Hearts Aflame Collection: 4-Book Bundle (14 page)

“Do you, that is, would you like to come up
for coffee?” She asked hesitantly.

He nodded “Yeah, thanks.”

She nodded and walked away. He followed
slowly. Unlike his building which had a lobby and a doorman, hers
led to a set of stairs which she took. Her flat was on the second
floor; they paused while she flicked through her car keys until she
found the one she was searching for and slid it into the keyhole.
The door opened into a small but beautifully decorated apartment.
It was done in tones of earth and a color that looked like an
eggshell. When he commented on it, Lisa laughed and told him the
color was called eggshell. Go figure, he thought.

They chatted companionably as she walked over
to the kitchen and put the coffee maker on. He followed her and
leaned against the door, admiring the grace of her movements as she
stretched up to bring out twin mugs from the cabinets.

“So where did you go today?” He asked when
there was a lull in the conversation.

“I went hiking.”

He wasn’t sure he heard clearly,
“Hiking?”

“Uhum.” She replied as she quickly rinsed the
mugs under flowing water, “At the Rocky Mountain National
Park.”

“What trail did you hike?”

“I walked Adams Falls,” she turned to give
him a smile and his heart flopped over.

“That’s elementary.” He scoffed.

“Yeah well, it’s beautiful and it soothed
me.”

The coffeemaker had gone off so she filled
the mugs with coffee. He took his black and told her so, she just
shrugged and laughed. “What’s so funny?” He asked.

“You are such a stereotype.”

He stiffened. No one had ever accused him of
being a stereotype; not his board members and definitely none of
the women in his life. Even though he felt mildly offended, he was
also curious. He took the mug of coffee she handed to him, “Why do
you think I’m a stereotype?”

She carefully measured a teaspoon of dark
molasses into her coffee. He scrunched up his face in distaste
watching her, what a waste of good coffee. She caught his
expression and laughed.

“I know what you’re thinking. Di thinks I
murder the coffee by putting this in it but…” she trailed off and
shrugged. She took a careful sip of her coffee and satisfied with
the taste she led the way into the living room.

The living room had a sofa bed, an armchair
and a deep red bean bag. Jeff headed for the sofa and thought he
hid his disappointment well when Lisa headed for the bean bag but
one look at the smirk on her face and he knew she was unto him, he
lifted his mug to his mouth and hid a wry smile. “Why do you think
I’m such a stereotype? No one has ever called me that before.”

“That’s because they fall for your black
moods and dangerous good looks.” She quipped and blushed at the
slow smile spreading across his face.

“You think I’m good looking.”

She rolled her eyes and waved a hand, “Oh
please, you know you’re good looking. You are like a typical
romance hero you know; tall, dark and handsome. The sad millionaire
who is ruthless in business, does not commit to one woman and
drinks his coffee black. Oh, let’s not forget he also takes his
whiskey straight.” She smiled, satisfied at her analysis.

Jeff’s hand tightened on the mug. He felt the
hurt well up inside of him and was almost choked by bitterness. He
should not let her carelessly spoken words affect him, but they
did. He had not let anyone get under his skin like this in a long
time, not since Marlene anyway. And look how that turned out.

Chapter Six

Lisa suddenly realized that the man sitting
in her living room, drinking coffee from a mug was disconcertingly
quiet. She glanced at him beneath her lashes and was stunned to see
such hurt and bitterness on his face. “Jeff? Are you okay?”

He placed his mug on the coffee table and
stared at his hands for a few seconds before standing to his feet.
Lisa quickly kept her mug on the coffee table next to the beanbag
and got to her feet. Jeff looked at her then and his eyes were
completely expressionless. “I need to get going.”

She hurried to his side and gently placed a
hand on his arm; it was stiff and unyielding. “I’m sorry Jeff. I
was just teasing I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She said gently.

Jeff stiffened further and she dropped her
hand with a sigh. He gave a nod and took a few steps to towards the
door before walking back to where she was standing, a worried frown
on her face. “I don’t owe you an explanation for my behavior but I
just want you to know that I did commit to one woman. I was so
committed, I gave her everything; my love, my home, my name.”

Lisa gasped softly, “You were married?”

“Yes.”

It was just one word but it contained a world
of meaning. “What is her name?”

“Her name was Marlene.”

Lisa stared at him in shock, “Is she…she’s
dead?” Jeff nodded, his jaw tight from the remembered pain. Lisa
felt a prick in her heart; he must really have loved her so much
that he had found it impossible to commit to any woman after her.
She wondered briefly what it felt like to have someone love her
that much and quickly shook off the thought. At least, she was
alive and well, the poor woman was dead for all the love she’d had.
With a sigh, she slipped her hand into Jeff’s and said nothing when
he shot her a startled look. She just gently led him to the sofa
and sat beside him. “She must have been a wonderful woman for you
to still love her this much.”

Jeff snorted in derision. “Marlene was a
complete bitch, and I’ve never used that word on a woman
before.”

Lisa sat up in confusion. “I don’t get it. If
she was so horrible why are you still faithful to her memory?”

“Who said I’m faithful to her memory?” He was
dumbfounded. Then he cocked his head to the side in a thoughtful
manner, “I guess you could say I am faithful to the lessons she
taught me though.”

“She hurt you.” Lisa said quietly.

Jeff laughed; a short, bitter laugh. “Marlene
was an attorney and one of the most beautiful, driven women I’ve
ever known. I fell for her hard and pursued her the same way.” He
took a deep breath, “We were married six months after we met and a
few months later we were expecting a baby.” He was quiet, lost in
thought.

“What happened?” She asked after a while.

“While I was ecstatic about the baby, it
seemed Marlene saw the pregnancy as a hindrance or,” He ran his
hand distractedly over his hair. “I honestly don’t know what she
was thinking. All I know is that roughly three months into the
pregnancy, I got a call from a hospital. Marlene had gone in for an
abortion.” At Lisa’s horrified gasp he twisted his lips into a
rueful smile, “Yeah. Unfortunately, something went horribly wrong.
She lost too much blood and didn’t make it. I couldn’t even tell
her to her face that I could never forgive her for robbing me of my
child, of the only family I’ve ever had.”

Lisa sat there not knowing what to say. She
tried to imagine how he must have felt when he got that phone call
and failed dismally. What his wife had done was almost
unforgivable, still… “I had no idea, Jeff.”

He glanced at her before looking away, “How
could you?”

“Have you talked to anyone about this?”

He shook his head. “My baby would have been
three this Christmas.” He said hollowly, “And I never even knew if
it was a boy or a girl.”

Lisa could not believe he had been holding
all this inside and had never let it out. She lay a gentle hand on
his arm, “It’s been three years; don’t you think your child would
have wanted her dad to live a full life? You have not let yourself
heal and it’s destroying any chance at happiness you have. Can’t
you see that?”

Jeff’s arm jerked though he did not pull
away. He turned then and looked her in the eye, his expressionless.
“I didn’t know they taught you psychology in Waitressing
School.”

Lisa flinched and took her hand off his arm.
“No, I was not taught psychology in Waitressing School but I
majored in it at the University of Colorado.” She said coolly.

Jeff sighed and turned to face her fully,
“I’m sorry Lisa. I didn’t mean to snap at you it’s just,” he ran a
hand through his already disheveled hair. “I don’t intend to let
anyone hurt me that way again.” He said with grim
determination.

Lisa nodded slowly, trying hard to stem the
tide of disappointment that was rising inside of her. She smiled
brightly, “Well, you will miss out on love; true love. Marlene
never loved you or she would have felt honored to carry your baby.”
She shrugged and stood up, “Would you like to have dinner with me?
We could walk down to this café place down the road; they have the
best hamburgers.”

Jeff got up and moved towards her. They were
standing almost toe to toe. He held her hands and drew her close
till they were chest-to-chest. Then slowly lowered his head and
brought his mouth to hers. Lisa’s heart was hammering in her chest
and she was sure he could feel it too. She let out a sigh just as
his lips touched hers and her eyes. The kiss was hot but it was
also sweet; she tasted his sadness and yearning and she wrapped her
arms around him and kissed him back.

He broke the kiss and leaned his head against
hers, gazing into her eyes. “Thank you, Lisa.” He murmured
quietly.

“What for?”

“For listening”

Lisa smiled and stepped out of his embrace.
“It was my pleasure, Jeff. Now let me go change into something
else; I’ve been in these all day.” She smiled again before walking
into her bedroom.

As she changed into a pair of skinny jeans
and her favorite forest green, French cut tee shirt, she could not
stop thinking about Jeff. He must have been through hell and back;
imagine losing a baby and a wife all in one go? She could not
imagine it. They had lost their Mom when they were fourteen and it
had devastated them all. Their dad had turned to drinking so he
could cope with the pain and Diane had stepped in as mother and
father. She had taken care of both Lisa and their dad, made sure
there was always clean laundry and that they always had food to
eat. She had stayed with Lisa and patiently helped her with her
assignments; had been there for her even though as a coping
mechanism, Lisa had gone wild and had been a very difficult
teen.

She walked to the mirror and picked up a
brush to run through her hair. She could still remember that day
when she was about to leave for college. She’d been so excited to
get out of their small town but it had broken her to leave Diane
behind. Her sister had urged her to go and make something of
herself. Diane had been there for her and if that Brad thought he
could mess around with her sister, he had no idea who he was up
against.

“Ouch!” In her agitation she had used more
energy than was necessary in brushing her hair. She flung the brush
on top of the dresser and stared at herself. She had a strong,
slender build and could eat almost anything without adding weight.
She glanced at her tummy and pulled it in a bit, there was hardly
any difference. She only hoped it would stay that way for a long
time.

She spritzed on her favorite perfume and
breathed in the crisp scent. It was like how she imagined the scent
of a waterfall, with underlying tones of jasmine. It made her feel
good and less nervous about spending time with Jeff. She knew she
had to be careful not to fall for him; he was not ready to love any
woman yet and she had no desire to get her heart broken a second
time. Though thinking about it, she hadn’t thought about Harry
since that night with Jeff. She just felt stupid that she had
wasted an entire year on the oaf.

“No more men for you.” She told herself
sternly as she walked out to meet Jeff.

Chapter Seven

Jeff had driven straight from the airport to
the Clover Leaf Café. He had been traveling for close to
seventy-two hours and desperately needed a bath and a shave. He was
bleary eyed from lack of sleep but he knew if he he’d gone first to
his apartment, he would not have come out again till he’d had at
least eight hours sleep and he could not wait to see Lisa. He had
missed her with a desperation that had frightened him; missed her
smile and the way she threw her head back as she laughed. Her quick
temper which fizzled out as quickly as it sprung and her
intelligence; everything about her stayed with him each day he’d
been away. Sitting through several meetings, he would imagine her
welcome smile and the day would suddenly be less boring.

Except, he’d been sitting at the Clover Leaf
Café for the past hour and even though Lisa had seen him, he hadn’t
spied one welcoming smile on her face. Heck, she had not so much as
cracked a smile. She’d given him a nod of recognition when their
eyes had met across the room and then stayed clear of him since
then.

“Need another one?”

He took his eyes off Lisa’s graceful form and
looked up at Brad. Once again he was manning the bar and for Jeff,
it felt awfully like some freaking déjà vu complete with Lisa
acting like he did not exist. This was definitely far from the
homecoming he’d expected. He nodded tiredly at the huge man and
muttered his thanks when Brad dropped a beer in front of him.

“You look like shit.” Brad said without
sympathy.

Jeff grimaced, “Thanks bud. I just came in
from New Zealand.”

Brad gave a low whistle from between his
teeth. “That’s a long way away. Business?”

He nodded in agreement. It really was a long
way but when he’d received that call from Colin to partner in a new
business venture, he could not turn it down. It would mean going
international with the unique line of boutique hotels he had
created. It was the big break he’d been searching for but it had
also meant he’d been away for two weeks.

“I’m not sure she’s too happy with you.” Brad
said nodding towards where Lisa was standing.