Page 37 of The Love Fix (The Sunrise Cove #8)

“Friday night,” Misty said without missing a beat. “The whole night.”

Matty, covered in the last of Heath’s milkshake, grinned and drooled at the same time.

And then they were all gone.

Heath turned to Lexi. “Sorry about the circus.”

“They’re not. They’re... lovely.” She shook her head. “Don’t be sorry for having a family that loves you enough to give

you plenty of shit.” At his grimace, she gave him a small smile. “I love how close you all are.” She walked over to the sideboard

he’d been working on. “Gorgeous.” She ran her finger over the inlaid wood that now gleamed under his care. “A vintage 1950s

inlaid mahogany and brass sideboard and bar cart. Worth between three and four grand.”

“Really?”

“Leaving the brass with the original patina can keep the value high, but you’re cleaning it. So now it depends on if you can

get that brass to come back to life without damage.”

“It belonged to Misty’s grandma. Misty doesn’t want to sell it, she wants to use it in their home, and she wants the brass

untarnished. Cole had a go at it before I could stop him, so now we’ve got no choice.”

She nodded, crouching low to study it more carefully, eyes sharp, mouth soft. She loved this stuff, he realized. Really loved

it. “What are you using?”

“Lemon juice and baking soda.”

She nodded her approval. Then she reached into the bucket of warm water, pulled out the cloth he had in it, and wrung it out.

She looked at him in silent query.

“Have at it,” he said.

So she did.

He joined her, and they worked in silence for a while, a surprisingly comfortable one. Or maybe not so surprisingly, since working together on a common goal, be it delivering envelopes or taking each other to bed, had never been their problem.

Their problem was conquering their individual fears.

“That was a nice story you told your family about when we were kids. About me making you laugh, making you... feel some

comfort.” She laughed a little, but it sounded forced. She had her head down, concentrating on the task at hand, which she

was amazing at. Something stirred within him, a true affection for her that warmed a spot deep in his chest that had been

cold for a long time. “You really sold it too.”

“Lex, it wasn’t just a story. I’ve meant everything I’ve ever said to you.”

She nodded as if she didn’t quite trust her voice. Then, head still down, eyes on the task, she said, “Dean. My last boyfriend’s

name is Dean. I told you that we worked together. He was actually my boss.”

Above her, he quietly set his forehead to the wood and closed his eyes, breathing through the sudden violence in his blood,

knowing he was going to hate this story.

“He was in charge of verifying all appraisals and reporting to the clients on the value of their estates. He had me doing

most of it, but he took on the really high-dollar stuff. He always said the powers that be insisted on him overseeing estates

over a certain threshold.” She paused to rinse out the cloth in the water. “But then there were a few of those in a row, and

suddenly he had me do them. Said he was training me to be his replacement when he got his promotion. He’d been working toward

that for months. Grooming me. Or so I thought.”

Yeah. He’d been right. He was going to hate this.

“Then a set of bronze cherub garland planters from the 1800s, a rare pair in mint condition, easily worth fifteen thousand dollars, went missing. And I’d been the last person to have eyes on them.

An internal investigation was launched, and in the middle of that, an early nineteenth-century shaker apothecary worth forty K vanished.

And again, I’d been the last one to log it.

They, um...” She looked away. “At first, I was put on leave without pay, but later let go. They claimed it was budget cuts, but it wasn’t.

Only I hadn’t done any of it. I’d never—”

“Lexi.” Slowly he stood, not wanting her to stop talking, but needing to make sure she understood something. “I know you wouldn’t.”

She stared at him, those honey-brown eyes suspiciously bright as she swallowed hard and nodded.

“Tell me this Dean asshole was caught.”

An utterly mirthless laugh escaped her. “How do you know it was him?”

“Because of the betrayal and devastation in your eyes.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment, then shook her head and looked away. “Everyone assumes it was me, even people I worked

with for years, because only two people had access. Me and... him. The thing is, he’s charming and charismatic. He’s got

a certain way with people. Everyone loves him, trusts him implicitly.”

Yeah, he really wanted his hands around the guy’s neck.

“I mean, even I didn’t believe it was him at first,” she said. “I just couldn’t fathom that it might be someone I trusted.

Someone I... cared about. But I’ve been over all of it a million times in my head. I don’t know who else it could have

been.”

He felt her pain, felt it like a knot deep in his chest. He couldn’t imagine the betrayal, made all the worse because she’d

never seen it coming.

“The investigation is ongoing.” She shrugged. “If they’re look ing for proof of my guilt, they won’t find it. It’s simply not there. As far as I know, they haven’t found proof of anyone’s guilt.”

“Why wasn’t Dean let go as well?”

“He’s never even been under suspicion. It’s just my gut feeling, there’s no proof. Plus, he’s the nephew of the CEO. Honestly,

I think he did it for the thrill.”

“How long ago did all this happen?”

“Six months before I came out here.”

“Is that when you stopped seeing each other?”

“Just before that, yes. He said it wasn’t working out for him. A week after he said I might be the One.”

“I’m so sorry.” He let out a breath. “What have you been doing since then?”

“Unfortunately, word travels fast in the field, and no one was willing to hire me.” She shrugged. “Just before I came here,

I’d gone through the last of my savings and had been taking on small independent jobs to keep myself afloat.” She shook her

head. “I still can’t believe it happened, that I was that stupid and trusting, that desperate for affection. I was an easy mark.”

“No.”

She met his gaze, enough surprise there that he knew he hadn’t done a good job of letting her know how amazing he found her.

“You’re smart, Lexi. So smart and fierce and... incredible.” He moved to her as she stood. “The world’s brighter with you

in it.”

“I...” She swallowed hard and looked away. “Thank you.”

He couldn’t imagine the depths of hurt and betrayal she’d faced alone. And then she’d come here, where she’d had to face the

hurt and betrayal of her past.

But at least this time, she wasn’t alone.

She rolled her shoulders like they ached.

“Are you hurting?” he asked.

“Just sore from going through and moving Daisy’s stuff.”

“We’ve got a hot tub that’s magic on sore muscles. He gestured to the far side of the patio. Moving to it, he raised the lid,

and steam rose in tendrils to the night sky. “Do you want to try it?”

“I...” She eyed the water with a longing that he wouldn’t have minded seeing aimed at him. She looked around as if assessing

how out in the open they were. “I don’t know.”

He turned to the wall of the house and hit a switch. The patio lights went off, plunging them into the dark, with only the

stars above giving off an unearthly glow. The night had gone quiet, the only sounds being a gentle breeze ruffling the trees

and the bubbling from the jets of the hot tub.

But he knew Lexi wouldn’t do something nice for herself unless goaded into it. So... he kicked off his shoes, removed his

socks.

“What are you—” She broke off when he pulled off his shirt. “Um...”

“I ran hard this morning. I’m hurting too.”

Her eyes, which had been satisfyingly glued to his bare chest, rose to his face. He’d given her the magic words— I’m hurting .

“How bad?” she asked.

“Enough that a soak will work miracles.” His hands went to the buttons on his Levi’s, and her eyes widened. “What if someone

sees?”

He shrugged. “Grandpa’s gone for the night. The closest neighbor is Ashley, and she’s at her book club tonight. There’s no

one to see, but even if there was, all the lights are off.” He flashed her a challenging grin. “But if you’re too chicken—”

That made her eyes flash. “I’m not chicken—” Her eyes locked on to his fingers, currently on the last button of his jeans. “I just...”

He shoved his jeans off, and she sucked in a breath. He raised a brow and prodded her. “You just...?”

“Um...” She took in his black knit boxers, fitting a little snugger with each second she stared at him. “I don’t have a

bathing suit.”

“Me either.” And then he removed the boxers.

She made a low sound of... He couldn’t be sure, but it sounded a whole bunch like a whimper of desire. To hide his smile,

he turned and climbed into the tub.

Lexi knew she should walk away. That if she did what she wanted—climbing into the hot tub and straddling Heath—she’d lose

herself in him. And that would be...

What? Would it be that bad to let herself have this? Him? It was hard to think about any possible consequences when she wanted

him so badly. And he very clearly wanted her as well, so why not seize the moment?

Heath leaned back, water swirling around his chest, arms spread on the ledge, watching her with dark, playful eyes and that

calm patience.

A panther watching its prey.

“What are you thinking?” his deep voice asked, penetrating her thoughts.

What was she doing? Lusting. Drooling... which, given that mischievous gleam, he knew. Time to get him back. “I’m thinking

that a good... soak... sounds like just what I need,” she said casually, and pulled off her shirt.

Slowly.

His gaze never left hers as she took a few steps toward the tub. “I’m thinking...” she continued, losing her shoes and socks, “how much I want to have that soak with you .”

Now he was drooling. Good. Her jeans went next, leaving her in nothing but pink lace, which, given that he appeared to stop

breathing, he liked. A lot. And when she dropped that lace to the floor, he let out a low, very male groan that empowered

her to climb into the hot tub and straddle him.

He slid an arm around her, pulling her into him, his free hand, big and warm, cupping her jaw. She pressed her face against

his callused palm, her heart thundering in her chest.

He had once thought of her as comfort. No one else ever had, she marveled, but then he swept her hair to the side, exposing

her neck so he could gently nibble the sensitive spot where her shoulder and throat met, and her brain stopped working. At

the first touch of his hot mouth, she shivered and her skin pebbled in response, and when he touched his tongue to the spot,

she moaned.

“Mmmm. Love that sound,” he murmured against her neck, his hands cupping her breasts as his talented mouth traced its way

to her ear. “Gonna make you do it again. And again.”

“Someone’s pretty sure of themselves.” Her wobbly voice betrayed her need, and he smiled, a wicked, dirty smile, and kissed

her hot and deep.

She heard someone moan his name. Her, of course, and he pulled back to look at her, his eyes roaming over her face and body,

his expression pure, raw lust, but also a deep, abiding, warm affection, none of which he tried to hide from her.

This Heath, warm and sexy and highly motivated to drive her insane with hunger and need, heated her blood and stole her breath, right along with her sanity.

It stripped her bare, both figuratively and literally as his hands danced over her skin, igniting feelings she didn’t know she had.

This was the unvarnished version of Heath Bowman.

No inhibitions, just one hundred percent sexy, intuitive, driven male intent on plowing through all her caution cones with single-minded focus, and. ..

For once, she was going to let him.