Kimberley Troutte - Forbidden Lovers

But, heaven help her, she missed passion. And being touched. Sheesh, when Captain whispered in her ear and touched her cheek, she’d all but combusted. When he’d fed her and laced his fingers with hers, she felt...cherished.

Which was a big batch of crazy mole. A man she’d just met couldn’t adore her like Matt had.

Captain was a hot pilot who’d happened to land on her doorstep. For tonight only. He was a good choice for a few hours of passion, no doubt about it. As long as she kept her memories from jumping out right and left to attack her heart. The bike, the garden where they used to walk hand in hand, the gazebo where she’d received her first kiss... Matt was everywhere.

The first year after he’d died, she’d seen him in every guy’s face, every swagger. She’d heard him calling her at night and would run outside in her pajamas to find an empty yard. It had taken a long time to get control of her desperate imagination and yet here it was bringing Matt along on the first real date she’d had in years. It wasn’t fair to her date or to her.

How could she tell Captain he walked like her old boyfriend? Sort of smelled like him. And his voice, although deeper, had the same cadence. When he touched her cheek, she’d closed her eyes and Captain was Matt. Gah! She couldn’t tell him that .

The only difference was the way he drove the motorcycle. Matt would’ve taken those curves faster and leaned in like he was one with the machine. This guy was far too safe on the bike for her liking.

But she did like him. He was sexy, strong, gentle...and did she say sexy? Plus, when he’d admitted he didn’t have anyone, her heart had puddled in her chest. Her instincts were to reach out and pull him under her wing like she did all strays. She sensed a deep sadness in him. Maybe because she was sad, too.

If she had a hot man to heat up her sheets for a while, maybe she could forget about the deep chasm in her heart that refused to heal. Captain was just here for a few days. She couldn’t keep him. No, this connection with him was about one hot night.

I’m definitely going to learn his moves.

“Ready to be blown away?” he asked, his hand on a door handle.

The sounds of music and people were coming from the other side of that door. She knew what she’d see when he opened it—the grand hall. The last time she’d been in there she’d danced with Matt during his seventeenth birthday party. Well, she was dancing and he was crunching her toes. She’d had to throw her sandals away after the party. Bruised toes and broken shoes hadn’t mattered one bit because that night he’d told her he loved her.

Pressure built behind her eyes. No. Stop. Matt is gone.

“Julia?”

She let out a deep breath and fixed her harlot blouse. “Show me what you’ve got, Captain.”

“That’s my girl.” He threw the doors open wide.

Five

“The music’s getting loud downstairs.” RW poured champagne into a crystal flute and handed it to Angel. “To you, my darling.”

She clinked her glass with his water bottle. “To second chances.”

He’d toast to that. She was his second chance, even if she didn’t want to be. Couldn’t be because she was his therapist. He’d never known what it felt like for someone to understand him, to see his inner demons and not run away.

Angel had saved his life, plain and simple, and now she pushed him toward the final phase of his therapy. Together they had hatched up an intricate plan designed to heal all the wounds created by his illness. He didn’t think the plan would work, but for her, he would try.

After her first sip she asked, “Did they all come?”

“Chloe and Jeffrey arrived this morning. I haven’t seen Matthew yet, but the staff tells me he’s around. I’m waiting for him to make his presence known.” RW tried to relax his fist. He was holding his bottle too tightly. The veins in his neck were pounding. “I’m sure however he chooses to arrive, it will be a showstopper.”

“Give him time. He’ll come around.”

“Maybe. He’s a Harper, after all. We’re all a bit bullheaded.”

“Don’t I know it.” She winked at him. Playful and sweet. He’d be lost without this woman.

“You’ve changed me. You see that now, don’t you?”

She eyed him. “Well, you do look as handsome as a pirate.”

Not what he meant. He wanted to press her, ask if she’d thought about his offer again. But his instincts said to wait and give her time to consider it. Consider them.

She drank the last of her champagne and put the glass on the marble table. “All right, pirate. Go down to your party. Just remember the plan. It’ll work.”

“What if it happens again?” He swallowed hard, not wanting to remember how he used to be, unable to stop.

She put a cool hand on his. “It won’t.”

When she smiled up at him, the gnawing, twisting thing in his gut eased. She was the only one who could calm him. With her by his side, he dared to believe he was ready to put the plan in motion and call his children home. He touched her bare shoulder with the back of his knuckle. God, she was so soft, so perfect. “Will you stay?”

“I shouldn’t.”

“Why? I invited the whole town. No one will put two and two together. Plus, I bought the pirate costume for you. You’ll be unrecognizable.”

She rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Can’t take the chance.”

The darkness swirled inside, yanking on him, trying to drag him under. His voice came out broken and raw. “I can’t do this without you, Angel. Please.”

RW Harper didn’t beg but everything had changed when Angel came into his life.

Her gaze met his. He could only assume she saw his demons, the ones that had nearly killed him and all he loved. The ones she was fighting to destroy. That had to be the reason she dipped her head in affirmation. Because she didn’t love him, couldn’t love him. And soon, after the plan was complete, she’d leave.

If he didn’t get stronger, that thought alone would end him.

Six

Julia gasped when Captain pulled her into the crowded hall. It looked the same as it had for Matt’s birthday party ten years ago. Her chest squeezed so hard that breathing hurt. Everything ached. She felt small, ragged.

She pulled her hand from his. “I have to go.”

He faced her and probably saw full-fledged anguish in her eyes. Instead of letting her go, he stepped into her space. He put his hands on her shoulders and said, “No one will hurt you here. I promise. Please stay.”

He lied. She was already hurting, big-time. “You don’t understand.”

A trumpet blast made her jump. The band struck up a beat and the singers started in on one of her favorite songs.

“Think of the birds you want to save. Plus...” Captain crooked his finger at her. “I can’t show you my moves if you won’t step onto the dance floor with me.”

She bit her lip. The plovers needed her. She did love this song.

And she wanted this man.

Julia gave him her hand and let him lead her in. “This song is really good for—”

He spun her under his arm. “Salsa. Relax, I’ve got this.” And just like that she was dancing with a pirate.

Barely twenty seconds into the song, she realized she’d met her match. Everyone was watching, but Captain hadn’t stopped watching her. It gave her a zing up her spine to be the focus of his attention.

“You dance well.” She meant it as a compliment. So why did her voice dip with sorrow?

Because part of her wanted to believe that somehow Captain was Matt reincarnate. The way he danced destroyed all hope. Matt could barely move his feet to a beat while her date danced salsa like he’d had years of practice. He wasn’t her boy. It was time to let Matt go for good and enjoy this hot man who’d dropped in for a night.