Games of the Heart
Page 17

Listening to her calm, warm sincerity, speaking about her friends, Mike was pleased and displeased.
He was pleased she had someone she trusted to take her back. He was pleased she had friends she clearly cared about. Just like last night he was pleased to hear her talk about what she did, how much she loved it. She was easy to read. She had a good life she enjoyed living.
But he was displeased she had friends she cared about she trusted to take her back and a good life she enjoyed living.
Because all this was in a small town outside San Antonio.
Twice, he’d assumed wrongly about Dusty. Twice, she proved she was just who she was.
With what happened with Audrey and Vi, he kept reading it wrong and Dusty kept proving she was just who she appeared to be.
It was very early. He was cautious. But that didn’t mean he didn’t like this.
He did. He liked it. What they had. The easiness of it.
What he didn’t like was that they had this morning and then she was gone. Which meant the future of it was up in the air in all new ways.
He had two kids to raise and put through college. Still, he could swing a trip to Texas once, maybe twice a year. He’d been working for The ‘Burg’s Police Department since he graduated the Academy the year after he graduated from Purdue. This meant he’d earned a shitload of vacation. So he had the time, time that wouldn’t cut into his vacations with No and Reesee.
Dusty made her own pottery and was self-employed so she could make time too.
But, this shit worked, there would come a time when he wouldn’t want her going to bed in Texas while he hit the sack in The ‘Burg. And he knew that because his gut was already tight knowing she was going. So, if this went the distance, that time could be soon. And even wary, in less than a day, Dusty had passed test after test so everything was pointing to the fact this could go the distance.
And when it did, one of them would have to give up home. That wasn’t a possibility for Mike. Not for three years. Not until Reesee was in college.
Which meant, they wanted to make a go of it, Dusty would have to up stakes and come home. Home to a place she escaped as soon as she could after graduating high school.
And he didn’t know if she’d be willing to do that.
He’d had a woman not willing to make an important sacrifice to keep them together. And Audrey’s refusal to do so was whacked. Dusty’s would be justified. He didn’t need to be walking, eyes open, into the same f**king thing.
“Hey, gorgeous,” she called softly, her hand lighting on his neck, her thumb moving out to stroke his jaw and his eyes refocused on her. When they did, she asked, “Was it a nice trip?”
He had no clue what she was talking about.
“Pardon?”
“You were miles away, honey.”
He was.
“I’ll be okay,” she assured reading his mood incorrectly. “Hunter is a good guy. You want, I’ll give you his phone number. You can talk to him. See for yourself.”
He stared down at her.
Christ, totally open. One hundred percent.
Still, he took her up on her offer.
“Yeah, I want that.”
She grinned. “Done.” Then she went on, “Best part, you give a shit.” Her head tipped to the side on the mattress and her thumb did a sweep of his jaw as she finished quietly, “Like that, babe.”
Again he stared down at her. Her hair fanned out on the bed. That pink in her cheeks. That soft look on her face.
Fuck, he needed to f**k her. Immediately.
“How set are you on eatin’ those donuts, sweetheart?”
Her eyes flared in that way he felt in his dick. He’d learned last night they did that same exact thing frequently when he had his hands on her, his dick moving inside her. And that flare turned to a blaze seconds before he made her come.
“If you’re offering to help me work up an appetite, since I’m supposed to meet my folks at Frank’s at eleven and I also want to enjoy Frank’s Indiana-wide Famous Pancakes, then the donut orgy can wait. That said, clearly you’ve got your work cut out for you,” she replied.
“A challenge,” he muttered, moving his hands on her and feeling the sexy way her body shifted under him, telling him nonverbally she liked his hands on her.
“You up to it?”
His eyes held hers even as his lips went to her lips.
“Let’s see,” he whispered.
“Awesome,” she whispered back.
His head slanted, hers tilted and Mike set about besting the challenge.
*
“Hungry?” Mike asked then watched the woman in his arms burst out laughing.
They were outside standing by her rental car. Or, more to the point, he had her pinned against it.
He’d f**ked her before donuts. Then they’d eaten donuts and drank cold coffee. Then, with the water pouring down on them, Dusty on her knees in the tub, her fingers wrapped around his hips, she’d very nearly sucked him off before he pulled her up to f**k her in the shower. Out of the shower, she dried her hair and did her makeup after inviting Mike to scroll through her phone and find Hunter’s number. He’d dressed, taken her up on the invitation and programmed it into his phone in order to call her friend later. Then he’d stood in the doorway to the bathroom while she bent over the counter, her sweet ass pointed out, and did her makeup as he programmed all her numbers (cell, home, the “shed” where she made her pieces and gallery) into his phone and he’d programmed his into hers.
When she was done getting ready, they’d made out in bed, going at it like teenagers but before it got too heated, since the time was nigh, he’d stopped it.
They’d made plans. If she was staying, he was at her hotel room to spend the afternoon with her before he had to get home before seven when his kids returned from Audrey’s. If she wasn’t staying, he was following her in her rental to the airport, driving her from the rental place to the terminal and taking her to check in. Then she’d call when she got home. She’d also call when she figured out when she could come back.
Then they pulled on their coats and he walked her out to her car.
Which brought him to now, holding a beautiful woman in his arms and watching her laugh.
She thought he was a good guy but there were occasions in his life where he’d acted like a dick and knew it. None of them he was proud of.
But he sure as f**k was glad he’d done it the day before.
She sobered but, still chuckling, answered, “Famished.”
“Excellent,” he muttered on a squeeze of his arms and she kept chuckling.