Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (169 page)

“Oh.” Krista’s face turned a little serious. “I thought you might be looking for some with Lacey in them. The last few times I saw Em, she asked me about her.”

“Yeah, she’s been really curious about her mom lately.” It broke Haley’s heart that she knew Em was searching for answers that she might not like when she finally got them.

“I feel bad. I don’t really say anything because you can’t tell a seven-year-old, ‘Your mom was a drug addict and a whore.’”

“She wasn’t that bad,” Haley said weakly. “She was just a party girl.”

“In high school, maybe. But you weren’t here when she came back. That’s exactly what she was. Eddie would be home with the baby and she’d be out all night. Leaving bars with random guys. It was sad.”

Haley had heard stories, but she really hadn’t paid any attention to them. People talked in small towns. But if her sister was saying it, then it was the truth.

“I remember feeling so bad for Eddie.” Krista’s tone was serious before a small mischievous smile tilted her lips. “I think the poor guy deserves a little
inspiration
.” With that, Krista winked and was out the door, leaving Haley with a lot to think about.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

EDDIE TRIED TO concentrate on the numbers on his screen. He had to get these budget reports to Jason by end of business Friday. He had a few days but he hated waiting until the last minute to do things. He’d been over all three of them several times but kept rechecking his work when he found his mind wandering. Which
kept
happening. His mind was filled with bras, panties, teddies, and all the other sexy things he’d seen Haley stocking her shop with.

He’d never been a huge fan of lingerie. He was a simple man, always preferring naked women over dressed women, even if it was in something sexy. But after spending the last few days surrounded by lacy, silky, see-through garments, his imagination was on overload. Every single sexy-underwear-filled vision starred the same person—Haley.

Eddie didn’t know if anyone had actually died from blue balls, but he was afraid that if not, he might be the first known case. Or, at the very least, it was going to drive him insane. Haley had been joking around when she’d asked if he was going to need a strait jacket, but he was scared that much more of this and that was exactly what he was going to need.

The fantasies of Haley wearing all of the things he now saw displayed in her store were seriously affecting Eddie’s life. He was barely sleeping, barely eating. His mind was so clouded by lust-filled daydreams that he was barely thinking straight.

Even Em had noticed. Yesterday, when he’d picked his daughter up from Chelle’s, she’d asked him if he was feeling okay. When he’d said that he was fine, she’d gotten the strangest look on her face and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead, checking to see if he’d been running a fever. He was sick all right—sick in the head.

Eddie looked up at the doorway when he heard a loud knock on his door. Jason leaned in and said, “Come on. We’re meeting Riley and Seth at The Grill.”

“Nah, man. Thanks,” Eddie declined. “I’ve gotta get caught up on this and then go pick Em up.”

Jason shook his head. “You need a break. I’ve been wanting to take you out to celebrate since you got your promotion, I mentioned it to Riley and he said Chelle had already told him that he needed to take you out. Let you blow off some steam. She’s keeping Em and will drop her off later or she said she could even spend the night.”

Great. So now his little sister was setting up play dates for him. He had noticed the worried expression on her face when he’d seen her over the last few days. She’d kept asking if he was remembering to eat, getting enough sleep. Of course he’d told her yes on both counts, even though it was far from the truth. Apparently she hadn’t taken his word for it.

“All right,” Eddie agreed, closing out of his computer. “I’ll meet you over there.”

In his experience, when that many people were conspiring towards a common goal—in this case, his going out for drinks—it wasn’t worth it to go against the grain. He liked to pick his battles, and this one wasn’t worth picking.

Oh well
. Eddie figured there were worse things than spending a few hours with his friends. Hell, it might even do him some good.

* * * * *

“NO, THANKS,” Eddie told Nina, their waitress at The Grill.

“Are you sure?” Nina held the black and tan that the girls at the end of the bar had bought him. “They really want to buy your next round.”

“I can buy my own drinks.” Eddie wasn’t trying to be an asshole, but he really wasn’t interested in the two blondes who were pouring out of their too short dresses and had been staring at him so hard he almost felt violated.

“All right.” Nina shrugged as she began to turn away.

“I’ll still take the beer,” Eddie clarified. “Just put it on my tab.”

The young, pretty waitress smiled as she set the beer down on the table and headed over to the bar to talk to the ogling twins.

Jason slowly shook his head back and forth. “Man, you are really sticking to this no-women-in-city-limits thing. I thought it might last a year, two at the most, but damn. You could easily go home with either of those chicks.”

“Or both,” Riley added.

“Not interested,” Eddie said flatly. He really didn’t want this conversation to become about women. Especially since the three other men here were all happily married. Not to mention the fact that Eddie’s biggest female-related problem at the moment was that the only one he wanted was these guys’ cousin, who they treated like their little sister.

It was odd to Eddie that all the guys seemed more protective of Haley than Krista, Jessie, or Becca, especially since Haley was the oldest. He guessed it was because she’d spent the most time with them growing up. Or maybe it was because of her personality. The other girls, especially Krista and Jessie, had much more take-charge attitudes.

“Hello, boys. Eddie.”

Eddie looked up and saw Krista walking towards them. She had the strangest look on her face, and she was looking directly at him.

“Hey, red.” Jason called her by the nickname only he could get away with. “What’s up?”

“Nothing. Just about to go to the movies.” She stood at the end, not taking her eyes off Eddie.

“With who?” he heard Seth ask from beside him.

“Chris,” she said, still not breaking her gaze.

“Everything okay?” Jason asked, looking between Krista and Eddie.

Shit
. Haley had probably told her about the kiss and she was pissed.

“Yep. Why?” Krista replied in a clipped tone.

“Because you look like you want to kick Eddie’s ass,” Jason said matter-of-factly. Jason was known for saying what everyone else was thinking. Most of the time, Eddie appreciated it. Tonight, he could have done without it.

“I would if I thought it would make him remove his head from it,” Krista said pointedly to Eddie then, turning to her cousins, quickly changed the subject. “Just wanted to let you guys know that Becca and Jessie will both be in town for Hales’s birthday and the grand opening. Mom wants to do a dinner or something with everyone.”

The guys all said that they would be there just as Chris came out from the back and he and Krista left. There was silence at the table, and Eddie could feel all of the attention focused solely on him.

“Sooo,” Jason, never one to let anything go, asked, “what was all that about?”

Eddie shrugged and took a drink of his black and tan. He had a hunch but he sure as hell was not going to be filling them in.

“Is there something going on with you and Krista?” Seth’s deep voice was deadly calm.

Eddie almost spit out his beer. He couldn’t get the word out fast enough. “No!” Krista was like a little sister to him. The irony was not lost on him that he should view Haley the same way, but he never had. Not even when they were kids.

“So how is Haley?” Jason’s faux-innocent tone was not fooling Eddie. He might not have known what was going, on but he definitely had his suspicions.

“She’s fine. I guess.” Eddie set his beer down.

He saw Riley and Seth both look at their brother and then back at Eddie. Deciding that this was not a can of worms he wanted opened tonight, he gestured for Nina to come over.

“Want another one?” she asked with a friendly smile.

“No, I’m ready for the check,” Eddie answered.

“I got this.” Jason pulled it from her hands before Eddie could grab it. “I told you I wanted to take you out to celebrate.”

Normally, Eddie would have argued and won the check war. He paid his own way. Always had. Always would. But tonight, he just wanted to get the hell out of there before any more questions about Haley came up.

“All right. Thanks man.” Eddie stood up from the booth.

“You takin’ off?” Riley asked.

“Yeah, I’m tired.” Eddie wasn’t lying. He was exhausted. And the couple of beers he’d had weren’t helping his energy any.

“All right.” Riley had a suspicious look in his eye. “You want us to keep Em tonight?”

“No, that’s all right.” Eddie just wanted to go home and go to sleep. And he never slept well when Emily stayed the night other places. He just felt better when she was home, under his roof.

“See you tomorrow,” Jason said with a smile that told Eddie he was off the hook for now but this conversation wasn’t over.

Great
. That was just what he needed.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

HALEY SIGNED FOR the latest delivery. She still hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that she needed to pinch herself to see if this was really happening. The store had come together so quickly that she wasn’t sure it had really sunk in that this was
hers
. When the sign out front had gone up yesterday, she’d started crying. She hadn’t been able to help herself.

It was a moment she’d never forget. She’d lifted her hand to block the midday sun that had been shining brightly and tilted her head up. It was just so beautiful that the next thing she knew she’d felt drips of moisture falling down her cheeks.

Luckily, no one had been around. Haley hated when people saw her crying. It wasn’t that she thought it was a sign of weakness or anything like that. It was just that Haley was a private girl. Crying was personal, at least to her. Just like sex.

Krista and Jessie loved to tease her by calling her a prude, but she wasn’t. Really. Haley had always had a very strong inner compass and she followed it. She didn’t do things just to do them. Peer pressure, teasing, other people’s opinions never really fazed her, even growing up. As she’d gotten older, she’d appreciated her strong sense of self more and more after having witnessed the issues she’d seen other people finding themselves in just because they hadn’t known who they were and had been easily influenced.

Part of her self-awareness was that she knew she was not a casual-sex gal. Haley had only ever wanted to have sex with people she loved. That meant that everyone she’d been intimate with she’d also been in a relationship with. So even though she could count her sexual partners on one hand—and she didn’t even need the thumb or pinky—she didn’t have a single regret. Inexperience, maybe. Regret, nope.

Considering the fact that over the past four years the only person she’d loved or had any interest in was Eddie, her sex life had become nonexistent. So, was she having a dry spell? Yes. Was she a prude because of it? No.

“Nice shop,” the smokin’ hot delivery driver commented as his eyes scanned the floor room.

“Thanks.” Haley’s smile was filled with pride. She knew that the tattooed, too-good-looking-for-his-own-good Fed Ex guy’s comment had much more to do with the merchandise she was carrying than anything else, but still, it was nice to hear.

Looking around the space, she tried to see it through fresh eyes. The large windows that lined the back walls faced west and illuminated the room with gorgeous natural lighting through midday. The displays and merchandise all flowed effortlessly and cleanly around the space. The brick walls were such an amazing backdrop for the delicate undergarments. Not only did Haley love the visual strength the bricks represented, she loved the dichotomy between the hard brick and mortar and the soft lines of the lace and silk.

“Is it yours?” he asked, leaning against the black counter, his mouth turning up into a sexy half smile that she immediately categorized in the panty-dropping column of smiles.

“Mmm hmm,” she nodded.

“Tempting by Bella. I know you’re tempting sooo…are you Bella?” he asked with a flirty glint in his deep green eyes as he glanced down at the signature she’d just written.

“No, Bella is the name of my business partner’s store,” Haley explained. She couldn’t count the amount of times over the years that customers, mailmen, and delivery men had asked her and Amber that same exact question.

“Oh, is her name Bella?”

“Nope, it’s Amber.”

She thought for a moment that he was going to ask her yet another follow-up question, but to her surprise, he dropped that line of questioning and asked her out instead.

For a split second, she considered it. He was off-the-charts good-looking. Probably around her age. Gainfully employed. Also, the healthy dose of charm and charisma didn’t hurt. But she turned him down. Why? Because he wasn’t Eddie.

Thankfully, he took the rejection in stride. He even pulled out a card from his wallet, scribbled something on it, and left it on the counter in case she changed her mind. Haley thought that was a classy move. Sometimes guys, especially guys who were used to having girls fall at their feet—which
had
to be the case with Mr. Hottie Fed Ex!—could be real a-holes if you weren’t interested in them.

After he left, Haley reached into her back pocket and took out her box cutter. Clicking the blade out, she sliced open the tape. She knew it was silly, but receiving and opening packages always made her a little giddy. It was one of her favorite parts of working retail because it reminded her of Christmas. Which was her favorite holiday.