Chapter Three

Hope should have known Jules had an ulterior motive for inviting her to dinner. As soon as she’d seen the cars in front of the house, she’d realized something more was going on, and she’d refused to get out of the truck until the other woman spilled. So she’d been able to brace for the knowledge that she’d see Daniel—as much as anyone could brace for seeing the man she once considered the love of her life.

Judging from the tension lining his shoulders, he hadn’t had the slightest clue that his cousin had been meddling. In fact, everything about Daniel seemed to be tense these days. There were new lines around his mouth—deep brackets that she doubted came from smiling—and it was obvious that he spent significant time in the sun from how dark his normally tanned skin was.

It didn’t detract from his looks, though.

Instead, it was almost like he’d been honed down and purged in a fire, coming out a leaner, meaner version of himself. Considering what she’d picked up from Jules, that was probably more accurate than anything else she could have compared it to. His thick black hair was longer than it had been, almost shaggy, and his dark eyes were downright haunted.

Hope bit her lip, wondering what she was supposed to do to help. He obviously wasn’t happy to see her, and a part of her couldn’t help feeling a little disappointment.

That’s not why she’d come back. He wasn’t why she’d come back, though she’d be a liar if she said the thought of running into her old flame hadn’t crossed her mind. But that’s exactly what Daniel was to her—what he had to be. Ancient history.

They’d had a chance to live the American dream that they’d always imagined, but instead of walking away from that car crash stronger, they’d been broken completely. Even if she wanted to magically bounce back from that, it was too late.

Maybe if he’d returned her calls after he came to visit her in the hospital…

But the time for maybes was long gone.

She was here to finally do what she’d promised her parents and set up John’s trust. As much as she’d wanted to avoid coming back into town, avoid driving down Interstate 10 again and seeing the spot where their car went off the road, it was time.

Not a moment too soon, if the intervention Jules had mentioned breezily was something the Rodriguez family was actually planning. She didn’t know if Daniel was really that badly off or if his parents and aunts and uncles and cousins had gotten together and riled themselves up into making it a thing.

She had to do something, she just didn’t know what. She couldn’t leave town again without at least trying to help him work through things—and getting his family off his back. She promised herself that right then and there.

“Whatever you’re thinking, knock that shit off right now, darling.”

The sound of his old nickname for her settling in the air between them temporarily shocked her into saying something she never would have otherwise. “I do what I want.”

He turned to face her fully, brows lowered. It should have looked ridiculous with that tiny puppy bounding around him, into his lap and back out again, but something inside her quivered as a result of being pinned down by that expression. She couldn’t quite tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing, though. Daniel leaned in, so close she wasn’t sure of the heat she felt was coming from his body or the summer night around them. “That line never worked on me.”

“It never worked on anyone.” For one eternal second they were back there, in the world before.

Then he shook his head like he was waking from a dream. “I’m glad you’re setting this thing up for John. It’s football based?”

“Yeah.” Her brother had gotten a full ride to the University of Texas when he graduated high school, and he’d been in his junior year of college, back home for the holidays, when the wreck took his life. So much potential, snuffed out in the space of a minute. The familiar ache settled in her chest, but it wasn’t as strong or present as it had been this afternoon.

When she’d woken up in that hospital bed and realized her brother hadn’t survived, she’d vowed to herself that she’d do whatever it took to make sure the gap created by John’s death was filled. It’d been an irrational promise, but she’d stuck with it. Every time physical therapy brought her to the brink of despair, she fought it off because John never would have given up. And then she’d finished college with honors because that’s what John had been on his way to doing.

She had no interest in being a lawyer—and she wasn’t particularly good at arguing her point when strong emotions were involved—so she’d gone into the private sector, helping people and companies with too much money on their hands set up foundations and scholarships to help people who could actually use that money. Most of them were doing it for the tax write-off, but their motivation didn’t matter—what they were doing did.

But those foundations and scholarships weren’t personal. This one was. This felt like the final accumulation of what she’d been working toward—giving other kids from Devil’s Falls a chance to follow the same path John had been on—to succeed where his life was cut short. “Football based, and they have to have the same kind of grades he did. There are other factors, too, but ultimately it’ll be up to the discretion of the town council.”

He gave a short nod. “It’s good that you’re doing this.”

Funny, but he didn’t sound particularly happy about it. Then again, he hadn’t sounded happy from the moment she’d walked through that door. She took a deep breath. It was time to talk about that forbidden subject, the one that lay like a pulsing wound between them. Maybe getting it all out in the open would help him. “Danny—”

He pushed to his feet. “As fun as this has been, I’ve got to go.”

“Go? You just got here.” She struggled to her feet as he scooped up Ollie and started around the back of the house. Hope cursed under her breath, muttering about insane men, and hurried after him. The ground was too uneven to actually catch up with him, but she rounded the corner almost on his heels. Which was right about the time that her ankle wobbled, twisting her weak knee and sending her sprawling.

She hit the ground with bruising force, but that was nothing compared to the embarrassment making her wish the dirt would just part and suck her under. Stupid rookie mistake. You know better than to run around over uneven ground. But then, her common sense had always had the nasty habit of taking a backseat when Daniel was around.

Strong hands grabbed her under her armpits and pulled her to her feet. “Christ, Hope, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Daniel patted her down, brushing the dirt from her shoulders and sides and chest. He froze when his hands touched her breasts, and the heat of her blush from her embarrassment turned into something else entirely. She swallowed hard, taking a deep breath that pressed her against his palms more firmly. The fabric of her shirt was thin enough that she could feel the calluses on his palms, and her nipples budded from the contact, her body going soft and warm as if she was some twisted sort of Pavlov’s dog and Daniel was her bell.

When he spoke again, his voice was deeper. “Are you hurt?”

Not in the way you mean. “I don’t think so.” Her knee throbbed like the dickens, but she wasn’t about to admit that to him. And, to be fair, it hurt the majority of the time to one degree or another. But admitting that meant he might stop touching her. She leaned into him and licked her lips, her gaze dropping to his mouth. “Danny…”

“When you look at me like that, I forget all the reasons I promised to leave you alone.”

Why the hell would he promise to leave her alone? That was the stupidest thing she’d ever heard. She clenched her teeth together to keep from telling him so and ruining the moment. There would be plenty of time to rip Daniel a new one…later. “Then don’t.” She grabbed the front of his T-shirt and pulled him against her, stretching up to kiss him. He resisted for a grand total of one second.

And then he took control.

Daniel brought his hand up to yank her ponytail holder out and tangle in her hair, simultaneously picking her up and backing them up against the house. And then he was there, his body pinning her in place, his thigh wedging between her legs, providing a delicious pressure against where she felt most empty. He took possession of her mouth, his tongue teasing her lips open and stroking against hers in a way that had to be designed to make the top of her head explode.

He used his grip on her hair to tilt her head back and kiss down her neck. “If I was a better man, I’d leave you alone.”

She didn’t have words to respond, not with him tracing her nipple through her shirt with his thumb. Hope moaned and pulled him closer, trying to think clearly enough to know what to say—or not to say—that would ensure this didn’t stop. Then his free hand slid beneath her shirt and she forgot about talking at all.

“No goddamn bra.” He cupped her breast, his calluses creating delicious friction against her nipple. “What the hell were you thinking, showing up here with no bra?”

This, at least, she knew how to deal with, even if she was out of practice. Hope lifted her chin and met his gaze, half sure she was imagining the possessive look she found there. “I’m not wearing panties, either.”

“What. The. Fuck?” Immediately, he fisted the fabric of her skirt, lifting it high against her thighs and sliding his hand between her legs. “Christ, darling, you really know how to send a man to his knees.” He cupped her, his fingers sliding through her wetness but not penetrating her. It felt so good, but not nearly good enough, all at the same time. “But then, you always did.”

At their feet, Ollie yipped, breaking the spell. Daniel exhaled a harsh breath. “This is a mistake.”

It was. She knew that, and she didn’t care. This would never happen again, and knowing that made her feel totally and completely out of control. Here in this moment, nothing seemed real but them, and she wasn’t ready for it to end. Not yet. She covered his hand with her own, holding him in place. “Danny, please.” She licked her lips. “Please don’t stop.”

…

Daniel couldn’t deny her if he wanted to—and he sure as fuck didn’t want to. He ignored the pup at his feet and pushed a finger into her, watching her face. She clenched around him, her inhaled breath the sweetest thing he’d ever heard. He pumped gently, feeling anything but, trying to remember to take it slow. She was hot and tight and already drenched, her breasts rising and falling with each exhale.

“Danny…” She cupped him through his jeans. “Now.”

This was so damn wrong. It had never been like this with them. Hot beyond belief, yes. But not quick, not rushed, not harsh in any way. But harsh was the only thing Daniel knew anymore.

He kept pumping, spreading her with his fingers while he used his free hand to undo his jeans. His cock sprang free, and it took everything he had to pause. “Hold on, darling.” He grabbed his wallet out of his back pocket, riffling through it for the condom he’d put there…at some point. He hesitated. “Damn, it’s been—”

“I don’t care. Put it on.” She kissed him, reaching between them to stroke him once, twice, a third time, until he had to get the fucking condom on or he was going to come in her hand. If he was going to get one more shot at being inside Hope Moore, he wasn’t going to ruin it.

He tore open the condom wrapper with his teeth, refusing to stop touching her, though he had to let go for a second to roll the damn thing on. It took too long, but he had both hands free when he was done, and she’d kept her skirt lifted for him. Good girl. He stepped into her, pressing her against the wall. It struck him again that this was twelve different kinds of wrong to be doing her against the wall of his best friend’s house, but he was too far gone to care.

Hope kissed him, hopping up and putting her legs around his waist, and that was that. He adjusted his angle and pushed into her, his entire body shaking at the feeling of her pussy clamped so tightly around him. “Jesus, darling. I’d convinced myself I’d imagined how good you feel.” He cupped her ass, lifting her up and slamming her down onto his cock.

I missed this. I missed you.

Even in the throes, he couldn’t say it aloud. She wasn’t staying, and he had no business throwing their past in her face. Stop thinking and just enjoy this, damn it. He kissed her, giving himself over to the feel of her thighs squeezing his hips, her nails digging into the back of his neck, the breathy little moans that she made in the back of her throat. All too soon, her body tightened around him, her pussy milking him as she came with a soft cry. Daniel tried to hold on, to prolong it, to keep going, but it was too good. He pinned her against the wall and pounded into her, urged on by the building pressure in his balls. He came with a curse that damn near buckled his knees and caught himself against the rough wood.

Long seconds ticked past, their breathing slowly returning to something resembling normal. He ran a hand over her ass and down her thigh, pausing when the skin changed just above her knee, becoming rough and almost twisted.

Hope jumped like he’d electrocuted her. “Oh, God.” She shimmied until he set her on her feet, quickly stepping away from him and adjusting her clothing.

He hated that, though he didn’t blame her. He couldn’t get the feeling of that scarred skin out of his head, and the knowledge that he’d been the one responsible sat heavy in his chest. He took a step back and went to get rid of the condom.

Daniel knew something was wrong the second he touched his cock. He pulled the condom off—the ripped condom. “Oh, shit.”