Hearts at Play (Love in Bloom: The Bradens, Book 6) Contemporary Romance (7 page)

“What time do you have to be at work today?” he asked.

“Ten.” She took a bite of a waffle. “Hugh, these are amazing. Thank you.”

“I have an appointment at ten, so you can either borrow a car or I can drop you off. Didn’t you say you wanted to buy Layla a birthday present today?” He finished his waffles and dished fruit onto his plate.

You remembered
. “Yeah. I need to do that, but I’m sure I can take a bus to the mall.” She couldn’t eat more than a few bites.

“Nonsense. How late are you working? I didn’t even know bars opened at ten in the morning.” He pushed his plate to the side while he finished his coffee.

“I’m not working at the bar this morning. I’m helping my friend Claude in his studio. I should be out by one or so.” She stood to clear the dishes, and Hugh stood as well. He took the dish from her hands and began washing it while Brianna cleared the glasses.

He rotated away from the sink, and she knocked into his arm. “I’m sorry,” she said, feeling heat crawl up her chest.

“I’m not.”

His dark eyes stole her breath, and when he brushed her hair from her cheek, she shivered.

“Bree,” he whispered.

She was rooted to the floor by his sensuous gaze. Her pulse sped up. When he ran his hands up her arms and then took a long, slow stroke back down, Brianna threw caution to the wind. She lifted up on her tiptoes, but the distance to his lips was still too great. Hugh slipped his hands beneath her arms and lifted her onto the counter, then pushed himself between her knees and took her face in his hands.
Oh, how I love the feel of your hands on my face. Leave them there forever. Please
.

“Bree,” he said between heavy breaths. “May I kiss you?”

She reached behind his neck and pulled his mouth to hers. His lips were warm and tender. Every caress of his tongue sent a pulse of heat between her legs. And when he slipped his hand beneath her hair and cupped the back of her head, then deepened the kiss, all the scary thoughts about his job fell away. His hand found her waist, and in one swift and gentle move, he pulled her to the edge of the counter, his chest pressed against hers, the bulge beneath his zipper against her center. He tasted so sweet, like syrup and something more—a taste that was all his own. A taste she’d never forget. When they drew apart, they were both breathing heavily.

Come back. Please come back and kiss me again
. She slid her hands to his chest, feeling the hammering of his heart against her palms.

He leaned his forehead against hers. A touch she’d already come to relish.

“Bree,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.” He looked down at his formidable erection.

She could barely think past her own thundering heart.

He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I love kissing you, but I gotta stop or I’m not going to be able to.”

Then don’t
. Her brain told her he was right, but her body craved his touch. She desperately wanted to feel the muscles that teased her from behind his soft cotton shirt and
—Oh God!—
it had been so long since she’d been with a man. Her private parts were aching to remember the sensation of having a man’s hard length buried inside her.

He wrapped her in his arms and pressed his chest to hers again; then he gathered her hair in one hand and kissed her cheek. “How about I drive you to Claude’s?” He kissed her neck. “Then we can shop for Layla’s gift together.”

His hot breath sent a shiver down her back. She didn’t want to be away from him for a second. “Yes,” she whispered, and looked at him with what she hoped was a seductive expression and not some failed attempt that made her look stupid. He still held her hair in his hand, and Brianna’s visceral need took over. She pressed her lips to his and buried her hands in his thick hair, pulling him into a rougher, hungrier kiss and savoring every hard swipe of his tongue. The sting of his fist clutching her hair heightened her desire, and when he reached one hand beneath her bottom and the other around her waist and lifted her up with his powerful arms, Brianna instinctively wrapped her legs around his body. His mouth left hers and found her chin, as he licked and nipped his way down her neck. She arched back, wanting to feel his mouth on every part of her. He licked a sensual line across her collarbone, and Brianna thought she was going to lose her mind. He carried her to the couch and lay down on top of her, tasting her shoulder, her breastbone, and stopping just shy of her bra.

His hand slipped beneath her sweater, and he rubbed across her rib cage with a slow, deep caress. She arched her back, urging him to touch her breast. His hand grazed the underside of her bra, and he pulled his lips from hers.

“Bree, I could make out with you forever.”

She felt like she was dying of thirst and he was a river of fresh water. She couldn’t get her fill. Brianna kissed him again—harder, deeper, hungrier—then took his lower lip in her teeth and drew back slowly, before releasing it and dragging her tongue across the ache she knew she’d left. His eyes narrowed, and impossibly, became even darker. They were both breathing so hard she thought their breath would fill the room.

He pressed another kiss to her lips and shook his head. “You’re not that girl, Bree. I want you more than I’ve wanted any woman, but…”

“Not what girl?” She couldn’t think straight.
What the hell?

He wrapped his arms beneath her shoulders and looked into her eyes. She loved being in his arms, pressed beneath his body.

“You have a twelve-year-plan,” he said in a serious voice. “We can’t do this. We have to think about Layla.”

“We?” Her voice cracked.

He nodded. “Of course. Layla owns half of your heart. Anyone in your life has to think of both you and Layla.”

Why do I love that you didn’t say,
Your daughter
? She hated that he was right. She couldn’t throw away her plan and Layla’s stability for a quick lay. But if he was a quick lay, would he have stopped? As she looked into his eyes, she knew he was anything but a quick lay. He looked at her like somehow during the past fifteen hours she’d become his whole life.
I’ve lost my mind. I’m thinking with a sex-starved brain. Shit.

He lifted himself off of her and sat down as she righted herself beside him on the opulent sofa. He rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m sorry, Brianna. I don’t know what came over me. I just…Every time I kiss you, I want to kiss you more, but you're such a loving mother. I don’t want to get in the way of that.”

That should have been me. What kind of a mother am I if I was ready to fall into bed with him after one night? Of all people, I know the risks.
She didn’t know how to respond.
Thank you? You’re right? Forget my plan and take me, please?
Even though he was doing the right thing for both of them, his rejection still stung.

“It’s my fault. Gosh, Hugh. I haven’t even kissed a man since Layla was born, and here I was ready to…well, you know. I’m sorry. You were so kind to arrange to have my car fixed and to allow me to sleep last night—which I still feel really bad about—and then to stop me from making a big mistake.” She shook her head, and when she looked up, she recognized the hurt in his eyes. “I don’t mean a big mistake like sleeping with you would be a big mistake. I can only imagine…well…never mind. What I meant was that…” She sighed. “I suck at this. I’m a bartender and a mother, and you’re a gorgeous, famous, race car driver. The mistake would have been yours, not mine.”

He cupped her cheeks again and guided her face to his. “Is that what you think? That I stopped us because I didn’t want to get tangled up with you because you’re a bartender and a mother?”

She shrugged.

“Brianna.” He narrowed his eyes. “Bree, what’s your last name?”

“My last name?”

He nodded. “I just realized that I don’t know it.”

“Heart.”

Hugh smiled, and his eyes lit up. “Heart? Brianna Heart?”

She nodded.

“I love that,” he said. His smile faded, and when he spoke, his serious tone had returned. “Brianna Heart, I stopped kissing you because I do want to get tangled up with you, and because of that, we need to consider your twelve-year-plan and, of course, Layla.”

He moved his hand from her cheeks, and she wished he’d put them right back. “Hugh, you’re a great guy, but…”
Don’t say it. Just shut up and don’t ruin this
.

“But?” He sat up straighter.

The life you lead isn’t conducive to raising a child. But then again, you didn’t say you wanted to raise my child. You just wanted to get tangled up with me. What does that mean? Sex? Just sex? If so, why consider Layla?
Ugh!
She’d been out of the dating scene for too long. She needed Kat to interpret for her.

“Brianna, but what?” he asked again.

She saw the worry in his eyes, but she had no idea how to tell him what she was thinking. “But my life is complicated. It’s busy, and I barely get time to breathe—or sleep, as you saw last night. I don’t want to bring you down.”

He took her hand in his. “You light me up, Bree, not bring me down. Can’t you see that? Let’s just see how things go. We’ll take it day by day. I’m here through next weekend, so we have plenty of time.”

“Next weekend?” She felt the pit of her stomach drop.
Plenty of time?
“Where are you going?”
What am I doing? Stop liking him!

“Daytona. Then I have time off again.”

Daytona. This can never work
.
Ugh! Why do I want this to work so badly?

“Hey, Bree. You okay?”

No. I suck. I really like you.
“Yeah, fine.” She pushed to her feet. If she was going to create distance, she had to do it now. “We should probably go. I need to go home and shower before work.”

“Hey.” He went to her and took her hand in his. “I’m a really good listener. Please tell me why you look sad.”

She looked away. “Can you please stop being romantic…and sweet…and looking at me like that?”

He laughed. “Like what?”

I can’t do this. I just got carried away.
She pulled back her shoulders and feigned a smile, hoping Hugh wouldn’t realize it was nothing more than false bravado as she weeded through her hormones and convinced herself that she had to stick to her original plan.
Twelve years isn’t so long—is it? Oh God! It never was until I met Hugh.
“Never mind.” She sighed loudly. “I’ve really enjoyed spending time with you. I like you. I haven’t let myself even think about liking a guy in—”

“Years, I know. But if you like me, then why do you look like I killed your pet?”

She wrestled with the truth.
Because I’m too confused to think straight. You travel all the time and have all those groupies all over you. You’ll get bored of my life. You’ll hate having a child around all the time, and most of all, I can’t bring you into our lives and have Layla worry that you’ll leave—and I don’t want that worry either
. “Because you’re leaving at the end of next week.” She hated how deflated she sounded, but it was exactly how she felt, as if she were given wings and began to fly and then suddenly the wings were whisked away and she was left floating aimlessly down to a painful reality.

“I’ll be back.”

“I know. But the more time I spend with you, the more time I’m going to want to spend with you.”
Why am I bothering to tell you? I need to stop wanting you.

“Well, then, we’ll just have to make that happen.”

Hugh put his arms around her again and she wished he’d never brought up her twelve-year-plan. If he hadn’t, she’d be naked beneath him instead of convincing herself that she should never see him again.

“YOU’RE KIDDING, RIGHT?” Brianna stood in Hugh’s garage looking at his Mercedes Roadster, Aston Martin, Ferrari 458 Speciale, and Icon Sheene motorcycle. “Hugh, really? I can’t even think while looking at these. They can’t be real. I mean, Matchbox? Sure. Real? You can pinch me and wake me up now.”

“I know it’s a little much. Some guys collect baseball cards. I collect cars. So, which one should we take?” He knew he was pushing her past her comfort zone, but he’d seen the way she froze when he mentioned leaving after the next weekend. She had a child to think about, and he was hell-bent on getting to know Brianna better, child or not. Something clicked in him last night, a protective urge, a stirring of something more than sexual desire, and he had to explore the meaning of it. In order to do that, she had to know more than just what he was inclined to tell her. If he had a prayer of her accepting him into her life enough to date her and see if what he felt was real or not, then she had to see all of him—and then she could decide if he was the type of guy she wanted to be with, regardless of what he owned or what he did for a living.

She sighed. “Fine. It’s probably the only time I’ll ever ride in one of these anyway. The red one.”

“The red one? You’re so cute.” He took her hand and opened the passenger door of the Ferrari 458 Speciale. “If you’d have picked any of the other cars, I would have offered for you to drive, but the 458 is more like a race car than a luxury vehicle, and I’d worry about your safety.”

“Oh my God, trust me. You don’t want me driving one of your cars.”

Her insecurities were cute, but not at all necessary. She was obviously a bright woman who made sound decisions. He trusted Brianna, and if he was really going to show her who he was, he had to show her that, too. “You know what? How about I take you out in the Ferrari another time, and you drive the Aston Martin today?”

She backed up, waving her hands in front of her. “No. No way. No, no, no. I’m like a big gray cloud when it comes to cars.”

Hugh crossed his arms and laughed. “Then I guess we’re not going anywhere and you’ll be late to work, because I’m not driving.”

“Hugh. No.” She shook her head.

“Sorry. No can do.”

“Hugh,” she said in a harsher tone. “How can you even ask me to drive one? They’re more expensive than anything I’ll ever own.”

“They’re cars, Bree. They’re less valuable than Layla, and you trust yourself with her.” He watched her lips press together, and he knew he’d struck a chord. “They’re just cars.”

She shook her head again with the most adorable, emphatic frown he’d ever seen. Hugh went to her and wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m not worried. You shouldn’t be either.” He needed her to see that cars were just possessions. They weren’t what made him who he was. She needed to separate him from everything else in her mind so he could prove to her he was worth going out with again.

“Hugh,” she whispered. “What if I wreck it?”

“I have insurance, so as long as you don’t hurt yourself…” He shrugged.

She buried her face in his chest. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this.”

“I can’t believe you’re fighting me on it.” He held up the keys, and she snagged them from him.

“Fine. Whatever. Do you do this to all your girlfriends?”

“I don’t have girlfriends, so the answer is no.” He smiled as he opened the driver’s side door for her and then climbed into the passenger side. He clicked the remote, and the garage doors lifted.

“A guy like you has girlfriends.” She gripped the steering wheel so tight her knuckles were white.

“Okay, wait.” He pried her fingers from the steering wheel and gently settled her back against the seat. “First of all, no, I don’t. I have dated women, but I haven’t had a real girlfriend, someone who I cared about and went out with more than three or four times, since I was in college. Just so you know, I’ve spent the last few months separating myself from that dating world of fan girls and models. Second…I’m really sorry, but you’re so tense. I gotta do this.” He leaned across the seat and kissed her until he felt the tension ease from her body. She met each stroke of his tongue with a passionate, hungry stroke of her own, and then he kissed her longer, simply because she was too sweet to forgo.

When he drew back, her eyes were closed. “Better?” he asked.

She blinked several times. “Yeah.” She nodded. “Good. Fine. Great.” She put her delicate fingers back on the steering wheel and wrapped them gently around the leather, as if she had no energy left to put forth. She shifted the car into gear, and her lips curved into a smile as she drove onto the main road.

“This isn’t at all like driving. It’s like flying or something.”

“She’s a beauty,” Hugh agreed as they made their way through town.

“Still, you shouldn’t have let me drive it.” Bree hadn’t taken her eyes off the road once, and she was an excellent driver.

“It’s just a car.”

Brianna parked in front of her apartment complex. She handed him the keys and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Hugh noticed that her hand was still shaking a little.

“I was so nervous.” She let out a long sigh. “The kiss helped, but oh my God. I was sure I’d wreck it.”

“I had faith in you.”

Hugh surveyed the old brick apartment building. Grass sprouted through fissures in the sidewalk. Stacked boxes and plastic chairs littered the patio of the first-floor apartment to their right. A bearded man with a beer gut hung over the second-floor balcony, watching them walk inside. Hugh put his arm protectively around Brianna, his biceps and neck muscles tense.

“That guy kind of creeps me out,” Brianna whispered.

Hugh stood up tall and threw his shoulders back, then narrowed his eyes and cast a harsh glare at the ogling man.

Brianna’s third-floor apartment was bright and sunny. The white-tiled foyer was clean and, though small, it was functional. There was a small table against the wall with a stack of mail and Layla’s school papers. Beyond the foyer was a cozy living room with glass sliders that led to a small balcony. On the wall between the kitchen and living room was a large black-and-white photograph of a sleeping baby. The light illuminated the baby’s forehead and eyes and then softened as it covered her bundled body.

“That’s a gorgeous picture. Is that Layla?”

“Yeah. I took that when she was three days old. I love that picture.” Brianna’s eyes filled with love, and the edges of her lips curved upward into a sweet smile.

“You took that? Bree, that’s amazing.” He looked at her and wondered what other hidden talents she had.

“Thanks. I haven’t taken pictures in about a year, since my camera broke.”

A fluffy red love seat and sofa created a warm, comfortable nook in the living room. It faced three rows of white bookshelves littered with books, drawings, clay pieces that were obviously made and painted by Layla and photographs of various sizes. Three colorful throw blankets were bundled together in one corner of the couch, and a half-finished game of Candyland was spread out on the cheap wooden coffee table.

“What happened to your camera?” Hugh asked.

“Oh, Layla bumped it off the table when she was playing one day. It’s not a big deal. I mean, I miss taking pictures, but it was just a hobby.”

“By the looks of this picture, it could be much more.” When she didn’t respond, he said, “This is a sweet apartment.” He crossed the floor to the bookshelves.

“Oh, please. It’s a dive, but it’s home. We like it.” She set her purse and keys on a small table by the door.

Hugh picked up a photograph of Brianna and Layla from the bookshelf. “This is a great picture. You look radiant, and Layla is adorable. She looks like a miniature you.”

Brianna laughed. “Thanks. She’s my girl.”

He set it down and picked up another photo of Layla sitting on a woman’s lap at sunset. The woman looked too much like Brianna not to be her mother, but it was the colors and the angle that caught Hugh’s eye. “Your mom?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you take this one, too?” He watched her tuck her hair behind her ear again.

“Yeah. It was a long time ago.”

“Bree, these are magnificent. Did you study photography?” Hugh set the frame back on the bookshelf and watched as her face flushed.

“In college.” She fiddled with the edge of her sweater. “Do you mind if I shower and change quickly so we’re not late?”

He set the photograph down. Brianna stood in a stream of sunlight at the edge of the living room looking so damn pretty that just the idea of her one room away, naked and washing that gorgeous body of hers set Hugh’s desires aflame. He shook the thought from his head and then cleared his throat to find his voice. “Uh…Go right ahead. I’ll wait here.”
And try not to think about you.

Brianna’s cell phone rang. She dug through her purse for it, then put it up to her ear.

“Hi, baby. Are you having fun with Grandma?” A smile spread across her lips. “Really? For breakfast? She does spoil you.” She listened for a moment.

He loved how her voice softened when she spoke to Layla.

Brianna continued talking to Layla. “I’m sorry, baby. I must have been in the bathroom. I’ll keep my phone with me from now on. I know. Okay, I love you. I’ll see you in a little bit. Be good for Grandma and enjoy the play.” She listened again. “Always.” She ended the call and let out a sigh. “See? I’m not a great mother. Layla called me this morning and I forgot to call her back.”

“You’re a great mother. That was probably my fault because I kept kissing you. From now on we’ll make sure you keep your phone by your side and that it’s turned up loud, so you don’t miss her again.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear again—a nervous habit Hugh already found adorable.

“You okay?” he asked.

She nodded before heading down the hall to her bedroom, but Hugh had seen the worry in her eyes. He scanned the room and saw Layla everywhere, from the sparkly little sneakers lined up by the door to the coloring books on the bar between the kitchen and the living room. He listened to the bedroom door close, then began to pace. Damn, he liked her. She was smart, responsible, family oriented. She tugged at all the right places in his heart. He picked up another picture of Layla and searched the little girl’s eyes.
Day by day
. That’s how he’d have to take things with Brianna, although just thinking about the man on the balcony set a fire through his veins. He was way past day by day.

“WHAT AM I gonna do? He said
we
. He didn’t say that I had to keep my phone on; he said
we’d have to make sure
,” Brianna whispered into her cell phone to Kat. She hoped Kat would set her racing heart straight.

“I don’t see what the big deal is. He likes you, Bree. Hell, if you’d let a man near you, you’d know that wasn’t a horrible thing.”

“I did. Remember?” Brianna sighed.

“That was years ago. I say…You have some time before Claude’s expecting you. Invite him into the shower with you,” Kat teased.

Brianna stripped off her clothes as she spoke. “Kat! I’m serious. I almost had sex with him. I need you to tell me to stick to my plan. Tell me he’s not a great guy, or he’s a player, or something. Please.”

“Okay, well, you didn’t have sex with him, so that tells you something, right? He’s not a dick, because if he was, you’d have had sex. He’s not banging down your door when he knows you’re naked in the bathroom, and that tells you he’s not a bad guy, right? So, I can’t do it. I can’t tell you not to at least go out with him a few times. I can watch Layla.”

Brianna stood in front of the mirror with her eyebrows knitted together. “Oh, Kat, I’m in trouble.”

“You know what they say. If you can’t be good, be careful.”

“Yeah, well, that’s why I went on the pill after Layla was born. Just in case.” She glanced over her shoulder at the bathroom door and thought of Hugh. A pulse of heat flared between her thighs. “I gotta go. Thanks for not helping,” she teased.

“You’ll thank me later.”

Brianna stepped under the warm spray of the shower and closed her eyes. She could feel Hugh’s whiskers against her cheek, his lips pressing on hers, his tongue swiping her mouth. She slid her fingers between her legs and let out a frustrated sigh at how wet she was. She bit back a moan as she stroked herself and imagined Hugh’s hands touching her, his lips trailing down her body, his tongue taking her up, up, up. Knowing Hugh was only two rooms away heightened her excitement. She held on to the tile wall as the orgasm gripped her body and clenched her teeth to keep from calling out as Hugh’s name fell from her lips.