Harbour of Refuge (8 page)

She came again, back arching and a scream of pleasure ripping from her throat. He couldn’t last any longer with the feel of her muscles tightening around him. One final thrust and he, too, came with a cry.

Sweaty, he sank upon her, barely able to keep from crushing her. He was drained, wrung out, spent. His heart pounded out a rhythm it hadn’t known for months.

“Oh, yeah, I missed that,” she stated breathlessly, her hands smoothing up and down his back.

“Me too,” he admitted.

Once he’d caught his breath, he pulled out of her and went to dispose of the condom. When he returned to the bed, she’d settled beneath the covers, leaving them open for him.

She observed him with such frankness he found himself asking, “What?”

“Nothing, I just like watching you.”

He grinned. “Likewise, sweetheart.”

She rolled on her side and his gaze lingered on the breast he could easily see. “Just remember, next time I get to watch you finish.”

His cock stiffened a bit at her statement. Had he said he’d missed her? Because, hell yeah, he had.

* * * *

Halyn bent over to pull the baking tray out of the oven, the smell of the freshly baked scones making her mouth water. She turned off the appliance and put away her hot pads. Once she’d grabbed her cup of coffee, she took a sip and glanced at the time again. There was still time before she had to go to work.

She wouldn’t be able to let him sleep much longer. As if her thoughts alone conjured him, Enzo Cassano walked into her kitchen. Immediately he sucked up all her attention. How couldn’t he? She was so into him.

“Morning,” she said, somehow managing to sound normal, not like a sex-starved woman who wanted anything and everything he would be willing to give her.

“Smells good in here.” He gathered her close and kissed her until she felt boneless in his embrace. “Morning to you, too, sweetheart.”

“Cranberry scones and coffee. If you’d like something else, I could make it for you.”

He didn’t release her, just shook his head, his morning stubble abrading her forehead a bit. She didn’t mind.

“No, these look delicious. Do you have to work today?”

“Yes, I have to leave in an hour.”

She’d be lying if she didn’t admit that playing hooky had been foremost in her thoughts for a while now. She might have, if she’d known what his schedule was. She figured he’d be spending time with his family. Something she had no problems with—family should come first.

“Can you skip a day? Maybe a week, and spend it with me?”

Be still, my beating heart.
“Sorry. Besides, aren’t you here to visit family?”

He stepped back and crossed his arms. “I am, but they won’t mind.”

“I bet they would. How often do you get to see them?”

“More than I see you.” His reply was swift and honest.

“I’m not family. I’m a booty call.”

His gaze narrowed on her face. “Why would you call yourself that?”

She reached for some plates. “Because it’s true. Can you stand there and honestly tell me when you called you weren’t thinking of sex?”

His silence spoke volumes.

“See, booty call. Not that I mind because,
damn
. But I don’t think you should forfeit time with family. I have to work all the time, even through the race. I was planning on watching it if I could but, I don’t want you to be distracted.”

“Wait a minute, are you telling me to leave you alone?”

No, taking me up against the wall would work though.
“Not at all. I’m merely saying don’t change all your plans because I happened to be in the town your next race is in. I’d love to see you when you are here, but I will make no assumptions.”

He stared at her for a few moments and she busied herself with putting a warm scone on each plate. Strong arms braced on either side of her and she inhaled deeply, enjoying the pure scent of Enzo. Turning, she met his gaze.

“I want to spend as much time as I can with you, Halyn.”

She went up on tiptoes and brushed a feather-light kiss along his lips. “I’d like that.”

He waited and seemed to weigh her statement. After a brief nod, he took both plates to the table where they ate. She brought a cup of coffee for him and over the easy breakfast she gave him her work schedule so they could set up time to be together. Enzo left when she headed off to work. With a lingering kiss, they left her house and went their separate ways.

* * * *

She opened up her shop and quickly became busy. The great thing about her toy store was that when parents came in with children who needed to calm down a bit, or do something that didn’t require a lot of attention, Halyn made sure there were lots of activities and games available.

In the early afternoon, a black-haired woman entered with a boy of about five in tow. He had a blank expression on his face.
No
, she corrected,
a brooding one
. He had dark, curly hair and brown eyes.

“Good afternoon, can I help you find anything?” she asked.

The mother gave a small huff and said something to him in a language she didn’t understand. The child barely blinked. “We need something for him to do in the hotel. Something like a card game, video game.” She shrugged.

Her accent sounded Slavic to Halyn. “Okay. The display of games for the handheld devices are on aisle three, and card or board games are on five.”

The mother walked off immediately while the child looked at Halyn. She gave him a tentative smile. Nothing in return, but he followed his mother when she snapped a sharp command in his direction.

Halyn shook her head. Poor child. Vacations were a lot harder on kids than people thought. Parents got stressed and the young ones tended to get the brunt of it. Soon, a few more people came in and she helped them out.

“You have restroom?”

Looking up from where she worked in the stuffed animal section, she found that black-haired woman staring at her. Halyn pushed to her feet and wiped her hands off on her pants. “Sure. Head to the back and you’ll see the door on your left.”

Another strained smile. “Thank you.”

Worrying her lower lip, Halyn returned her attention to the task at hand. She only managed to get one more thing put up before she turned to look for the boy. She found him standing by the portable game consoles.

“Find something you like?” she asked.

He glanced up then dismissed her, focusing back on something before him. She tried to see what he was looking at but she wasn’t sure. “Would you like to try a game? We have the test one right over here, perhaps that will help you decide which one you want.”

He didn’t exactly jump for joy at her offer, but he did move with her to it. She stood back as he took it and scrolled through the offered sample games. Halyn watched him as he did, noting what ones—if any—would create a bit of excitement. Nothing did, and she backed off when his mother returned.

“I’m sure you’ll find the perfect game,” she said to him as she walked towards the work she still had to do.

The duo left about fifteen minutes later, having picked up a game full of puzzles. At the door, the child glanced back at her briefly before his mother tugged on him and took him off down the street.

“Well, he was cute,” she mumbled, cutting down the cardboard box beside her.

She stayed busy the rest of the day and around an hour before closing, she looked up to see her best friend stride through the door.

“Hey, girl!” Mila said easily, pushing behind the counter. “Are we alone?”

“Yes we are. How are you?” Halyn asked.

“Fine, fine.” She waved a hand about. “Now, I want to know all about last night.”

“He took me for dinner at The Grill. We had dessert at his brother’s house.” Halyn flushed as she recalled what happened after that. Over and over again.

“Oh no, you don’t. Tell me. I know you hit that again. I’m so jealous. Enzo Cassano. Details.”

“We went to my place since he’s in town for the race. It was…better than it had been in Monte Carlo.”

Mila released a low whistle. “Really? Because you were pretty damn sure no one would ever lay anything on you like he’d done. Now he tops it? I really hate you, bitch. I knew I should have gone after him.”

“You’re practically engaged, Mila,” she reprimanded.

“Please, I think Joe would forgive that indiscretion. The damn man has a crush like I do, if not worse. Enzo is his favourite driver. You should have seen his face when I told him the man was in town early. He wanted to know every detail.”

Another reason Halyn hadn’t told her where they were going for dinner.

“He wants to know if you would mind bringing him over for supper one night?”

“Your boyfriend wants to know, or you do?”

Mila flashed a grin. “Both.”

Halyn shook her head. “No, sorry, Mila. I’m not his agent to set things up for him and I’m not going to abuse my relationship with him so you and Joe can take pictures with him. He came early for a reason and I will respect that.”

“You and your damn small-town values,” she griped. “Are you sure? Maybe just stop by for like, drinks or something?” Mila was in her coaxing mode.

“Nope. Because I know you, Mila. You two would have all your co-workers there and possibly the news. I won’t do that to him. Why would you ask that?”

“Can’t we, like, just ignore those small-town values for a moment or two?” Mila grumbled.

“Curse me all you want, Mila.” Deep down, she knew Mila would understand. “That’s foul play and you know it.”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Both women jumped at the intrusion of the deep male voice and jerked their heads around. Enzo stood there, leaning against the counter further down, watching them with amusement in his gaze.

Mila’s skin flushed red and Halyn was grateful that hers, darker, didn’t show it as much.

“Enzo,” she breathed.

He stood there in a dark green shirt and baseball cap. She couldn’t see the rest but it didn’t matter. Her body knew and responded.

“Hello, Halyn. Good to see you again, Mila.”

It didn’t take her friend long to recover from her embarrassment of being caught trying to weasel a visit from him to her dinner table. She stood tall, tossed her silky, black hair back and shoved her breasts forwards. Halyn bit back a groan.

“I’m so glad to see you again, Mr Cassano.” Mila’s words dripped in invitation and came on a seductive purr.

Girl knows how to play them
. Halyn rolled her eyes and caught Enzo watching her, not Mila. A twinkle appeared in his eye as he winked at her.

“So you want me to come for dinner?” He leaned towards her. “What’s on the menu?”

Halyn crossed her arms and watched the scene before her unfold. Back and forth they parried until it seemed he was getting an Italian dinner and Halyn would be accompanying him as his date.

Mila glowed as she said farewell and hastened out of the door.
Humph. Not even a goodbye for her best friend.

Alone in the store with Enzo, Halyn shook her head. “You know you didn’t have to do that.”

“What? Get a free meal? I wonder if she realised she just promised an Italian a real Italian dinner.” He grimaced. “Can she cook?”

Halyn laughed. “Don’t you think it’s a bit late to be wondering that?”

His smile made her knees weaken.
Damn him!
He inched his way down the counter until he stood opposite her, then leaned over and kissed her lips. A gentle, tender kiss.

“Thank you for protecting me.”

She lowered her gaze. He lifted her chin and insisted on eye contact. “I just know Mila, so be prepared to have a lot of people there.”

“Are you saying my time of being here in town without people following me around is coming to an end?”

“If you go there? Yes.” She went to the door and turned the sign to ‘closed’ before heading back to the till and counting out the money. “Thank you for the invite, but I—”

“Wait, you’re going to leave me to fend for myself? She’ll eat me alive.”

She snorted. “She’d sure like to try. I have a feeling you can more than handle yourself, Enzo. I’ve seen you work a crowd.”

“What does that mean?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.” It wasn’t her business how he acted.

“Come with me,” he offered.

“I don’t think you want me with you. All those women who will be after you might not approach if I’m there.”

He didn’t speak, just stared at her.

Finally it sank in. “Oh, you…you don’t want them after you?”

“Nope. Why would you think I would?”

“You had four women on your arms at the party in Monte Carlo.”

“Tonight I’ll have one. Don’t need any more than you. Don’t want any more.” He moved closer to her and nuzzled the side of her neck. “Don’t let me be raw meat in a shark frenzy.”

“So you need me to save you?” She would ignore the fire in her veins. She
would
.

“Please.” He nipped her earlobe. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

Her heart pounded out of control as her mind created all kinds of scenarios in how such an offer would play out. She swiped her tongue over her lips.

“Promise, Halyn. All kinds of worth it.”

Okay, it was official, he could tempt the devil into giving up his kingdom. She sunk back into Enzo’s strong body. “I’ll go with you.”

“An angel.” He skimmed his hands over her hips. “You, sweetheart, are an angel.”

“Not really, because I plan on collecting.”

“And here I thought your friend was upset because of your small-town values. What happened to them?”

“Make no mistake, I still have them, I just don’t have a problem with sex and like it.”

“No sex until marriage, what about that?”

She couldn’t stop herself stiffening even had she tried. “If that were the case, we wouldn’t be having this conversation would we? Because Monte Carlo wouldn’t have happened.”

“I, for one, wouldn’t change Monte Carlo for anything.” His whisper warmed her from the inside out.

Patting his arm, she manoeuvred free to finish counting her money. They closed up the shop, then walked through town to her bank where she dropped off the deposit before they headed for their vehicles. As he had the previous night, Enzo followed her home.