Spark (Boosted Hearts Book 4) Read online

  He glanced at Hattie again and bit back another curse. Yep, with a hard-on.

  The drive to Hugh and Shay’s house took forever. It was also quiet to the point of awkwardness.

  As soon as Dex pulled up outside Hugh and Shay’s house—that was covered in lights, had a herd of fucking reindeer on the front yard and a giant Santa on the roof—Hattie all but fell out of his truck and rushed for the front door.

  Another spectacular boost to his ego.

  Adjusting his dick so he didn’t look like he had the Yule log down the front of his jeans, he climbed out and lumbered toward the front door at a much slower pace.

  It opened as he took the steps, and Shay, Hugh’s wife, stood there with a wide welcoming smile on her face and a toddler on her hip. Hugh came up behind her. His cousin was wearing what looked like a hand-knitted red sweater with a green Christmas tree on the front, and he had one kid on his shoulders and a smaller one in his arms.

  They greeted Hattie warmly, and she smiled widely and hugged them both. Then she was inside and out of his line of sight. Shay hugged Dex, and Hugh gave him a chin lift since his hands were full, and Dex headed inside as well.

  The smell of turkey and spices and pine hit him as soon as he walked in. The place was fully decked out even more than outside, covered in decorations, with mountains of presents under the tree and Christmas music playing in the background.

  Joe, Hugh’s younger brother and the middle child of this branch of Coltons, walked out of the kitchen and grinned when he saw Dex. “Didn’t think you’d show. Bet Adam twenty bucks you’d chicken out and stay home.”

  Dex shook his head at his smart-assed cousin and looked beyond him, trying to see where Hattie had gone.

  No sign of her, but Adam, Lucy’s husband, walked out of the kitchen and shook Dex’s hand. “Merry Christmas, man.”

  “Yeah,” Dex said unconvincingly. “You, too.”

  “Come on,” Hugh said. “Game’s about to start.”

  Okay, maybe today wouldn’t be so bad after all. Dex could sit in a corner with a beer, watch a game, and do his best to avoid Hattie, though that shouldn’t be too hard since it looked like she planned to hide from him for the rest of the day.

  Goddammit. Lucy seemed to be throwing Hattie and Dex together whenever possible.

  Hattie forced a smile at Dex and frowned at her friend when Lucy all but shoved him into the seat beside her on the couch. It was time to open presents, and the kids were all gathered around the tree, looking for their names on the cards—well, the ones old enough to read were. The rest were being held back by their parents.

  Hugh was sitting on the floor, hanging on to the back of three-year-old Brody’s shirt to keep him from trying to tear open another gift that wasn’t his. Milly, who was seven and Hugh and Shay’s eldest, had the job of reading out the names and handing gifts to everyone. Shay held their youngest, Gracie, who was fast asleep despite the insanity, and Connor, who was four, was lying on the floor, throwing wrapping paper in the air and giggling when it came back down on top of him.

  Helping wrangle the kids was Noah, Darcey’s younger brother. He was fourteen, and had Joe and Darcey’s son, Rhett, who was also three, on his shoulders. The little guy was watching Connor hurl paper around and laughing like crazy.

  Darcey walked back into the room and handed out more drinks, and Joe caught his wife’s hand on her way back. “Kept your seat warm, peaches.” She laughed, and he grabbed her around the waist and planted her on his lap.

  Dex shifted beside Hattie, and she glanced up at him. He looked pained. She tried to give him room because his thigh was pressed up against hers and having him this close was extremely distracting, but there wasn’t any room to move. She’d done her best to avoid him since they got here because as soon as she’d seen him, her instant reaction had been to do the exact opposite.

  Which was not the right thing to do after ending their one-night stand midway and fleeing. Just because they’d been thrown together again today in some kind of freaky what-are-the-odds deal did not mean he was happy about it.

  “You left.” His words from earlier played through her mind again.

  Yes, and she’d wished she hadn’t every minute since. She really didn’t like the idea of Dex thinking she’d been afraid of him. And going by the frown he’d worn since they’d arrived, she thought he might still be thinking something like that.

  “Who’s this one for?” Milly said, holding up a gift. Hattie inwardly cringed. She’d gotten something little for Lucy’s cousin when she’d found out he’d be there today, worried he’d feel left out since she got token gifts for everyone else.

  “Um, that one’s for Dex…from me,” she said, feeling like an idiot.

  Dex made a rough sound that she felt low in her belly, and she glanced up at him again. He was frowning even more. Great.

  “I knew Lucy had a cousin coming so I…” She shrugged as Milly handed it to him.

  As his big fingers awkwardly tore open the paper, Hattie took a large sip of her punch and tried not to think of all the lovely wicked things he’d done to her with them.

  He held up what was inside, and his brows lifted.

  They were red socks with tiny Christmas trees all over them. Everyone looked at the socks and then down at Dex’s huge feet.

  “Peter heater,” Joe said. “Problem solved.”

  Darcey started giggling, then Lucy and Shay joined her, but they were full-out laughing.

  Dex actually blushed, shifting in his seat and looking insanely uncomfortable.

  And to make it all so much worse, Hattie kind of laughed as well. It was more a nervous laugh than anything else, because, yes, she’d seen his…um, “peter” up close and personal. And honestly, she wasn’t sure one of those socks was big enough.

  “Okay, next gift, Mills,” Hugh said to his daughter. “Something for Brody.” Brody was still trying to escape his father and nosedive into the pile of wrapped gifts remaining under the tree. Milly got down on the floor and dug through until she found one, then took it to her little brother. Brody squealed in delight and tore it open, barely looked at what was inside, then tried to run for the tree again.

  Hugh scooped him up and started flying him around the room like he was an airplane, and everyone went back to opening gifts and talking and laughing.

  Except Dex, who quietly observed everything that was going on around him.

  Hattie found herself leaning into his side a little, maybe wanting to reassure him? She didn’t know, but whatever it was, she couldn’t help herself.

  “Do you think we should rescue him?” Lucy said from the kitchen door, looking down the hall into the living room.

  Shay was standing beside her sister in-law, biting back a grin. “I think he’s fine.”

  Darcey, who had just joined them, tilted her head to the side. “Christ, what is it with these Colton men? Dex is huge.”

  Hattie couldn’t stay back another moment and walked over to see what they were looking at. Dex was sitting on the floor, his back to one of the couches, long legs stretched out in front of him. He’d sat down there earlier when all the seats had been taken. Now there were kids crawling all over him and Dex looked a little, well, horrified, like he didn’t know what the hell to do.

  Hugh, Joe, and Adam didn’t seem to notice. They were glued to the game and were giving him no help whatsoever.

  The women all watched as Brody kind of climbed him like a little crab, then after standing on Dex’s stomach, straddled his chest, grabbed his face, and pressed his nose to Dex’s.

  Shay chuckled. “Oh man, my baby knows how to get someone’s attention. He does not like to be ignored.”

  They all laughed, but Hattie’s got stuck in her throat when Dex grinned suddenly, flashing his straight white teeth—utterly gorgeous—picked Brody up, and blew a raspberry on his belly. The little boy dissolved into fits of laughter.

  “See, he’s fine,” Lucy said, green eyes sparkling. “I knew he�
�d warm up to us eventually.”

  “You guys aren’t close?” Hattie asked.

  Dex had said a little at the bar, but she suddenly wanted to know more, everything about the big man sitting on the floor, chuckling as all the kids tried to wrestle with him at once.

  “Hugh, Joe, and I didn’t even know we had a cousin until close to a year ago,” Lucy said. “Dex knew about us, though. He’d listed Hugh as his contact person with the Navy. Said he didn’t have anyone else. He was injured overseas, and they got in touch with Hugh. Long story short, there was a family feud, our asshole father stopped talking to Dex’s asshole father, and the rest is history.”

  “What made him move here?” Hattie asked, pushing for a little more.

  “Basically, we harassed him until he did. He mentioned that the cold caused his injuries to play up—he has a steel rod in his thigh—and Hugh needed a new mechanic. Since Dex is overqualified and knows his shit around any type of engine, Hugh asked him to join the fold. He surprised us all by saying yes.”

  Hattie glanced back over at Dex.

  He wasn’t playing with the kids anymore. He was looking at her.

  Chapter 5

  “Oh no. Really?” Shay said, her disappointment clear. “I mean, you have to do it. I can’t bear to think of this woman and her daughter stranded. I just wish you didn’t have to leave.”

  Hugh leaned in and kissed his wife. “Be as quick as I can, princess.”

  Dex was standing opposite, leaning against the kitchen counter. “I’ll do it.”

  A woman had called from the garage, using the after-hours number. Her car was making a knocking sound and she still had a way to travel home.

  “You sure?” Hugh said.

  Dex shrugged. “Yeah. No problem.” He’d moved back into the garage apartment over a week ago, so there was no need for Hugh to leave his family.

  His cousin looked relieved, but not as much as his wife. Shay touched Dex’s forearm. “Thank you for doing that.”

  “All good, Shay.”

  It was already late. He’d planned on leaving soon anyway. “Thanks for inviting me. It was a good day.” And, surprisingly, it had been. Though being so close to Hattie and having to keep his hands to himself hadn’t been easy, not at all.

  Speaking of the temptress in a red dress, she walked into the kitchen, carrying empty platters and bowls, and passed them to Joe, who was loading the dishwasher.

  Dex knew he should say nothing. He should leave, do the job, go to bed, and try and forget all about Hattie Sutton. But the garage was close to her apartment. It’d be rude not to ask her if she wanted a ride home, right?

  And you could torture yourself some more.

  “You could give Hattie a ride home?” Shay said before he could open his mouth. She smiled up at him—no, grinned—and there was a wicked glint in her green eyes.

  Hattie turned at the mention of her name. “Hmm?”

  Shay nudged him and tilted her head toward the woman in question. And, Jesus, she actually winked. Fucking hell.

  He cleared his throat, because it had been damned tight all day, especially when Hattie was in the room or pressed up beside him on the couch.

  “You want a ride home?” he said, voice sounding a lot harsher than he’d intended, but that was because he wanted her so much, and yeah, it came through loud and clear whenever he spoke to her.

  Her lips parted, forming an O. “You don’t have to do that.”

  Oh, cool, she didn’t want to get back in his truck with him. “Going to the garage, sweetness. Breakdown job. It’s no trouble.” What else could he say with Shay watching them, her gaze ping-ponging between them both, a look of pleasure on her face that made Dex shift from foot to foot and caused the back of his neck to get hot and prickly?

  Hattie flushed when he called her sweetness. Shit. He hadn’t meant to. It just kind of slipped out.

  Her hands dropped to the skirt of her dress and she curled her fingers in the fabric. “Okay, yes…thank you. That’d be great.”

  Ten minutes later, they’d said their goodbyes, were loaded up with leftovers and gifts, and were back in Dex’s truck, heading toward the garage.

  “Did you have a nice time?” Hattie asked, making small talk when the silence started to drag on again.

  He glanced at her.

  “The other night”—she licked her lower lip—“you said how much you weren’t into Christmas. I thought a couple of times today you looked like you were actually enjoying yourself.”

  Dex thought about it again and still couldn’t believe that’s exactly what had happened. He’d found himself laughing with everyone more than once. “Yeah, I guess I was.”

  “The kids seemed to like you,” she added, a small sugar-sweet smile curling her lips.

  He couldn’t help it; he smiled as well. “They’re great kids.”

  “They are,” she said.

  They didn’t say much the rest of the way, not until they were close to the garage.

  “I’m fine to wait while you do your job first. I hate to think of anyone waiting a second longer than they have to, especially on Christmas Day.”

  “You sure?”

  She nodded.

  There was a car parked out front when they drove into the garage, and a woman climbed out looking stressed, a small child in her arms. Dex introduced himself, and she seemed to relax when she saw Hattie as well.

  Not surprising since his size made him more than a little intimidating. Plus, she was a woman on her own with a kid.

  “Right, um, shall I just wait in the truck?” Hattie said.

  “You mind sticking around?” he said and glanced at the other woman chewing her lip and bouncing her daughter on her hip back over by her car. “I wouldn’t usually ask, but she could probably do with someone to talk to.”

  “Oh…yeah, of course,” she said and immediately walked over and introduced herself.

  Dex got the keys for her car, drove it inside, and got to work.

  It was an easy fix but took a little bit of mucking around, and the whole time he worked he was painfully aware of Hattie. Her voice, her laughter as she worked at easing the other woman’s worries.

  When he was finally done, he walked over to join them, and his blood pressure spiked at the way Hattie watched him, the way her gaze moved over him from head to toe and back.

  He wanted her so bad his fingers tingled from the memory of touching her. Gut tight from the way it knotted when he was around her. He had so much hunger riding him for the beautiful woman in a red dress only a few feet away that he couldn’t think about anything else.

  Hattie didn’t want that, though. He needed to get that through his thick skull. He needed to try and forget about her.

  He handed the woman her keys. “All done.”

  “How much do I owe you?”

  Dex shook his head. “Nothing. It was an easy fix.” He thought Hugh would have done the same, and if he had an issue with it, Dex would pay for it himself.

  She thanked him profusely, getting teary eyed, which made him feel uncomfortable as hell, and he watched as Hattie walked her to her car and said goodbye. Dex got busy cleaning up the garage, putting away the tools he’d used.

  Dammit, his head was so full of Hattie he didn’t know what to do with himself.

  He’d watched her today, hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her, and even after everything, he still craved her just as much as that first night. If anything, the feeling had gotten stronger. Yeah, he needed to get a handle on it, since he’d probably be seeing her from time to time.

  He pulled the main garage doors closed, shutting himself in, and walked toward the wall to flick off the lights.

  He’d take Hattie home, then—

  The side door opened, and the woman who’d taken ownership of his every thought, walked in. “All done?”

  “Yeah,” Dex said, taking in the way her chest was rising and falling faster than it had been a little while ago, the color now darken
ing her cheeks.

  “That was a nice thing you just did, not charging for the work on her car.”

  He shrugged.

  She bit her lip, watching him.

  He watched her back. “Something else you want, sweetness?” Dex knew he had to be seeing things. No way was she looking at him like she wanted him. No fucking way.

  She straightened her spine. “Yes, actually.”

  “Name it.” He waited to see what she’d say, what she’d do, stupid hope growing behind his ribs, heart banging hard in his chest.

  Hattie took a tentative step closer, then another. “I was wondering if you’d be interested in…” She shook her head like she was trying to shake the words loose, then closed the space between them, her gaze lifting and catching his. “Do you want to kiss me, Dex? Because I want to kiss you. I’ve wanted to kiss you since this morning,” she said in a rush.

  His entire body kind of pulsed, heat washing through him. He had to be hearing things. “But you left,” he said for the second time that day.

  She moved in even closer, and Dex struggled to breathe.

  “There are things—family stuff, a situation with my parents. I couldn’t get it out of my head that night. It wasn’t you. You did nothing wrong. I regretted stopping things before I left your building.”

  Oh fuck.

  Sliding a finger under her chin, ignoring the way he was shaking with need, he tilted her head back and looked into her eyes. “You liked it when I used my mouth on you, Hattie?”

  Her throat worked. “Yes.”

  “You got off, didn’t you, sweetness?”

  She squirmed and made a little whimpering sound. “Yes.”

  Dex’s dick almost punched through his jeans. “You want me to kiss you?”

  She nodded.

  “Want to do a fuck of a lot more than kiss you, Hattie.”