Winter's Heart (7 page)

“Okay, here’s the thing. We have this agreement that has been mutually beneficial to us in the past,” he clarified, trying to break past her reserve so he could talk her into giving in. “But we were planning on ending it shortly after Storm’s party and, while I admit the timing for you and me could be better, especially since I’m going to start filming another movie in a few weeks, I really want to explore this attraction between us.”

“Who says I’m attracted to you?” she asked, her words coming out on a breathless gasp. Oh, yeah, she was attracted to him. Color seeped into her cheeks and she lowered her lashes, “Okay, so I’m attracted to you. I still don’t feel comfortable being with you if you’re with another woman.”

“Even if it’s only pretend?”

“So I’ll be your fake girlfriend?”

“No.” Frustrated, he discovered he was trailing his fingers over the back of her hand, as if he needed to touch her or he couldn’t help himself or both. Reluctantly, he pulled his hand away and tried to figure out what words to use. “Look, we can either ignore this thing that I know we both feel, avoid one another as much as possible for the next six months and hope that it is still there when I’m free. Or….”

He had her! She looked at him, waiting for him to continue but he knew how to draw out her anticipation, make her want it as much as he did. Finally, she broke, “Or?”

“Or we explore every inch of one another, inside and out, but keep the relationship hidden,” he said, the words rushing past his lips. He would have been embarrassed by his eagerness, his lack of control, but Flynn Rogers did something to him, made him buzz and ache, made him want things he never knew he wanted.

She studied him carefully, her warm eyes full of earnestness and banked desire. “You’re truly not with Melissa?”

“I’m truly not with her.”

“Why can’t you just end things sooner if you plan on ending them anyway?”

He swallowed thickly, unsure how to answer because suddenly he wanted things out in the open, too, but that was impossible. “This is the way Melissa wants it to be and I owe her too much to deny her this one thing.”

“So I will be your fake girlfriend.” As he opened his mouth to protest, she held up her hand, her eyes sparkling with amusement and strange understanding. “I feel the attraction, Winter, and to be honest it kind of terrifies me because it's so strong and I want to be with you….”

“But you’re having difficulty with my deal with Melissa.”

She nodded, “For five years, you’ve been with Melissa Irish. The two of you are this huge power couple and it’s taking me a bit to wrap my head around the fact that you’re not together, that your relationship is not at all how it appears. And you apparently want me. I mean,
me
. Why me?”

“You have no idea how much I want you,” he growled.

She stared at him with wide eyes and a slight smile on her lush lips, shaking her head in disbelief and putting him on the edge of his seat as he waited for her answer.

“So,” she began, not quite meeting his eyes as she delicately licked her ice cream. He found himself making the same movement with his tongue until she pinned him with her steady gaze once again. “Are you into the kinky stuff?”

“On occasion,” he grinned, just to see her blush. She did not disappoint. “Of course, I’m not into wild orgies because I much prefer focusing on one woman and one woman alone. And I’m not into excruciating pain, just a little bit to heighten pleasure.”

She snorted, “If only half of the stories in the tabloids are true, then you’ve had a very colorful life but that’s neither here nor there. How in the world did you and Melissa become an item if you’re not having sex?”

He wasn’t sure whether to be furious that she read about him in the tabloids or amused by her insatiable curiosity. Like before, he found himself telling her things he thought he’d take to the grave. “I didn’t really give Missy a second thought after I donated my sperm but then, through some quirk of fate, I was in the hospital when she went into labor.”

“Were you getting treated for an STD?” she blurted out, her hand slamming over her mouth as her eyes went as wide as saucers. “I swear I’m not judging you. It’s just that my oldest sister… never mind. Go on. Please.”

He stared at her, watching as the color crept into her cheeks and her face became bright red and she began to fidget. After a few uncomfortable minutes that he let her suffer, he shook his head, “I’m clean.”

“Have you always been clean?” she asked in a hushed voice, almost as if she was unable to help herself, as if she had an STD paranoia.

He nodded slowly, “I have. Now, do you want to hear the rest of the story or do you want to take some of my blood so you can get it tested?”

Her eyes dipped to his hand resting on the table and for a moment he thought she was going to ask for his blood. But when she looked at him, her face was less red and a self-depreciating smile graced her lips, “I’m sorry. It’s just that I read a lot of romance novels where the hero is this massive man whore and I always cringe thinking about the diseases eating away at his enormous penis and then I feel so sorry for the poor heroine who finally wins his heart because she’s going to be the one who suffers from his whoredom. I think that’s why I prefer paranormal romance, no STD’s, and I’m babbling.”

“I see,” he choked out, trying to keep his laughter at bay so she didn’t think he was laughing at her. She was annoying and adorable in equal measures and he wanted to shut her up with a kiss. But not yet.

“Um, so, about Melissa and Storm?” she nudged. “You were in the hospital not getting treated for an STD and…?”

“And I found out she was there and I had this strange, inexplicable urge to see her,” he said, unable to describe the deep desire he had experienced to see his child. Until that moment, he hadn’t even thought about Missy or the child she was carrying, and yet, it was as if a part of his soul would wither and die if he wasn’t there to welcome the child into the world. “I demanded a pair of crutches and I made my way to the private birthing room, using my, um, considerable charm to get to Missy.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” she told him, crossing her arms on top of the table. “If anyone let you into the room, he or she would have been immediately fired.”

His cheeks reddened as she called him on his oft-told falsehood. Glaring at her, he sighed, “I called my agent, who happens to be her agent and the one who set the whole thing up. I was lucky because Mac was in the room with Missy and got her to agree to let me attend the baby’s birth.”

She nodded her head, accepting the truth without making him go into the begging and pleading he had debased himself with. Clearing his throat, he continued, “Missy was pretty out of it since Storm was delivered by Caesarean and she had a tummy tuck immediately afterwards to help get back into shape.”

“Ouch,” she muttered with a wince.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I was the first to hold him and in that moment it was as if time stopped and I saw the future and realized the path I was on was not the one meant for me. When I looked into Storm’s eyes, I vowed to be a better man, to be worthy of him even if I was never going to be a part of his life.”

“Wow, that’s really profound,” she breathed, the awe apparent in her voice, her luminous eyes.

Licking his lips, he continued, “The Fates must have been smiling down on me because the person who was supposed to help Missy recuperate reneged and so I stepped in and offered to help out. It was originally supposed to be a short term deal, just long enough for Missy to recover and get back on her feet, but we realized how fortuitous the relationship was for both of us and, well, here we are planning our son’s sixth birthday.”

“You did it to be with your son but why would Melissa agree to such subterfuge?”

“She has her reasons,” he told her, unwilling to betray Missy, even to the delectable Flynn.

Flynn nodded her head and let the matter drop, instead asking, “Why did you need crutches?”

“Motorcycle accident,” he muttered.

She sucked in a horrified breath, “Please tell me you were wearing a helmet.”

“I was in my driveway and it wasn’t running,” he admitted foolishly. “I, uh, was a little drunk and laid it down on my leg.”

She blinked at him and then blinked again, “You weren’t riding it?” When he shook his head no, she bit her lips and he wanted to kiss the smile from her lips before it even formed. “That sounds like something I would do. It’s why I’ll never ride a motorcycle.”

“You’re so cautious,” he teased.

“I know,” she nodded her head in mock regret. “It’s one of my few faults. I don’t always know when to hold my tongue, I’m too cautious, and I think I could really like you, despite your fame and fortune and pretty face.”

“I think I could really like you, too, despite your wayward tongue.” Her shy smile punched him in the gut and without thinking, he took her hand in his and entwined their fingers. “You are a contradiction, Miss Rogers. You do know that, right? You’re cautious in action but bold in speech.”

“You just bring out the best in me, I guess,” she grinned, making him want to kiss her. The smile faded as she looked down at her hands in his but she didn’t try to pull away. Capturing her lower lip between her teeth, he watched as she mentally contemplated something and he found himself waiting to see what was plaguing her. Lowering her voice to a whisper even though no one else was around, she asked, “How did you get the name Winter? Is it a stage name or is it real?”

“It’s a real name, Flynn,” he said dryly just to watch her blush and try to stammer out an apology. Holding up his free hand, he chuckled, “It’s my name, given to me at birth and everything.”

“It’s a cool name.” Her cheeks burst into flames as she closed her eyes in embarrassment, “I meant, I like it.”

He laughed, “You know? My name would still probably be Winter if I had been born a girl.”

“Well, I for one am very happy you’re a boy,” she said with utter conviction. With an adorable, little frown, she asked, “Why would you still be Winter if you were a girl?”

“My brother and sister were both born in the summer but I was due in January so they called me the winter baby and when I was born, it just sort of stuck. What about you?” he asked casually, trying to rein in his unruly reaction to her. At her blank look, he said, “Flynn is an unusual name for a girl.”

A slight smile tipped her lips as she shook her head in silent laughter. “It’s really not all that interesting. Mom had three boys and used traditional names: Jeff, James, and Joseph. It took her that long to realize she was naming her children
J
names so when she got pregnant, she decided to name the child after her best friend but she didn’t like the name Diane so she used Diane’s surname, Murphy.”

“Your boss?”

At her nod, she continued, “Then she got pregnant again and dad wanted to name the baby after his mom and he liked the idea of using surnames so that’s Fallon. And I got my mom’s mom’s surname.”

“So if we have daughters, we’ll have to name one Rogers?” he asked.

Laughing a light, tinkling laugh that warmed him from the inside out. “Nah. But our daughter will.”

They shared a laugh and then froze at the same time, as if realizing they were talking about future children,
their
future children. Gently untangling her fingers from his and standing up, Flynn stammered, “I think we’ve wasted enough time and I should probably meet with Melissa to discuss whatever it was she needed to discuss.”

Burying the disappointment he felt from the loss of her hand, he stood up as well, helping her gather up their trash. He held out his arm for her to lead the way back to the car, speaking without thinking, “I actually ha
ven’t been with that many women.”

She looked up at him and blinked her eyes so he repeated himself, “I haven’t been with that many women, maybe a dozen? No more than that, maybe even less.”

“You don’t have to tell me any of this.”

“I know.” He shrugged his shoulders, settling his hand on the small of her back and enjoying the slight shiver that raced through her body. “But I wanted you to know I’m not like the heroes in your romance novels, I’m not a man whore.”

A little chuckle slipped past her lips as she grinned up at him, “Thanks for that.”

“And, despite my reputation, I want to settle down with a wife and kids and the white picket fence. I want what my parents have,” he added, spilling his guts to this girl who
m he had no right spilling his guts to. With a wicked grin, he tried to make light of his confession, “But not yet.”

“Of course not,” she laughed. “It wouldn’t be fair to all of those hopeful fans out there if you were to get married and settle down.”

He arched an eyebrow at that, since the world knew he was engaged to Melissa and she knew it to be fake. It gave him immense pleasure when color flooded her cheeks and she stammered over her words. “I mean, an engagement can be broken.”

“And a divorce is almost as easy, especially in this industry.”

“Yeah, but a married man is, I don’t know, off limits,” she managed to sputter. Looking at him with an earnest expression, she added, “An engaged man should be off limits as well.”

“I’m not engaged,” he told her, opening the door for her. “Not even a little bit.”