Swerve: Boosted Hearts (Volume 1) (8 page)

He should get in his truck and leave, never come back, but he couldn’t make himself go. Instead, he walked back to her bed and climbed in beside her, dragging her in close. He wanted more of her cries, more of her soft body, just more—of everything. She snuggled in, made noises in her sleep that were equally sexy and cute as hell.

He stared up at the ceiling while he smoothed his hand over her waist, down over her ass and back. Getting hard all over again and not trying to stop it.

Fuck that…while he had her, he intended to enjoy the hell out of her.

Shay wrapped her fingers around the thick wrist resting on her hip. The coarse hairs tickled her palm, making her shiver at the sheer masculinity of the man in her bed. On a sigh, she lifted the hand splayed across her belly and scooted out from under him.

She didn’t want to leave the warm cocoon Hugh had created when he’d wrapped himself around her. The whole night, she’d felt small and delicate, safe—but Edna would be up and waiting for her to take Rocky out for his walkies. The dog’s bladder seemed to have a built in timer, and 7:00 a.m. on the dot was taking care of business time. Edna’s arthritis was worse in the morning and evenings, so whenever Shay wasn’t working, she made sure she was around to help out her neighbor. Between Shay and a couple of the other park residents, they had Edna covered.

Scooping up her PJs—that had been knocked to the floor after Hugh had carried her to bed last night and then proceeded to prove his recovery time was as impressive as…well, everything else about the man—she dragged on the shorts then tugged the tank over her head. Looking back at the bed, she felt an achy heat course through her, remembering the things he’d done, the way he’d handled her—the things he’d said.

His big body dwarfed her double bed, feet hanging over the end. Right then, he looked like a huge, hibernating grizzly bear. But sexy…and human. Despite the man’s stature, he wasn’t rough or clumsy; he had full control over his size and strength. Boy, did he have control. Another wave of heat rolled through her. Goodness, he overwhelmed her, turned her on. So much so, the last thing she’d thought about when they were together was the way she looked. A first for her. All she could do when they were together was feel.

She had no idea what had come over her last night. But whatever it was—temporary insanity, maybe—the outcome had been the beginning of a casual affair. For a short time, Hugh Colton was hers.

She wanted him. There was no point denying it. He didn’t want a long-term relationship, and neither did she. She’d sat beside him in the cab of his truck, body throbbing and hot, and she’d reminded herself that Hugh was safe. The men she’d fallen for in the past were his complete opposite, which meant no messy emotions would be getting involved. He was also exciting, enthralling and the most masculine, sexy man she’d ever encountered.

No risk
.

She did another sweep of his body just as he rolled onto his back. He threw one arm over his head, the other coming to rest on his abs. The sheet had dropped low, giving her an unrestricted view of his impressive abdominal muscles…and lower.
Oh, my
. He had his knee bent, one solid thigh exposed, and resting across his lower belly was his thick, very erect penis.

Without thinking, she took a small step toward the bed. She wanted to trace that sexy cross tattoo on his ribs with her tongue, lick him all over, then slide down and take him into her mouth. The sudden urge to climb on top of him, to soak in more of the delicious heat that seemed to radiate off him and have her wicked way, was almost too hard to resist. But then she remembered Edna and Rocky.

Dammit.

Tearing her eyes away, she slid on her flip-flops and tip-toed from the room. Her overheated skin felt tight and tingly, and she was thankful for the hit of cool morning air when she stepped outside.

Edna’s door banged opened before Shay reached it.

“There you are, girl. I didn’t think you were coming.” Edna shuffled forward. “It would’ve been a crying shame if Rocky crapped all over my good rug. I love that rug.”

Edna may have looked like a sweet, little old lady, but she had a mouth like a sailor and a tendency to blurt everything she was thinking.

“Sorry, Edna, I had a late shift last night and slept in.”

Edna cackled and clamped her morning cigarette between her lips. “More like all the hanky-panky goin’ on in your trailer after you got home. At one point, I thought a freight-train was gonna burst through my living room wall.”

Shay felt her face go up in flames. “No, I…”

The sound of her front door opening had her freezing on the spot.

Edna’s gaze moved beyond Shay’s shoulder, eyes going big, mouth dropping open, cigarette dangling perilously from her bottom lip. “Jumping Jehoshaphat,” she whispered.

Shay’s sentiments exactly. She’d had a similar reaction when she’d seen Hugh for the first time. She took Rocky from Edna before she forgot she was holding the dog and dropped him.

“Babe, what’re you doin’ out here?” Hugh asked, his sleep-roughened voice sliding through her, setting off happy tingles all over again.

Tucking the dog under her arm, she turned and stifled a lust-filled moan. His chest was still bare—her gaze dropped—but he’d thankfully pulled on jeans, except he’d left the top button undone, and she couldn’t drag her eyes away from the thick hair peaking from the top.

“Babe?” There was amusement to his voice now.

Forcing herself to lift her gaze, she met his smiling brown eyes. “Yes?”

“Come back to bed.”

Edna thrust her hands forward. “Give me Rocky, girl. I’ll manage his walkies this morning.”

Shay choked out a startled laugh. “Don’t be silly, Edna, and no, you won’t. If you fall down these stairs and break your hip, I’ll never forgive myself. And anyway, I can’t go back to bed; I have to get ready for work.”

Edna took a drag of her smoke. “You’re looking a little flush to me.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Maybe a day in bed would do you good.”

Good lord.
Ignoring them both, Shay strode to the middle of the grassy patch in the center of the trailer park. Setting Rocky down, she held the lead Edna had already attached and waited. The dog did his business quickly. The poor thing had obviously been close to bursting. Picking him back up, she walked back to Edna, who was still standing in her doorway staring at Hugh. Hugh hadn’t moved, either—only his eyes weren’t on Edna, they were on Shay.

She handed over the dog. “I’ll see you after work.”

Edna nodded so enthusiastically, the lose skin hanging from her neck swung back and forth like an empty hammock in the breeze. “You get a better offer, I’ll be fine.” She tilted her head toward Harold’s trailer. “That old coot can help me with Rocky.” Then, with another cackle, she slammed her door shut.

Hugh stepped back so Shay could get inside.

“You gotta work?”

“Yes.” And didn’t that just totally suck. “I need to be there in an hour, so I better get moving.”

“An hour’s plenty of time.” He grabbed her hand when she tried to walk to the bathroom. “Give me fifteen minutes, and I’ll have you screaming my name before your PJs”—he tugged on the silky blue ribbon hanging from the front of her shorts—“hit the floor.”

She didn’t doubt it, and she wanted that…badly. The man had proven he could do it, too, several times. “I can’t.” Her voice came out breathless, needy. “I have to get ready, that’s at least thirty minutes, right there. The walk to work, that’s another thirty. I’m already late.”

His brows dropped. “You’re walking?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I don’t have a car.”

He straightened. “How do you get home from Woody’s?”

“The bus.”

She’d had to sell her car after she lost her job. She hadn’t had much in the way of savings to start with, and when her grandmother died, she’d used what she did have to go toward her funeral costs. Funerals were expensive. She still had two installments left to pay on her loan. Her grandmother was a generous lady, had been her whole life, would give the sweater off her back, and had done so. Shay had seen it with her own eyes. But this also meant her grandmother had left behind some debt, because if someone was in need, Gran gave, even if she didn’t have it to spare.

Her grandmother had also been sweet and funny, and at times a little flighty. That meant she often didn’t plan ahead. Sylvie Freestone had lived life to the fullest, for each day. She didn’t like to think about the future, not for herself, at least. She’d also loved with everything she had. And Shay had loved her right back for it. Finding out her grandmother had somehow scrimped and saved to make sure Shay had gotten the best education possible had been a shock. She couldn’t repay her gran for everything she’d done, but Shay could give her grandmother the best funeral she could afford. And that’s what she’d done. Which meant she had to rely on public transport or walk for the foreseeable future. Considering her grandmother had lived in a trailer her entire life so Shay could go to a private girls’ school and college, it was a small price to pay.

Hugh’s brown eyes bored into hers. “You’re telling me you take the fucking bus at one o’clock in the fucking morning?”

Well, that seemed an excessive and unnecessary amount of cursing over her use of public transport. Also, she sometimes finished at two or three but decided to keep that to herself. “Yes.”

“On your own?”

“Well, yes.”

He bit out another curse. “Only people on buses at one in the morning are crazies and drunks after a night out getting wasted.”

He wasn’t wrong. She’d encountered more than her fair share of both. “It’s fine.” And why he cared or was getting so hot under the collar about it, she had no idea. “I only do it four times a week. I’ve never had any trouble.”

“You working tomorrow?”

“No.”

He stared at her for several seconds, then his posture changed, and he seemed to let go of whatever was getting him so riled up. “I’ll give you a ride to wherever you need to go this morning.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

He fisted the front of her tank at her belly and tugged her forward. “I do if I wanna watch you come. You wanna come, princess?”

Princess.

She felt her face get hot but refused to care. “Yes.”

A grin lifted the corners of his mouth. “Good.”

It was sexy and wicked and had her squeezing her thighs together to relieve the ache.

“We can save time by multi-tasking.”

Then he took her hand and led her to the bathroom.

He was wrong, though, it didn’t take fifteen minutes—it barely took five.

* * *

Shay ran the steamer over a dress to remove the wrinkles then slid it along the rack. She’d spent most of the day in the back of the store. They’d had several deliveries of clothing arrive the day before, and Jane wanted to get them out front as soon as possible, so Shay had spent all morning unpacking, hanging, steaming and pricing to get them ready.

She was kind of glad for the solitude. It meant she had uninterrupted time to relive her night
and
morning before Hugh had dropped her off at work with a deep, hot kiss and a rumbled, “Later, babe”.

God, the man made her weak at the knees and totally destroyed her ability to think clearly whenever he touched her. She’d never felt anything like it. The energy between them felt almost electric.

She’d watched him drive away and only realized when he was out of sight that they hadn’t made any plans. Usually, that type of thing would have had her stressing out. Worried that she’d messed up, put off her date, somehow. But she didn’t have to worry about that with Hugh. That wasn’t what they were about. She knew he was attracted to her, and that was all that mattered. It was freeing. He didn’t owe her anything, any explanations, and she didn’t owe him a thing, either. She was fine with that, too. They were free to do as they pleased, and if they decided to get together again, that was more than fine with her, as well.

It was exciting. Exhilarating.

Fun.

Her grandmother’s voice echoed through her head.
Carpe-that-fucking-Diem, Cupcake.
One of her gran’s favorite sayings. One that never failed to make Shay laugh whenever she said it. And in this instance, Shay couldn’t agree more.

A spark of pleasure shot through her lower belly as she remembered their shower that morning. His big, naked body all wet, muscles rippling as he moved closer, backing her into the corner. The way he’d looked when he dropped to his knees in front of her then lifted her thigh over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing. The way he buried his face between her legs…

Her phone started ringing, startling her from her daydream.

Flicking off the steamer, she grabbed her bag from the small table where they ate their lunch and rummaged around until she found her phone. She checked the screen, and her stomach dropped to the floor.

Mom
.

Alice Freestone was the kind of woman who followed the party, regardless of her responsibilities—and Shay had found out at a very young age, that included her daughter—going wherever it took her. She only had one prerequisite—that someone else was paying. In between parties, or guys willing to pay her way, she liked to play the doting mother. It was all an act, of course, and Shay’s mother had never been a great actress.

She stared at the screen until the phone finally stopped ringing. Guilt niggled, stirring up that edgy feeling she got whenever her mother surfaced.

Dammit
.

She went to shove her phone back into her bag when it started up again. She’d keep calling until Shay answered. Her mother was persistent, which was how she’d secured so many men with bulging bank accounts over the years. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on who she’d been seeing at the time, her mother got bored easily and would move on to her next conquest quickly, and if not, they eventually saw through her and ended the relationship.