Everyone Loves a Hero Read online

  Cole had just enough time to work himself into a full-on panic attack before she opened the door and stepped into the room wearing a long, midnight blue, silk nightgown. The sight of dark silk over ivory skin sucked every thought right out of his head, leaving his mouth hanging open.

  She fiddled nervously with the fabric.

  He got up and went to her.

  Her big, brown eyes, when they turned up to meet his, were shy and uncertain.

  His heart hammered.

  “I asked Jenny if she had something sexy she could loan me,” she said so softly he wouldn’t have heard her if he hadn’t been standing right in front of her.

  “You’re so beautiful, and I love this.” He smoothed his hands over her silk-clad back. “But you don’t need any help to be sexy.”

  “I wanted to be sexy for you.”

  He held her tight against him. “Were you nervous about putting this on? Is that why you were so quiet before?”

  “Not really.”

  “Then what’s wrong? I can tell it’s something.”

  She looked up at him, her smile shifting from shy to coy. “Do we really have to talk?”

  As all the blood drained from his head and made for points south, Cole tilted her face up. “Yes, we have to talk.”

  “I put this on for you…”

  “Olivia, honey, I love you, and as dazzled as I am by how you look right now, if you’re upset about something, I want to know what it is. I want to help.”

  “It’s just…”

  “What? Tell me.”

  “When I think about you leaving on Monday, I feel sick. Physically sick. I know we said we wouldn’t ruin the time we have with that, but it’s all I can think about.”

  He released a deep, pained sigh and wrapped his arms around her.

  “I want to enjoy this. I want to enjoy you, but all I can see are the roadblocks in our way. It just makes me wonder how this can ever work.”

  “Do you want it to work?”

  “You know I do.”

  “I do, too. So we’ll make it work. We’ll figure out a way.”

  “You make it sound so easy.”

  He guided her to the bed and stretched out so he faced her. “It won’t be easy. There’ll be times when being apart will totally suck.” Caressing her face, he added, “But the good times will be so good we’ll forget all the bad times.”

  She captured his hand and pressed a kiss to the palm. “You’re very convincing.”

  “Then why do you still look so uncertain?”

  “I’m trying really hard to be optimistic, but this is all so new for me.” Her cheeks blazed with color. “Not just the sex part. All of it.”

  “I know, sweetheart.” He slipped an arm around her waist to draw her closer to him. “Believe it or not, it is for me, too. I certainly wasn’t expecting to find you and to feel the way I do about you.”

  She smiled at him, but she still looked uncertain.

  “What? You don’t believe me?”

  “I do.”

  “But?”

  “Half the women in this country would like to be where I am right now. How can I compete against that?”

  “You don’t have to, honey. You’re the only one I want, the only one I can think about.”

  With a sigh that sounded like relief, she reached up to brush the hair off his forehead.

  “Maybe we’re moving too fast—”

  “No,” she said, leaning in to kiss him. “No.”

  He held her tight against him and trembled with pleasure and contentment as her lips skimmed over his chest. Then her tongue circled his nipple and all thoughts of slowing things down deserted him. Somehow he ended up on his back trying to contain the urge to reclaim the upper hand.

  Since it seemed important to her just then to be in control of something, he stayed still so she could feather kisses over his chest. He stopped breathing altogether when she toyed with his nipples and handled the surge of desire by clutching the duvet. Taking a ragged, deep breath, he forced himself to breathe when her hair grazed his stomach. Her lips soon followed.

  “Liv,” he gasped, reaching for her.

  “Let me love you, Cole.”

  His head fell back on the pillow, his eyes closed tight against the pain of desire.

  Her fingers trembled against his belly as she reached for the button to his jeans.

  Breathe.

  The zipper traveled slowly down, getting stuck on the hard ridge of his erection. For the first time in years, he hovered on the verge of an embarrassing accident. A groan escaped through his gritted teeth as she pushed his clothes out of the way.

  She stroked him—slowly at first, so slowly he could have died from wanting more.

  “I didn’t get a chance to really look before,” she said, her eyes devouring as her hand drove him crazy.

  Then she bent and kissed the very tip, and Cole sat straight up. “I can’t,” he said, the words coming out as a pant. His fingers buried in her hair, he tried to bring her back to him. Her silky gown brushed against him, causing him to jolt from the contact. “Jesus.”

  Olivia laughed and pushed him back to his pillow. “I’m not finished yet,” she said with a playful pout as she returned her attention to the task at hand. “It’s all slippery. Did I do that?”

  “What do you think?” he choked out.

  Her fingers skimmed through the pearly fluid. “Oh. It’s so hard, and then it gets harder. I can’t believe that doesn’t hurt.”

  “Olivia,” he said, breathless. “You’re going to make me come if you don’t stop.”

  “Isn’t that the goal?” she asked, glancing up at him through sable lashes.

  “Not without you.”

  “Just this once?” Before he could answer, she bent her head and took him into her mouth. And then her tongue swirled over the head, and he had to hold his breath to keep from losing it. Without being told, she did it just right—keeping up the firm strokes of her hand even as she took him deep.

  “Liv… stop,” he said, trying desperately to hold back.

  “Don’t want to,” she whispered.

  With a groan of defeat, he abandoned the fight and gave into the need blazing through him. The release was more intense than it had ever been before. Nothing could compare to the complete and utter surrender.

  Her eyes, when they connected with his in the aftermath, were victorious. She was back in the game, and the relief was even more overwhelming than the shattering release had been.

  He reached for her and brought her up to lie on top of him. His heart pounded so hard, he could hear it fluttering in his ears. All at once, he too was petrified about what Monday would bring. How could he just leave her here and go back to his life? Was he to pretend his whole world hadn’t shifted on its axis the first time he lost himself in her?

  Her breathing was slow and steady, and he wondered if she had fallen asleep.

  Tightening his arms around her, he kissed her forehead. The tremble that shuddered through her told him she was still very much awake.

  He rolled them over.

  She opened her mouth to speak, and he took advantage of the opportunity to sink into her moist heat. He feasted on her mouth and was gratified to feel her arms encircle his neck to hold him there. For the longest time, he was satisfied to be exactly where he was. He wanted nothing more than what he had right then.

  But she seemed to have other ideas. At first, she clung to him, her nails biting into his back. Then her hands slid down to pull him tighter against her.

  He shifted his attention to her neck.

  “Cole.”

  “Hmm?”

  “I want you.”

  His lips flew over her warm, soft skin. “I’m here.”

  She gripped his backside and lifted her hips against his erection. “Now.”

  Startled, he looked up at her to find her eyes huge and hot with desire.

  “Please.”

  He moved fast to get a condom. When
he turned back to her, she was reaching for the hem of the nightgown. He stopped her.

  “Let me.”

  Beginning with the soles of her feet, he kissed his way up, taking the nightgown with him. He left no sensitive spot unvisited on the journey. The stroke of his tongue over her, into her, sent her soaring.

  Desperate for more, he decided that getting rid of the nightgown wasn’t as important in that moment as driving into her. That he could want her this much again, so soon after the last time, came as a surprise. Would he ever get enough?

  She reached for his hand, laced her fingers through his, and smiled up at him.

  He kissed her, a light touching of lips, a mingling of breath. Her scent, a combination of lavender and vanilla and something else not as easily identified, filled his senses. Raising their joined hands over her head, he bent to lave at her nipple through the silky nightgown.

  Moaning, she wrapped her legs around his back and took him deeper.

  The next time he glanced at her, he found her watching him with a mixture of awe and wonder in her eyes. That he had the power to do that to her both humbled and frightened him.

  “I love you,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”

  He withdrew almost completely from her. “I love you more.”

  She shook her head and arched into him, seeking him. “Not possible.”

  “Olivia,” he sighed as he went deep again. The sudden quickening of her breathing and the trembling in her thighs told him she was close, so he picked up the pace.

  Her eyes flickered shut and then shot open in shock as the climax slammed into her, catching her off guard. She cried out, clung to him, and dragged him down with her into a freefall from which he suspected he’d never fully recover.

  Chapter 12

  After a long, lazy morning in bed, Cole handed her the car keys the next afternoon. “There are two things besides your artwork that you need to bring back with you.”

  “What?” she asked, perplexed.

  “A bathing suit.”

  “For?”

  “Duh. To swim? In the hotel pool?”

  “Oh, okay. I forgot there was a pool. What else?”

  “Something to wear out to dinner tonight. Something a little… fancy.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to go out tonight.”

  “What if I want to take you out?”

  “It’s our last night.”

  Resting his hands on her shoulders, he said, “This time. Not ever.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “Bring it just in case.” He tipped her chin up so he could see her eyes. “For me?”

  She could deny him nothing when he asked liked that, and he knew it. “Okay.”

  “One more thing,” he said, touching his lips to hers.

  “What?” she asked, breathless.

  “Hurry back.”

  ***

  The moment she was out the door, Cole picked up his cell phone, furious with himself for not taking care of this sooner. He dialed a number that, for now, was programmed into his speed dial.

  Brenda, his bartender girlfriend in Miami, picked up on the third ring. “Hey, baby,” she said with the sultry purr that used to fire him up. Now it just left him feeling panic-stricken that Olivia might find out he had other women in his life. Had being the key word. By the time she returned, they’d all be history.

  “Hey,” he said, as the reality of what he’d failed to do hit him hard and fast. He should’ve cleared his decks before the weekend with her—not during. His only excuse was that he’d never expected to fall in love with Olivia—or anyone else, for that matter.

  “I hope you’re calling to tell me you’re in town.”

  “Um, no. I’m not in Miami.”

  “Oh, poo.”

  Cole could picture her pretty mouth forming a perfect pout. Thinking of her thick, auburn hair and sultry, green eyes, he tried to remember what he’d found so enchanting about her. Oh yeah, right… She was a tiger in bed. He swallowed the lump in his throat and pushed those memories aside.

  “So, listen, I hate to do this over the phone, but—”

  “It’s over, huh?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “I figured something was up when you stopped calling.”

  Cole winced. He hadn’t given her a thought in weeks. “I’m sorry.”

  “What happened? I thought we had a pretty good thing going.”

  Cole rubbed the back of his neck, hoping to loosen the tight ball of tension that had lodged there. “I met someone.”

  “We aren’t exclusive. Why start now?”

  “Because.” After a long, pregnant pause, Cole said, “Are you still there?”

  “Don’t tell me you’re actually planning to give monogamy a whirl.”

  “So what if I am?”

  She laughed. Hard. “I give it a week. Maybe two.”

  He closed his eyes and conjured up Olivia’s lovely face. Brenda was wrong—very, very wrong. What he had with Olivia would last a lot longer than that. Maybe even forever if he played his cards right. “I enjoyed the time we spent together.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Save the ‘I wish you the best of luck’ speech.”

  “I do.”

  “I’ve got customers. Gotta go.”

  “Bye, Brenda.”

  The click of the call ending served as her reply. He removed her name from his speed dial before scrolling through the list again and hitting “Send.”

  “Hey, Diana, it’s Cole.”

  ***

  In the still new-smelling rental car, Olivia drove the short distance to her parents’ house in a dreamlike state as she relived the night with Cole. And the morning. She shivered with delight. Dark clouds hung over the area, but she barely noticed. Until she remembered that by this time tomorrow, he would be gone and she’d be on her way to work—just another Monday after the most extraordinary weekend of her life. Would he think of her as he went through his days? Would she invade his thoughts as he navigated jetliners through the sky? Oh, how she hoped so.

  She pulled onto Commonwealth Avenue and found a spot on the street. With a double beep, she locked the car and went up the stairs. Inside, she heard voices coming from the kitchen and started toward them. Just outside the door to the kitchen, her father’s raised voice stopped her.

  “Goddamn it, Mary! I can’t believe you did this!”

  “You took away my other one,” her mother said petulantly. “What was I supposed to do?”

  “I took it away because we’re on the verge of bankruptcy, and you’re spending money like I’m printing it on a press in the basement!”

  “The card is in my name. I don’t get why you’re so mad.”

  “Your name!” he roared. “Our credit!”

  “None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t lost your job. Why couldn’t you have just shut up and done what they told you to do?”

  With a hand over her mouth, Olivia muffled a gasp. She glanced into the room and saw a stack of what appeared to be bills on the table.

  “Because those cars were crap, and I couldn’t, in good conscience, tell my valued customers to buy them.”

  “So instead you got yourself fired. I hope your good conscience is pleased with itself.”

  “Must be nice to be you, Mary.” Olivia had never heard such bitterness in her father’s voice. “You sit in this house day after day, year after year, hiding from life. No responsibilities to anyone but yourself, accountable to no one.”

  “You know I can’t help it,” she spat back at him.

  “I know you won’t help it. There’s a difference. A big difference. We have to sell the house. It’s the only way we can fend off the creditors until I get a new job. And you can’t buy a goddamned thing. Do you hear me? No trinkets, no do-dads, no nothing. I’ll buy food, but nothing else.”

  “We’re not selling the house.” Mary sounded truly frightened. “We can’t.”

  “We don’t have
any choice.”

  She began to cry. “What about Olivia?”

  “I’ll take care of her, just like I always have.”

  Olivia stepped into the room. “You lost your job?”

  Stunned, Jerry spun around, and the devastation on his face broke Olivia’s heart. “Honey,” he said. “How long have you been there?”

  “Long enough.” Olivia glanced down at the papers on the table, most of them stamped with “Overdue” in bright red ink. “When did this happen?”

  “A month ago,” Jerry said with a sigh.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t want you to worry.” He ran a weary hand through his gray hair. “I thought you were away for the weekend.”

  “I came by to get something.”

  “I don’t want you to worry, sweetheart,” he said more emphatically this time. “We’ll work this out.”

  “How?”

  “I’ve got a few irons in the fire with some of the other dealers in town. I’m hoping something will open up in the next few weeks. But even if that happens, there’s no way we can hold on to the house.”

  “Maybe Alex or Andy could help,” Olivia said, referring to her brothers.

  Jerry shook his head. “Andy’s getting slammed with alimony, and Alex just bought a house. I’ve already asked them.”

  He looked so defeated and humiliated that Olivia crossed the room to put her arms around him.

  “I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” Jerry said, smoothing a hand over Olivia’s long hair.

  Mary’s sniffles grew into sobs. “There has to be something else we can do.”

  “There isn’t,” Jerry snapped as he stepped back from Olivia. “I tried to tell you a year ago that you had to stop spending money or we were going to end up exactly where we are.”

  “Sure, blame me. Like you mouthing off to your boss had nothing to do with it.”

  “It is your fault!” Olivia said to her mother. “All he does is work and all you do is buy worthless shit that no one wants or needs! Now we have a houseful of crap but no house. I hope you’re satisfied.”

  Mary stared at her daughter with hard eyes. “This is none of your concern. A woman your age shouldn’t still be living at home anyway. It’s time for you to grow up and get a life.”