Sweet but Sexy Boxed Set (24 page)

Her brother crossed to stand in front of her.
“I think it’s normal to feel nostalgic, maybe even a little homesick, around the holidays. We’ve had a rough year with Mom—and now Dad—but you’ve worked too hard to give up on your career over a rough patch.”

Those words of praise eased the sharp pain that had been cutting through her stomach for months now.
“You don’t think I should move home?”

“
I don’t think you’re in a good place to make such a big decision. I think you need to put some time and distance between this pain and your choices.”

“
I don’t want to give up on my career. I like what I do. But, I can job hunt from here while I help with Dad’s care.”

“
How does Nate Jenkins fit into all of this?”

The complete honesty with her brother had lifted a huge weight and she wanted to continue the transparency, but she just wasn
’t sure how to answer that question. She shrugged.

“
Did you call him when you found Dad?”

Hailey nodded.

“Why?”

“
We were good friends once. I’d just left his house.” Both were accurate statements, but they only scratched the surface of what she was feeling.

“
I don’t think you realize everything he’s been through since your high school days. I know that it was a long time ago, but you hurt him once. Don’t repeat history. He’s a good guy and doesn’t need you stirring up past flames while you sort out your restlessness.”

“
Maybe I’ll decide to stay here.”

“
Do you really think that’s a possibility?”

She shook her head and walked by her brother toward the door before pausing and turning back.
“It’s an option, but no. I don’t know for sure.”

“
All I’m saying is don’t make things more complicated than they have to be.”

When her brother approached her with open arms, she went to him.

“We’re here for you. Okay? We’re family. You can tell us what’s going on with you. All of it. Not just the good stuff.”

“
Thanks,” She hugged his neck a little tighter. “And I’ll think about what you’ve said.”

Knowing their dad would be out of it the rest of the night, Jake decided to leave, but Hailey wanted to stay until her father was out of surgery.

It wasn’t fair to ask Nate to do the same though and she went in search of him.

When she walked into the waiting room, Nate stood and approached, meeting her half way.
“Is everything all right?”

She recounted the conversations with the doctor, censoring out the bit about coming clean with Jake about her unemployment.
“I want to stay here until the surgery is over, but you should go on home. I know you have to work tomorrow and you have Lori there who needs you.”

Nate reached out for her hand. When she gave it to him, he tugged slightly, pulling her closer, then bent over and whispered in her ear.
“While we wait for your dad to come out of surgery, we can go have that talk.”

Chapter Nine

Nate fished his wallet out of his back pocket and handed the woman at the register a five-dollar bill, despite Hailey’s protests that she should be the one to buy the coffee.

It wasn
’t about being a gentleman or any macho baggage like that. Not only had Hailey been through a rough night, but it seemed she’d been drowning in a sea of guilt and regret for a lot longer than the last few days.

She slid into the chair and rested elbows on the table before cradling her head in her hands. Nate eased back and resisted pulling her close by pushing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. Yes, she
’d opened that door at his house, but as far as he knew, she was still headed back to New York at the end of the week.

Even if he was willing to risk his heart, roll the dice, and revisit the past for a few days, he didn
’t have room in his heart for anything casual or fleeting. Maybe he could weather having her briefly, but Lori didn’t need any more temporary people in her life. His only choice was to put his daughter’s needs above his own desires.

“
Your dad’s broken hip isn’t your fault.” True but so trite. Couldn’t he come up with anything better to say than that?

“
I’m so stupid.” Hailey sat back and met his gaze.

He shook his head and pressed his fingertips into his hipbones, still resisting his urge to touch her.

“I was scared back then. I left because I was afraid that if I stayed in town one more minute, I’d give up everything I’d worked so damn hard for to be with you.”

Emotions that seemed to have been knotted up inside her for years, spilled out on her tear-soaked words.

Nate swallowed hard. Her admission slashed at the walls he’d built to compartmentalize his pain. As much as he wanted answers, he didn’t realize she could open up those wounds in his heart with a few simple words. “I just want to leave the past back there. It was a long time ago.”

“
It doesn’t feel that way when I look at you.” She paused. Her voice dropped. Even though they were mostly alone in the room, it was obvious these words were for his ears only.

“
When I kissed you tonight, it was as intense as it was back then.”

“
We’re not kids anymore. You live seven hundred miles away.” Yeah, he’d done the math. Several times.

“
Are you saying that if I asked for a do-over, you’d turn me down?”

“
We can’t go back in time.”

“
I know now that Dad needs to go to Pioneer. I can’t take care of him on my own, but I don’t want to leave him when he needs his family. I’m going to stay in town and help him through his rehab. That would give us six weeks to explore these feelings between us. See if there is anything to salvage.”

She had feelings too?

Nate let his eyes drift closed. Maybe she had a point. Nothing else he’d tried to do since high school had successfully put her out of his mind or heart, not even dating other women or raising his daughter.

But, so much time had passed. They didn
’t even know each other anymore.

Did they?

“There hasn’t been anything between us for eight years except for one kiss tonight. Not even a conversation.”

“
I’ve tried to forget you. I just wasn’t ever successful.”

“
I can’t be a shelter in a storm, or someone you use to get over whatever crap you’re going through.” No longer able to resist, he reached across the table and took her hand. “I don’t have the luxury of being carefree. As much as I would love to jump in headfirst without thinking and just see where it takes us, that’s not fair to my daughter. I can’t let her become attached to you. Sooner rather than later you’re going back to New York. Right?”

“
Unless I come up with another reason to stay.”

Nate didn
’t miss the innuendo in her voice but believed it wasn’t anything more than flirting. He needed to stay grounded in reality. “You’re too good at what you do and have worked too hard to just walk away.”

“
Why do you think that?”

Sometimes he wondered if he held on to that thought because it softened the sting of rejection, but he couldn
’t say that. He wasn’t ready to admit how much he’d longed for her. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders. “It’s what your brother and sister always say.”

“
They don’t know what’s going on with me. Not really. After Mom died, I began to see how much I’d separated myself from everything that really mattered—the people I loved, my family. I began to realize how lonely I am.”

Nate swallowed the lump forming in his throat. She was making a damn good argument for taking a chance and exploring their feelings, but the part of him that had been taught by Hailey and Lori
’s mom not to trust still hesitated. “Are you saying that you might move back here permanently?”

“
Private practice is an option I’m toying with.” She pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose. “If I would have done it eighteen months ago, I would have had so much more time to spend with my mom in her final year.”

“
If you want to open your own business, then you should go for it. Don’t let anything stand in the way of your dreams.”

“
That’s what you used to say when we were in school.”

He dropped his chin and rubbed the back of his neck.
“I still believe that.” It sort of surprised him he did. Had he been following the advice?

“
What if another chance with you is part of that dream?”

He swallowed hard. Every fiber of his body wanted to go for it, except for his bruised heart. It was reminding him how this story ended. It said that if he wasn
’t careful Hailey wouldn’t only break his heart this time, but she’d destroy Lori too. “There isn’t anything between us anymore.”

“
That kiss meant nothing to you?”

Why is she doing this to me now?

He started to shake his head no but stopped. He believed picking up where they left off was courting disaster, but that didn’t mean he could lie. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been so turned on by just one kiss,” he whispered. “But—” He scrubbed his face with his hand, looking for the right word. “We did what we were supposed to do after high school. We went our separate ways and started living our own lives. Can you honestly say I’ve ever crossed your mind in all that time?”

Hailey reached across the small table and clasped his wrist. He
’d been trying to protect his heart by keeping eye contact to a minimum, but her touch demanded it. He looked into the stormy blue pools.

“
Only all the time.”

She pounded on the slammed door of his heart until he had no choice but to open it up.
“A do-over, huh?”

“
I know we can’t go back in time. But, I’m going to be here for a while and it seems like we’ve both had a hard time letting go of the past.”

This was too much to hope for. People didn
’t separate at a road’s fork, only to come back together somewhere down the line.

Did they?

He turned his hand in hers as he stood. Guiding her to her feet, he steered her closer to him, sliding a hand around her waist. “This is crazy. You know that, don’t you?”

“
I think a little crazy is just what I need.”

He pulled Hailey in tighter, and she curled her body to his. He laid his cheek against the top of her head, let his body absorb the closeness of her, taking a minute to enjoy everything he
’d always wanted. Even if by doing so, he was opening himself up for more heartache.

Chapter Ten

For the next two hours, their conversation wandered through the past eight years. Hailey talked about her apartment in the city, her favorite park nearby—and how it reminded her, if only in a small way—of the one in town.

Nate talked about how he handled the transition from working in the diner to running it. He shared stories of raising Lori, the challenges and the moments of pure joy and celebration.

They were still lingering over their coffee when the doctor found them to update Hailey on the surgery. On the promise that Bill would be sleeping for several hours, Nate convinced her to go home to do the same.

As he turned down the road that led to her house, he couldn
’t help but wonder how this night was going to end. Her fingers had been sliding up and down his arm for the entire ride, and about a mile earlier, she leaned her head against his shoulder. Still, they hadn’t really discussed or defined how they were going to move forward.

Maybe because he wasn
’t responding to her gentle touch, Hailey decided to clarify those lines—or lack thereof. She unbuckled her seatbelt, pulled her knees up onto the cushion, and scooted closer to him. Her arm wrapped around his shoulder. She pressed her body tighter to his as her lips nibbled at the side of his neck.

The temperature in the truck seemed to rise; he tugged at the collar of his shirt for air.
“Uhhh… you should have your seatbelt on.”

Sliding her tongue against his chin, she moved closer to his ear, nibbling on his lobe.
“Come inside with me.”

He turned the truck into her driveway, and she had to brace her hand against the dash to keep from falling. After pushing the gearshift into park and turning the key to off, he swiveled toward her.
“I thought you weren’t going anywhere soon.”

“
I’m not.”

“
Then there’s no rush.”

“
We’ve waited eight years for another night together. I don’t want to waste a moment more.”

She
’d been chipping away at his walls since the moment she’d come into the diner that morning. Earlier, they’d both been reluctant, but the moment she had declared her intent in the cafeteria, she’d pushed forward and acted as if the last eight years had been simply a brief moment.

So what was he fighting?

Having his heart shattered again.

Hailey had creased it once, just like Lori
’s mom. The walls he built had given him time to heal, but, damn it all, he was lonely.

Just like Hailey professed to be.

Was it wrong for them to keep each other company? He just needed to remember that no matter how steamy it might get, she was leaving in six weeks—maybe sooner.

He reached up and gripped a piece of the silk blouse she wore, giving it a light tug. She got the message and moved even closer.

With his assistance, she moved to his lap, wedging herself between him and the steering wheel. She hovered over him for a moment, before lowering her mouth to his.

Her hair fell forward and he worked his fingers through the blonde tresses, accepting her affections. He returned the kiss with all the longing he
’d struggled to suppress for so many years.

She looped her arms around his neck and pressed her knees tight to his hipbones. He slid his hands up her back as she pulled him tighter, kissed him deeper.

“This is crazy,” he mumbled against her mouth. “What are we doing?”

“
Trying again,” she mumbled the words against his lips before reclaiming the lead, capturing his mouth with hers again. Lowering her bottom, she rested on his legs. Arching her spine, she let her head fall back, exposing her neck.

Accepting her invitation, he mouthed the supple flesh, dragging his tongue against her collarbone and thrilling at the low growl she uttered in response.

When her hands dipped under his long-sleeved t-shirt and climbed up his chest, the realization of exactly where they were headed hit him like a bucket of cold water.

It was one thing to see if the fire still burned between them. It was quite another to recreate the past.

He pressed against her shoulders. “Not here, not like we’re teenagers.”

Hailey moved back on her heels, looking into his eyes for a few moments before shifting off his lap to the seat next to him.
“This isn’t exactly like that night. It was July. A lot warmer.”

Nate twisted so he was facing her. Reaching out, he let a hand graze her shoulder.
“It meant something to me. I just think you should know that.”

A soft smile tipped her lips upward. She leaned into his touch.
“I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“
Stop apologizing. Okay? It’s over. We don’t have to talk about it anymore.” He wrapped her up in his embrace, and her body softened, melting into his.

Tenderly, she kissed his neck.
“Stay with me.”

The painful memories of his past tried to chain him to the seat, urging him to refuse her offer.
“I don’t think I should.”

“
Why? We’re not hurting anyone.”

With one arm he tightened the hold around her waist, with the other hand he gently stroked her hair.
“You’re in pain. About a lot of things. I’ll come inside and stay with you. I’ll hold you like this for the rest of the night. But, as far as the rest of it goes, I need a little time.”

If Hailey had an argument for that, she didn
’t make it. Instead, she slid out of the truck and waited for him to exit and meet on her side. She then offered him her hand and led him up to the door.

Inside, she hung up their coats on the hooks of the mudroom wall and led him to the living room. As they walked through the kitchen, she offered him something to drink, but he refused.

On the couch, she sat on the opposite corner he took, but when he opened his arms to her, she came to him with the same urgency she’d shown in the truck. She laid her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his chest. Reaching for the afghan that lay across the back of the couch, he covered the both of them and let his eyes drift closed.