was for me anyway.

  Without warning, I grabbed her by the shoulders, scooted her over to the bench, lightly pushed her down onto it, and said, “I have an idea. Wait here.”

  “What the hell are you—?”

  I darted off before she could finish asking.

  Making my way back into the reception area, I skirted the room to the bar. Thankfully, it was dark enough that the bartender didn’t see me until I was standing right in front of him.

  “What can I get ya?” he asked.

  “Found this over there,” I said, lifting my finger over my shoulder as I placed the bottle on the counter in front of him.

  The bartender took the bottle from me with an odd look on his face before putting it on the end of the table. He turned back, asking, “Any ting I can get ya?”

  “I’ve no clue what she likes.” I thought for a second before adding, “I’m at a loss here, mate.”

  “Dis fer de gurl I saw ya leave with earlier?” he asked, smirking. “The good-lookin’ one dat had all da jokes?”

  I nodded. Good looking didn’t even begin to touch all of Hannah’s attributes.

  “And you and dis gurl… you be walkin’ on da beach?” He raised his eyebrows.

  I rubbed at the back of my neck. “Not sure. Maybe. I hope so,” I said, unable to keep the grin off my face as I thought about her in that dress.

  And out of it.

  “I got ya, man.” He turned to grab two cups, a handful of bottles, and set out to pour our drinks.

  When he finished, he set the plastic cups on the bar and waved me off when I tried to pay him, making me feel even more like an arse for taking the bottle earlier. Beside him on the bar was a jar for tips. I stuffed a twenty in it and picked up the drinks.

  “Thanks, mate. What d’ye call these in case she asks?”

  His smirk turned into a full-blown smile. “Dat der is an Orgasm on de Beach.”

  I held them out, looking at the small drinks in my hand. “Well, this should be interesting. Thanks.” I tipped my head at him.

  “First one’s on me. Next one’s up ta you,” he called after me.

  Thinking of giving Hannah an orgasm on the beach made me hotfoot it out of the reception room. The last thing I wanted was someone to stop me and chat it up while I carried two orgasms in my hands and an overexcited dick in my pants to boot.

  I sighed in relief as I made it out the doors and into the cover of darkness.

  “Over here,” Hannah’s sultry voice called out to me.

  So much for staying put where I’d left her.

  I swung ‘round and found her sitting on a bench under the cover of palm leaves further down the pathway. “Want to take a walk on the beach?” I couldn’t help myself. The bartender set the thought in motion and, whether Hannah and I ever slept together, we’d always have that one night on the beach where we’d both shared a liquid orgasm.

  SIDE BY SIDE, WE STROLLED down the water’s edge, sipping our drinks. Hannah’s first reaction to it nearly did me in. She groaned, licked her lips, and then sighed.

  Damn.

  “So, Ed, what is it you do for a living?” she asked, stopping to face the water. The moonlight draped along her body, giving her skin a soft, milky glow.

  “I work at a pub back home,” I answered, trying not to openly stare.

  She busted out laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked, digging my toes into the cool sand, hoping it wasn’t because she caught me checking her out for the millionth time.

  “You work at a bar and the best thing you could nick us was orange liqueur?” she sputtered. Her hand shot up, covering her mouth as she tried to contain her laughter.

  “It was dark! Besides, I wasn’t paying much attention, now was I?” I bantered back, my eyes grazing over her form again.

  It went unnoticed by her.

  “You had one job, Ed! I was to be the distraction, and you were supposed to get us a bottle. What happened?” she asked, bringing the straw up to her lips and sucking.

  Every last brain cell I had abandoned ship as I watched her lips purse around the straw. “What?” I choked out.

  When her eyebrow quirked, I realized I hadn’t answered her.

  “I was uh… distracted.”

  The straw came away from her mouth. “Distracted? By what?”

  Everything came back into focus, but it did nothing for the need banging away inside me like a thousand swinging hammers. “I had to make sure the bartender didn’t get any ideas, love. With the way you were propped against the bar, most men couldn’t have handled themselves. They would have drooled at the mouth and clawed to get a piece of ye like the dogs they are.”

  She laughed. “Most men, huh?”

  I nodded. “Yes. B
ut, fortunately for ye, I’m not most men,” I answered, giving her a wink.

  She rolled her eyes at me. “So, what are we drinking? It’s really good.”

  My eyes were glued to her lips. A nervous laugh escaped me before I could stop it. “It’s ah… it’s a—”

  “Forgot the name of it? Some bartender you are.” She shook the ice in the cup and put the straw back to her mouth.

  My chest hitched up and down faster than it should have for such a small act. I tugged her hand away. “Leave off with that for a second, yeah?”

  Her eyes rounded. “Okay… Ed, you’re acting really weird all of a sudden.”

  “Orgasm on the Beach. That’s what it’s bloody called,” I blurted, wincing.

  Here it comes. She’ll belt me like the tosser I am. And serves me right since I was acting like every other man. Like the dogs I’d compared them to. I’d probably hump her leg if she let me close enough. I should have said men were pigs. Pigs don’t hump legs. Do they?

  But then she proved me wrong. Again.

  She laughed. Soft at first, and then louder as it really sank in all that just transpired between us. It was a sound I had unconsciously searched for the entire night. A sound so beautiful and catchy that I didn’t want it to end right away. I wanted to pull out all my best jokes and lay them on her, just to keep the smile on her face and the sound of happiness coming from her.

  She clutched her belly as her laughter continued, contagiously catching me. In fact, she laughed so damn hard she snorted.

  That was a new one.

  It took her a minute to wind down and, by then, I wore a cheesy grin. When she did, she handed me back her empty cup in between another round of giggles trying to escape. “Oh damn, that’s priceless.”

  I dumped the ice in her cup, stacking it with my own, and hooked my elbow out to her. “The least I can do is walk ye home after giving ye such a good time on the beach

  I felt like I could float along the sand when she slipped her arm around my waist as we made our way to Maggie and Phil’s house. “I gotta say, Ed. That was a damn good orgasm,” she joked in a seductive voice.

  Fucking hell.

  “I’m glad ye enjoyed it,” I replied, wishing it had been the real deal and not some blasted drink.

  “Oh, I did.” She giggled. “In fact, I’d wager to say that was the best non-sex orgasm I’ve ever had. Thanks for giving it to me.”

  She was flirting with me, the little minx. Two could play that game. “The bartender told me the first one was on him. The second was all me. What d’ye say? Wanna give it a go?”

  “Give it a go?” It took her a second. When she realized what I’d said, she slapped her hand over her mouth, talking through her fingers. “You said that earlier and, when I asked you what it meant, you said you’d tell me later! You’re totally hitting on me, aren’t you?”

  She playfully pushed at my shoulder, but I caught her hand up, my face going serious. I enjoyed the way her smile vanished into an intensity that made every nerve ending in my body painfully aware of her.

  “I mean it, love. I’m up for it.” I pulled her into my arms and held her hips firmly against my own to prove I needed nothing more than her. “Ye’ve had me going from the moment I laid eyes on ye.”

  She licked her lips.

  My blood boiled.

  “I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t feel the same. There’s this… this…”

  “Tension?” I threw out to her.

  “Yeah,” she said, nodding as she looked up at me with those beautiful eyes and moved her hips closer against me. “Tension,” she repeated, dragging a slow finger down my chest.

  Bloody hell.

  “There’s this tension between us, and I’m not sure if it’s the sultry air, or that delicious drink… but I feel it too.”

  “And?” I dragged out, feeling like I might explode any second.

  She sighed, moving closer as her chin rested on my shoulder. “And everything in me is shouting yes, Ed, but…”

  “But?”

  “But I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “And why’s that, love?” I moved my hands from her hips down to her arse so I could pull her hard against me.

  I smiled as a small moan escaped her lips.

  “I’ve tried to keep my hands off ye. I just can’t do it anymore,” I said against her ear as the tension grew to an all-new level between us. One I wasn’t sure I could take a second more of without release.

  Her breath hitched against my shoulder as she jerked in response, her fingers digging into the material of my shirt.

  Damn. She made me want her in a way I hadn’t ever wanted anyone before.

  And she wanted it as badly as I did.

  There was something about Hannah that snuck past the defenses I’d put into place. Ones I’d built up for a long time. Sure, I’d mucked about with other girls. I hadn’t lived the life of a saint, but I also never let anyone in. Hannah breached my barrier at an accelerated speed with no caution to what the fallout could be.

  I felt the tension in her body, the need to have me just as badly as I needed her. One move and she’d snap, and we’d be at each other like we both craved.

  Did I want that? Yes. Could I live with it later? No. She wasn’t the kind of girl ye’d add a notch to your bedpost with. I mean, sure, ye’d definitely want her all over your bed, but she deserved more than that. Better.

  She was the total package I could only stare at through the shop window, because my heart was too empty to lay purchase to hers.

  With a relenting sigh, I forced myself to move my hands from her arse and put a little distance between us, cursing myself for pulling the good-guy card. Since when had I become the good guy?

  “Ed, I—”

  “Ye don’t have to say anything. I shouldn’t have done that, and I’m sorry for it.” I took another step back, raking my hands through my hair.

  Something like regret, or maybe it was hurt, flickered in her eyes before she gave me a sexy, crooked smile. “I don’t want you to be sorry, Ed. We’re two people looking for a good time. Nothing wrong with that.”

  Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I rocked back on my heels. “Do ye think we can start over? Maybe try to get to know each other a little better?”

  She nodded. Shoved at my shoulder again in a playful manner, making it easier to get past the heavy moment. “I think I’d like that.”

  I went right back into joking mode. “Me too. It’s not every day ye get to give your friends an orgasm on the beach without touching them,” I said, unable to keep my witty retort to myself. “Wonder what else we could accomplish between us?”

  There was a moment after that remark, when the air grew heavy again and her eyes met mine, where we exchanged a mutual, curious look. One that could mean more than just sexual tension.

  A look that could get us into bloody trouble.

  I wanted to get back to the way it was between us the night before. Me cracking jokes and her rolling her eyes at me. It was safer for both of us. She broke the connection, biting her bottom lip as she looked out over the ocean. I couldn’t help but feel relieved. And maybe a little disappointed.

  She wrapped her arms around herself. “We should probably call it a night since we both have flights to catch tomorrow.”

  ROLLING OVER ONTO MY SIDE to get comfortable, I listened to the clock tick away. Time counted down, bringing my return home closer and closer with every second. Back to the rain. Back to the bar.

  Down the hall, Hannah slept the sleep of the blissful. After sitting outside of Maggie and Phil’s house, we’d danced around the moment we shared on the beach with small talk. We’d both thrown our guards up, keeping things light and simple.

  I kept my sob story to myself since I didn’t really want to bring up my past. It was firmly locked away in a place where it stayed buried deep enough not to hurt me anymore.

  But even that was trying its best to break loose through the darkness.
>
  Sighing, I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Sleep evaded me. Memories pelted me. There was nowhere to turn my mind to that didn’t bring everything back ‘round in a full circle, and I knew why.

  Hannah.

  Hannah and her wide, fathomless blue eyes reminding me of the storm-filled skies at home. The silver specks in them like rain pelting the ground. Most would think me daft relating the beauty of them to that, but it was hard not to compare them to home. People always claimed home was where your heart was. And I could see a glimpse of it when I looked into her eyes.

  She was fast becoming a burgeoning light to the darkened path I’d walked for so long.

  Everything I didn’t want. What I never knew I needed.

  I’d gone on so long, moving through life jaded, using humor and sarcasm to get me past one more day without a heart.

  And now that I’ve found it, I know I can’t have it. What the hell is wrong with me?

  I just had to get through the morning. Get my arse on the plane and put all of it behind me. It was the only way.

  Closing my eyes, I gave over to the memories, hoping they’d run their course and finally leave me in peace after all the years they’d haunted me.

  I’d given her everything. All of me. Every last bit of who I was. In return, she’d left me, quite literally, standing outside in the rain as she drove off with another man and my heart, just two days before we were to be wed.

  I’d tried for so long to understand what I’d done to push her into the arms of a stranger. When she refused my calls, I showed up on the front doorstep of what used to be our home, and the stranger, the one who stole her from me, told me to leave.

  It never detoured me. I wanted answers. I deserved answers. So one day when I showed up and he wasn’t there, I was given all the answers I’d been looking for. Ones I no longer wanted.

  She’d been in love with him the whole time, but he was married. When he’d found out we were getting married, he left his wife and upended my entire existence by taking everything from me in one fell swoop.

  Had she ever really loved me? She’d said she did, but she also claimed she fell out of love a long time before it all ended. That I had been a warm and safe place to hole up and try to figure out her life.