The One That Got Away (12 page)

I’d never felt so relaxed and had Heidi to thank for that. I had managed to work myself up over how she’d react to the whole job thing. Now that weight had been lifted, so I no longer had to worry about saying the wrong thing, or posting something I shouldn’t online.

Flicking through the internet on my phone, I jumped when it began ringing again. This time, I made sure I checked who was calling, but didn’t recognise the number. My heart was pounding as I answered, crossing my fingers at the same time.

“Mr. Hughes?”

“Speaking.”

“This is Donna, Mr. Tomlinson’s secretary at Northerton Pharmaceuticals. Can you please hold while I transfer you through to him?”

My stomach erupted in a flurry of nerves at the mention of the vice-president’s name. “Of course.”

A short time passed, which felt like eons, before Mr. Tomlinson’s rich baritone rolled down the line.
“Shane, my boy! We’d like to welcome you to the Northerton family.”

Heidi:

For at least a week after the birthday party, Jason continued to try and convince me to give him yet another chance. As expected, however, he lost interest after meeting and getting together with a new woman. Colette was different from the usual bimbo he tended to shack up with, and the kids seemed to like her, too.

I’d long given up asking him not to introduce the latest girlfriend to the kids in case they got attached to her. Unfortunately, they soon got used to each one being a brief fixture in their lives, and from what they told me, each new face blurred into the previous, yet the pair of them managed to remain stabilised in their relationship with Jason.

I’d always wondered how the kids would react if I felt a relationship was serious enough to introduce them to someone new. Their happiness and security were the main things holding me back from moving forward with another man, Shane. I hadn’t expected it to happen, but in the month since Shane had moved into his new flat, a mere ten minutes from my home, we’d been spending time together when the kids were with Jason or at school. Shane was able to work from home, unless he was needed for a specific reason, so I was able to hang out with him at his place during the day when I didn't have work.

He’d taken to popping into the café for lunch, on the days I worked, charming Sophia until she was gooey-eyed over him. However, he was soon going into the café on my days off to chat with her also. Neither of them ever told me what they chatted about, but I would be inundated with text messages from her.

She was extremely determined, and very vocal, about Shane and me becoming a couple. She’d been that way ever since I told her about the events of the reunion, and this had only been made worse by meeting Shane. Which was why, when she’d organised a night out for my birthday, she made sure Shane was free to join our group of friends.

“Wings and archery don’t suit you,” I told her whilst we primped and preened, hinting that her matchmaking skills weren’t as subtle as she thought.

“Oh, come off it. He’s been here a month and you two have been dancing ‘round each other the entire time. You need a bit of a helping hand, and will be thanking me in the morning.” She nudged me with her elbow and cackled like a fairy tale witch.

“You seem sure of yourself.” I finished fluffing my hair and began shoving things into my bag, almost ready to leave.

“Not at all. I’m just very sure about you and him. Mark my words, something is going to happen tonight.”

How right she was . . .

:: ::

When Sophia had arranged my birthday night out, Jason told her he’d already made plans and wouldn’t be able to have the kids for the night. He arranged for his parents to babysit, which they jumped at the chance at, chomping at the bit to spoil them. Neither myself nor Sophia expected him and his friends to walk into the same pub as us. Throughout the evening, I caught Jason watching me and Shane from the other side of the large room, but I ignored him and concentrated on having a good time.

“That guy hasn’t taken his eyes off you all night.” Sophia informed me while we stood outside to have a smoke.

“Oh, I noticed. He’ll get over it.” I was fed up of getting the evil eye from my ex. He may have been the father of my kids, but that didn’t mean I had to put up with his territorial crap. It was only happening because he was single again.

“Excuse me, but I doubt Shane’s going to be getting over you anytime soon.”

“Shane? I thought you were on about Jason.”

“Urgh. Why would I talk about that loser?” Without giving me a chance to answer, she dragged me back inside.

Shane and I made our way to the bar to get more drinks. While we waited to be served, he stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

“I just realised I’ve not wished you a happy birthday.”

His lips ghosted along the skin on the side of my neck, causing a shiver to run the entire length of my body. Turning to face him, I opened my mouth to respond, to tell him he didn’t need to, but before I could speak, Shane was wrenched away from me.

“Get away from her, prick,” Jason spat, putting himself between me and Shane.

It felt like I was watching a slow motion action scene from a film as Jason’s fist connected with Shane’s jaw, knocking him to the ground. In less than five minutes, Jason had managed to get Shane on the ground and had kicked him in the side a couple of times before he was dragged out of the pub by the manager.

“Heidi. You know we should get back together. Think how happy it would make you, and the kids,” he shouted as his friends followed him out.

“How fucking
dare
he? Using my kids like that. I’m going to wring his bloody neck.” Fury raged through me. “I swear to God, once he’s sober, I will swing for him.”

Shane managed to stand up, but the pain he was in was evident on his face. He clutched at his side, and stood hunched over to try and stave off the discomfort.

“Come on, let’s get you checked out at the hospital.” I was worried Jason had done some serious damage to Shane’s ribs.

Sophia phoned a local taxi company as I led Shane outside, calling out apologies and goodbyes to the friends we were leaving behind.

The all-clear from the doctor seemed to unlock the barely suppressed sexual tension which had been building all night between us, allowing us to give into those questions we’d been left with at the reunion.

:: ::

Walking back into the house hand-in-hand with Shane still thrilled me, but this time was different. An almost visible energy crackled between us when he reached behind me to lock the door.

“Alone at last.” His voice was low and husky as he took me into his arms, then pushed me against the back of the front door, and kissed me. “But, we’re not doing this here.”

I kicked off my high heels and walked ahead of Shane, giving him the perfect view of my arse, clad in skin tight jeans. He caught up with me as I hit the top of the stairs.

“You are the most amazing tease.” My flesh erupted in goose bumps while he undid the buttons on my shirt then pushed it off my shoulders before moving onto the fastener of my jeans.

“Yes, but I’m your tease.” With each piece of his clothing I removed, warmth from his bare chest seeped into me, combatting the cool air in the room. “I’m done teasing now, though,” I murmured, my voice full of lust. Pushing against him, he fell to his back on the bed and I followed, crawling upward over his long, muscled legs until I could settle myself on his lap. My hands ran across his broad chest, touching every inch, while I enjoyed the feel of him beneath me.

Not getting enough of touching him with my hands, I sat up straight, removed my bra, and then leaned forward to press my chest against his. This brought me within kissing distance, to where I could meld my lips to his and let my tongue enter his mouth, eliciting a deep moan from him which only spurred me on.

I was caught off guard when Shane sat up and flipped me onto my back and a loud
oomph
escaped me. Grinning, he hooked his fingers into the waistband of my underwear then slowly pulled them down my legs.

“As much as I love having you take control, it’s my turn to run this show.”  Run the show he did, using his hands, tongue, and his entire body to send me screaming over the edge.

:: ::

I lay in the dark thinking, the unfamiliar bed a bit too soft for my liking. My mind would not switch off enough to allow me to relax and fall asleep. The thin sheen of sweat that covered my bare flesh had cooled enough to raise goose bumps so I pulled the heavy duvet up over my shoulders and tried once more to go to sleep.

Shane making love to me, both of us being able to take our time, was a sublimely different experience to a hard and fast fuck. I was left more breathless than before and the orgasms turned my entire body to jelly. Sophia was going to be unbearably smug.

Funny thing was, I didn’t mind.

:: ::

Shane:

Hatred wasn’t an emotion that came easily to me, but Heidi’s ex, Jason, managed to bring it out of me. Just someone mentioning his name had me grinding my teeth and itching to punch something. Yet I wanted to shake his hand and thank him, too. Ever since Heidi’s birthday, and his irrational attack, she and I had been exploring our relationship. We hadn’t picked up from where we’d left off, too much time had passed since school for that, but we’d moved forward from shagging in alleyways and sexting.             

In the fortnight since her birthday party and the brawl with her ex, Heidi and I had taken to spending time together whenever we could. We were getting to know each other in depth, both mentally and carnally. Although we knew each other well enough from our online contact, I wanted to be her friend in addition to being her lover. Having the ability to explore her body as much as I wanted, allowing myself to take the time to get to know every inch of her skin, was often a sensory overload that I couldn’t get enough of.

Ever since we’d gotten back in contact I’d had dreams of this, never expecting it to happen. I’d never thought we’d be given another chance as a couple, yet here we were, making the most of that second chance.

I checked to see if my shirt matched my trousers and that my shoes weren’t too scuffed before I grabbed the bottle of wine and bunch of flowers off the kitchen work surface. Taking one last look in the mirror to check my hair before leaving the flat, I started the slow walk to Heidi’s house for dinner with her and the kids. It was something we’d discussed happening, but Heidi had held back, not wanting to confuse them.

I completely understood her hesitance, particularly with Jason, the dick, needing rotating doors to his flat due to the number of women he “entertained”. It was a wonder the kids had any kind of stable relationship with their dad with them around. Naturally, I kept those thoughts to myself, even when Heidi voiced her own similar ones in frustration. It wasn’t my place to judge him, I only wanted to revel in Heidi’s and my relationship and keep it moving forward so it wouldn’t stagnate. It had been so long since I’d messed things up between us at school, and I didn’t want to run the risk of doing it again.

I thought back to the moment Heidi had asked if I was ready to meet the kids. She’d told me how she felt stable enough in our relationship to recognise that things were getting serious between us. I'd quickly assured her that I not only felt the same, but that I very much looked forward to meeting her kids. It was during that conversation a realisation had hit me.

I was in love with Heidi, and had been since I was seventeen.

The moment I admitted it to myself, a bubble had taken up residence in my chest, just waiting to burst so I could tell Heidi how I felt, but I was worried about rushing into it. We had history between us but I didn’t want her to think I wasn’t living in the now. Or that our current relationship wasn’t at the forefront of my mind and that I wasn’t taking things seriously.

It was a short walk to Heidi’s house and as much as I wanted to get there sooner rather than later, I forced myself to walk at a leisurely pace. Despite that I soon arrived, nervous as hell.

:: ::

“Your kids are amazing,” I told her, breathing heavily while my heart pounded as I sank back onto the mattress and pulled her into my arms. “So are you, as a matter of fact.” Pressing a kiss to her temple let me feel the layer of sweat on her skin.

“Please tell me that isn’t what you were thinking about the entire time.” She glanced up at my face, a glint in her eye. “Because if you were, I think I’ll be asking you to leave.”

Laughing, I stole a quick kiss from her lips. “Of course not, but I wanted you to know.” It may not have been the right time to mention her kids, but it needed saying.

“Well, it’s appreciated. I think they liked you, too.” With a squeeze of my arms, I pulled her in close to my chest. “Must be the same mental wavelength.” Our hugs soon descended into tickling and poking, and into another round of fevered lovemaking.

From that night on, I was inseparable from the small family, and they accepted me for who I was with no expectations, unlike Mel had. I was free to be myself and muck about with the kids, to tease Heidi, and I rarely stopped laughing. It was almost painful when I had to leave for work, but I knew that within hours I’d be back with them. For weeks we followed a pattern. I would wake up and go to work whilst Heidi got the kids off to school. Once I’d finished at work, I would let myself into that house full of love and immerse myself into family life.