Tempting Love - Haley & Eddie (25 page)

Highlights of the last few weeks ran through his head like the ticker tape on the NYSE. Haley telling him she loved him. Haley turning guy after guy who’d asked her out down. Haley saying that she hadn’t been with anyone in four years because she’d only wanted him.

Other things started popping up too. Haley braiding Em’s hair. Haley doing homework with Em. Haley painting Em’s fingernails for the party.

Every time he or his daughter needed her, Haley was there. No questions. No complaints. Haley had been there for him and his daughter day or night.

And what had he done to thank her? Flirted with her. Made love to her in her store. Grabbed her and kissed her outside of his house. All while telling her they couldn’t get involved.

What in the
hell
was he doing?

A soft hand touched his arm and he jumped.

“Are you okay?” Haley asked, repeating the same question he’d posed to her not five minutes before.

He nodded but didn’t answer. There was so much he wanted to say to her. The only problem was that he didn’t know what it was exactly or where to start.

Her expression grew even more concerned. He was just about to reassure her when he felt a
hard
slap on his back. Without even looking, he knew it was The Colonel AKA Grandpa J. That man might have been pushing ninety, but he was stronger than half the guys on Eddie’s crew.

Colonel James Hunter was Sophie Sloan’s grandfather. Sophie was married to Bobby, the youngest Sloan boy. He was Sophie’s grandfather, but since he’d come to town almost twenty years ago, he’d basically adopted all of the kids who’d hung around his grandkids as his own.

“Well now, young lady, I hear you’re opening up a store.” The Colonel lifted his brow as he tilted his head towards Haley.

Haley smiled affectionately. “I am, Grandpa J. Are you coming to the grand opening?”

“Isn’t it a ladies’ store?” The Colonel asked. “I don’t think you want old men in there, stinking the place up.”

Haley’s head fell back as she laughed. Then she threaded her arm in his and said, “You are not old. And yes it’s a
ladies’
store, but I would love for you to come.”

The Colonel patted her hand and said, “Well, I suppose I could stop by. I’ll just divert my eyes from the unmentionables.”

“Thanks, Grandpa J.” Haley leaned over and kissed The Colonel on his cheek. “It’s really beautiful. There’s an amazing view of the river. Eddie’s been there all week.”

“It is beautiful,” Eddie agreed, staring straight at Haley as he spoke. He saw a blush rise up on her cheeks, and she ducked her head slightly and tucked her hair beneath her ear. He’d been seeing her do that a lot, and he liked it. A lot.

“Can we do presents now?” Emily asked as she bounced up and down beside him, riding out what looked to be a sugar high. Eddie knew that she would crash tonight, which did make him feel a little bit better about having agreed to the sleepover.

Earlier in the day, Emily had asked if she could spend the night at Chelle’s house for her birthday. At first, Eddie had to admit that he had been a little hurt. It’s a hard pill to swallow for a parent when your kid wants to spend her birthday or any other special occasion with someone else. Of course he’d said yes to the impromptu slumber party because…it was her birthday.

“Yes. We can do presents,” Eddie said to his little girl’s great delight. She squealed, ran around in a circle, then took off like she’d gotten shot out of a cannon.

Haley and Eddie looked at each other and said, “Sugar high.”

Haley laughed and kissed The Colonel on the cheek once more before rounding up the kids like cattle and herding them into the family room all while she picked up paper plates with half-eaten cake on them.

“That is quite a young lady,” The Colonel said.

“Yes, she is,” Eddie agreed.

Yes, she is.

H
aley was trying her best to enjoy herself. She honestly was. It was her birthday. She was at The Grill bar-slash-nightclub. It was one of her favorite places to dance. All of her sisters and a lot of her friends and some of her cousins were here. She was wearing a one-of-a-kind Amber Sloan original; Amber had designed the backless navy blue halter dress just for her, and she felt like a million bucks.

Great place. Great friends. Great dress.

It was no one’s fault but her own that she wasn’t having the time of her life.

“Do you want to dance?” Becca asked, speaking loudly over the pulsing music.

“No, I’m good,” Haley shouted back.

“Okay.” Becca shrugged and leaned back against the plush leather couch.

“You can if you want,” Haley said encouragingly.

“No.” Becca shook her head. “I’m not going to leave the birthday girl all by herself.”

“I’m fine. Really. Go. Dance,” Haley insisted.

Becca just shook her head again and stayed seated.

Haley didn’t want to spoil other people’s good times just because
she
was missing Eddie. Which was beyond ridiculous considering the fact that she’d just spent the entire day with him. Or at least at his house. They hadn’t really said that much to each other besides when they were cutting the birthday cake. Nevertheless, she had been around him all day.

Haley needed to have an attitude adjustment, and she needed to do it sooner rather than later. Although the song did say “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to,” Haley decided to pass and choose for her birthday anthem “Go shorty, it’s your birthday. You’re gonna party like it’s your birthday, gonna drink Bacardi like it’s your birthday.” Yes, a drink—that’s what she needed.

As luck would have it, a cocktail waitress just happened to be making her rounds near the VIP section of the club Krista had reserved for the party.

Haley waved her down. “Excuse me. Can I get a Bacardi and Coke?”

“Oooh me too,” Becca added.

The pretty server nodded and headed back to the U-shaped bar that was located in the center of the large space. She navigated easily through the crowds of people gyrating against each other on the dance floor.

Haley’s heart sank as she looked at all of the couples moving to the music. Haley loved dancing. It was really the only part of going out to clubs she liked. She wasn’t a huge drinker and she’d never once used the bar scene to ‘hook up’. When Haley went to a club, she spent the time there shaking her tail feathers on the dance floor. Unfortunately, the only person she wanted to dance with tonight was Eddie.

In the four years she’d been back, he’d never attended one of Haley’s birthday celebrations, which she completely understood. Since she and Emily shared a birthday, it meant that it was his daughter’s birthday too. Of course he would spend it with Emily. It’s not like he could get a babysitter for his daughter on her birthday. Especially since Haley was her babysitter.

Still, she couldn’t help the fact that she was sad that he wasn’t here. She’d tried to dance away her melancholy mood, but maybe it was time to call in the big guns—rum.

After the waitress delivered their drinks, Becca raised her glass. She spoke loudly to be heard as she made her toast. “To the best big sister a girl could ever have. Thank you for always being there for me. I love you so much, Haley. Happy birthday, sissy.”

Just as they were about to clink glasses, a deep male voice said, “Hey, stranger.”

Both she and her sister turned around at the greeting.

“Brian!” Becca jumped off her seat and threw her arms around her childhood BFF.

Becca and Brian had been inseparable growing up. The two of them had built forts in the backyard and skipped rocks down at the river. Then when they got older, they’d signed up for clubs together to support each other’s interests. Becca had joined drama club for Brian and Brian had joined science club for Becca. For a while there, Haley had thought that the two of them would end up together. But as far as Haley knew, they had never been anything but friends. They’d even double-dated to prom, each having their own dates. Whenever anyone would ask them about it, they would just say that they were like brother and sister.

“What are you doing here?” her sister asked as Brian stepped into the partitioned area and sat down with them.

“I just got in today. My dad’s having open heart surgery so I came home to help out.”

“Oh my gosh, B. I’m so sorry.” Becca’s eyes filled with worry.

“I’m sorry, Brian.” Haley’s heart went out to him. Brian’s mom had been wheelchair-bound for years and his dad was the sole provider in their household.

“How long are you back for?” Becca asked.

“Not sure.” Brian shook his head. “I might have to take a semester off. We’ll see.”

Haley hoped it didn’t come to that. Brian had gone to community college right after high school for financial reasons. But he had done so well he’d earned a scholarship to NYU Film School and transferred as a true junior.

“Are you meeting someone here or…?” Becca asked.

“No, I ran into Bobby at the gas station and he said everybody was coming here tonight for Hales’s birthday. Oh, so yeah, happy birthday, Hales!” He stood and gave Haley a quick hug. “Sorry, I’m kind of out of it.”

“Oh stop.” Haley waved her hand dismissively.

“So do you guys want to dance?” Brian asked, nodding his head towards the dance floor.

“You guys go ahead. I’m good,” Haley said as she took a sip of her drink.

“No, Haley.” Becca shook her head, sticking to her guns and refusing to leave Haley by herself. She appreciated her little sister’s loyalty. She did. But she really just wanted to sit, drink her drink…and think about Eddie.

“Seriously. Go,” Haley insisted.

Becca was mid head shake when something caught her eye and she popped up like a spring-loaded jack-in-the box, kissed Haley on the cheek, and said, “Okay, if you’re sure.” Then she turned and practically dragged Brian onto the dance floor.

Oookay. That was weird.

Just as she picked up her rum and Coke, she heard a familiar voice beside her ear and chills ran up both of Haley’s arms. “Happy birthday.”

It couldn’t be
.

Turning her head around slowly, she felt her heart slamming in her chest.

It was
him
.

Eddie was here. At The Grill. On her birthday. Wearing one of her favorite shirts. She’d told him so when he’d worn it to go out on a date a few months back. It was a charcoal-gray button-up shirt that fit his body like it had been tailor-made for him. Black slacks and just the right amount of stubble sprinkled across his face finished off his look. The man was oozing sex appeal, and for a moment, Haley forgot how to speak. Not that it mattered. Since she’d laid eyes on Eddie, her tongue had inexplicably swollen in her mouth to what felt like double its natural size. Haley knew that men had a particular muscle that swelled when they got turned on, but she had never heard of woman having any such thing.

“Do you want to dance?” Eddie’s low voice could barely be heard over the music, but luckily, since Haley was already staring at his perfect lips, and she’d always had a talent for reading lips, she’d caught every word.

Haley nodded. She stood, hoping her wobbly legs would hold her. Thankfully, there was a steel bar at the end the VIP section that she was able to grasp on to for support.

Her mind was still attempting to process the fact that Eddie was
here
. She would have thought that this was just a drunken hallucination, but she’d only had a sip of one drink, so that theory didn’t really work. This didn’t
feel
like a dream. Usually in her dreams, she didn’t question whether or not it was or wasn’t a dream, so that pretty much nullified that notion. Maybe she’d actually gone crazy and lost her mind from a combination of no sleep, the stress of opening up the store, and constantly obsessing about Eddie. That was probably it. Eddie was a figment of her delusional imagination.

As she descended down the two red carpet-covered steps that led to the lounge seating area, Eddie reached out and took her hand. The heat of his large palm and thick fingers surrounding her, radiated through her body. Nope. Not a figment of her imagination. Eddie was real. He was here. And he was hot as sin.

“Where’s Em?” she asked loudly so that she could be heard.

Eddie wrapped his arm around her waist and leaned down, his mouth next to her ear. “She wanted to spend the night with Chelle. For her birthday.” His lips brushed against her outer ear as he spoke and goose bumps broke out all over Haley’s body.

“Oh no.” She looked up at him as her hand covered her chest, her lips tilting in an understanding smile of commiseration. “I’m sorry. I know that’s gotta hurt.”

A look of intensity flashed in his eyes, but as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. “She’s growing up.” One side of his mouth lifted in a lopsided grin.

As Eddie maneuvered them through the throngs of people on the dance floor, his hand rested on Haley’s lower back—exactly the way it had when they’d gone back stage at Emily’s performance. Haley loved when Eddie touched her. Every time he did, even if it wasn’t sexual, she felt more connected to him.