Where Their Hearts Collide: Wardham Book #2 (20 page)

“No, I think it’s who you are.” She grinned at her little sister. “I like it.”

“Ha. Good.
Movie time?”

Karen nodded, but a knock at the back door caused her to pause that thought. “Hang on.”

“If it’s Paul, I’m starting without you,” Audrey shouted as Karen moved down the hall.

It was.

Her heart leapt into her throat.

She stepped out onto the deck and tugged the door shut behind her. Dusk had faded to dark, but the night was alive with chirping crickets and fragrant flowers. Despite the warm summer air, she shivered as the man she’d had on her mind for far too long stepped closer.

“Hey. You’re back.” His gaze swept over her face, warm and interested, and a sweet tingle started at the base of her neck.

“I am.” She smiled. “And you’re home.”

“I am. With Megan.” He nodded to a light on the second floor of his house. “Do you want to come over and hang out with us?”

“I would—I do—but my sister’s here tonight. We’re going to watch a movie. Do you guys want to join us?” Audrey wouldn’t mind.
She’d probably ask leading and slightly inappropriate questions, but she’d toe the line in front of Megan.

“What movie?”

She laughed. “Sixteen Candles.”

He grinned, then reached up and laced his fingers into her hair, gently cupping the back of her neck at the same time.
“Maybe we should do our own things tonight…but can you spare a few minutes now?”

Her
breasts grew heavy at the thought of what Paul could do in a few minutes under the cover of darkness. As if he sensed her nipples tightening on demand, he closed the final gap between them, brushing her waist with his other palm, then the side swell of her breast. Could he feel her heart pounding?

“I’ve missed you, Karen.” He brushed his lips across hers. “I’m sorry we haven’t had more of a chance to talk.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “It’s just nice to see you now.”

“Nice isn’t how I would describe it,” he growled, kissing her again, this time with less restraint and more honest hunger.
“God, your mouth.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah.” The third kiss lingered on her lips, leaving behind a promise that she had no doubt he’d follow through on. Whatever happened at the end of the summer, there was going to be more of that before they were done.

“Listen—” From her back pocket, her phone rang, cutting him off. She gave him an apologetic squeeze before answering it.

From Karen’s one-sided conversation, it sounded like she had a potential tenant coming to see the house the next day. As she chatted about references and deposits, he eased his way around her body until her back was pressed against his front, and he wrapped his arms around her waist
, burying his face in her hair.

He’d gotten used to having her
next door. It would be strange not being able to look out the window and know if she was around. It would make it that much more complicated to spend time together when she came home from school. He wouldn’t be able to steal five minutes like this while Megan got ready for bed. She’d stay at her parents’ place on the outskirts of town, and he’d have no idea if she was up late, or early. Would anyone notice when she got stressed out?

Maybe she could stay with him.

God, he was going about this all the wrong ways. That would just scare her off, make her think he ran hot and cold and didn’t know what he really wanted.

He might be scared shitless at the thought of messing this up, but there was no doubt in his mind what he wanted.
Karen, in his life, as much as her life allowed.

She ended the call and tipped her head sideways so he could see her profile. “Do you know the
Wagners?”

He shook his head, enjoying the rub of her skin under his nose. She hadn’t used her regular
shampoo, this was something generic, the hotel shampoo probably. A pleasant, mildly citrus, clean smell, but not Karen. But her skin smelled just right, and if he nibbled…yeah, it tasted perfect, too.

“Paul!
Focus.” She twisted in his arms and grinned. “One of the Wagner kids works for me at the grocery store. He’s the youngest of five, and one of his older brothers is looking to rent a house with his girlfriend. I’ll still need to meet them to make it official, but I think I’ve found a tenant!”

“That’s great.” He tipped her head back and feathered kisses down her neck, bending his knees as he reached her collarbone. “Want to meet back here after our housemates fall
asleep, and we can celebrate properly?”

“
Mmmm.” She half-groaned, half-sighed under his mouth, and he was tempted to push her into the shadows, but she stepped back. His dick ached hot and heavy, more so again when she dropped her eyes to take in his obvious want of her. A wicked smile, pure pleasure, curled up her face, and he leaned in for one final taste.

“Two hours?” She nodded. “Okay, see you then. Wear a skirt.”

“How’s Karen’s brother?” Megan sat cross-legged on her bed
.

“I didn’t ask. Her sister is visiting for the night, and they were about to watch a movie, so I just said hi.” Paul relaxed against the doorframe.
“And she said to say hi to you, as well. Maybe we can do something, the three of us, tomorrow or the next day.”

“Did you ask her out yet?”

He chuckled. “No, not yet.”

“You can’t take her for granted, Dad. What if someone else asks her out first?”

Then he’d find himself on the wrong side of the law, most likely. “I don’t think that’s a concern, sweetheart.”

“Uh, really?
Have you seen Karen? She’s hot. And nice. And she likes books. I’m pretty sure a lot of guys ask her out.”

He would’ve thought so, too, but it didn’t seem to be the case. That was a puzzle that he’d like to figure out.
Maybe after he’d secured the title of exclusive boyfriend, though. He wasn’t a martyr.

“I’m going to ask her out on a real date, real soon. For now, we’re just going to play it cool and hang out with her as friends, okay?”

“Please, I saw you kiss her.”

Shit. What had he been thinking? Of course Megan would be nosy. No, not nosy.
Normally curious. Shit, fuck, damn…

“Stop
swearing in your head.” His ten-year-old was too clever by half.

“Don’t use my mind reading tricks against me.”

“It’s not mind-reading, just basic psychology.” Meg parroted back his oft-quoted line at him, and they both laughed, but Paul quickly sobered up and moved to join his daughter on her bed.

“Hey, seriously.
I’m sorry that you saw me kiss Karen.”

“Why?”

An excellent question.

“Because I want to do this right.
Like I told you the other night, I’m serious about wanting to see her more, be her boyfriend, go on dates. Because she deserves that kind of respect. And you do, too.”

“It’s just a bit of kissing, Dad. I mean, I think it’s pretty gross, but I know that when I’m grown up a bit more, I’ll want to kiss
people.”

“Oh god, you’re going to give me a heart attack.” He laid his hands over his chest in mock horror. “You talk to your mom about stuff like this?”

“Yep. She’s the one who told me that kissing is okay. I mean, more okay than other stuff.”

“What do you mean?” Paul willed himself the courage to be brave and answer appropriately, no matter where this conversation went.

“You know, other stuff. Mom said that if anyone talks to me about sex, that I should tell her, or you, or someone safe like Karen. But if a boy wanted to kiss me, and I wanted him to kiss me, then that was okay, because it’s normal and healthy.”

“Your mom is pretty smart.”

“I know. She takes after me.” Megan snorted as she crawled under her covers, pushing him off her bed in the process. “I’m going to read for a bit, okay?”

“Sure.
Nighty night.”

“
Daaa-ad!”

“Whatever, kiddo.
You’re still my little girl.” He patted her foot and headed for the door.

Audrey fell asleep before Jake got to the church, but roused in time to mouth the final few lines of dialogue with Karen. Then she stumbled to the spare room and fell asleep again, still in her clothes. There were worse things.

Karen rinsed their mugs and left them in the sink to wash properly the next day. She was itching to see Paul. She was about to head upstairs to put on a sundress when he knocked at the door for the second time that night.

“Hey, that was sooner than I expected.”

“I came over as soon as Meg fell asleep.”

She laced her arms around his shoulders. “Book on her face?”

“You know it. I just turned out her light.”

“She’s such a good kid.”

He nodded.
“But growing up way too fast. She saw us kissing tonight, and that led to a sex talk, and oh my god, I’m so not ready for that.”

“Crap. It’s always out of the blue, isn’t it?” She tipped her forehead into his neck and laughed softly. “I guess that puts a damper on your libido for the night, huh?”

He groaned and pulled her tight against his body. “Just about the only thing that could, darlin’.”

“It’s okay, I’m tired.”

“I wish you could come over and sleep in my bed.”

“You are a very nice body pillow, I must admit.”

“Want a neck rub? Come sit on the deck with me for a few minutes before you turn in.”

She couldn’t think of anything better.

The next morning, Audrey drove the RV to their parent’s
place, and Karen followed her. After parking it on the concrete pad behind the loft, they headed for the city.

Davis called with an update that wasn’t much of an update, but at least the holding pattern was better than full-out crisis. It was hard to leave Audrey after that call, it seemed like they should stick together longer, but Audrey had class and Karen had potential tenants to meet. A quick glance at the clock told her she had time to hit the Victoria’s Secret outlet shop, though, and so she did. Given that Megan was staying with Paul for almost a week, due to summer
holidays, she wasn’t sure when she’d get a chance to share her new finds, but the thought of his fingers slipping inside her waistband and brushing over new lace gave her a thrill all by itself.

And this was what life would be, dating a single dad. And it didn’t matter if something else would be different, more time or less, because this was all she wanted. Paul, however she could get him.

She thought about grabbing a Starbucks for the drive, but she owed Carrie a visit, and two back-to-back lattes would have her up all night. Not getting one at Bun was out of the question, of course. She shifted into sixth gear, thankful that Paul wasn’t working today. It would be awkward to get a speeding ticket from a potential boyfriend.

The shop smelled like lemon glaze
, and Carrie reached for the milk pitcher as soon as she stepped in the door. She knew the drill. “Welcome home, Hulkster!”

“Thank you
muchly. And thanks for the muffins, Audrey stayed over last night and we devoured them all.”

“It was the least I could do. Can I ask how Chase is? I saw a bit of a press conference this morning, but they didn’t say much.”

Karen shrugged. “Yep, that’s about the sum of it. I think we’ll know more at the end of the week, he’ll have another round of x-rays then.”

“Tell your mom I’m thinking of her.”

Carrie had two little kids, and her five year old son was itching to play hockey, just like Chase Miller. Carrie could probably very well imagine what Karen’s mom was going through.

Karen sank onto one of the barstools and gratefully accepted the latte her friend slid across the counter. Would she have greater insight into her mother’s situation if she had kids herself? Having kids had always seemed a useless academic question in the past—one would need a serious boyfriend first—but now she was looking, for the first time, at that possibility, but with someone who’d already been there, done that. Falling in love with Paul might be sealing her future of never having kids.

That was an unexpectedly heavy place for her thoughts to turn. Karen sighed and rubbed her brow.

“Penny for your thoughts.”

“Too many thoughts, not enough pennies. Not the right place for it, either,” Karen whispered the last bit as a customer came in.

Carrie boxed up their requested dozen muffins, made change quickly and with an inordinate amount of cheer,
then was back before Karen had any further chance to self-analyze.

“I think we need another gi
rls’ night to properly debrief. I have to go meet one of the Wagner kids, he might rent my house while I’m gone. Then I have to do the bookmobile rounds.”