Page 10 of Heartbreaker

But I’m still talking…however ill-advised my next words are. “Do you want me to help you?”

She frowns. “With what?”

“Getting more comfortable.”

Her brows shoot up now, almost to her hairline. “I…um, what?”

“That’s what the bag is for, right?” I ask, nodding at the garment bag hanging from the handle on the far side of the limo, at the duffle from an expensive name brand sitting on the seat beneath it.

“I—” She turns and looks. “Yes, that’s my change of clothes. I—” A shake of her head, her befuddled eyes coming back to mine. “But?—”

Fuck, she’s cute with those wide eyes and bright cheeks. “I’ll undo your zipper and then turn around,” I explain. “Give you some privacy while you put on something more comfortable.”

A blink.

Another.

Then, “Really?”

I nod. “Can’t have you suffering in that metric ton of shapewear.”

She nibbles at her bottom lip then nods. “If you don’t mind helping me, that would be great.”

Don’t mind?

Touching this beautiful woman? Getting close enough to inhale the scent of her perfume? To snag a glimpse of the curves that dress and all that shapewear are hiding and I can only guess at?

In answer, I shift closer.

Wide gray eyes.

Pretty pink lips.

I wonder if she’s as pink between her legs, if she’ll glisten as prettily as she does in the dress.

“Turn around,” I order and if my voice is more rasp than command, Jade doesn’t call me on it. She just…

Shifts carefully, sweeping her blond curls forward and over her shoulder, and gives me her back.

She has a small tattoo on her nape, and I find myself leaning in to see what it is.

“A bee?” I ask quietly.

Her shoulders hitch up slightly and then she’s turning her head, eyes coming to mine. Her mouth is so close that our lips are almost aligned. I can lean forward a mere inch and taste her.

My cock twitches and I almost do just that.

But then she exhales quietly. “My ranch outside of Nashville is where I grew up. We had all sorts of animals—horses, sheep, cows, pigs, and bees.” Her eyes close and her expression is a combination of sad and soft. “After my dad passed, my mom threw her whole life into the farm. And one of those things she obsessively took care of—besides me—was the bees. She used to have hives and they were her babies as much as our horses, Bandit and Gunner.” She sighs. “The honey…it was some of the best I ever tasted. She sold it at farmer’s markets and online and…she used it to fund the studio time when I recorded my first album.”

Fuck, that’s sweet.

Enough to make my cold dead heart squeeze.

“After she died, though, I wasn’t able to keep it going. I was busy and traveling, trying to make it in the music world and I could never find the right person to take care of them like she did. It’s like they knew I wasn’t her and—” A shake of her head. “Ignore me.”

Never.

“So, the bee’s for her?”

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