Never Too Hot (Hot Shots: Men of Fire #3)(57)
Author: Bella Andre

“That’s my son. I didn’t realize he had a girlfriend.”

“We didn’t want our parents to know about us either. We thought we were so grown-up,” he said softly. “But looking at the two of them now…” He shook his head. “We were just kids, weren’t we?”

Looking back at her son tentatively embracing his girlfriend, she suddenly saw just how right Andrew was. Her son wasn’t even close to being an adult. He would, inevitably, make many mistakes over the next few years as he grew and changed.

For the first time in thirty years, her past with Andrew was painted with a different sheen, the black haze that it had been buried under for so long suddenly peeling up at the corners.

She turned to look at him, taking in the lines on his face, the gray streaks of hair, and realizing that, even so, he was more beautiful than he’d been as a perfect nineteen-year-old.

“We didn’t have a clue what we were doing, did we?” she said softly.

“No, we didn’t,” he agreed. “Especially me.”

The way the rough timbre of his voice reached down into her chest scared her. “I need to get back inside.”

She half expected him to reach out and stop her. Instead he simply said, “Fine. Go. But one day you won’t be able to find a reason to run away from me.”

That got her back up, just as he must have known it would. Still, she couldn’t swallow the words, “I’m not running.”

“You sure about that?”

A swift rush of anger had her moving closer to him. “I have no reason to run from you.”

“How about I give you one, then?”

And then his lips were on hers and a rocket ship was launching inside her belly.

Oh God, how could she have ever forgotten how incredible his mouth was, how sweet his kisses?

His hands came around her next, one on her waist, the other in her hair, pulling her closer, and soon it wasn’t just their lips that were touching, but their tongues, swirling together in a dance that was so natural, so perfect, she found herself moaning with pleasure as she leaned closer.

He leaned her against the hood of a car, pressing himself hard against her, and she gladly went with him, wanting more of his heat, more of the sweet rush that only Andrew could bring her.

Sex with her husband had been good, but now that she was back in Andrew’s arms she had to wonder how she could have possibly settled for anything less than this all-consuming passion. How could she have accepted anything less than the need to take her lover’s next breath as her own?

Her hands were on him now, just as hungry, just as full of need. His arousal pressed into her and she couldn’t help but rub herself against him. She ached to give herself over completely to this moment, to let Andrew take her as far she could go.

He reached up under her shirt, his fingers skimming her rib cage before he pressed both of his palms over her br**sts, her heart beating against his hands.

And then, through the thick haze of desire, she heard, “Mom?”

She was too far under to process the voice as her son’s until he said, “Fuck. That’s my mom. Making out on the car with some guy.”

Oh God. Josh.

Andrew moved first, pulled his hands out from under her shirt before her son could see. She moved as quickly as she could with limbs that felt like melted butter, tried to stand up to go after her son, but before she could he said, “You make me sick,” and was gone.

Andrew tried to put a hand on her back to comfort her and she flinched at his touch.

How could she have done that? How could she have kissed Andrew? And if her son hadn’t found them there, how much further would she have gone?

But she already knew the answer to that. Andrew had always been the one person who could make her lose control.

And yet, even though he was the one who’d kissed her first, none of that was his fault. She’d wanted it just as much as he had. Had been more than willing to pull him down hard over her in the middle of a parking lot.

“He’ll get over it, you know. Seeing you kiss me.”

“I just don’t know what I’m doing anymore. He used to say I was the best mom in the whole wide world. We were friends. We had a good a time together.”

She wanted to cry. Scream. Sleep for a week.

Kiss Andrew again.

“But now it seems that I can’t say or do anything right. I feel like I’m losing him. And it’s killing me.”

“He’s trying to figure out how to be a man. I know from firsthand experience how hard that is.”

Andrew was the last person on earth she should be spilling her guts to, and yet it felt so natural. As if, despite everything that had come between them, he was still the person who understood her best.

“Did your sons go through this?”

Pain flashed across his face in the moonlight. “I don’t know,” he said, and she was stunned by the heavy emotion in his words. “I was always working, always on a business trip. One day I left and they were boys, came home and they were men. Men who wanted nothing to do with their father.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I am too. But you were right this morning. I can’t go back and change the past, but if I’m lucky, if I don’t wimp out, I might be able to work on the future. Here. Now. With Connor. I want them to know how much I care about them.” His eyes met hers, held them. “But I’ll also understand if they don’t see it. If they can’t see it. Because sometimes if you screw up bad enough, there isn’t any way to fix what you’ve done.”

It all came back around to them. Every single time.

“So that firsthand experience about boys trying so hard to become men that I was talking about is mine alone.”

Her breath caught in her throat as he continued with, “I know you don’t want to hear me say this again, Isabel, but I was a stupid kid who didn’t know which way was up.”

She didn’t know what to say to him anymore. They were past yelling. Past her frantic attempts to hold him back with anger, with sarcasm. Past her up and walking away when she didn’t know what else to do.

But not past forgiveness.

Clearing his throat, he said, “I should go, shouldn’t I?”

She didn’t look at him, couldn’t look at him. “Yes, you should.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

Josh realized Hannah was practically running to keep up with him on the beach. He couldn’t believe what he’d just seen, couldn’t stop playing it over in his head, that guy practically humping his mom on the hood of a car.

He felt sick to his stomach.

“My mom shouldn’t be doing that. Out in public.” Or anywhere. Ever.

“I thought it was kind of romantic, actually. Your mom’s been single a long time, right? Don’t you think it’d be nice if she could find someone?”