When Love Happens (19 page)

A knock on the door drew him to turn. He carried his bag to the door and dropped it just inside before opening it. Kyle and Sara stood side by side.

“Hey, man.” Kyle came in without waiting for an invitation, and Sara followed.

“Come in.” Sean didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm in his tone, but his guests either ignored it or didn’t notice.

“I’m glad you’re still here,” Sara said, sitting
on the couch. Kyle sat beside her.

“Only just, actually. I have a plane to catch. Will you thank your parents for letting me stay? I’d meant to stop over there, but I ran out of time.” That wasn’t exactly true. He hadn’t wanted to chance running into Tori.

Kyle stood. “Wait, what about the show? We’re all on board.”

Everyone? “Tori agreed to do it?”

Kyle winced. “We didn’t get a chance to
talk to her about it, but we’ll get her to agree. And I’d love to do the show profiling The Arch and Fox. We can’t buy advertising like that.”

Sean doubted they’d convince Tori. “I can’t do that show without delivering the Christmas special. It’s a package deal.” Kyle nodded that he understood. “I don’t get why you’re agreeing to this,” Sean said. He was about to become their sister’s ex. There
was no reason for them to help him.

Kyle shrugged. “You seem like a good guy. And unlike Tori, we actually want to do the show. For what it’s worth, I don’t think she’d be so against the show if she wasn’t such a head case right now. Don’t worry—we’ll persuade her. Let us work our Archer magic.”

Sara pulled a paper from the pocket of her hoodie and handed it to Sean. “These are directions to
our family cabin. Tori’s there now. You could go and see her.”

“Thanks, but no.”

“You have to know that D’Onofrio doesn’t mean anything to her,” Kyle said. “She was trying to get rid of you.”

“She told you that?”

“No, but I’m sure that’s what it was.”

Probably, when he put it together with her behavior over the rest of the weekend. Either way, it was a bollocks move. “It doesn’t really matter
what it was.” Sean bent to pick up his bag.

When he straightened, Sara leaned forward and stuffed the paper with the directions into the front pocket of his coat. “You’ll be halfway to Mt. Hood when you drive by the airport. Think about it on the way. If you change your mind, just keep going.”

What would be the point? She’d kissed another guy in front of him. Whether she had feelings for that
guy or not wasn’t the point. She hadn’t apologized, and she’d made it clear over and over again that she wasn’t interested in saving this marriage. He suddenly thought of a great reason to go and see her—she could have her divorce. Show or not, he’d give it to her.

He shook Kyle’s hand and gave Sara a quick, one-armed hug. “I appreciate everything you’ve done. I hope Tori realizes what a great
family she has.”

Sara’s lips curled into a sad smile. “That’s the curse of being an Archer—we rarely do until we need them most.”

T
ORI STRETCHED HER
feet and threw her arms up over her head to stretch them, too. Twisting to the side, she inhaled the pine scent that was so unique to the cabin and smiled. She rolled the other way to check her phone for the time, thinking it had to be late. She’d slept like the dead, and it had felt divine.

Right as she touched the phone, it vibrated. Turning it over,
she saw that it was Kyle. She hit one of the response messages:
I’ll call you back later.

She did not want to talk to her family, especially Kyle, who was likely the one who’d gone home and spilled everything to Mom. Had he included her kissing Cade? Tori hoped not. That was a moment she’d like to completely expunge from her memory.

The phone vibrated again. She picked it up and saw that it
was Sara. Tori sent her the same message.

She’d barely set the phone down when it went off once more. This time it was Derek. What, were they all standing in the same room together?

Tori answered the call. “What?”

“Good morning to you, too, Sunshine.”

“I was sleeping.”

“Sorry, but we have something important to talk to you about. I’m putting you on speaker.”

“I can hardly wait.” Tori laid
the back of her free hand over her forehead and stared at the Douglas fir beams stretching across the bedroom ceiling. “Who’s there? Yesterday’s firing squad?”

“Very funny,” Kyle said.

“How are you, Tori?” Sara asked, sounding concerned.

“Great actually. At least I was until you woke me up.”

“We have good reason. It’s really important.”

Alarmed, Tori sat up in the bed. “About what? Is there
something going on with The Alex?” Tori hoped it wasn’t more bad zoning news.

“No, nothing like that.”

Relieved, Tori leaned back against the pine log headboard. “Then what is it?”

“We’ve decided to do the Christmas special with Sean.”

Tori instantly tensed again, her spine going rigid against the wood. “Who’s ‘we’?”

“Everybody.”

Everybody? “Including Mom and Dad? And Evan?
And
Liam?”

“Liam was a tough sell,” Derek said, “but Emily thinks it’ll be good for everyone to come together and do this. The only time we’ve all been together since Alex died was for my wedding, and that was a quick weekend.”

“You’re serious. Everyone said yes.” She couldn’t believe it.

“The only holdout is you. Hayden’s even going to find a way to participate.”

“If this is another ploy to get me to
stick it out with Sean, you’re deluding yourselves.” Even if she wanted to make things work, he would likely tell her to go to hell—and he’d have pretty good reason.

“It’s not,” Sara said. “We actually want to do it.”

She’d have to spend weeks with Sean. How long did it take to film a Christmas special?

“Sean and I are also doing that series on the renovation and opening of The Arch and Fox,”
Kyle said. “It’s going to be fantastic.”

Even better. Tori’s stomach clenched as the weeks with Sean suddenly became months. “Have you forgotten that we have a zoning problem? If that appeal goes through, there won’t
be
an opening of The Arch and Fox.”

“The old Tori wasn’t this negative. Aubrey’s going to make that go away.”

“Kyle, shut up. I am the
same
Tori.”

“Uh, okay.”

Tori rolled her
eyes and rubbed at her arms and legs, suddenly feeling itchy and claustrophobic. She adopted a business-like, sarcastic tone. “Well, thanks for calling and stressing me out during my R and R getaway.”

“We didn’t mean to do that.” Remorse tinged Sara’s voice. “It would be great if you’d do the show with us. We’re looking forward to highlighting Alex’s legacy. I think he’d like that.”

Would he?
Tori wasn’t sure, but then again, everything she thought she knew about Alex had been tested since he’d died. Why hadn’t he left her a voicemail? Why had he called her in the first place? And when in the hell was she going to get her letter? Now that she’d shared the phone call with everyone, maybe she ought to tell Aubrey about it, and perhaps she’d take pity on Tori and just give it to her, regardless
of Alex’s directions.

But she didn’t really want that. She wanted—no, she needed—to honor Alex’s wishes, and if that meant being patient, she would do it. “I’ll think about it.”

“You will?” Sara asked, hopeful.

“Yes. And listen, I . . . appreciate you guys looking out for me.” They drove her nuts sometimes, but that’s what family did. They also loved each other unconditionally.

“It’s going
to be fun,” Kyle said.

Fun? With Sean breathing down her neck for months on end? She ended the call and rolled back over, pulling the covers over her head.

What was she doing? Was there really
no
way she and Sean could make this work? She thought back to January, when she’d been so happy. Kuala Lumpur had been magical. Then after that, though they’d been apart, they’d stayed close with texts
and Skype. When he’d mentioned Skype sex the other night, she’d gotten all hot and bothered. They’d talked about it but hadn’t done it. And now they never would. Could she really imagine not touching him again? Not kissing him?

Stop it.

None of it mattered. They weren’t some star-crossed couple like they’d thought. Life had thrown enough crap at them to tell her that loud and clear.

She dragged
herself out of bed and paced until the coffee was ready. After half a cup, she felt considerably more human. Maybe she should go for a run. There was a great trail nearby. She walked out onto the back deck and looked up at the muted gray sky. A chill shook her shoulders, and she realized it was really cold—maybe even cold enough to snow. She went back inside and checked the weather on her phone.
Yep, slight chance of snow. It looked and felt like more than a chance, but it was barely mid-October, for heaven’s sake.

Resigned not to take a run, she went back inside and finished her coffee, then started up the shower in the single bathroom on the main floor. The pipes squealed as the hot water kicked on. Everything in this cabin was a good forty years old. It was past time to renovate.
Maybe she’d do that for a fun distraction. She could even add on, since the property covered five acres.

Her mind churning with ideas and much-appreciated excitement, she stepped out of the shower feeling better than she had in days. She dried and wrapped the towel around her midsection before stepping into the small hallway between the two bedrooms.

The smile fell from her face as she realized
Sean was standing in the center of the main living area, staring directly at her. Though she was practically naked, the heat that typically crept into his eyes after seeing her in such a state failed to appear. Tension spiked over her shoulders and twisted her insides.

“What are you doing here?” She planned to kill her meddling family later.

“I came to give you what you want. You can have your
divorce. Do you want to file, or shall I?”

Her head felt light and her knees weak as adrenalin rushed through her.
Now
he’d give her the divorce? “I see. Now that you have what you really wanted, I can have my divorce. How magnanimous of you.”

He stalked toward her, his eyes dark and sad. “What I really wanted was you. I love you.”

She began to shake but attributed it to standing in the cool
hallway when she was only half dry and her hair was dripping wet. “You
love
me? You abandoned me when I needed you most. If that’s your brand of love, you can keep it.”

She spun on her heel and went into the bedroom. Grabbing the door handle, she tried to swing the door closed, but his flat palm slapped against the wood and stopped it.

His eyes were wide, incredulous. “I
abandoned
you?”

The
shaking worsened, and the ugly emotions she’d buried for so long reared up. They threatened to choke her as she realized why she’d shut herself down. It wasn’t because of Alex—not entirely. It was because Sean hadn’t been there for her in the months following his death. “Yeah, you abandoned me. My brother killed himself, and you took off to Europe for six months. That’s the very definition of abandonment.”

S
EAN COULDN
’
T PROCESS
what she’d said at first. He stood there, his palm still resting against the smooth pine, and simply stared at her. He’d
abandoned
her?

His mind traced back over what had happened when Alex had died. That morning, she’d flown home. He’d offered to go with her, but she was too upset and said it obviously wasn’t the right time to spring her new, surprise
husband on her grief-stricken family. He’d understood, and he hadn’t argued. That hadn’t meant he hadn’t wanted to be there for her. On the contrary, he’d texted her repeatedly to show his love and support. She rarely responded.

He’d asked to attend the funeral—not to meet her family, but just to sit in the back and be there to support her. She’d vehemently declined and at that point had told
him she had to focus on her family for a bit and to please give her some space.

He dropped his hand from the door, letting it fall to his side, and took a deep breath to calm his anger and frustration. “I was there for you. How can you possibly think I abandoned you? You pushed me away. It took me weeks to even get you to respond to me in person.”

She clutched the white towel around her middle.
“You went halfway around the world. How is that not abandoning me?”

“What was I supposed to do? Tell my boss, ‘No, I need to stay in LA on the off chance my estranged wife decides I can be with her?’ He would’ve fired me. Anyway, that doesn’t even matter, because when I told you about the job, you said,
‘That’s great, now I won’t feel guilty for keeping our marriage on the down-low a little longer.’
” That sentence had been burned in his mind since March. Every time he thought he might be able to get her back to where they’d been, he remembered what she’d said and reminded himself that she was perfectly happy for him to be out of her hair.

Anxious, angry lines creased her face. Her shoulders shook. He realized she was an emotional wreck and probably had been for months. She’d hid it very
well. To him, she’d seemed an ice queen bent on keeping him as far away as possible. But now he saw that wasn’t the case. His frustration and hurt dissipated and were replaced with confusion and an overwhelming sense of loss.

“Tori.” He took a tentative step into the bedroom, keeping his voice low and calm. “I wish you would’ve told me you wanted me to stay.”

“You just said you couldn’t have
anyway, so what would it have mattered?”

“I would’ve known that your feelings hadn’t changed—have they?”

She blinked at him, and her shaking increased. “They have now. I don’t want to be married to you. I don’t want all of this . . . turmoil.”

He closed the distance between them and cupped the side of her face. “Don’t. Don’t push me away. It’s not going to work anymore. I’m on to you. Let it
out. Please. You have so much inside of you that you’ve kept from everyone, from yourself, from me. I
do
love you. Let me help you.”

She tried to pull back, but he clasped her arm and held her fast. He kept his grip light, but firm. He wasn’t letting her go. Not this time.

She looked up at him, her eyes moist with anger and fear. “It’s so much easier if I pretend everything is just fine.” Her
voice was scratchy, raw, and so low he might not have heard it if he hadn’t been hanging on her every word.

“I know. And it’s not. But it will be.” He cupped her face again. “I’ll leave if you want me to, but I hope you don’t.”

For a long agonizing moment, she stared up at him. He had no idea what she was going to do.

Then her arms were around his neck, the towel fell between them, and she
pressed her damp body against his. She kissed him, her head angling as she arched up and pulled his head down simultaneously. She nipped at his lower lip and thrust her tongue inside, claiming what she wanted, and thank God it was him.

He cradled her neck gently, his thumbs caressing the underside of her jaw as he licked at her mouth and feasted on her heat and desire. Kissing her like this brought
back every delicious moment they’d shared and made his heart soar with joy. He hadn’t known if he’d ever experience it again, and now, having her in his arms . . . It surpassed every fantasy he’d nurtured the past eight months.

He slid his hands down her neck, over her collarbones, and lower until he grazed her breasts. He had to pull back to gain access, but the second his palms skimmed over
her nipples, she gasped into his mouth and dug her fingers into the back of his neck.

She felt so good in his hands—so familiar and yet so new. He cupped her, brushing the pads of his thumbs back and forth, teasing her nipples until they formed hard peaks.

Little noises of urgency and lust spilled through their kiss. He was aware of her every touch and sound, of her scent and taste, of his escalating
need.

He shrugged his coat from his shoulders, and she helped him push it off. She whimpered as he took his hands from her. Desperate to feel her against him, he clasped her waist, pulling their chests and hips flush.

He broke the kiss briefly. “Put your legs around me so I can take you to the bed.”

She complied almost before he’d finished talking and claimed his mouth once more. Was there
anything better in this world than the Tori he remembered, the Tori he’d fallen in love with? If there was, he didn’t care, because for him, ecstasy ended and began right here.

He opened one eye to gauge the distance to the bed. The room wasn’t large, so they reached it quickly, and he set her down next to it. She slipped her hands from his neck and unbuttoned his shirt. Her hands were quick,
deft. She dragged her mouth from his and pressed a hot, open-mouthed kiss against his collarbone, sucking his flesh briefly before continuing her downward trajectory.

Sean closed his eyes and focused on her mouth caressing him and the light strokes of her fingertips as she freed the last of the buttons on his shirt.

“Not fair, you’re wearing a T-shirt under here,” she murmured.

“Not for long.”
He dropped his shoulders, and she stripped the button-down from him, letting it fall to the floor. He pulled the hem of his T-shirt up and hadn’t gotten it over his head before her hands and mouth were on his chest. Her palms splayed against his pecs while her tongue trailed down his sternum. He sucked in a breath as she tweaked his nipples and sucked on his flesh, using her teeth and tongue to
drive him to the brink of sanity.

She dropped onto the bed as her fingers flicked the button of his jeans open. Oh God, she wasn’t going to . . . She lowered the zipper and slipped her hands inside, moving to the outside of his hips and clasping him as her mouth worked its magic on his lower abdomen.

She shucked his jeans down his thighs and didn’t seem to care if they stayed there as she transferred
her attention to his boxer briefs. Tucking her fingertips inside the waistband, she pulled them down to where she’d abandoned his jeans. His cock sprang free, but she caught it with her mouth as her hand clasped the base. Blood and heat rushed to where she sucked.

Eyes closed, he let his head fall back. There was nothing but darkness and Tori’s wet, hot mouth pleasuring him. She cupped his balls
and held him firmly, her lips and tongue expertly coaxing his cock into a whirlwind of need and lust.

She sucked him deep, his tip sliding against the back of her mouth, and he jerked as his orgasm threatened. Christ, he’d been too long without her . . .

He brought his head up and opened his eyes. That nearly did him in—the vision of her long, damp hair caressing his thighs while she fucked
him with her mouth. Her other hand dug into his hip, guiding him to thrust and retreat . . .

“Tori,” he rasped. He pushed his hands into her hair and pulled her away before he spilled himself down her throat. “It’s been too long. If you don’t stop . . . ” Another rush of need pulsed through him. He gritted his teeth, unwilling to give in to his body’s demands.

She leaned back and opened her
eyes. She stared at him, her blue-green gaze clear with stark admiration as she perused his body.

He kicked off his shoes and pushed his clothes down his legs, leaving them in a pile on the floor. She scooted back across the bed, her eyes slitting as she watched him.

Stripping his socks off, he followed her, putting one knee on the mattress and then the other. He reached for her, clasping her
waist and rotating her so they wouldn’t run out of bed—it was only a queen, and with that width, he’d fuck her right off the other side of the bed. He knew because he’d done it to her in Vegas that first night, when the hotel had screwed up and given them a double queen instead of the king he’d booked. “No matter,” she’d said, with the sexiest come-hither look. “More beds, more better.”

He could
still see her stretched over the side, her hair grazing the floor, her eyes closed as she cried out her release.
Careful, Sean, or you are going to come right now.

He forced himself to breathe, desperate to make this last.

Tori slipped her legs around his waist and pulled him down on top of her. “Sean, I want you inside me.”

They’d stopped using condoms after their second weekend together back
in January. They were both clean, and she took contraceptive shots. He doubted she’d been sexually active since he’d seen her last. Just thinking she had put a wet blanket on his lust.

She must’ve sensed it, because she laid her palm against his cheek. “What is it?”

“I haven’t been with anyone since you.”

“I know.” Her gaze was direct and pure. “I haven’t either. I still get shots. And anyway,
I don’t have a condom, do you?”

He shook his head. “This was the last thing I expected to happen today.”

She winced. “Is it . . . okay?”

“This is the most okay thing ever.” He kissed her quick and hard, drawing on her lower lip with his teeth. His cock surged between her legs, seeking her heat. “Which is why I want it to last. Tell me, Tori, is this really what you want?”

She pulled him down
to her open mouth and thrust her tongue deep into him, devouring him and giving him everything she had. When she ended the kiss, she rotated her hips against his. “I’ve never wanted anything or anyone more. Please, Sean, make love to me. Now.”

T
ORI HAD KNOWN
he was close to orgasm; she remembered the taste of him just before he came. If she’d gone like two more strokes, he would’ve lost it, and
God, how she loved when that happened. She felt so amazing, so powerful. Giving him pleasure, feeling his satisfaction had been more gratifying than she’d ever imagined. She’d had a handful of other partners, but none as exciting and . . . thorough as Sean. He was never done until she was a boneless mass of contentment. And she wanted nothing but the same for him.

But instead of giving her what
she wanted, he reached back and guided her legs from his hips. He pressed her thighs into the bed and pushed them wider. Then he brought his hands up, one knuckle grazing her clit as he went, sending a shudder through her frame. He knew just how to touch her to make her wild with want.

“Sean, you’re very cruel.”

He arched a brow as he looked down at her, his gaze taunting but oh-so-sexy. “Am
I? I think you’ll find I’m the opposite by the time I’m finished.” His words held such dark promise that she shivered again without him even touching her. “You remember, I see.”

Her breathing quickened as her heart rate sped. “Don’t tease me.”

“You like it when I tease.” He slowly traced circles over her stomach and hips, his fingertips coming agonizingly close to her breasts and clit.

She
did. She leaned her head back against the pillow and closed her eyes, giving herself over to the sensations he created. His touch remained light, his hands caressing her arms, her shoulders, her thighs. Need pulsed in her core, and her hips starting rotating in tiny circles, her ass lifting slightly off the bed as her body cried for him to increase the pressure, to touch her, to take her.

Wet
heat draped her breast as he took her nipple in his mouth. She moaned and arched off the bed, her fingers grasping the hair at his nape.

“Uh-uh,” he said against her, leaving her cold and frustrated. “You know the rules. No touching.”

He enjoyed torturing her, making her keep her hands on the bed—she usually wound her fingers into the sheets and practically ripped them to shreds—or securing
her wrists to the headboard as he’d done that one night at his condo. God, that had been hot. He’d blindfolded her and used an ice cube . . . Shit, now
she
was going to come.

“This is a great bed to tie you to.” He reached up and clasped one of the two slender horizontal logs that made up the headboard. He glanced down at her with that devilish grin—and right now, he did remind her of some sort
of demon sent to torment her, which she totally deserved after the way she’d frozen him out.

“But,” he said, pressing her hands back onto the bed, “I think I’ll save that for later.” He lifted a shoulder. “Touch me, if you must.”

She was desperate to, but she dug her fingertips into the quilt. “What I must do is feel you touching me. Now. Stop talking, for crying out loud. You always did talk
too much.”

He laughed, and the sultry sound aroused her almost as much as his mouth and hands. “You like when I talk to you during sex. When I tell you what I’m going to do. Open your mouth, Tori, so I can tongue-fuck you.”

Another dark shiver raced from the back of her neck to the tips of her toes. She did as he asked, parting her lips as he ravaged her with his mouth. The kiss was deep and
brutal, and she grasped the quilt, pulling it up off the bed as she fisted her hands. His hands cupped her face and neck as he held her captive to his lips and tongue.

Sucking her lower lip, he drew back. “More? Or should I continue to something else? Tell me what you want. Your breasts?” His fingertips grazed her nipples then pinched, eliciting a gasp from her kiss-bruised mouth. “Or maybe your
sweet cunny? That’s an old-fashioned word, but I like it. How about you?”

She didn’t care what he called it, so long as he touched it. Her chest thudded with her excitement. “Both?”