Hurricane Hearts (Storm MC Reloaded 1)

He held my gaze for another long silent moment before nodding. “You take the bed.”

“And where will you sleep?” I had never been to this house so I didn’t know if Max had other spare rooms or not.

“Don’t worry about me, Angel. I’ll find somewhere.”

Oh God. I was about to make what was sure to be a very bad decision, but there was no way I could let him sleep on an uncomfortable couch or some other place where he probably wouldn’t get much rest. Winter was exhausted; he needed some good sleep.

“I do worry about you. Sleep in here with me.”

The look he gave me sucked the breath from my lungs.

This was the reason I’d fallen for this man all those years ago.

It was a fuck-yes-but-I’m-aware-of-what-this-is-costing-you look. It was awareness and understanding and appreciation. It was respect and gratitude and love. Maybe it was because I knew him so well, but Winter could express so much in one look. And his ability to grasp the depth of what things meant to me was beyond my understanding. I mean, the man was all kinds of bossy and arrogant most days, yet he could be sensitive and sacrificing too. He was a bloody contradiction and always kept me guessing.

Before this moment became something we didn’t need it to become, I grabbed my floral Peter Alexander pyjama shorts and a clean top from my bag. No way would I sleep well in my jeans. Exiting the bedroom to use the bathroom and to change, I was hyperaware that I did so with Winter’s eyes burning heat into my skin. And although he wasn’t with me while in the bathroom, I felt him everywhere.

By the time I got myself under control and returned to the bedroom, Winter was lying on the bed, fully clothed, hands resting under his head. He tracked my movements, eliciting a whole new flurry of feelings deep inside me.

I could get used to his eyes on me.

No one made me feel better in the world than this man.

When I reached the edge of the bed, I hesitated. This was probably the moment where I should make a better choice, because there was no doubt in my mind of what would happen the second I laid down next to him. It wouldn’t matter that we didn’t have sex; that wasn’t what this was about. This was about the emotional connection we shared. Sleeping next to him, with his arms around me—which I knew was exactly where this was going—would cause a shift in our relationship. It would move us closer to where he wanted us, and while I had all these thoughts swimming around my head about that maybe being a possibility, I wasn’t sure I was ready for that shift to occur.

“Stop overthinking this, Angel,” he said, his deep voice a rumble of sexiness that I wished didn’t affect me so damn much. “We’re just sleeping here. And if you need me to leave, I will.”

“It’s not just sleeping, and you know that,” I muttered, finally lying next to him. As close to the edge of the bed that I could.

Before I saw it coming, he leaned over, reached his hand across my body and slid me closer to him. “If anyone needs to sleep on the edge of the bed, it’ll be me.”

I stared at him. “Why can’t you just be an asshole? For once.” It would be a whole lot easier to push him away if he were.

His lips pulled up in a chuckle. “Pretty sure you’ve called me an asshole on numerous occasions.”

“Yeah, well maybe you could recreate some of that magic for me.” The truth was that while he could annoy the living hell out of me, Winter was as far from an asshole as you could get.

We turned silent for a few minutes, both staring up at the ceiling. I was exhausted, but lying next to him had me all kinds of awake. I wasn’t convinced I could sleep.

Needing to take my mind off the way my body was reacting to him, I asked, “What’s in your dad’s will?”

I glanced across at him in time to see his chest rise as he took a long breath. Blowing it out, he said, “Dad had more money than he let on. His brother left him everything when he died and Dad invested it wisely. I knew about it, but Max didn’t.”

“Wow.” His brother had died years ago, just after Max married Melissa. He’d been a wealthy man. “That’s a long time to keep something from Max.” I realised why Winter was wound tightly over this; Max wasn’t going to take this well at all. But I knew why his father had made this choice; he hadn’t trusted Melissa from the day he met her. Over the years, she’d proven those instincts right when she’d tried to get her hands on family money whenever she could.

“That’s only the half of it.”

I rolled onto my side, facing him. As my gaze traced the lines and angles of his face, I said, “What else is there?”

I watched

as he swallowed, restraining myself from reaching out and touching him. God how his masculinity called to me. His good looks. His strength. His grit. His constancy. Winter was a man of his word. And he was very intentional about the way he did things. He showed up for the people in his life and didn’t let them down. He was a man who could be counted on, and that was one of the most attractive things about him to me.

“Unless he made changes since the last time we spoke about it, he’s put a stipulation in the will that we can’t sell his house. He wants it to stay in the family and used to build wealth. He liked that I refused to sell Mum’s family home and wanted the same for his house. And he’s giving fifty grand to charity. Cancer research.” He turned to me. “Between all of that, Melissa will be completely pissed off. I see only pain ahead for Max and if I could do anything to stop that, I would. But I can’t.”

I saw pain ahead for Winter, too. And I felt the same way—I would do anything to ease it for him.

Reaching out, I placed my hand on his chest. “You are a good man, Winter. I don’t know any as good as you.”