Chapter Eleven – Haley

Buck was a gift. All wrapped up in an incredible body, with a wonderful sense of humor.

His mouth, soft and yet firm, moved against hers, his tongue sliding along her lower lip and she opened her mouth, sucking on his tongue before he pulled back and nipped her bottom lip. “I should get this done.”

“You should. I don’t think Mr. Monroe will accept you as an excuse for being late.” She let him go and went back to folding her laundry while Buck stood on one of the kitchen chairs and looked at the water damage in the ceiling.

“Well, he should. I’m the best excuse you’re ever going to have.” He took a flashlight out of the tool belt he’d clipped on and shone it at the ceiling. Placing his hand on the wooden supports and the floorboards above his head, he examined the extent of the needed repair.

“How does it look?” she asked, hoping his reply would be positive.

“It still needs to dry out some more, but it should be okay for us to repair tomorrow.” He finished looking and then switched off the flashlight. “We can check it again before we start work. If it’s not dry, you might have to spend another might at Tiana’s.”

“As long as it’s not in a tent, I’m good with that.” She smiled at him as he got down. “I swear I have a bruise on my hip from tree root poking through the foam mattress.”

He jumped down off the chair. “I have a bed you can share.”

“That sounds like a plan.” She kissed him then went back to her laundry. “Do you need a hand with the tire?”

“I can handle it, thanks.” Buck collected his tools. “Are you ready to leave?”

“No, I have a couple more chores to take care of. You go ahead. I’ll follow when I’m done.” She watched him as he left the house. She wished he could use her hands instead, but that would have to wait until tonight.

Then she would be his once more.

Haley turned her full attention to her chores. However, her brain wanted to constantly conjure up images of Buck. How did she get so lucky?

He was everything she could ever want. And more.

Buck was the kind of man who knew how to take care of a woman, but also knew how to let a woman take care of herself. He’d be there when he needed her and cheering alongside her when she didn’t.

Folding the last of the laundry, she went upstairs and put it all way, before cleaning the bathroom and vacuuming through the house. A glance out of the window had shown her Buck changing his tire. Although she longed to go to him, she wanted the house cleaned from top to bottom. It was almost like she was building a nest, making it comfortable for her family.

Haley’s thoughts turned to the house Buck wanted to build. That would be one hell of a nest.

How would she feel working alongside him, though? Giving up her job at the restaurant would be like giving up her independence. Or was she simply afraid of giving up her security blanket? Working at the restaurant was safe.

“Time to step out of your comfort zone.”

“I can help you with that.” Harrison’s voice filled her with dread. He stood leaning back against the counter, a cup of coffee in his hand.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Haley asked, resisting the urge to grab hold of the countertop to steady herself. Her knees were like water, her blood like ice in her veins and her lungs seemed to have lost the ability to draw in air.

“I came to check up on my girls.” He sipped his coffee as if he belonged.

He didn’t, and she planned to make damn sure he knew it.

“They aren’t here. So get out,” she spat.

He pushed off from the counter and circled toward her. Haley stood her ground. She would not let him intimidate her. She no longer feared him.

So why did her hand tremble as she brushed her hair back from her face?

“You’re my girl, Haley.” She hated the way he said it, so sickly sweet.

“No, I’m not. I haven’t been your girl for a long time. I asked you to leave.”

“No, you demanded I leave.” He put his hand to his chest. “And that wounded me. After all we shared. You carried my babies in your womb, I held your hand while you gave birth. We have an emotional connection.”

“You severed that connection when you hit me.” She took a step toward the door. If he wanted her, he’d follow and the closer she was to the front door, the easier it would be to get him out of her house. And he was going. She just wasn’t sure how she was going to make him.

“That was a mistake. I admit it. But you are still my wife.” He didn’t follow, he simply stood sipping his coffee, framed in the doorway of her kitchen where only minutes earlier she and Buck had stood talking about their future. Harrison was her past and she didn’t want him invading her privacy or her life.

“We’re divorced. Remember?”

“Not in my eyes. You promised me until death do us part.” He placed his hand over his heart. “I’m still alive. And so are you.”

“Get out, Harrison. We’re done.”

“No, we’re not.” He took two quick steps toward her.

His attempt to frighten her failed, this was one of his many tactics meant to intimidate her. Well, it wouldn’t work this time.

Haley put her hand up in front of her and yelled, “Stop!”

He did, the tone of her voice unexpected. “I wasn’t going to hurt you.”

“So you always say.” She glared at him, willing him to leave, to disappear from her life. “Right before you hit me.”

“I’ve changed.” He held up his hands as if protesting his innocence.

“Prove it. Leave.”

“But then I wouldn’t be able to warn you about that man of yours.” Harrison’s voice so friendly, as if he were doing her a favor, alarmed her more than his quick advance.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” There was no way she was going to discuss her private life with Harrison. It was none of his business, although he seemed to think otherwise.

“It is my business when he is a threat to my girls.” Harrison inched closer. Haley didn’t flinch. He was an expert at mind games, but Haley had learned to play them well.

“He’s no threat to anything other than your ego,” she retorted, taking a couple of steps back and lifting her hand to the door, ready to open it and call for help if she needed to. But she hated the idea of Buck being caught up in Harrison’s sticky web. “Why don’t we ask him?”

“Do you really want to do that?” Harrison didn’t advance, he didn’t try to stop her. “Or do you want me to tell you who the man in your bed really is?”

Her heart skipped a beat. Not because of what he was implying about Buck, but because he knew they were sleeping together. Had he spied on them, or was he simply looking for a reaction? “I know who he is.”

“No, you don’t. Not really.” He gave her a sympathetic smile. “Poor, poor Haley. Made the wrong choice again. How does it feel to be such a bad judge of men?”

She let out a long breath. “Get out.” She sounded bored. “I don’t care what you have to say. I just want you to leave. If not, you’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”

“Or you’ll be hearing from mine. I can’t have my kids being around a man who beats women. Isn’t that what you said?” he taunted.

“About you, yes.” She pressed her lips together to stop herself from saying more. Harrison wasn’t worth her time.

“And yet you’ve shacked up with a man who has been accused of beating up a woman. It seems you have a type. What would the courts think of that?” He smiled benevolently. “I’ll see myself out.”

“Make sure you shut the door behind you,” Haley called, but didn’t follow, she didn’t trust her legs to work. His accusations about Buck shook her to the core, even if they were just his way of trashing Buck.

Turning around, he made his way back out through the kitchen, heading for the back door. But before he left, he turned and said, “Google him if you don’t believe me. It’s all there online.”

With that, he left.

Haley stared at the door for several minutes, unable to move. What the hell did Harrison want from this, other than to ruin her newfound happiness? More to the point, how did he know about Buck since they’d only known each other for just over twenty-four hours? Had Alicia or Marie told him?

Did it really matter? That was the question it all came down to. Did it matter if Harrison knew?

A knock at the door made her jump and she swung around, yanking it open, her face pale as she locked eyes with Buck. “Are you okay? I thought I heard you shouting.”

“Yes.” She passed her hand over her face. “No.”

She crumpled, the residual tension of her meeting with Harrison catching up with her and dragging her down into a pit of anger and resentment. He was trying to ruin her life once more.

Buck’s strong arms caught her, and he held her close, while she slumped against him. “What happened?”

“Harrison was here.” She watched his expression cloud over until he looked like a thunderstorm rolling down off the mountains. His hands tightened around her waist and his eyes scanned the house for any sign of her ex-husband. “He’s gone.”

“What did he want?” Buck asked as he let out a pent-up breath and eased his hold on her.

“I don’t know what his motives were.” Haley didn’t want to repeat the rumor Harrison had planted in her brain. But she needed to hear Buck’s denial. “He said you were accused of beating up a woman.”

Buck’s sharp intake of breath alarmed her. But not as much as when he let her go and walked away from her, pacing the hallway like a caged lion. Her heartbeat increased as Buck kept his eyes averted, not wanting to look at her, not wanting to contradict Harrison’s words.

She knew the answer before he opened his mouth to speak. “It’s true. I was accused of beating up a woman.” He put his hands on his hips and stared up at the ceiling. “Krella Josovich.”

Haley reached out and placed her hand on the wall, needing its solid support as she fought to comprehend what Buck was saying. All those promises, all the trust she’d put in him, all for nothing. She didn’t care if she was his mate, she could not live with a man who had raised his fists to another woman.

“I think you should go.” Her strangled voice was barely audible as she closed her eyes. Her happy ending was fading away and she hated the devastating disappointment that threatened to sweep over her.

“No.” Buck swung around, his face contorted in agony. “You don’t understand.”

“There is no excuse for hitting anyone, let alone a woman.” She abhorred violence in all forms, but a man, especially one as big and strong as Buck, should never hit a woman.

“I didn’t,” he blurted out. “You have to believe me, I didn’t.”

She shook her head. “Buck…”

“Please, Haley.” He came toward her. She didn’t move, she didn’t run, because the expression in his eyes told her he was telling her the truth. “Krella accused me of hitting her, but I never did, I swear.”

“I want to believe you, Buck.”

“Then believe me. I’ll do whatever it takes to prove my innocence.” Haley had never seen a man more determined. And she had never been more determined to believe a person.

But she needed space. Time to think.