A Hero for Tonight (23 page)

Was he working nights and still asleep? Or working days and unable to text back?

Either way, at least he’d have the message from her when he got to his phone.

Unable to sit still in the house, she headed to the shop early, just as the sun was rising. Stepping inside, her decision to close the business brought tears to her eyes. She and Mary had created all of this, the displays, the products, the decorations; everything done with such care to detail and so much love.

She straightened her spine and blinked back the tears. It didn’t matter. There would be something else someday, and in the meantime, she’d have something far more important—Shane, and his love and respect. If things worked out like she deep down believed they could, maybe it would be her and Shane busy with their own family in a few years instead of a shop.

Her heart raced, then froze. It was a long shot thinking he’d ever go along with her ideas. Even now, she wasn’t convinced he really loved her the way she loved him. How could he?

Shoving her doubts aside, she focused on her plans. If Shane didn’t want her, she’d know today and could go from there.

During the long, sleepless night, she’d figured out the perfect solution to their problem. Melissa was bored with teaching; maybe this could be a new venture for her, too. But before she talked to Melissa, or Mary, or anyone—she needed to talk to Shane. There was no point making plans if, Heaven forbid, he’d changed his mind about wanting to be with her.

She was in the kitchen when the front door chimed. It was locked, so only someone with a key could have entered. Shane. Her heart pounded.

“Krista?”

His voice made her heart palpitate, and her hand shook as she set the coffee cup down. “In the back.”

She turned from the sink just as he rushed through the doorway. Her gaze slid down the length of his deputy’s uniform, and her mouth went dry.

“What’s going on? What’s wrong?” He frowned. “Is there a problem? Did someone break in?”

She shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong. I wanted to talk to you. But if you’re busy, it can wait.”

“I just got off duty.” He glanced at the coffee pot and reached for an empty mug.

“I’ll get it. Why don’t you sit down? Want a muffin or a scone?”

His gaze narrowed. “What’s going on?”

“What do you mean? I know you like the apple cinnamon scones.”

Wetting her lips, she couldn’t help notice his eyes zero in on her mouth.

“Asking me to come here? Feeding me breakfast? You’re trying to sweeten me up for something.”

A snarky comment bubbled up, but she pushed it back. Her confidence shook even further. How was he going to react to her decision?

Stalling for time, she turned her back and plated a few of the still-warm scones. “I, uh, made a decision about the business.”

On a deep breath, she turned back around. Shane hadn’t sat down and now his arms were folded across his chest. His expression told her he was bracing for whatever she said next.

Her hands trembled as she set the plate down and picked up a scone to place on a napkin. What if he didn’t believe her? What if he’d already decided being with her was the last thing he wanted.

Swallowing hard, she struggled to find the courage to say what she needed to. “I’m going to talk to your mom about selling the business.”

“And we’re back to square one.” He unfolded his arms. “Damn it, Krista. You dragged me all the way over here just to try to change my mind again about this? You know if you try to buy her out she’ll—”

She held up a hand and shook her head. “Not her. Me...us. I’m going to tell her that I don’t want to do this anymore. I’ll tell her we should either sell the market, or shut it down.”

He stared at her for a long moment as if trying to figure out what angle she was playing. “What about all that talk about your dream and your whole life. Suddenly that’s all changed?”

Drawing a deep breath, she leaned back against the kitchen table for support. “Yes.”

“I’m not buying it. What happened?”

Krista wet her dry lips and glanced around the décor that she and Mary happily picked together. Unable to look him in the eye, she focused on a spot on the table and traced her fingernail over it. “
We
happened,” she whispered.

“We?”

She raised her gaze to meet him square on. “You and me. What we started. I realized that if I had to choose between being with you and having this business, then I choose you.”

His gaze softened slightly before the mask of indifference returned. “I’ve just come off a twelve hour shift and I’m a bit fuzzy. Maybe you could spell this out for me a bit better.”

“Since your terms are that I have to close down the business or we can’t be together, then I made my decision. I want to be with you.”

She waited for him to move toward her, smile, any reaction at all, but he just continued to stare as if she was up to something.

“If this is your way of making me give in, thinking I’ll feel guilty or something about your sacrifice then…”

“I think I know you well enough to know that would never work. I wouldn’t want you to ‘give in’ to me.” She made finger quotes in the air then clenched her hands to stop their shaking. Her heart was wide open, and he could very well break it. “What was happening between us was amazing. When it ended, I realized that maybe what I was looking for in my future wasn’t a full-time career, but a full-time relationship. Maybe I had the dream of this business expansion because I had no other dreams.”

“And if I tell you there’s nothing here for us. That it was just some hot sex for a few weeks, and I’ve moved on, what then?”

Her heart skidded to a stop, and for a second she panicked, but the words tumbled out without hesitation. “I’m still selling. Your family means too much to me to try to keep this going and put that kind of pressure on everyone. If you and I don’t work out, at least I’ll know I did everything I could.”

She spun around to face the sink, trying to keep the tears at bay. Had she been wrong? Did he really not want her and simply wanted to ensure that she didn’t keep the business open?

An arm wrapped around her waist, and her heart started beating again.

Pulling her back into his chest, Shane lowered his head and kissed her neck. “I missed you,” he whispered.

“I missed you, too.”

She clung to the strong arm and arched her neck as he trailed his mouth across her skin. Laying her head back against him, Krista closed her eyes as he nuzzled the sensitive skin under her earlobe. A shudder raced through her, and she trembled. Shane’s hand slid under her soft flannel shirt. His obvious need for her pressed into her backside, and she couldn’t seem to stop her hips from shifting backward in response.

When his hand slipped beneath her bra, she wiggled tighter against him. Gently, he held her breast in his palm. A jolt of pleasure shot through her as he squeezed her nipple.

Turning her around, his mouth captured hers in a kiss that was rough with pent-up passion. Winding her arms around his neck, she went up on tiptoe to press against him. Krista thrilled to the hungry desperation of his lips. She matched him tongue thrashing for tongue thrashing and molded her body against his as he pressed her back into the sink. When he lifted her and set her on the counter, she opened her legs for him to step between.

Her shirt and bra were shucked away with lightning speed. Before she could catch her breath, his mouth settled over one hard, aching nipple. Her hands cupped his head, holding him to her.

“Shane?” she muttered as he nuzzled his face in her cleavage, drawing a response deep inside her. “Shane...is the door locked?”

He lifted his head. “I’ll go lock it if you promise to stay right there.”

She smiled. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Shane forced himself not to race to the front of the store. His mind whirled with the conversation he should be having, but as usual, as soon as Krista kissed him, his mind turned to mush. He couldn’t stand to wait and talk; he wanted to have her in his arms. He would tell her his own plans as soon as they’d properly made up.

Back in the kitchen, he skidded to a stop at the sight before him. Krista had removed her jeans, but remained exactly where he’d left her, one leg braced up on the shelf and the other hanging down. Her arms were bent over her head as she tipped her face.

The pose almost brought him to his knees. His gaze focused on her shapely thighs before sliding upward.

“Is this how they pose in the men’s magazines?” she quipped.

His erection jerked painfully. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, right.”

His heart swelled as he caught the uncertainty in her gaze. She was trying to act all confident, but it was easy to see she wasn’t comfortable in the role of sex kitten. He wasted no time getting his uniform off. Clad only in his boxers, he crossed the room.

“What I do know, is this is every man’s fantasy of what he’ll find waiting for him when he comes home.”

Krista leaned forward to press her mouth to his chest. He closed his eyes as her silky hair brushed his skin. Her breasts skimmed his bare chest, and he kneaded the soft velvety skin before plying her nipple with his finger and thumb until she trembled.

Lifting her head, she traced her fingers over the scar on his chest. “That’s from me, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I must be some kind of wacko to fall in love with the girl who stabbed me.”

“I was only nine, and it was your fault.”

“I seem to recall
you
inviting
me
to the duel. How was I to know your tree branch had a sharper end on it than mine?”

“That’s what you get for teasing me.”

“Yeah?” He slid his hand along her inner thigh before dipping his finger beneath the elastic of her panties. Very lightly, he stroked the wetness between her legs. “What would I get if I teased you now?”

She pulled his head to hers and kissed his earlobe. “You’d get lucky, Donovan. You’d get very,
very
lucky.”

With a howl of laughter, he plucked her off the counter. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he crossed the room to a waiting blanket. “Then by all means, let the teasing commence.”

Tumbling to the floor among limbs and laughter, it was mere seconds before their sounds turned to pleasure and moans. Her panties swept away, Shane’s fingers slipped into the wet folds between her legs. Her harsh breathing and whimpered pleas made his erection harden and swell. Flicking his fingers quickly, he smiled as she grasped his shoulders and trembled in his arms.

Leaning over her, he spread her thighs and lowered his mouth to kiss her intimately. With his gaze locked on her open eyes, he tasted her, teased, and loved her as her hips arched and bucked against his mouth. When his finger slid inside, her inner muscles clenched around him.

He stroked deep and hard. “I think I like teasing you a whole lot more now.”

Her gaze on him was dark and her eyelids droopy with desire. Her tongue nipped out to wet her lips as her hips shifted eagerly under his touch.

She brushed her hair back from her face and panted, “I won’t argue with that. Shane, please...”

Driving his finger in as deep as he could, he lowered his mouth again. His tongue swept her sweetness as he drove her quickly to a climax.

Even as she struggled to catch her breath and her tremors stopped, he continued laving her until she shoved at his shoulders.

“Stop,
stop
. Shane, enough,” she begged breathlessly.

He grinned as she struggled to catch her breath.

“You missed me, huh?” he asked playfully.

She pulled him up on top of her and wrapped her arms around him. “Hmm, yes. Now maybe we should see how much you missed me?” Her hips tilted and she arched her back.

Shane wasted no time in entering her, groaning as she clenched around him. When he began to move, Krista grasped his rear end. Her legs locked around him as he picked up the rhythm. Harder and faster he pumped.

As the pressure mounted, he closed his eyes, letting her name out in a harsh growl. His climax was powerful, and he was only half-aware of nails digging into his back. She called out his name and her body jerked under him as she joined him.

Collapsing next to her, he pulled Krista close, kissing her hair and face. His breath still came in gasps as he struggled to think straight.

Leaning up, she traced her finger over his furrowed brow. “Uh oh, what are you thinking?”

He brushed back her hair, slid his hand down to her breasts and tenderly traced her skin. “Last night I went to work angry at the world with no idea how to even attempt to figure this out with you.”

She half-smiled. “Did you mean what you said earlier? When you said you fell in love with the girl who stabbed you?”

“Yep.”

“No doubts?”

He grinned. “Not right now.”

Krista slid her hand down his chest, then lowered her mouth. Her tongue slid across his nipple and he closed his eyes. She moved down, kissing his abs and lower still. When she nuzzled between his legs, his erection sprang up in response. Her hair felt like feathers tickling his thighs as she stroked him, first with her hand then with her incredible mouth.