A Touch of Heaven Read online

  Dammit.

  He knew the moment he lost her.

  Regan scrambled down from his lap and righted her clothing. “What the hell am I doing?” she asked herself out loud and then turned and pointed a finger at Sawyer. “You! I cannot even believe I forgot that I’m supposed to go check on my mother because of you!”

  Sawyer stood and pulled the blanket around his waist with one hand while the other reached out to her. “Okay, I think you need to calm down. We can still check on your mother…”

  “No, we can’t. I will. I can’t do this with you, Sawyer. Every time I’m around you, I seem to forget myself.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that. Please, Regan,” he said softly as he stroked a hand down her arm. “Call Caroline, make sure she’s okay and then…come with me back to the hotel.” He leaned his forehead against hers, his eyes searching hers. “Please.”

  She’d never had a man beg for her before and while she should have been pleased, she was too distracted. “I can’t,” she said apologetically. “This just isn’t the right time. I need to go and…and do this.” And before he could stop her, she fled the room leaving him standing there wrapped in a blanket with a raging hard on and his world turned upside down.

  ****

  Thirty minutes later, Regan pulled up in front of her mother’s house and was relieved to not see any construction vehicles. Her last visit here had her parking on the street and wading through a sea of power tools and men in hardhats. Sure, there are worse things for a single girl to have to wade through, but still.

  “Mom?” she called out as she let herself in. Caroline’s car was in the driveway so unless she had gotten over her migraine and drove with Max to High Point after all, she should be home. Regan walked around and marveled at all of the work that had been done. As much as she didn’t want to like it, things were coming together beautifully. She called out half-heartedly one more time while she ran her hands over the granite countertops in the kitchen. It was stunning; absolutely stunning and her heart ached that some other family was going to get to enjoy all of this.

  Off in the distance she heard her mother’s voice and let out a sigh of relief. If her mother was talking then she no longer had a headache. Slowly, Regan made her way down to the master bedroom, stopping to admire the new paint colors and the way the hardwood floors were being refinished.

  Caroline giggled and Regan smiled as she wondered who her mother must be talking to on the phone. Reaching for the door handle and pushing it open, she said, “Hey, I heard you were down with a…OH MY GOD!” Regan didn’t know who was more surprised by her appearance – her, Caroline or…Max Bennett. “Mom?” she said with disbelief.

  To their credit, Max and Caroline did their best to…cover up and Regan cringed and walked out the door while hyperventilating. “Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod,” she chanted as she made her way quickly back to the kitchen to grab her purse and keys.

  “Regan! Wait!” Caroline called as she came into the kitchen. “What are you doing here?”

  “What am I doing here?” Regan asked incredulously. “What exactly are you doing here?”

  “I live here, Regan. And don’t be cute.”

  As much as she wanted to, Regan couldn’t bring herself to look directly at her mother. “Believe me, I am not trying to be cute. You told me you were going to High Point today and then Sawyer comes into the spa and tells me that you called off the crew today because you had a migraine. So, being that I was concerned about you, I decided to stop by and see if you needed anything.”

  “Well that was sweet of you,” Caroline said calmly and Regan looked at her in shock.

  “Yes, I think it was sweet of me to come and check on someone who blatantly lied to me! What are you doing, Mom? What is going on with Max?”

  “Regan, please. I may be old but I’m not stupid. You’re no virgin so stop with the outrage. You know exactly what Max and I were doing. I really don’t want to have the birds and the bees talk with you again.”

  Yes, death would be preferable to this, Regan thought. “I’m not looking for the birds and the bees, Mom. I’m wondering when you got…involved…with Max and why you were keeping it a secret.”

  Caroline shrugged. “It wasn’t anyone’s business. We’re both consenting adults and truth be known, Regan, it has been a long time since I’ve had sex.” She giggled shyly. “I had forgotten how wonderful it could be.”

  “Ew, gross, Mom!” Regan slapped her hands over her ears. “I do not want to hear this.”

  Caroline slapped her hands away. “Cut that out, Regan. You’re a grown woman and I think you can handle hearing that your mother had sex!”

  “Oh, I not only heard it, I saw it too. Let’s not forget that!”

  “Well, if you can’t be mature about this, then maybe you should leave.”

  Regan’s eyes grew wide. “Me? I should leave? How about asking Max to leave? I’m pretty upset here!”

  “Yes, yes, poor you,” Caroline cooed. “I don’t mean to be rude, Regan, but…you really, um…interrupted us and I’d like to go back inside. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

  “Talk about what, exactly?” Regan asked, her voice nearing hysterical. “Your sex life?” With a little guidance, Caroline walked her daughter to the door. “You can’t be serious?”

  “As a heart attack,” Caroline said as she gently shoved Regan out the door.

  It was hard to describe which emotion held the top spot at the moment: shock, anger, outrage, disgust or…jealousy. For crying out loud was it possible that she was jealous because her own mother had a sex life and she didn’t? Was that too twisted to even consider? And the fact that not only did she have a sex life, but one with a Bennett just hit a little too close to home.

  She should be having sex with a Bennett right now but instead she walked away from that possibility to check on her liar-liar-pants-on-fire mother! Storming over to her car, Regan refused to look back at the house. She climbed into the vehicle and pulled out of the driveway as if the hounds of hell were after her.

  Where to go? Where to go? Regan’s mind was racing. The responsible thing to do was to go back to the spa and run the business that her mother clearly had no interest in. The irresponsible part of her wanted to track Sawyer down and finish what they had started earlier.

  Except she was mad.

  Really mad.

  Really, really mad.

  Ever since the Bennett men had come into her life, nothing had been the same. Regan liked things simple and predictable. Surprises were never her thing. And yet, ever since Caroline had met Max in the home improvement store, life had been one surprise after another and not all of them were good. Well, that didn’t matter, the fact still remained that Regan hated surprises and she wasn’t sure if she could take much more. Between the changes at the house, her mother’s affair and Regan’s own out of control feelings for Sawyer, she didn’t think that she was capable of making any kind of rational decision on anything at the moment.

  So instead of following her heart and going to the damn hotel and throwing caution to the wind, she headed toward home. “Well,” she said out loud, “it wouldn’t hurt to call him and rant a little bit about what I just saw.” Upon all of the contract signings, Sawyer had given her his business card with his cell number on it. While stopped at a traffic light she hit the blue tooth and dialed his number. His sleepy voice greeted her.

  “Hey,” he said. “Is Caroline all right?”

  Regan debated for all of five seconds on that one. Hell, if she had to witness what she did, he was damn-well going to hear about it. “As a matter of fact she is,” she responded with a hint of sarcasm.

  “What’s going on, Regan? You don’t sound right.”

  “No? You don’t think so?” she asked snappishly.

  “Regan…”

  “So I got to the house and was all set to go in and make some tea or something light for Mom to eat and I was admiring the granite countertops…”

&
nbsp; “They came out great, right?”

  Regan ignored his request for praise and continued on with her story. “…when all of a sudden I heard Mom talking. I figured she was on the phone and I took that as a good sign; that maybe she was feeling better.”

  Sawyer wasn’t a rocket scientist but he certainly could sense that something bad was coming.

  “I had called out to her twice and she didn’t answer but I figured that was because she was on the phone. You know, maybe she didn’t hear me. Well, imagine my surprise when I got to the door of the master bedroom and opened it and found your father in bed with my mother!”

  “No!” he said with disbelief and then realized if he was a little uncomfortable at hearing about it, how traumatized Regan was with having seen it. “Oh…geez, Regan, what did you do?”

  “What do you think I did? I turned and ran from the room. But not before I got quite the view of naked limbs all wrapped around one another!”

  Sawyer ran a hand over his face and let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Are you okay?”

  “No I’m not okay. Dammit, Sawyer, I told you something was up! And now I’ll have to stab out my own eyes to get that image out of there!” A shudder wracked her body and her stomach rolled at the thought of it. “I just cannot believe that…that…”

  “That your mother has sex?” he asked.

  “Don’t say that! God, she said that too and I just don’t want to think about that or hear it because then I start seeing it again!”

  “Okay, okay, clearly you’re upset. Why don’t you come over and we’ll go grab something to eat and you can calm down.”

  Didn’t he realize that if she showed up at his hotel that the last thing she’d want to do is have food and calm down? Did earlier today leave no impression on him at all? If she actually did show up at his hotel it would be with the sole purpose of stripping him naked and having her way with him!

  Hmm…the idea had merit. Maybe that’s what she needed; a night of wild, animalistic sex to help her unwind. She could do a more intimate massage than what she’d done earlier and then she’d let Sawyer have his turn running his hands over her and maybe then…

  “Regan? Are you still there?”

  “Huh? What?” Damn dirty mind. “No, I think I’m just going to go home and do my best to just…forget this day ever happened.”

  Sawyer wanted to argue that the entire day was not bad and that actually they had some pretty hot memories of their own that she could be focusing on but figured now might not be the best time to bring that up. As much as he was aware that his father dated, Sawyer had never had the misfortune of walking in on him and one of his girlfriends. The thought of that possibly happening had him cringing. Regan was already on the edge and this whole thing had, no doubt, sent her into a tizzy.

  “Look, I really don’t think going home and being alone obsessing about it is the answer. If you don’t want to come to the hotel, let me come to you. We’ll get a pizza, watch a movie…whatever you want to do to distract you.” He had several ideas at the ready.

  Oh, if only he knew how much she wanted to say yes. Regan had no doubt in her mind that Sawyer could distract her. Hell, he could probably distract her for days but was jumping into bed with him while she was upset the right thing to do? Or would she wake up tomorrow feeling worse than she did right now?

  You’ve seen the man half naked, Regan! There is no way he can leave you feeling worse. While her inner voice, no doubt, had a point, Regan was not one to do something so wild, so impulsive…so tempting that it was all she could think about! She heard Sawyer clear his throat and realized that there had been nothing but dead air for several moments.

  The devil in her reminded her of how hot they had been this afternoon in the massage room whereas the practical woman in her reminded her that sex was not a cure-all.

  She hated her practical side because it spoke louder to her.

  “I really do appreciate the offer, Sawyer, but I have to pass.” There. She’d said it. Now he’d probably be a gentleman and wish her a good night, maybe offer to let her call later on if she needed someone to talk to…yadda, yadda, yadda.

  “I guess I understand,” he said mildly. “After all, the way you threw yourself at me earlier, you probably don’t trust yourself to be alone with me. No worries. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around before the reno is done.”

  Regan thought that surely she must be hearing things. “Excuse me? What did you just say?”

  “You heard me. I don’t blame you, really. We’re attracted to one another and you tend to…you know…lose control with me whenever we’re alone. I’m sure that’s not what you need right now after such an upsetting incident at your mom’s so I completely get why you think it’s…safer…to be alone.”

  Regan looked around her car in disbelief and hoped that someone else was hearing this because she certainly couldn’t believe what Sawyer was saying! What a conceited, arrogant jackass! Which is exactly what she called him because she simply couldn’t think of anything else to say at the moment.

  “You can call me all the names you want if it makes you feel better; I don’t mind. But right now, I’m going back to soak in the Jacuzzi like you suggested. It’s worked wonders. I should follow up with a hot shower, too, you said, right?”

  Now he wanted professional advice on his injury? Did this man have no decency at all? Did he think that everything was about him? Regan was still at a loss for words. “Yeah, sure,” she mumbled. “Whatever.”

  “Have a good night, Regan,” he said silkily and it had Regan’s teeth on edge. She may have wished him a good night in return, she couldn’t be sure. Once the call ended, she punched the steering wheel. She called him every name in the book and still couldn’t believe the ego on him. Did he honestly believe that she was the one who couldn’t control herself when they were alone? Didn’t he realize that it was him who always made the first move? That he was the first one to reach out and find an excuse to touch her?

  She drove on replaying the few short times they had been in one another’s company from the first time when he couldn’t take his eyes off of her breasts because of the bedazzled Touch of Heaven emblazoned on them to the way he’d pulled her onto his lap when he was practically naked earlier.

  Bastard.

  If anything, Regan had no choice but to respond to his…mauling her! Yes, that’s what it was. He. Mauled. Her. Repeatedly. And she had no doubt that she could easily be in his presence without touching him or kissing him or even wanting to rip his shirt off just so she could marvel at the pure male perfection.

  She was better than that.

  She was the strong one.

  She was…pulling up in front of his hotel.

  What??? How had that happened?

  Putting the car in park, Regan simply sat there and contemplated her options. No one had to know that she had mistakenly shown up here; Sawyer certainly didn’t need to know. It was still a mystery as to how she had gotten here when clearly she had wanted to go home to be by herself. That was her plan. It was a good plan.

  Well, she thought, as long as I’m here…

  With a sense of pure determination, Regan got out of the car and walked boldly into the lobby. Without stopping at the front desk, she immediately went in search of the pool. Sawyer had said that he was going back to the Jacuzzi and clearly not a lot of time had passed so it made sense that she’d find him there.

  But she didn’t.

  Now she had no choice but to go to the desk and ask for his room number. With more bravado than she actually felt, she got the information from the clerk and headed up to the sixth floor. The entire ride up in the elevator, Regan reminded herself of Sawyer’s cocky words and let herself ride the wave of anger all the way to his room. It would do her good to hold on to that feeling so that she wasn’t distracted by her attraction to him and find herself doing exactly as he claimed – throwing herself at him.

  Sawyer’s room was at the end
of the hall and she knocked forcefully on the door and nearly fell through and into his arms when he opened it up. Luckily she caught herself in time and found herself staring at six plus feet of wet male in clingy black swim trunks. Her mouth went dry and she searched her brain for some kind of witty or snarky comment to make to him to prove that she wasn’t here to throw herself at him. But she never got the chance. Before she knew what was happening, Sawyer reached out and snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her flush up against him, slamming the door behind them.

  “It’s about damn time you got here,” he muttered before covering her mouth with his.

  Chapter Five

  Regan was too shocked to instantly respond but once Sawyer had her pinned up against the wall and his tongue licked her bottom lip she was lost. Dropping her purse to the floor, she wrapped her arms around Sawyer’s neck and managed to pull back enough to say, “How did you know I’d come here?”

  He had a dirty come back for her but didn’t dare say it. “Wishful thinking,” he panted as he dove back in for another hot, wet kiss. Sawyer knew he hadn’t played fair; he’d essentially dared her to show up and be alone with him. It was childish and it was a huge risk and he was more than relieved that it had paid off. Regan was here in his arms and he wasn’t about to let her run off any time soon.

  She tore her mouth away again. “Just for the record, you kissed me first.”

  Sawyer chuckled. “Just for the record,” he said and bit down gently on her earlobe, “I know.” He went for her lips again but she ducked her head to the side. “What?” He said a silent prayer that she wasn’t reconsidering her options or regretting being here because he didn’t think he’d be able to survive if she left again.