What The Heart Finds (19 page)

He went halfway down the
stairs, dropping down on one and putting his head in his hands. She
really was driving him crazy. It was hard enough to try to handle
himself around her when he had to go out of his way to get to her.
But having her right there in his house, wearing his clothes, without
anything underneath... Eric sighed.

It was an unexpected turn
of events.

The last thing he had
expected when he went downstairs that morning was Lena sitting there.
Curled up into herself against the wall with all of her belongings
with her. And when she had looked up with her devastated,
tear-stained face, her puffy, defeated eyes... he had never felt such
a surge of protectiveness as he did then. Every bit of him wanted to
lock her away and stand guard, keeping whatever was hurting her as
far away as possible.

But there was no
protecting her from herself. From her own ambition. From her
demanding boss. From her absurd mission for being in Stars Landing.

It would be okay. One day
the truth would come out about Elliott, and everyone would have a
laugh, roll their eyes, and say love made people do crazy things. It
would blow over. But when? Certainly not before he got her car fixed
and she ran the hell out of there and never looked back.

And there where would he
be?

Eric shook his head,
standing up. What the hell did he mean where would be be? He would be
right there, where he always was, looking for another woman to chase
around.

A nagging voice in the
back of his mind started whispering about things never being the
same. A voice which he was trying his best to ignore.

Maybe he should talk to
Emily himself, explain what was really going on. She would still be
fuming. But not at Lena. She would be furious that someone was trying
to buy her inn out from under her. But maybe if he spoke to her, the
awkwardness could be avoided. Lena would be furious though, and he
pushed the idea away.

And, he guessed from the
way she looked coming back from the market, maybe things had already
started to spiral out of control. He walked out of the garage, going
straight for Hank's store, curious to see if he could catch any of
what it was that made her so upset.

It didn't take more than
a minute or two for him to start hearing the stories. How she was a
criminal. How she tried too hard to cover it up with all her “rich
bitch” clothes. How she had somehow conned Eric into taking her
in. Probably whoring herself for a place to stay.”

Eric walked into the
aisle, finding a small group of ladies talking in a semi-circle.
“Ladies,” he said, raising a brow, his mouth set in a
severe frown. “retract your claws,” he warned and they
looked over at him with guilty faces. “or maybe some new...
very very private rumors will start flying around this town,”
he said, his eyes meeting a few of theirs meaningfully. “Don't
talk about shit you know nothing about,” he said, walking
toward the exit. He saw Hank standing by the door, his face a mix of
surprise and confusion. “I expected better from you,”
Eric said, passing him by without looking at him.

Sixteen

Eric went to work on her
car once he got back, throwing himself into work, trying to forget
about the small-mindedness in the town. How do you go from a possible
identity crime issue to assuming someone was prostituting themselves
for a place to stay? How does the mind jump around like that?

No wonder Lena had looked
so upset when she had run into him. If she had caught any of the lies
that were flying around, it wasn't going to sit well on her no matter
how much she tried to deny her feelings.

He wondered where that
defense mechanism came from. Was it some kind of shield she learned
in childhood? She'd told him that she had grown up in a bad area
with druggies all around. Maybe she had needed to come off as hard
and emotionless to get through.

Or maybe it was because
of work. Working at Elliott's company was demanding and relentless.
He had heard the stories about how hard Hannah had worked when she
had first started there, practically living at the office, barely
sleeping. And Lena had plans on moving up in the company. Which must
have required a huge amount of discipline and commitment. Maybe there
just wasn't any room left for emotions.

Around dinnertime, he
gave up on the car for the day and made his way up the stairs,
figuring he had given her enough time to pull herself together. He
stood outside the door for a moment, hearing music. Eric smiled at
the closed door. She had found his record player and put it on to the
radio on some top-forty station, the music throbbing and upbeat.

Curious, he pushed the
door open. Lena was in the kitchen, her back to him, arms wrapped
around a bowl, stirring the contents. She was moving her hips around
in sexy little circles, his pants slipping low on her hips, revealing
an inch of skin between her shirt and the waistband. Her hair was
pulled back in a careless loose ponytail, bouncing around as she
danced. And, he realized, smiling broadly, leaning against the door
jam, she was singing. Loud and slightly off key, but utterly
charming... lost in her own little world.

He stood watching as the
song slowly died down and the radio personality started talking. He
watched her put down the bowl and reach for a pan underneath the oven
and cleared his throat quietly.

Lena shot back up, a
sheet pan in her hands, her eyes wide, embarrassed. “How long
have you been standing there?” she asked, putting the pan down,
pulling right back inside herself.

“Oh, somewhere
around the first 'and I'm free',” he said, smiling at her.

Lena's closed her eyes,
bringing a hand up and rubbing her her forehead. “Well that's
embarrassing.”

Eric pushed off the door
frame and moved in to the kitchen, shaking his head. “No. It
was sexy as hell,” he countered.

“Oh, god. No.
Don't,” she said, a strange, awkward smile on her face.

“Come here,”
he said, resting his hands against the counter behind him.

Lena looked over at him,
shaking her head. Nope. No. That would be a very bad idea. But then
he crooked a finger at her and she couldn't seem to stop herself from
going to him.

Eric's hands went out,
sitting on her hips, but keeping her several inches from his body. He
waited a moment for her hazel eyes to find his before he spoke.
“Lena,” he said, his voice patient, almost lecturing.
“you are incredibly sexy whether you want to admit that or
not.” Her eyes rolled, but she smiled and he let go of her
hips. “So are you making me dinner?”

Lena's eyes got comically
wide as she turned around and saw the pasta and sauce on the counter.
That was supposed to be the plan. She had totally meant to boil water
and make spaghetti for dinner. It was the least she could do. But
then she had gotten distracted by all of the baking supplies. All the
cool recipes she had been dying to try.

“What's the
matter?”

“I forgot,”
she said, her voice sounding apologetic. “I meant to cook
spaghetti,” she said, turning to him, biting her lip. “I'm
sorry.”

Eric's brows drew
together, confused. “Why are you sorry? I wasn't expecting you
to cook for me, Lena. But... what are you making then?”

“I'm baking,”
Lena declared, her eyes brightening up, looking almost completely
green.

Eric smiled, a big almost
goofy smile. “Well, I can have desserts for dinner. I'm all
grown up now,” he said. “no one can tell me no.”

Lena's face broke into a
happy smile. “Great,” she said, excited.

“So what are you
baking?”

“Oh,” she
said, moving over to the oven. “well, first I made apple
turnovers,” she said, pulling them out of the oven. “I
still have to ice them but they're cooked.”

Eric walked up behind
her, looking over her shoulder. “Don't tell Annabelle,”
he said, reaching up and tugging on her ponytail. “there would
be none left.” He moved away, going to the sink and scrubbing
at his hands. “What else?”

“Chocolate java
cake and praline apple bread. Oh, and chocolate chip cookies but you
cant have those.”

“Why not?”

“They're for your
brother's store. The ones he had the last time I was in there were
sad.”

“You know you don't
have to... bribe him. He's not the gossiping kind. He stays out of
the town business.”

Lena shrugged. It had
sort-of been her plan. She was having a really hard time accepting
that some of the people in town were looking at her differently.
Especially Liam. “I know... I just...” she struggled to
find the words, Eric wiping his hands on a towel and watching her. “I
don't want him to think badly of me I guess.”

“Awe baby,”
Eric said,shaking his head. “he doesn't. I promise.”

Lena turned back to her
apple turnovers, pouring the icing into a plastic bag and snipping
off the tip so she could drip it across the tops. “Regardless...”
she said. “will you please bring him the cookies after dinner?”

“Why don't you...”

“No,” she
said quickly, the word panicked. “No. I'm not leaving the
apartment again,” she said firmly. “So please...”

“I'll drop them,”
he agreed quickly. “I'm gonna go jump in the shower before
everything finishes,” he said and sauntered off toward the
bathroom. Once inside, she heard him chuckle and remembered all of
her clothes strung up on the shower curtain rod. The door clicked
open and Eric called, his voice amused, “What would you like me
to do with all of these panties?”

Lena put her hands over
her eyes. “Oh, god,” she groaned to herself.

She could practically
hear the enjoyment in Eric's voice. “I'll hang them back up
when I'm done. You know... there's a washing machine downstairs in
the office.”

“Yeah 'cause that
makes total sense,” Lena called back.

She tried to focus on
baking. But she kept thinking about the water running in the other
room. About Eric naked under the stream. About walking right in
there, stripping of her clothes, and joining him.

As much as she had tried
to bury the feeling, she was still reeling from that afternoon. His
hands driving her crazy then the abrupt end, leaving her frustrated
and antsy. Leaving her with all kinds of sexy fantasies rolling
around her head.

Eric came out from his
shower, black sweatpants slung low on his hips and a tight white
t-shirt, clinging in places where he hadn't completely dried
underneath. His hair was wet, making a strand fall charmingly over
his forehead. He came out, put a pot of coffee on, and went over to
the living room, propping his feet on the coffee table and watching
her.

“Really?” she
asked, raising a brow at him. “You're going to stare at me
while I bake?”

“Well I don't want
to miss out on any more dance numbers.”

“Shut up,”
she laughed, picking up a walnut and throwing it at him.

He picked it up and put
it in his mouth, winking at her. “You need any help?”

“Oh,” she
said, furrowing her brow. He was offering to help her bake? For some
reason, the idea made her almost want to laugh. “Um. No I don't
need any help. But if you want something to do... you could start
putting these ingredients,” she said, holding up a piece of
scrap paper with her handwriting on it. “into a bowl.”

“Yes, ma'am,”
he said, unfolding himself from the couch and moving into the
kitchen.

They worked side by side
for a few minutes, music throbbing from the stereo as they
concentrated on their own individual tasks. Then the music took an
unexpected turn into a slow song. Sensual and thrumming. Eric put his
spoon down, moving toward her and turning her around.

“What are you
doing?” she asked, wiping flour off of her hands.

“Dancing with you,”
he said, putting one hand on her lower back and taking the other in
his hand.

“This is silly,”
she objected, feeling herself pressed up against his strong chest.

“Yep,” he
agreed, moving her around the kitchen. “Not everything has to
be practical, you know,” he said close to her ear. “some
things are just for fun.”

He leaned her
backward,her ponytail brushing the floor, her back arching, Eric's
arm supporting her lower back, her hips pushing into his. He swayed
her back and forth once, bringing a hand up to her neck and moving it
down her body, pressing hard between her breasts and over her belly.

He pulled her back up
slowly, inch by inch, her body pressing back against his. Lena felt
breathless and heavy at once, acutely aware of each inch of their
bodies touching. She pushed herself against him, burying her face in
his neck, breathing in the body wash, the scent clinging to his skin
like a secret they both shared.

The music slowly faded
out, replaced quickly by a commercial and Lena pulled away, turning
back to her bowl of cookie mix, putting her hand on the counter to
steady herself.

Behind her, Eric drew in
one long breath, she could almost feel the tension coming off his
body. At least she wasn't the only one who was affected every time
they touched. He seemed to be struggling more and more each time they
got into close contact.