Making a Comeback. Kristina Mathews

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СКАЧАТЬ reached up and swiped a strand of hair that had stuck in the ointment on her face, tucking it behind her ear. His long, strong fingers lingered there, in that delicate spot, before sliding down her jaw line. He lifted her chin just enough to make her look into his eyes. Desire blazed in the green-gold depths before he leaned closer and kissed her.

      His lips were soft, playing hers tentatively, as if he was searching for the right note. But once he found it, he plunged wholeheartedly, finding the rhythm, making her body sing.

      She moved with him, picking up on the unsung music of his lips. Sweet harmony thrummed through her body. His hands rested on her hips as he deepened the kiss. She pressed against him, and he slipped his hands beneath her shirt. He stroked her lightly, her skin on fire as he moved his hands higher and higher. His grip tightened as he moved toward her breasts. His right hand grazed her ribcage and she groaned as pain shot through her.

      “Oh, Annabelle.” He dropped his hands. “I’m so sorry. I hurt you.”

      “It’s okay.” She wanted to deny it, but the bruised ribs throbbed in a way that was as far from sexy as she could imagine. She eased away from him, grimacing at the pain and the embarrassment of leading him on.

      “No. It’s not.” He heaved a heavy sigh and raked his hands through his hair. “I should go.”

      “No. Please. I need you to stay.” She tried to smooth her T-shirt back into place. But it hurt. Almost as much as her heart. She wanted this man. This near-stranger who sang like an angel and kissed like the devil and did her dishes and looked after her daughters. She wanted him, but she couldn’t have him. Not when her body was bruised, and her head was befuddled, and her divorce wasn’t yet final.

      “You’re so beautiful.” He looked at her, his gaze taking in every inch of her, lingering on her breasts before resting on her face. “You’re so beautiful it hurts. I knew I couldn’t trust myself around you.”

      “My children trust you.” She couldn’t let him walk away so easily. “I trust you with them.”

      “I would never hurt Sophie or Olivia.” There was a desperate honesty in his voice. “But you… God, Annabelle, you’re every fantasy I’ve ever had.”

      “So you do use my magazines?” She laughed. For the last ten years, she’d been trying to convince herself that the idea of strangers getting their kicks while looking at her magazine covers was just a myth. That there weren’t men or boys using her picture to fuel their fantasies. But this man had admitted it.

      “I don’t need the magazines.” He reached a trembling hand to touch her knee, almost as if he was making sure she was real. “Your face is burned into my soul.”

      “Oh.”

      “Do you know how many times I’ve slept with a woman and pretended she was you?”

      “I don’t think I want to know.”

      “You’re right. You don’t.” He closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch, letting out a frustrated groan.

      “I should get to bed.” She pushed herself off the couch, but swayed with a rush of dizziness.

      “Let me help you.” Cooper stood, taking her arm and steadying her. “I’m here to help you heal. That’s all. I can’t be anything more.”

      She nodded, somehow knowing he was lying to both of them.

      * * * *

      Too bad he’d never been a Boy Scout, then he’d know how to help a woman up the stairs without wanting something for himself. He tried to think of the last time he’d done something, anything, without expecting something in return. Even his long-standing work with the Harrison Foundation had been more about furthering his career than helping kids. He did the pitching clinics to endear himself to the community and the organization, not because he thought a week spent with him and his teammates would give some poor kid a shot at making it as a ballplayer.

      When he donated large sums of money to various charities, he considered it part of his job. The team and the league had their pet causes and he’d wanted to be seen as a team player. A Goliath on and off the field. The tax write-offs helped, too.

      So, it was hard to convince himself he was helping Annabelle just to be neighborly. He wanted something from her. Wanted it real bad. So it was perfectly fitting to find himself guiding her to her bed, knowing full well he couldn’t join her.

      Penance. That had to be what this was, payback for all the selfish shit he’d pulled in his life. He’d never been a particularly religious man, but he couldn’t help but wonder if there was some higher plan in delivering the one woman he’d always wanted to the house next door. There was a catch, of course. The pretty packaging came with a warning. Fragile. But wait, there’s more! Two vulnerable little girls, innocent children who’d already been subject to the breakup of their parents’ marriage, a move, and the scare of finding their mother in a hospital bed with tubes in her arms and bandages on her head.

      Annabelle Jones was most certainly payback for all the things in his life that Cooper had gotten so easily. Pretty much everything he’d ever wanted, and a whole lot he didn’t. He’d been given more than his fair share.

      And now, as he tucked Annabelle into her bed, he realized the irony.

      “Can I get you anything?” He was going to give if it killed him.

      “No.” She shook her head, wincing at the effort.

      “Okay, then.” He stood, ready to go to the guest room and stare at the ceiling all night.

      “Wait.” She sat up. “Could you bring me a glass of water?”

      “Sure. No problem.” He inched toward the door.

      “And could you…” Her cheeks tinged pink, making her look almost angelic. “Could you sing to me? Like you did for the girls?”

      “Sure.” Angelic. Devilish. Either way, she was torture. “Water and a song.”

      He went downstairs for his guitar and a glass of water.

      When he got back to Annabelle’s room, she was already asleep. He set the water glass on the bedside table and watched her for a little longer than was healthy. Kissing her had been a mistake. She’d been hotter and sweeter than any of his fantasies. He’d never get the taste of her out of his system.

      A cry from down the hall startled him. He crept quickly and quietly to the room the twins shared.

      “Mommy! Mommy! Don’t die.” One of the girls cried out in her sleep. He could just make out the image of Olivia tossing and turning in her pink bed.

      “Shhh. It’s okay.” Cooper knelt next to her bed. “Mommy’s sleeping. She’s fine, she’s going to be just fine.”

      Olivia sat up, blinked a few times, and then threw her arms around his neck. “Mommy’s car was on fire.”

      She buried her sobs in his neck.

      “It was just a dream.” He patted her back and spoke gently. “Just a dream, sweetheart.”

      Slowly, her sobs subsided. СКАЧАТЬ