Page 26 of Secret Love (The Single Dad Playbook #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

I HOPE YOU’RE HAPPY

TRU

The week drags by and besides being busy with school, and tutoring Cassidy, and hanging out with Earl while I grade papers, it feels like everything is going in slow motion. I miss seeing Henley and yet, I'm nervous to be around him. Nervous that I feel so much so soon. Nervous about his daughters and what it could mean for them. Nervous about how it affects my job, although now that things are going smoothly with Cassidy again, I feel less of that, but it just all feels so big and I’m not used to any of that.

Friday afternoon, I don’t have to tutor Cassidy or go to the dance studio, so I linger at school longer, cleaning my classroom and getting organized for next week. I jump when I hear a knock and look up to see Henley standing in the doorway.

“Hey.” I smile. “What are you doing here?”

He walks in, looking me over with appreciation before his gaze settles back on my face.

His eyes are smiling and he looks all man when he says, “I just missed you. I needed to see your face and I'm glad I went for it. You look amazing today.”

I hold one side of my skirt to the side. “Thank you very much.”

I let the material fall back down and he watches, licking his lips. The material falls chastely at my knees, but the way he looks at me makes me feel like I'm wearing the sexiest negligee ever. He steps inside and closes the door, stalking toward me. I move forward at the same time until we collide. His hand lands on my cheek and I lean into it.

“It's really good to see you,” he says.

I lean up on my tiptoes and kiss him softly, just once, and then stand back on solid feet…but feel woozy. He makes me feel drunk just being in the same room with him. His hand glides to the back of my neck and he comes in for another kiss.

This one is demanding, hungry, and oh so good.

I moan into his mouth and he answers with his own, his tongue diving deeper, tangling with mine. His hand squeezes my hip, and with his other, he tugs on my hair, pulling my head back so he can get better access.

I arch into him, trying to get as close to him as I possibly can. He pulls away, kissing down my jawline and my neck.

“I better go before we do something crazy and fuck right here.”

My breath hitches. I kiss his cheek, his head, and my hands tug his waves when he leans down and tugs my shirt to the side so he can kiss my breast.

“Tell me when we can be together again,” he says. “I don't care when it is. I just want to know it’s coming. I think about you all the time. I'm trying to do things at your speed. But I’m going crazy for you.” He pulls my leg over his thigh and thrusts into me and I gasp.

“I think about you all the time too,” I whisper.

He backs me into the wall and then notices the little closet of supplies. The naughtiest grin takes over his face and I lose my breath. He looks so dangerously hot right now. He lifts me up and my legs wrap around his waist as he carries me into the closet. The door stays open, but it’s darker in here, the light from the classroom trickling in.

“Is this okay?” he asks.

I nod, leaning in to kiss him. He sets me on my feet and gets on his knees.

“Henley,” I whimper.

“I’ll make you feel good and then I’ll go,” he says, looking up at me.

I open my mouth to tell him I want to make him feel good too, but then he lifts my skirt and moves my panties to the side, and that first swipe of his tongue is so perfect, my toes curl.

He groans, praising the way I taste, the way I feel, the way he’s thought of nothing but this since the first time, and my head falls back on the shelves of school supplies as he turns my world upside down. My knees buckle when he adds his fingers and he tells me to hang on when I get close. I do, and it’s a good thing because he works me over until I’m boneless.

While I’m still catching my breath, he stands, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His eyes are glazed over, but he’s smiling and more than a little smug.

“Thank you,” he says.

“I should be thanking you,” I say, cheeks flushing.

I move toward him, needing to touch him, wanting to make him feel as good as he’s made me feel, but he shakes his head.

“I said I’d make you feel good and then go. I want to keep my word.”

I reach out and touch his chest. “I know you’re good for it. Come home with me?”

His eyes drill through me. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“I am. Very sure.”

I move past him and turn to look at him over my shoulder, catching him adjusting himself. When I smirk, he groans and points at the massive bulge in his pants.

“I’ve been like this since the day I met you. I hope you’re happy.”

I laugh. “Yes, I am.”

I grab my bags and move toward the door of the classroom. He’s still standing in the doorway of the closet, watching me.

“You coming?” I ask.

“Not soon enough.” He grins when my mouth drops open and moves toward me. “Ladies first.” He motions for me to go out the door when I stare at him and his double-entendre self.

I should be worried about getting caught and losing my job, and I am , but damn, this man. I’m giddy as I drive home, happy that I left the house in good shape when I left this morning, happy that Henley is coming over, just happy, period.

My mom calls as I’m pulling onto my street, and I put her on speakerphone.

“Hey, Mom. Can I call you?—”

“Tru,” my mom’s voice cracks.

“Mom! What’s wrong?”

She sounds far away and I’m not even sure she hears me. She’s saying something, but I can’t hear her.

“Mom, I can’t hear you. What’s going on?”

“He’s having an affair.” She barely gets the words out, she’s crying so hard. And then she takes a deep breath and her voice comes through clearer and more biting than I’ve ever heard her.

“I’ve given him thirty years of my life, moved from kingdom come all over this world, and he’s sleeping with a woman he just met. He doesn’t even act sorry!” Her voice has risen an octave, and I pull into my driveway and park, wiping the tears that have started to fall.

I take her off of speaker as I move the phone out of the holder.

“Mom, where are you? Are you home?”

“I followed his phone. Found him at a restaurant last night with her. He’s always told me he doesn’t like PDA.” She starts laughing and now I’m really worried. “He couldn’t stop touching her. He kissed her at the table!”

“Mom, I’m worried about you. Where are you now?”

“I followed them from the restaurant to her place. He called me while he was in her condo to tell me he’d be pulling an all-nighter at work. I’m so stupid.”

“Did you drive there? Are you still outside her condo? Can you get in the car and just talk to me? I’m right here.”

There’s a noise outside my door and I look up to see Henley. He sees my face and frowns, moving to open the door.

“What’s happened?” he asks.

“My mom,” I whisper.

I step out of the car and he puts his hand on the small of my back as I stumble my way into the house.

“I’m driving home,” she says. “And I’m throwing all of his things outside.”

“I know you’re angry, and you have every reason to be absolutely livid…but can you just take a breath? Maybe go to a hotel while I look into flights for you. What time is it there?”

She takes a deep breath. “I don’t know. Four or five in the morning. Tru?” Her voice cracks again and she’s crying.

“I’m here, Mom. I love you.”

“I love you too. Would you really be okay if I come there?”

“I’ve been wishing you were here from the very beginning.”

“Just for a little while until I figure out what to do.”

“I already know I’ll want you to stay forever. Just get here, okay? Don’t stay in that house. Remember your most valuable things are in storage anyway. Just get your passport, money, license, and get here. I’ll text you about flight times when I get them.”

“Okay. Thank you, honey.”

“Call me when you’re at the hotel or airport, depending on how soon I can get you out of there.”

“It’ll be a fortune.”

“That’s what credit cards are for.”

That makes her laugh a little bit. She’s used that line on me countless times, teasing me for being more frugal than her.

“Okay, okay.” Her breath hitches. “I’ll be okay.”

“You will. He’s never deserved you.”

She breaks into a sob and Henley puts his arms around me when I do too.

“I’m almost to the house,” she finally says. “I’ll go for now and try to get out of there fast.”

“All right. I love you, Mom. So much.”

“You are everything to me,” she says. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

I feel ragged when I hang up. I put my forehead on Henley’s chest and let the strength of his arms soothe the hurt. Earl comes over and glides between my legs, meowing pitifully until I pick him up. Henley brushes my hair away from my face and I look up at him. He thumbs away my tears, his face so full of compassion, a few more tears fall.

“God.” He rubs his chest. “It physically hurts to see you cry. What can I do to help?”

“You’re already doing it.” I let him hold me another few seconds and then lift my head. “I need to find my mom a ticket out of there as soon as possible.”

He runs his hands over my arms and nods. “I’m good at that, and I have a friend who works for a travel agency.”

I’m about to make a remark, something like I’m sure he knows a pretty woman who will help him or some other stupid comment, when he adds, “Let me call him.”

My heart eases.

He’s not your father.

“She’s in Sydney, right?” he asks, already dialing the number. “Hey, Stan, it’s Henley. I know, it’s been a minute. Oh, yeah, you’re welcome. I’m glad you were able to make the game. I’m doing well. How about you? Great. Listen, I have a favor to ask, and just tell me if it doesn’t work to help us. I have a friend whose mom is in Sydney, Australia, and she needs to get out of there in a hurry. We’ll pay whatever it takes.”

He shakes his head when I open my mouth to protest.

“To Denver, Colorado,” he says. He pauses for a second and his features relax into a smile. “One sec, let me see if that’s possible.” He looks at me. “A flight leaving there at 9:30 AM?”

“Let me make sure she can leave that soon.”

He tells Stan I’m checking and they chat about the Super Bowl while I call my mom. She sounds more focused and says she won’t stay in the house long at all. She’ll make it to the airport with time to spare.

I put my hand over the phone. “She can make it.”

He relays that to Stan and I’m handing him my credit card when he says, “Yes, the one you have on file. Thanks so much, Stan. Okay, I’ll tell her to put that info in the Delta app. You’re a lifesaver, man. Let me know the next game you want tickets to, and I’ll make sure you get them.”

We both hang up at the same time and stare at each other.

“She’ll be here by 12:30 tomorrow afternoon.” He pauses for a second. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Can we make dinner? I need something normal to process.”

He smiles and my heart turns over. “Lead the way to the kitchen, tiny dancer.”

While we make tortilla soup and a salad, I tell him about my parents and how the way my dad treated my mom and me instilled distrust in me about other men.

“Seeing the way you love your girls, the way you treat them with such respect…the way you treat me with such respect…it’s been so eye-opening, Henley.” I swallow the lump building in my throat. “I want that for my mom too. And I’m just glad for the chance to know for myself that all men aren’t like my dad. I have you to thank for that.”

He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses my palm.

And I fall even harder for him.

The fact that I trust Henley enough to share any of this speaks volumes to the kind of man he is.