Jamie is standing in my doorway with tears running down her cheeks.
She runs into my arms, and I slam the door shut behind us.
“Baby,” I whisper, “what happened?”
She sobs into my shoulder. “They know.”
My stomach falls. “Know what?”
“That we slept together.”
I freeze before gaining control of myself and rub her back. “How?”
“Heather had my phone when you texted, and she looked through our messages. I don’t know. I guess she put two and two together,” she says into my shoulder, some of the words muffled. “I didn’t admit it, but she called my parents and told them what I did.”
She breaks down harder, and I pull her away, holding her at arm’s length, wiping away her tears with my thumb.
“My mom believed her! She believed her before even asking me.”
My throat is tight, and I cup her face in my hands. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
She sniffles, gaining some control of herself, and glances around. “Where’s Noah?” She shakes her head. “I can’t believe I came over like this.”
“He’s with Georgia. He’s missed you, and we’re trying to take his mind off it.”
Her lower lip trembles. “Trying to replace me, I see.”
Never. No one can replace you.
“This is complicated. I don’t know what the hell to do.”
“I know.” She breaks down again, and I drag her closer.
I run my hand down her hair, kissing her forehead, and whisper, “We’ll figure everything out.”
“Will we?”
She peeks up at me, and my gut clenches at the sadness in the eyes I’ve fallen in love with, and when our gazes meet, it sets us on fire.
Eye contact has always been a dangerous game with us.
Always leads to trouble.
And feelings.
And touching.
To us hoping we can be more than what we’re allowed to be.
“I wish this weren’t so complicated,” she whispers.
“Me too, baby. Me too.”
She relaxes against my body, and even though they’re not supposed to, our lips meet. I hesitate, waiting for her reaction, and she doesn’t think twice before deepening our kiss.
It feels like home.
Like where we’ve always belonged.
We kiss hard.
As if we don’t know when it’ll happen again.
Or if it will ever happen again.
I cup her jaw as we kiss, using it as my way to tell her how much I care about her. I kiss her, using my mouth to show her how much I’m fucking falling in love with her.
She falls to her knees and starts unbuckling my jeans, my cock standing at full attention, waiting for her warm mouth.
I fail him when I pull her back to her feet. “I need to be inside you.”
She nods, biting into her lip.
I retreat a few steps. “Take off your shirt.”
My cock twitches when she does.
“Lose the bra.”
She does.
“Your pants.”
She starts tearing her pants down her legs.
“And your panties. I want to see every inch of you, every inch of you that belongs to me, whether you like it or not. That’s why you came here, right?” I cup my aching cock against my jeans. “You came here because you belong to me.”
“Yes,” she whispers. “I belong to you and only you, Cohen.”
“Damn fucking straight.”
When she’s fully naked, I charge toward her, wrap my hand around the back of her neck, and kiss her hard. She moans into my mouth, saying my name, and I walk her back to the couch and bend her over the arm of it. She glances back at me as I pull my shirt over my head, smack her ass, and drop my pants.
Our eye contact makes another appearance when I slam inside her.
She whimpers underneath me, arching her back, and I slide one hand down her spine while using the other to grip her waist.
“Fuck, baby,” I groan, slapping her ass again as our bodies rub against each other’s.
“Yes, Cohen,” she moans. “I love you inside me.”
“Yeah, you do.” I change course, grind my hips, and move in circles, hitting every spot inside her that I can.
She bucks against me, her face pushed against the cushion, and when I know she’s about to come, I pull out of her.
“What the—”
I twist her around, pull her legs around my waist, and hustle to the bedroom. Dropping her onto the bed, I waste no time before pushing back inside her.
“You feel so good,” I say between breaths, grabbing her legs and tossing them over my shoulders.
“I’m coming,” she moans.
“Yes, come on my dick, baby.”
She does, and I curse with each rough thrust I give her until I find my own release.
I’m staring down at my cock still inside her pussy when another, “Fuck,” hisses through my lips.
She glances up at me as I slowly pull out of her while dropping her legs at the same time.
“We didn’t use a condom.” I stare at her pussy, taking in the evidence that I was there. I love it, but I also know it was irresponsible as fuck. “Shit, this is on me. I’m sorry.”
It got too heated.
We wanted each other too much.
“It’s okay.” She offers an easy smile.
“Are you on the pill?”
“No,” she answers before glancing away. “But there’s not much we can do about it now. I’ll get a Plan B tomorrow.”
Her response eases me, and I reach forward to run two fingers over her slit, pushing more of my juices inside her.
It’s a bad move on my part, but her underneath me, with my come inside her, is a big fucking turn-on. She doesn’t turn away, doesn’t stop me, and I lean down to kiss her before falling on my back.
“Why does your cock feel so good?” she asks, her body still shaking, and she sounds almost annoyed.
“Why does your pussy feel so good?” I counter before shifting so I’m halfway on top of her, my semi rubbing against her thigh.
“We have to stop this,” she says, widening her legs so my cock falls between them.
I run my hand up her stomach, cupping her breast, and thrust my hips forward, groaning while sliding my cock over her clit. “I like this.”
Her nipple tightens as I play with it between my fingers, and she squirms beneath me. “I hate how much I love this.”
“I love how much you love it.”
“Heather wants to make things right with you.”
I halt at the mention of her name.
There goes that mood.
I collapse onto my back and scrub a hand over my face—my cock not nearly as excited as it was. “Heather can fuck herself.”
She turns onto her stomach and slides in closer to me. “My parents want her to make things right with you.”
“No disrespect, but your parents can fuck themselves too.”
Not trying to sound like an ass, but Heather isn’t making shit right with us.
There’s no making it right.
She’d better stay away from Noah and me.
Jamie thrums her fingers over my chest. “They’re going to make me end things with you.”
My chest caves in at the thought of losing her—again.
If she’s still planning on leaving us, why is she here?
Her leaving isn’t what’s driving the anger through me.
It’s why she’s leaving.
She’s walking away because someone else is telling her to—stomping on my heart, on her own, and on my son’s heart because of their opinions.
Fuck their opinions.
Fuck them.
“With her situation—” she starts.
I cut her off, “Her situation doesn’t have jack shit to do with us. Her being here won’t change the fact that I’m falling in love with you or that I want to be with you. I don’t care about her.”
Her body goes still, her legs straightening, and her eyes widen in shock. “What?”
I blink. “What?”
“You said it … those three words.” A smile tilts at her lips.
Here goes.
I grab her knuckles and brush them against my lips before kissing the front of them. “I was an idiot not to say it then, but the timing felt forced, too expected, even though the moment I slid inside you, there was no uncertainty in my mind that I was falling in love with you. I wouldn’t risk my heart, your heart, my son’s heart for a quick fuck if mine didn’t bleed for you. I love you, and I will fight for you. She can’t tear us apart.”
“Cohen,” she breathes out, “I—”
She stops when my phone rings. I’d ignore it, given this is a critical moment in our relationship, but it’s Georgia’s ringtone. Since she has Noah, I give Jamie’s knuckles a squeeze before sliding out of bed, my cock in full view, and step into my sweats.
“Hello?” I answer when I grab my phone from the living room.
“I’m in the driveway,” Georgia says in a whisper, most likely not wanting Noah to hear her.
“All right?” I pay a glance at the front door before heading back to the bedroom.
“Jamie’s car is here, so before we come in, I wanted to make sure everything is good.”
Apparently, my sister can read me like a book because she knew something had happened between us at the realization that Jamie wasn’t coming around anymore. I attempted to explain she was out of town, but with Noah complaining about his lack of FaceTiming with Jamie, my sister knew. We grew up and are too close for her not to know that Jamie and I slept together.
She claimed it was written all over my face—the love I had for Jamie and the loss over when she left us.
Understanding dawns on me. “Give us five.”
“Gotcha.”
I hang up the phone, toss it onto the dresser, and start collecting our clothes. “Georgia is outside with Noah.”
“Shit,” she hisses, getting up, and we start pulling our clothes on.
When we make it into the kitchen, Jamie’s hair is a tangled mess, and my shirt is on backward. There’s no question we look awkward as fuck. Jamie’s face is puffy, her eyes red from her crying and our halfway there heart-to-heart. We’re sipping on water when Georgia and Noah barge into the house.
“Hey, kids,” Georgia chirps, her eyes pinging between Jamie and me.
“Jamie!” Noah shouts, bouncing from one foot to the other before exploding toward her. He hugs her legs. “I’ve missed you so much!”
My head spins when I notice the tears in Jamie’s eyes.
She kneels to hug Noah. “And I’ve missed you so much.”
He peeks up at her, excitement on every inch of his face. “Are you hanging out with us tonight?”
Georgia walks over to me, leans in, and whispers, “I can take him back out if you want to talk—or maybe light a candle to drown out the smell of sex in the air. I stashed a cinnamon candle in the guest room for when I stay the night. It smells like Fireball. I actually might have one in my car.” She pauses. “A candle, not Fireball, unfortunately, because it appears you two could really use a shot of some strong shit right now.”
Noah is blabbing about how he’s been playing with the toys he got for his birthday.
I massage my throat before answering, “I think that’s a good idea.”
Jamie is on the verge of losing it the longer she hears Noah talk about everything she’s been missing.
“Noah, my man,” Georgia calls out, and Noah turns to look at her. “Let’s go get some cupcakes!”
Jamie kisses the top of his head, tears hitting her cheeks, and scurries to the bathroom.
“Can I wait for Jamie to get back?” Noah asks. “She can come too!”
“No, I don’t think Jamie is feeling well,” Georgia says.
He frowns. “We’ll bring her one back then. I know her favorite-favorite-ist.”
Georgia squeezes his shoulders. “She’ll love that. Let’s get going before they’re all gone.” She glances at me. “I’ll call before we come back.”
“Thanks,” I mouth to her.
Noah hugs me good-bye, and they’re out the door a minute later.
“They’re gone,” I shout, an edge to my voice, and I meet Jamie in the living room.
“I need to go,” she rushes out before holding up her phone. “Everyone in my family is blowing me up.”
“And?” I hiss. “It’s your life.”
“My family is also my life! You and I both know what we have is sex—”
The fuck?
“Is that how you feel? Can you clarify what you’re thinking? Unless you forgot, fifteen minutes ago, I said I was falling in love with you. And correct me if I’m wrong, but you lit up like a fucking lamp when you heard me say it. That sure as hell doesn’t scream it’s only sex.”
She throws her arms up. “Yes! I’m in love with you! Yes! Hearing those words was everything I’ve ever wanted to hear, but do you honestly think we can make this work? You’ve had sex with both me and my sister!”
“This is different,” I grind out. “And you know it.”
“My family won’t see it that way.” She repeatedly shakes her head. “Other people won’t see it that way.”
A knot forms in my stomach, twisting in defeat, and I sit down on the edge of the couch. “Heather fucking ruins shit again.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, her face just as broken as my heart.
“What was that then? A good-bye fuck?” Anger knots in my stomach next, overtaking the defeat. “Do you do that to all the guys you fuck over?”
She cringes at my harsh words. “Screw you! I didn’t come over here with the intention of us having sex.”
“What was your intention then?”
“I don’t know.” Her chin quivers. “I was sad. I needed someone.”
“Needed someone or needed me?”
“You!” she screams. “Goddammit, you!”
Her answer ignites a fire inside me.
I stand when she starts pacing, wrap my arms around her waist to stop her, and spin her to face me. “Why are you walking away from us? Why are you breaking your own heart?”
She peers up at me, her face puffier, her body quaking. “I can’t love you because I can’t keep you.”
I take a step back. “All right, I get it.”
She winces. “What?”
“Run away like your sister. I already know how to handle it.” I stalk across the room, open the door, and gesture for her to leave.
“Cohen,” she whispers, her eyes wide.
Anger pivots through me.
Fuck this.
Just as I never tracked down my father, just as I haven’t reached out to Heather, I’ll never beg for someone to love me.
For someone to stay with me.
If you don’t want me, you don’t fucking want me.
I’ll take it.
Sure, it’ll kill me to move on, but I’ll handle it.
I’m a strong man.
I can lock that cage back around my heart.
“You’re right,” I say, my throat tight. “We can’t keep each other. I already let one woman fuck with my head, one woman who made me doubt our love, and I refuse to do it again.”
“Cohen,” she repeats.
“Get out!” I scream. “I’m not playing these bullshit heart games—not with my feelings and damn sure not with my son’s on the line. We’ll act like you and I never happened and go back to how it was. I won’t take Noah away from you—for him, not you—but I won’t be giving you one more goddamn piece of me.”
She bows her head, the sobs back. “Okay.”
We don’t look at each other when she passes me.
When she lets us go.
I slam the door behind her.
Finn charges into my office.
I glance up from my paperwork and raise a brow.
He scratches his head. “You have a, uh … visitor.”
“Okay?”
“Heather is here.”
I flex my fingers around the pen in my hand. “Are you shitting me?”
He shakes his head. “You want me to tell her to kick rocks?”
Finn is my only friend who knows what Heather looks like. He went to school with us.
“Nah, I’ll handle it,” I answer, blood rushing to my ears. “Can you bring her back here?”
I can’t make a scene in my bar, and knowing Heather, there will be a scene.
Minutes later, Finn returns with Heather on crutches behind him. He doesn’t say a word before turning and walking out, shutting the door behind us.
Heather stands in front of me and doesn’t utter a word.
She’s waiting for me to take the lead, like the coward she is.
She’s different, she’s aged, yet she is still attractive. Honey-blonde hair similar to Jamie’s but thinner, no dimples like the woman I love, but she’s dressed sexy enough that men will be hitting on her here.
Not me, though.
There isn’t one cell in my body that wants her.
That will ever want her again.
She’s not my type. She’s not the one my heart beats for, who my body craves.
It’s her sister who does that.
Her sister, who has gripped my heart and owns it.
Her sister, who is a goddamn pain in my ass.
Her sister, who I haven’t spoken to in over a week.
I stand. “How dare you show up here? At my motherfucking business.”
She winces, shocked at my anger. “Jamie won’t tell me where you live, so I asked around, and this is where I was told to find you. When can we sit down and talk?”
The name of the woman I love sends a knife through my chest.
“I’d prefer fucking never.”
She releases a huff. “It’s going to happen. I won’t leave you alone until we talk this out.”
“What do you want?” I hiss. “We have nothing to talk out.”
“Hear me out.”
“Nope. Leave.”
“Please!”
Her begging sends a rush of memories through me.
Her begging reminds me of how I sounded when I was down on my knees, asking her not to leave us, pleading for her to at least stay for Noah.
“Fuck you,” I snarl. “Did you hear me out when I begged you? You don’t deserve one second of my time.”
Her eyes lower, and she gestures toward the crutches. “I was shot.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you, but it doesn’t change our relationship. I wish you the best, but stay away from us.”
“Why are you punishing our son from having a mother?”
“My son,” I seethe, hating that she referred to him as hers. “Not yours.”
“You can think that all you want, but I’m still his mother. I gave birth to him.”
“News flash, Heather: you signed over your rights. According to the state, you are nothing to him.” The pressure from how hard my jaw is clamped down will give me a migraine by the end of this conversation.
“What about Jamie?” she snaps, jutting her chin out. “What is she to him? If I signed over my rights, she’s nothing too.”
I grip the edge of my desk, my nails biting into the wood. “This has nothing to do with Jamie.”
Her voice rises. “Yes, it does. Out of all the people to sleep with, my sister?”
“Leave before I have you escorted out.” The wood from my desk is chipping.
“Are you going to lie and say you aren’t fucking her?”
“Nope.”
We’re not fucking at this moment, so I’m not lying.
“Bullshit,” she spits. “I’m sure she didn’t wait long before jumping on your dick.”
Disgust sweeps up my throat that she’s talking about Jamie like that. “You need to leave.”
She scoffs. “God, what a whore. Sleeping with her sister’s ex.”
I slam my hand onto my desk, causing her to jump, and scream, “Don’t you dare talk about her like that. Jamie has nothing to do with what you did or why I don’t want you anywhere near my son.”
My voice is loud.
Booming.
Harsh enough that the entire bar can hear us.
At this point, when it comes to defending Jamie, I don’t care who hears.
She curls her upper lip. “Do you want to be selfish and make Noah grow up without a mother?”
“You’re the reason for that. Not me.”
Her shoulders slump, her voice turning whiny as she takes this conversation another route. “Cohen. Please. I made a mistake.”
Fuck, why does it seem like we’re talking in circles?
“You did, and I won’t make the mistake of letting you hurt my child again. Now, leave before I call someone to make you leave.”
The tears start, the vulnerability she tries to hide creeping through.
Heather isn’t heartless. There’s something inside her but not much.
Selfishness is her main trait.
“I’m sorry, okay! I want my life back!” she cries out.
“How convenient. You want it now that the Vegas life didn’t work out for you.”
“Do you want to know why he shot me?”
I stay quiet.
No.
Because I don’t want to feel sorry for her.
I want to keep hating her.
She doesn’t care that I don’t want to know. “He shot me because I didn’t get my period, and he was scared I was pregnant.”
I feel like an ass for rolling my eyes. “Considering he told you to leave your child, that isn’t a shocker to me.”
“I had a good man—you—and I messed it up.” Her eyes are vacant, her words low, and it’s almost as if she’s reading this from a script. “I’ll admit my wrongdoings. We weren’t perfect, but we were good. We loved each other.”
“That was the past.”
“Is this because of my sister? You think you two will create this happy-go-lucky family? How in the world do you think that won’t screw up Noah’s head more than allowing me in his life?”
Circles.
That’s all that’s happening.
How do I kick her out of here?
The office door flies open.
“Sorry we’re late,” Georgia says, glancing back at Noah while they walk into the office. “This little guy talked me into stopping for ice cream.”
She comes to a halt and shoves Noah behind her when she looks up and sees Heather. Disbelief and disgust cover her face, and I hold my breath, praying Heather doesn’t utter a word to him.
The look on Georgia’s face is terrifying to me.
I hope Heather feels the same way and doesn’t want the wrath of my sister.
Georgia turns around, being sure she blocks Noah from seeing Heather, and kneels in front of him. “Why don’t you go into Archer’s office? He’s in there.” She playfully pokes him in the shoulder, but I notice her hand is shaking as she does it. “Let him know I told you where his candy stash is and to share with you.”
Noah’s eyes light up, and I’m happy Heather can’t see them.
Can’t see how great of a kid he is.
How his heart is so much different than hers.
“Really?” Noah says excitedly.
“Really,” Georgia answers, whipping around and shutting the door as soon as he runs out of the room. A sneer is pointed in my direction. “What the fuck is she doing here?”
“I—” Heather starts.
Georgia raises her hand, cutting her off, and finally pays Heather a glance. “I didn’t ask you. I asked my brother.”
Heather glares at Georgia.
“If you’re here to right your mistake, it’s too late.” Georgia’s eyes, filled with fury, return to me. “I hope you agree with me.”
I nod. “I’ve explained that a good hundred times.”
Does it seem like we’re ganging up on Heather?
Probably, but she can leave whenever she wants.
“If you need me to make her leave, I will,” Georgia spits.
Heather rolls her eyes but doesn’t move.
I tilt my head toward the door and rest my eyes on my sister. “Give us a minute. I don’t want you getting in any trouble.”
Curses fly from her mouth, and she gives Heather one last glare before leaving my office.
“He’s so big.” Heather releases a heavy sigh. “He looks like you, but he has my hair. He has my face.”
He does, and I fucking hate it.
“Leave, Heather.” I stalk to the door and jerk it open. “This is the last time I’ll tell you. Leave. No one wants you here.”
Her face falls, a single tear slipping down her cheek, and she slowly leaves the room, shooting me glances over her shoulder as if she’s waiting for me to stop her.
I don’t.
Call me a heartless bastard. I don’t give a shit.
My heart beats for my son, and I’ll stop anyone from hurting his.