And this is why this rebound thing was so tricky and so filled with rules. Why they should have kept it a secret. Not that she’d want him to lie to his family. “He’s been really good for me, too.”
“He wasn’t happy with… her. When he came home, we were so caught up in managing the pub for Mom and Pops, then… then letting Mom go. He’d worked damn long hours to get things caught up like the rest of us, as things had been stretched thin without our parents running the business firsthand. He was in and out of surgery, physical therapy, dealing with the end of his career. I mean, football was his life. In the middle of all this, he reconnected with his old girlfriend and that was a disaster. Nobody’s fault, but you can’t go back.”
Haley didn’t dare respond, but goosebumps spreading over her bare legs in the menacing wind.
Crossing her arms again, Zoe looked back at Haley. “Then he met you. Admittedly, I encouraged him, thinking a fling was just the thing to get his mind off everything.”
She shoved her fingers back in her wild hair as another gust threatened to blind her. “Is this why you brought me here? Not for dinner or my professional opinion, but to blitz me?”
Zoe bit her lip, her eyes red and puffy. “Can you see why I have a problem? Dammit, you even speak football. I know your divorce isn’t even finalized yet and you two both needed something easy. But whatever he wants to call this, a fling, rebound, whatever… he cares about you.”
Heat pounded in her cheeks, her veins, behind her eyes as she was bombarded by emotion she couldn’t acknowledge. Haley backed a few steps toward the house. “Whatever you think, I care about Finn. If leaving him will spare him from further heartache, then I’ll go.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
Haley shook her head, refusing to stomp her feet and demand the easy way out. “I’ve spent the last ten years of my life under someone’s boot. Ignorantly following the path of least resistance whileIslipped away. While I let some asshole destroy my confidence. I’m done answering to anyone else.” She turned back toward the house.
Zoe caught up and grabbed her arm. Haley shook her off and kept walking. Running ahead, Zoe blocked the path. “I like you, too, dammit. You’re so good for him. I don’t want you to leave him. I just… I shouldn’t have said anything. What I really wanted to say is… First, will younotleave my brother?”
Blinking away the tears that threatened, the hollow pit in her stomach eroding from the inside out, she shoved her hands in her pockets and stood frozen in the path. “I lost myself. I’m still trying to figure out who I am. To rebuild the strength I gave up for someone else.”
“I understand. You should always come first. If you need to walk away, then walk away. But talk to him. Watch his actions. If you’re not standing on your own two feet with Finn, then he’s not worth it. Whatever you two decide… please don’t walk away because you think you should, make sure you’re walking away in the end because he’s not the one.” With a watery smile, Zoe added, “Second, we have a bunch of forget-me-nots and rose campion and daffodils that need dividing. Would you like some for your yard?” She grinned pathetically.
Breathing in the gust of wind, Haley smiled. “I would love some.”
18
Blindside
Haleyandhissistercame back in the house as he was pouring a rare second beer, about to settle in with Pops to watch the rest of the game. Walking arm in arm, eyes a little red, they looked to have duked something out and come out the other side friends. Whatever the argument had been about, they were clearly better because of it.
He poured half of the beer into another glass and held it out for Haley. Without a word, she smiled softly and accepted the glass. He extended his hand and she joined him. Walking up the narrow stairs, he led her to his bedroom.
Not that it was even half as messy as it had been as a kid, but he’d tidied when he knew she was coming over. And vacuumed. And put on clean sheets. Just in case she decided to stay over.
She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. Smiling, she leaned against the door and surveyed the room.
Looking at the small space, he tried to imagine it with her eyes. A simple navy blue and gray quilt was tucked neatly over the full-sized bed that was centered on the main wall. A massive poster of an empty football field under the lights at night took up most of the wall over the oak headboard, a matching desk in the opposite corner, with a small faux-leather club chair in front of the sliding closet doors.
Without a word, Haley grabbed his beer and set both of their drinks on the stack of books on the desk. Stepping closer, she looked up at him with a familiar, yet quiet heat. Her hands trailed down his abdomen until she reached the hem of his shirt. With a light touch, she traced the line of his hip, of each muscle he’d hard-earned from hours at practice, and then hooked her hands on the waist of his jeans.
Immobile as she continued her exploration, he held still as she unlatched his top button and slid the zipper down. Grazing her hands back up, she slid his shirt out of her way. He tugged the shirt over his head and tossed it aside. Her fingers tormenting him with her delicate touch, she lowered his jeans, his raging erection springing free.
She ran the back of her fingers tenderly along his shaft, then shocked the hell out of him, gripping him tight and tugged. Lost in sensation, he was utterly hers. Her jaw was set, her concentration fierce, she was taking what she wanted.
Before he knew what she was about, she dropped to her knees and her hot mouth was over his cock. Gliding, sucking, she was on a damn rampage, and he was wholeheartedly on board.
Nearing the tipping point, he groaned and pulled away; still without a word, she rose to her feet and locked eyes with him. Those sapphire blues were on fire.
Yanking her top over her head, she tossed it aside.
“Hang on,” he whispered.
In his bedroom in her bra and the ridiculously sexy skirt that clung to her hips, she was like nothing he’d ever seen. Daring. Lithe. Training his hands over her sternum, he leaned down and pressed his mouth to her breasts, tracing his tongue along the edge of her bra.
She slipped her hands to the front of her bra and unhooked the brilliant front-closure contraption, her spectacular breasts suddenly free of the thing. Breath catching in his chest with pure appreciation, he took her breast in his mouth, sucking and pulling until she gasped, then suckled harder.
She leaned into him, her breath coming quicker. Shifting, he slid her skirt over her hips, surprised by the fucking perfect sight that greeted him. “No panties?” he asked.
