Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (178 page)

His hands roamed up and down her naked body. She shivered beneath his touch. Staring up at him, she watched as his eyes greedily devoured her, following the path of his caresses. A carnal ache grew in her core as waves of desire rolled through her.

His hands spread across her hips and tightened as he lifted her off the floor. “Wrap your legs around me,” his husky voice commanded.

As she did, he entered her fully in one deep thrust. Haley gasped as Eddie filled her body completely. Her hands gripped his shoulders as her body adjusted to his size. He remained still, his body pressed against her.

“You make me crazy,” he whispered roughly against her ear, sending tingling warmth down her spine. “I’ve never wanted anything like I want you.”

His words caused her sex to pulse around him. She tried to move her hips against him but she was pinned between his muscular body and the wall he had her up against. Whimpering with need, she gripped him tighter, her nails digging into his skin.

“You’re so fucking tight,” he growled softly, “and wet.”

“Eddie, please,” she begged as her heels pressed into his back.

His lips brushed against her ear as he said, “Are you sure you’re ready?”

“Yes,” she moaned as his large palms cupped her backside, his long fingers kneading her flesh.

He began moving his hips as he masterfully guided her body up and down his rock-hard shaft in smooth, measured strokes. “Is this what you wanted?”

“Yes,” she gasped in desperation as her hands knotted in his hair.

She moved her mouth to his neck, pressing open-mouth kisses on his hot flesh. Haley loved the salty taste of his skin as she slid her tongue across it in fevered kisses. As she sucked and licked his neck, Eddie thrust inside of her harder. Deeper. But it wasn’t enough. She could sense him holding back. She wanted all of him.

“Harder,” she gasped as his hips slammed into hers, sending white-hot bursts of pleasure to her core.

Fisting his hair tighter, she bucked her hips against his as he thrust into her, taking every inch of him. She reveled in the feeling of being taken by him. She could see sweat beading on his back as his body pounded into hers.

“Yes!” she cried out as he drove into her faster and faster.

Her body shook as pleasure, unlike any she’d ever felt, built at a frenzied pace inside of her. She felt herself going up and over the crest of ecstasy as he plunged into her once more, gripping her hips and moaning in male satisfaction.

As she slowly floated back down to reality, all she could think was,
Best. Birthday. Ever.

CHAPTER TWENTY

EDDIE MADE HIS WAY down the stairs, and relief washed over him as he heard the sweet, soft sounds of singing drifting through the air. When he’d woken up to find the space beside him in bed empty, he’d been more than a little disappointed.

He couldn’t count how many times he’d wished that he were waking up with Haley in his arms. Last night, as he’d drifted to sleep while holding her naked body tight against him, he’d thought, that come this morning, that particular fantasy was going to become reality.

No dice. The fantasy was going to remain just that for the time being.

As he rounded the corner and saw her at the stove in one of his white t-shirts, her sexy bare legs sticking out beneath the hem that fell almost to her knees, singing along as she cooked something that smelled absolutely delicious, he figured that this sight was not a bad consolation prize.

“Good morning,” he rasped as he wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled against her neck.

“Morning,” she said as she bent her head to the side, giving him even better access to the graceful slope of her neck.

Tightening his hold around her, she giggled as he nipped at her soft skin. Then, flattening his tongue, he ran it over the area he’d just bitten and her body molded against his as she let out a soft gasp. His hands splayed across her belly and he tilted her hips back so that his erection was firmly pressed against her backside.

“Mmm,” she groaned as she continued moving the scrambled eggs she was cooking around the frying pan. “This is a nice way to start the day.”

“It’s about to get even better,” he stated as he flipped off the heat to the burner, spun her around, and lifted her up on the counter, stepping between her legs.

She bit her lip, and her arms wrapped around his neck, as excitement and arousal danced in her eyes. His hands traveled up her bare thighs, and gripping her hips tightly, he scooted her to the edge of the countertop and thrust his hips against her.

He could feel the heat of her core through his sweatpants and his body tensed with need. Resting his forehead against hers, he breathed deeply as he admitted, “I didn’t like waking up with you not in my arms.”

Eddie didn’t know what had possessed him to make that admission. He felt raw. Exposed.

“I’m sorry,” Haley said as her fingers ran through the hair at the nape of his neck. “I wanted to make you breakfast in bed.”

“If you would have stayed in bed, you would have been my breakfast.” At his words, a humming groan vibrated through Haley’s body.

He covered her mouth with his, claiming her with a ravenous kiss as his hand moved up her waist beneath her shirt. Just as his hands cupped the heavy weight of her breasts, the doorbell rang loudly.

Eddie ignored it; he knew it wasn’t Emily. Before he’d come downstairs in search of Haley, he’d called and talked to his sister, who’d told him that Riley and Em were in the backyard on the Slip ’n Slide and when they finished they were all going out to breakfast and then to the park. She’d asked if she could drop Em off this evening.

So with that knowledge in the back of Eddie’s mind, he continued his sensual mission. His tongue explored her mouth as roaring urgency raged inside of him. Her fingers gripped his neck as her hips rocked against his steel rod.

All he could hear in his ears was the loud swooshing sound of all of his blood rushing down to his groin. He had zero awareness of the loud knocking until Haley pulled away and, through ragged breaths, said, “You better get that.”

Then and only then did the obnoxious pounding penetrate through his lust-fogged conscious. Dropping his head and cursing under his breath, he stalked to the front door.

Opening it up, he was locked and loaded, ready to give whoever was on the other side of it a piece of his mind. But when the door swung open, Eddie froze. He went completely numb. He couldn’t feel his legs beneath him, his arms at his sides, or even his head on his shoulders.

Eddie blinked several times. His head spun with dizziness. He was pretty sure his lightheadedness had to do with the fact that, as quickly as all the blood in his body had traveled to his groin moments ago, it had just as quickly drained from his body now.

“Hi, Eddie. Long time no see.” The woman standing on his porch removed her oversized sunglasses.

“Lacey?” Eddie’s voice sounded foreign even to his own ears. He felt disconnected from himself, like he was outside of his body looking in.

“I came for Emily’s birthday,” Lacey said cheerily as she lifted a stack of presents he hadn’t noticed sitting beside her on the porch.

At the sound of his daughter’s name, all of his senses and faculties returned to him at once. He was no longer in shock or disbelief. Hearing Emily’s name on Lacey’s lips was like being dunked in a tank of ice water.

“Her birthday was yesterday,” Eddie corrected her, his tone flat and cold.

“Are you sure?” Lacey narrowed her almond-shaped eyes in a questioning glare.

“Yes. I’m sure,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “What do you want, Lacey?”

Standing up a little straighter, she rolled her shoulders back. A flicker of challenge sparked in her brown eyes. “I want to see my baby.”

“She’s not a baby anymore,” Eddie pointed out.

“I know. She’s seven now—”

“Eight,” he interrupted.

Lacey shook her head the way she always did when she was irritated, her light brown hair flicking over her shoulders. Her hands flew up in exasperation. “Okay, she’s
eight
now. That’s my point. I’ve missed so much and I want to be a part of her life.”

“It’s not that easy.”

An overconfident smile lifted on her face. “I know. That’s why I thought it would be good to come on her birthday. I thought it would make it a fun event. You know, like meeting me could be her present.”

Eddie let out a forced laugh. He had to give Lacey credit for being consistent. She always had thought the world revolved around her, and it looked like the years had not changed that one bit.

“Can I come in?” she asked. “These are heavy.”

“No,” he barked.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

Setting the boxes down, she stood and placed her hands on her hips. The moment she did that, Eddie recognized it as the same pose he’d seen Emily make a thousand times.

“This is ridiculous, Eddie. It’s me.”

So many emotions were flooding through Eddie. Anger. Sadness. Fear. He didn’t know which one was stronger. They were all rising up so fast he felt as though they were choking him.

“I’m her mother. Nothing you can do can change that.” The determined tone in Lacey’s voice caused Eddie’s blood to run cold.

“You have no rights to her. You can’t just walk back into her life like the past eight years never happened.”

“Maybe. We’ll see. But rights or no rights, I am her mother. And, believe me, a little girl always wants to know her mother.” With that statement, Lacey turned on her heels and started down the walkway.

“You forgot your presents,” he called after her.

“Those are Emily’s. Not mine.” She placed her sunglasses back on her head as she walked around a brand-new Mercedes and opened the door. “I’m staying at the Lighthouse B&B. I’ll give you a few days to get used to the idea, but believe me, Eddie. One way or another, I will know my daughter. Call when you’re ready to talk. If I don’t hear from you by midweek, you will be hearing from my attorney.”

Eddie watched as the silver luxury car pulled away from his house and sped down the street.

Lacey was back.

He had to go get Emily.

* * * * *

HALEY WATCHED FROM the doorway of the kitchen as Eddie slammed the front door and took the steps two at a time. She had no idea what to do.

Should she follow him upstairs? Give him space? Leave?

At a complete loss, she walked like a Zombie over to the stove and picked up the pan, dumping the eggs down the garbage disposal. Her appetite was gone and she really didn’t think Eddie was in the mood for eggs. As she began rinsing off the frying pan, she heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs.

“Eddie,” she called as he headed towards the door.

When he turned around and looked at her, it felt as if he didn’t even see her at first. He had a wild, panicked look in his eye. After a moment, his vision cleared and he shook his head. “I have to go get Emily. Lock the door when you leave.”

Without another word, he was out the door, slamming it in his wake.

Haley stood completely still, staring at the door. For how long, she had no idea. Then she turned and walked up the steps—the same steps she’d walked up hundreds of times, the same steps Eddie had carried her up after they’d made love against the wall. This time though, with each step she took, she felt like she was walking through quicksand.

When she finally made it upstairs, she walked into Eddie’s bedroom and picked her dress up off the floor. As she put it on, she turned away from the bed. She didn’t want to look at the place where she’d slept in Eddie’s arms, where he’d cradled her and told her he didn’t know what he’d done to deserve her, where he’d made love to her so slowly, so thoroughly, so sweetly, that tears had fallen down her face.

She slipped on her shoes and quickly left the room before tears once again overwhelmed her. As she hurried past Emily’s room, the tears that had been threatening to fall, slipped down her cheeks.

As she made her way down the steps and out of the house, Haley tried to be rational. Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe everything was going to be okay. Maybe Lacey showing up wouldn’t completely devastate not only her life, but Eddie’s and Emily’s as well.

Yeah, and maybe she’d win the lottery.

Taking a moment Haley inhaled deeply breathing in the warm summer day. The birds were chirping, the sun was beating down brightly on the pavement, the air smelled of freshly cut grass. People were out washing their cars, kids were riding their bikes, and there was a garage sale at Mrs. Archer’s house.

Tears continued to flow down Haley’s face as she made her way across the street and up the drive. For some reason, the fact that the world was still spinning, completely unaffected by her devastation, bothered her much more than it logically should. All Haley wanted to do was take a shower, crawl into her bed, throw the comforter over her head, and sleep.

She didn’t want to face the cruel, unforgiving, uncaring world today. She wanted to hide. Hide from it all.

As she turned the corner on the landing of her stairs, she heard the shower already running. Great. Just what she needed.

She plopped down in the hallway to wait her turn and slipped her heels off. She couldn’t believe that it was just yesterday she’d sat in the same spot, feeling optimistic and hopeful for the future. Oh, how much could change in a span of twenty-four hours.

Her sister’s bedroom door creaked open and Chris stepped out, shoes in hand and shirt unbuttoned. He nodded to Haley in greeting, and she lifted her hand to wave. Then she watched as he did what she had just done—took the dreaded walk of shame.

Krista appeared in the doorway and stretched her hands up over her head, yawning loudly. When she noticed Haley sitting against the wall, a small smile appeared in on her face.

“Same clothes as yesterday. You dirty gir—” Her sister stopped when she noticed the tears running down Haley’s face. “What did he do?” she asked, rushing over and sitting beside Haley, pulling her into her arms. Haley cried against her sister’s shoulder, unable to talk.