Matters of the Heart

by Vanessa Devereaux

  “I should dry her off before she gets too cold,” said Lucy.

  She’d found it awkward which made him realize that he shouldn’t have done it because it would put their working relationship in jeopardy.

  “You know there is something you could do. The mobile for her crib. Could you put it together so I can turn it on for her? She seems to love watching things move around.”

  “Sure. I’ll go do that while you finish drying her.”

  Brad handed his daughter back to Lucy. Was that true, or was it her very polite way of diffusing the uncomfortable situation?

  ****

  Lucy watched Brad turn and leave the bathroom. When his fingers had touched hers, her blood had pulsed throughout her body so fast that she’d felt it cascade through her veins. It had sent her nerve endings into high alert and she wanted him to hold and kiss her. She sat on the stool next to the bath and patted the water from Presley’s chest and belly.

  “You have such a handsome daddy and I like him a lot,” she whispered.

  She needed to share her secret with someone and who better than a baby who could never reveal the truth?

  Lucy stood and placed the baby on the countertop, diapered her and then put on the pink sleep suit Brad had brought her. She lifted her and made her way to the nursery.

  “Shit, the diagram makes it look so much easier.”

  She smiled when she heard Brad talking to himself . She stepped inside the room to see the mobile still in lots of pieces of top sitting on top of the changing table.

  “I never was very good at putting things together. My mom always said I was better using my brain than my hands,” he said.

  “You want me to see if I can figure it out?”

  “And make me look bad.”

  “I wouldn’t do that.”

  She placed Presley in her crib and walked over to where the parts lay scattered.

  “You have this piece fitted together okay,” she said lifting up the section that hooked on the crib.

  “Probably because that already came like that.”

  They both laughed.

  “Okay, let’s take a look at the box. I always say if all else fails, just copy the pros.”

  Lucy placed the box in front of her and clipped two pieces together and then slotted it into the main section.

  “Not just a pretty face,” he said.

  Had she heard right? Did he really think she was pretty or was he merely reciting the saying?

  “Now I think this piece there should clip in here and then you can hang each of the animals from these sections,” she continued, not wanting to think about his last comment any more just in case it had rolled off his tongue without thinking.

  “Good thing we have Lucy,” he said as she handed the now completed mobile to him and he hung it over his daughter’s crib.

  Lucy stood beside him and looked down as Presley watched it going around for a few minutes and then her eyes fluttered and slowly closed. A few seconds later she was fast asleep.

  “Maybe I should put one of these over the bed for when I can’t get to sleep,” said Lucy.

  “Do you have insomnia?”

  Only last night thinking about you.

  Lucy shook her head.

  Brad put his finger to his lips and then they both crept out of the room.

  “Thanks for putting that together,” he said. The nursery’s beginning to look great and like it’s actually her room. That’s what I was hoping for.”

  “When she gets older I think she’ll love and appreciate you so much.”

  They stood looking at one another again. Lucy knowing she was blushing and not being able to think of one damn word to break the uncomfortable silence.

  “I’m going to turn in for the night. I have to be up early for a meeting so if you want to watch the TV, go ahead.”

  “Maybe I’ll play my yoga DVD and do some stretching before I turn in for the night.”

  “Sure, whatever you like. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight, sweet dreams.”

  “You too.”

  Lucy watched as he headed to his room and closed the door. It wasn’t even nine yet and she hoped he wasn’t hiding himself away because of her.

  The tension in her neck and back was starting to feel like she was made of cement so the yoga would be great for her. Maybe after that she’d take a bath and hopefully sleep through the night.

  ****

  Brad turned the page of his book. He hadn’t been paying much attention to the plot even though it was written by one of his favorite authors. Instead he’d been thinking about Lucy again and hence the reason he’d retreated to his room so swiftly. He’d never been to bed this early. Well, not since he was a kid at school.

  He placed the open book flat on his chest as he lay on the bed. It would probably be another insomnia ridden night for him. Maybe he’d go make himself a hot chocolate or even just warm some milk. He slid off the bed, walked into the hallway and headed down the stairs. When he got to the bottom step he glanced into the living room and stopped in his tracks.

  Stupid me. I forgot Lucy had mentioned she wanted to practice her yoga.

  Brad stood spellbound as he watched Lucy bend over in one of the poses. She wore a short top that showed her belly, and leggings that outlined every curve in her calves and thighs.

  He swallowed suddenly, feeling like every ounce of breath had been knocked from his lungs. She was the most beautiful girl in the world.

  She moved, quickly morphing into another pose and he felt himself getting hard again. He couldn’t budge. No other woman had ever had this sort of effect on him that he felt from head to toe and yes, even in his heart as he felt it pound against his chest. He held the banister tightly, feeling his cock pulse and his balls pull almost to the point of pain.

  Had he made indentations in the wood? Either he had or his fingers were broken. Brad felt the stirrings in his thighs too. Shit, he wanted to have sex, needed to have sex, and very soon.

  Upstairs.

  I need to get back upstairs and take refuge in my room.

  He turned to leave but couldn’t.

  Lucy moved again, this time bending over, offering him the most wonderful view of her cute ample ass. He bit his fist, feeling pain when he sank his teeth into the skin, hoping that would take the edge off his erection or thoughts about it.

  If this kept up he’d need to see a doctor because surely experiencing this many hard-ons without finding relief through sex was bad for a guy? He kicked the edge of the stair with his toe hoping it would help but all it did was jar his cock, putting it on higher alert.

  Find yourself a woman.

  Yeah, maybe if I find someone to have sex with I won’t think about Lucy anymore. I’ll go the bar tomorrow night and check out the prospects.

  Brad shook his head. No, he didn’t want to do that. Now he’d seen Lucy he knew she was the only one he wanted. He tried to move again, but this time the step he stood on creaked. Lucy turned around. He’d been caught red-handed ogling her.

  “Hi, I was just heading to the kitchen to make myself a drink.”

  Problem is I can’t move.

  “I didn’t wake you did I? I mean the yoga DVD wasn’t too loud?”

  “No, no, absolutely not. I often come down to get something warm to drink.”

  Good thing you’re not hooked up to a lie detector machine, sheriff.

  She walked toward him. There was a little perspiration clinging to her neck and chest and even that looked sexy. The top she wore wasn’t sheer but where she’d sweated it was almost opaque and her nipples strained against it.

  What he wouldn’t give to touch them, even taste them.

  “Are you okay? You looked far away just then?”

  “What, I…

  “I’m sorry. Long day at work. I’ll just go get myself that drink.”

  “And I’m going to take a long soak in the bath.”

  Shit, why did she have to say that? Now he wouldn�
��t be able to get the image of her naked and reclined in the tub, out of his mind.

  She stood at the bottom of the stairs and he wondered what she was waiting for and then he realized he was blocking the way. Me and my very large and obvious erection.

  Now he’d have to move if he liked it or not.

  “Night,” he said moving stepping down from the stairs.

  “Goodnight.”

  She brushed by him and he caught a whiff of her perfume and he closed his eyes. Lucy smelled heavenly too. He loved just everything about her.

  Brad hurried into the kitchen, ignoring the pain in his groin and balls. He opened the fridge door with every intention of pulling out the carton of milk but then decided it was pointless: not even something hot would help him sleep after what he’d seen in his living room.

  He pulled out a chair and sat, fingering the placement in front of him. He glanced up when he heard the water being run in the bath.

  A man could dream, couldn’t he?

  She was naked, stepping over the edge of the bathtub and then lowering herself down into the bubbles. Maybe she’d perch her ankle over the side, massage soap into her breasts, down her belly, and then finger her pussy.

  Stop it.

  But he couldn’t.

  And now Presley was crying.

  Brad stood and headed up the stairs ready to head to his daughter’s room but on the way there, the bathroom door opened and out shot Lucy wrapped in just a towel that hardly covered her body. She held it in place as she looked at him.

  “Was that Presley?” she asked.

  “I thought I heard her but now I can’t.”

  “I’ll go check,” said Lucy.

  “No, go back into the bathroom this minute. I can do it.”

  He’d almost shouted that as an order but he couldn’t risk being this close to her with her just wearing a towel and a smile.

  “No, it’s perfectly okay. It’s what you’re paying me for.”

  They both headed to her room at the same time and bumped arms and thighs.

  “What did I just say about going back into the bathroom?”

  I sound like a pompous asshole.

  “I’m sorry I…”

  She looked hurt, offended, and he didn’t want her to be. She also looked gorgeous with her hair piled up on the top of her head.

  Hell, she was too much for any man to resist.

  Brad pulled her in close, wrapping his arms around her. She might slap his face, file a sexual harassment charge against him first thing in the morning, but he was willing to take his chances just for the pleasure of putting his lips on hers and giving her the kiss he’d longed to since she’d entered his office that day.

  Surprisingly he wasn’t slapped and she seemed to melt into him as she pushed toward him and then wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Lucy even opened her mouth for him, to slide his tongue along her lower lip. He’d never experienced a kiss quite like this and he’d kissed his fair share of women.

  The room seemed to swirl around him. Was it, or was he imagining the whole thing? He slid his hand under the towel and was about to touch her breast when Presley began crying at the top of her lungs.

  They both pulled away.

  “I’ll get this, you go back into the bathroom and get some clothes on,” said Brad.

  She didn’t say anything; didn’t argue, but turned and suddenly he was looking at the closed door. He leaned his forehead against it, hearing his daughter’s sobbing getting louder.

  Yeah Presley, Daddy was wrong. He doesn’t have any of this under control.

  Chapter Six

  Sadie smiled. She’d just settled down to watch a movie and her witch’s intuition, that she might add had never, ever, been wrong, told her that magical things were starting to happen at the Ryan household.

  The two lovebirds had just experienced their first kiss. But that same intuition also told her that guilt now hung heavily in the air. Maybe having Lucy work for Ryan hadn’t been a smart move on Sadie’s part. Workplace romances were sometimes the hardest to move into first gear, but she’d had no other choice in trying to bring this perfect pair together.

  She tapped the remote control. Sadie had believed that this one would play out all by itself and that she wouldn’t need to intercept. Well, besides giving them tickets to the play where magical things would happen, but now she wasn’t so sure.

  In her heart she sensed that they were both already regretting the kiss. Lucy even considering moving out and heading back to Helena in the morning…but that wasn’t going to happen.

  ****

  Lucy opened the closet, pulled out her bag and sat it on the bed. Luckily she didn’t have a lot to pack. While it wouldn’t take her too long in the morning to get all her stuff together, she’d rather have it all done now so she could leave as soon as it was light.

  She’d hand in her notice to Brad and apologize for not giving him more warning about the need to find a replacement nanny. Lucy felt bad about it and she knew she’d miss Presley. However, she couldn’t stay under Brad’s roof a day longer without getting involved with him. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, but if things didn’t work out between them, not only would it be heartbreaking, but she’d be out of a job. Bottom line was it was easier to go and look for another opening before her life got too complicated.

  She pulled down the sweaters from the top shelf and placed them at the bottom of her bag. She threw some scarves in on top of them. Then the first of her tears slid down her face. Why was she always in the wrong situation where men were concerned?

  First of all, there was Bryce and she’d been too chicken to tell him she didn’t want to just be his friend any more. And now Brad, who she was falling for and he was her boss of all things.

  She’d hadn’t wanted sex as much as she had tonight when they’d kissed out in the hallway. If Presley hadn’t cried she knew they probably would have made love right on the floor in front of the bathroom.

  Her pussy had been aching, her breasts pleading for him to touch her, kiss her body and then pound away inside her until her toes curled.

  It wasn’t to be.

  Lucy turned and walked over to the dresser where she opened a drawer to get her underwear. She lifted out some bras and panties and headed over to her bag but then stopped in her tracks.

  The bag wasn’t there and the closet doors were closed.

  She knew they were open when she’d turned her back. Lucy marched over to it and pulled on both doors. She had to be going crazy or something. Maybe the kiss and the stress were starting to get to her. The bag that she knew she’d placed on the bed was back in its original spot on the floor of the closet. The sweaters still neatly stacked on the top shelf.

  Okay, we’ll try this one more time.

  She tugged on the bag, unzipped it and loaded the sweaters and scarves into it again, this time not worrying about neatness. She turned to pick up the bras and panties but now they were gone too.

  Shit, I am losing my mind.

  She marched over to the dresser, pulled out the drawer and saw her panties and bras sitting back in their original spot. And now the two tickets that Sadie Sutton had given to her sat on top of her pink panties.

  She and Brad wouldn’t be using them now so she might as well toss them. She lifted them out of the drawer and threw them in the wastepaper basket. Lucy looked over her shoulder when she heard a rustling noise and saw the two tickets now sitting on top of the dresser.

  She rushed over to them, grabbed and ripped them into tiny shreds just to convince herself she wasn’t going out of her mind. She let the pieces float down in the bin and then decided to get ready for bed. She’d just have to get up an hour earlier and make another effort to pack her belongings in the morning.

  Lucy glanced at the wastepaper basket. It was empty. The torn tickets were no longer there. But it couldn’t be.

  Something told her to look on the bed and there sitting on the pillow were the two tickets back in p
ristine condition.

  She picked them up and studied them. Yes, definitely the ones Sadie had given her. Definitely the ones she’d torn up. She marched over to the bin and placed it on the bed, tearing the tickets into smaller pieces and letting them drift into the bin before putting a heavy book over the top and placing both on the floor.

  After she got undressed, she slipped into bed and then turned off the lights. She rolled onto her side and could see a full moon shining brightly through the slight gap where she hadn’t pulled the drapes properly closed. There was a rustling noise and then she felt something flick by her face. Something was being pushed under her cheek.

  Lucy shot up; her heart beating thinking something very strange was going on tonight. She flicked on the light and saw the two tickets sitting on the pillow both in one piece again, no evidence of even a slight tear on either of them.

  She flopped down on top of them. Was someone trying to tell her something or what?

  Chapter Seven

  Brad had overslept, and for the first time since he’d been elected sheriff, he was going to be late for work. He rubbed both his hands over his face and realized that last night had really happened. He hadn’t been dreaming. He’d actually kissed Lucy. It had been wonderful and he’d had every intention of not stopping there. Had it not been for his daughter’s sudden outburst he’d planned to lift Lucy up in his arms and carry her to his bedroom where they’d make love all night long.

  The whole thing had worked up his libido like never before. At midnight he’d retreated to the bathroom with the intention of taking a cold shower, but knew it would wake Lucy, and probably Presley too, so he’d resorted to jerking off.

  That usually made him feel better. Last night it had only made things worse.

  He got up and decided to eat breakfast first and then shower. He’d call in and say he was feeling a little under the weather and would be in later.