Full Circle (6 page)

Heath stood on her porch, the light illuminating his handsome features. She made the mistake of letting her eyes move from his chest downward, finding worn jeans hugging all his glorious parts. A Chicago Cubs T-shirt covered a well-formed chest, making her libido come alive. Oh boy. Even the dark, somewhat dangerous glare he was shooting at her was turning her on.

Her girly parts, parts only he seemed to awaken in her, came alive and begged for attention. Moisture surged between her thighs, dampening her panties, while the rest of her body decided to betray her too. Under his stare her nipples hardened, as if begging for attention. Because of the flimsy fabric, she knew they had to be noticeable. If this was the way her body was going to react every time she saw him it was going to be a long, torturous couple of weeks.

“Heath,” she said, a little breathless. She instructed herself not to shift from foot to foot and give him the impression he had a strong effect on her. But then his scent, all man with a hint of soap, invaded her senses. All hope was lost. “Uh, what are you doing here?”

His scowl turned into a half grin. “You’re the only woman I know who can make a holey T-shirt and gym shorts look downright sexy.”

Oh hell…

Chapter Six

Heath meant it when he told Ellie she made her casual attire look sexy. Legs up to there, a hint of pink lace visible behind one of those holes her shirt boasted. Her nipples were pale peach, large, and succulent. They topped those round breasts so tantalizingly. He blinked to clear the memory and focused on the issue at hand. “Is Mia here?”

Ellie flinched at his tone before stiffening and staring him straight in the eyes. That was his girl. Well, not his girl any longer, but the take-no-prisoners girl he remembered from way back when. The girl who stood up to bullies and championed the underdog. He nearly apologized for his attitude, realizing he’d just fit the former category.

“She’s here.” Ellie didn’t give anything away with her words, but her demeanor spoke volumes. She was pissed at him—and something else.

Heath recognized the signs of arousal in women. He’d seen it often enough, and had been the cause on more occasions than he cared to think about, well aware of his man whore status back home. Ellie’s pupils had dilated and nearly absorbed the whiskey brown of her iris. He took another surreptitious look at where the T-shirt stretched over her breasts and was rewarded with the sight of firm nipples pressing against the material. His jeans were housing a monster poke of their own, and he hastened to speak again before his anger and lust merged and he said or did something he couldn’t take back.

“I’d like to talk to her.” He pulled out his phone and texted Roy that Mia was safe.

“Heath? Why are you here? Did you come to your senses at last and want to see Ellie? Alone? Because I can—”

“I came to find you, munchkin.” Heath cut Mia off as soon as he realized the direction she was headed. Not that he hadn’t considered her implication when Ellie opened the door. But it wasn’t in the cards. He wasn’t going to go that route. “Our old man is upset you didn’t call and you didn’t answer your phone. There’s some guy wandering around out there.”

“She saw him.” Ellie dropped that little gem into the conversation, and Heath’s big brother gene kicked to the surface.

“Where? Did you call the police?” Maybe the fact he hadn’t shouted at his sister, his voice instead so cold and intense, the way he’d honed it because of the interactions in his career, elicited a reaction from both women. Mia paled and Ellie stuttered something about pepper spray.

“No,” Mia squeaked. “He didn’t do anything.”

Heath ran a hand through his hair and barely managed not to pull out a handful. “For sure. Wait until he does and
then
report him. Jesus, Mia. And surely you know better, Ellie.”

“This isn’t like Chicago, Heath.” His sister continued to protest. “I’ll admit it spooked me, seeing him because he’s big and unkempt, but he—”

“I know. He didn’t
do anything
.” Give him strength. “We’ll talk about it later. Or rather, you and Roy will talk about it. C’mon. I’ll take you home.” He glanced at Ellie who stood quietly watching them both, her lips pressed together tightly. “I told Melissa I wouldn’t be long.”

In actuality, he’d left Melissa with a wave and a suggestion she and Renee chat while he went in search of his wayward sister. He was pretty sure she’d be at Ellie’s and didn’t want Melissa anywhere near her.

Mia frowned but then shrugged. “I’ll get my stuff.”

“Better you don’t leave your … girlfriend too long. Or I’d ask you in for a drink.” Ellie inched backward.

Heath forced his rebuttal back down his throat where it belonged. There had been jealousy behind that sarcastic comment about Melissa, and maybe some wishful thinking. He badly wanted to tell Ellie that his “girlfriend” could wait, that women waited on him willingly, and he’d have that drink. A stupid part of him wanted to lay those damn cards out on the table, confront her with her perfidy of thirteen years, three months and … eleven days ago. He wanted to ask her why she’d cheated on him, ask her what happened to the baby, and above all, ask why she hadn’t simply told him. He liked to believe he’d have been man enough to figure it out with her if only she’d told him, and he wouldn’t have hit the road because of his pride and humiliation. Instead, he sniped back. “Probably better you and I don’t spend any time together. It might give people around here ideas, not to mention you might want to work your wiles again.”

“Heath!” Mia scrambled in front of him and punched him in the belly. If he didn’t work out every day she’d have doubled him over. As it was, her fist freaking hurt. When she followed it with a left, he caught her hand and lowered it to her side. She glared at him.

“If working my wiles would mean being willing to share my body with you and giving you my heart again, Heath, then you’re safe. I’m hardly that stupid—or masochistic. Lock up after yourself, Mia.” Ellie made a dignified exit, but not before he marked her pallor and the tears standing in her eyes.

“You’re an asshole.” Mia’s accusation hardly penetrated as he stared after Ellie’s retreating form. Her body? Not quite all of it. She’d given that to some other dude. And her heart? Not likely.

“Let’s go. She doesn’t even want me here thanks to you. First time I ever regretted having a brother.” Mia shepherded him out the door like a feisty little border collie and he allowed it. It was preferable to acting the coward and running away. Again.

They walked in silence to the car, and once they were inside and driving to
Bodacious Blooms
, his sister spoke up. “What the hell was that all about? What did Ellie ever do to you to deserve that crack?”

“None of your business.”

“I’m making it my business. My brother comes home after forever and still isn’t willing to forgive dad. Oh, don’t think I didn’t notice, Heath. I bet you haven’t even talked things out. Haven’t even tried. You’re all the family I’ve got, you selfish …” Her tirade faded off as the unmistakable sound of tears made her voice catch. He felt worse than shit.

“I’ll talk to him.” There. Maybe she’d be satisfied.

A gentle press on his forearm told him he’d gained some modicum of forgiveness. But of course Mia pushed her luck. “What happened with Ellie? She’s missed you. And she’s a mess now you’re back.”

How much to share? Did he want to impact her friendship with Ellie in a negative way? “That’s really between her and me, munchin.”

“But she has no idea why you left. I know she thinks she did something wrong but can’t figure it out. At the very least you owe her an explanation. I thought it was because you thought you were too old for her.”

Ellie owed
him
! Not that he’d given her the opportunity. He carefully answered his sister. “It wasn’t that. I learned something she should have told me herself.”

“What?”

“Back off, Mia.”

To his surprise, she obeyed. “Okay. But now that all this time has passed you might want to ask her why she didn’t say anything if it was that serious. I’d be dying of curiosity.”

Making a noncommittal sound, he stopped in front of the flower shop. “I’ll walk you in.”

“But—”

“I’ll walk you.” There was no sign of anyone lurking about or anything suspicious, but he’d feel better, and for sure his dad would.

Mia hugged him at the door, so much smaller than him, and he hugged her back. It appeared all was forgiven, but he knew she hadn’t given up on him and Ellie. Well, once he left she would have to turn her efforts elsewhere.

“See you tomorrow?”

“For sure.” He strode back to the car and climbed into the driver’s seat, cranking the engine over with more force than necessary. Ellie’s face haunted him and he argued with himself for a few minutes, staring out the windshield. Screw it.

It took very little time to make it back to her place. All the windows were darkened except for the one nearest the front door, and he realized Mia had left the light burning when they had made their precipitous exit. He parked in the only available space, locking up and second guessing himself the entire time, before making his way to once again pound on Ellie’s front door.

After an eternity he heard her voice. “Who is it?”

“Heath.”

Another eternity passed, and he speculated Ellie was leaning on the other side of the wooden panels, either planning to ignore him or finding words to send him away. Abruptly, the door flew open and she stood framed against a poster size map of Seaside, clad in the same shirt from earlier and a light pair of pajama bottoms with penguins imprinted on them.

Heath tore his eyes away from the ludicrous black and white birds and made himself meet her eyes. They were red and swollen in a face surrounded by a tangle of brown hair hanging haphazardly over her shoulders. He kept from reaching out to pull her into his arms, to comfort her, with every ounce of willpower he possessed. “Can we talk?”

“About what?”

“Mia thinks I owe you an explanation.”

“Oh, for God’s sake.” Ellie shoved hair off her face and gave him a look he could only describe as scathing. “Mia being up in my business has nothing to do with you.”

True enough, except his sister thought he was a better man than he knew himself to be. Heath took a breath and willed his heartrate to slow. Was this worth it? Worth having what was bound to be a horrible conversation? “Can I come in?”

“No. Say your piece and then go. It’ll make Mia happy and you can head back to Chicago with your head up your ass like the last time.”

What the hell? Who was the injured party here anyhow? “What happened to the baby?”

“Excuse me?” Ellie’s pretty face screwed up in a puzzled frown, and her head tilted to one side. “What baby?”

“You sure you want to do this on the doorstep?” Heath gestured around to the neighboring homes. If Ellie was going to play the innocent he was going to push her, and there were bound to be raised voices.

“Heath, I have no idea what you are talking about.” This time she spoke with exaggerated patience as though he was slightly off in the head. What a fine little actress.

“The baby. Your baby. The one you planned to pass off as mine. I knew about it.”

Those amazing whiskey colored eyes widened, tear clumped lashes touching her eyebrows, and Ellie’s mouth actually dropped open to display her pink tongue and even white teeth.

Heath refused to keep looking at her lips and waited for a response after the impressive display of confusion and shock. How was she going to lie her way out of it? Save her dignity.

She made a little sound of consternation and then her face cleared, delectably full lips closing—then opening again. “I was never pregnant, Heath.” Her voice was quiet but certain.

“Ellie. I saw the letter from the doctor’s office.” He heard the scorn in his voice and she actually flinched.

Shaking her head, she repeated herself. “Never pregnant.”

“Then why was your name on the letter from the doctor?” He couldn’t help it. He nearly yelled the question. He saw the epiphany before she spoke it, written large on her expressive features before it was wiped away with something far less palatable. Her eyes darkened and her lips curled. “I can guess who showed you the letter.”

Heath wasn’t about to throw Katriana under the bus, seeing as she’d saved him from Ellie’s machinations. His bruised pride hurt even now, although there was something else that pained even more. He didn’t have time to puzzle that out before Ellie continued.

“Never mind. I know who it was. Katriana Miller.”

He was careful not to give any indication that her guess was dead on. “It doesn’t matter who showed it to me, Ellie. What matters is—”

“What matters is
she
was the one pregnant, Heath. What matters is that she either posed as me for a pregnancy test or erased her name and inserted mine. What matters the most is the fact you jumped to believe a nasty, conniving bitch and didn’t come to me—not even to confront me, seeing as you actually thought it was true!”

“Ellie!” He felt as though he was a mile beneath the sea and couldn’t breathe, couldn’t swim against the weight of the water, and the surface was too far away to even think he’d make it.

She got right up in his face and he could scent her, green apple shampoo and heated female … and maybe a hint of the wine she and Mia consumed. Her face was flushed with rage and her eyes glittered dark amber. For the first time in his life, Heath warred with a mixture of fear and arousal. He knew the worst was yet to come, and yet he wanted to have sex with this woman in spite of it. How perverse was that?

“You asshole. You thought I was going to pass my nonexistent baby off as yours, trap you into marriage. Nice. Were you always looking for a way out of what we had? Get the hell away from me and stay away.”

He stepped back as if slapped, and she slammed the door in his face, the lock snapping into place with utter finality. Resting his forehead against it, he waited until his legs would be certain to hold him. “Ellie.”

* * * *

It took every fiber of her being to move her body from the front door to her bedroom. Afraid she would give into the crack in Heath’s voice as he called out her name one last time, Ellie knew she needed to put as much distance as possible between them. Not able to make it any farther, she fell on the edge of her bed. Shoulders forward, she buried her head in her hands. Tears leaked from her already swollen eyes. She’d never thought he could break her heart and kill her spirit any worse than he had thirteen years ago when he bailed without an explanation. But he had. His words gutted her, leaving her heart bleeding with pain. Working her
wiles
? At the time she had no idea what he was referring to, but she didn’t like how cold he’d been, so she wasn’t about to ask. Instead she’d done something even more stupid. She broke down. Before she knew what she was saying, she told him everything about how she felt about him. What he’d meant to her. God, she’d thought about what it would feel like to be rid of the burden and give him a piece of her mind. And maybe before now she would’ve if he’d actually come back sooner. She wasn’t in denial. She knew the time would come where they would have to hash everything out, but the time seemed to sneak up on her now that he was here.