Mastering Heat [Men of Iron Horse 9] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  “Yes.”

  “Where is this coming from?”

  Lacey’s eyes watered. “I was upset at first. Daddy left us. I thought you were leaving me, too.”

  “Oh, honey,” Claire whispered, moving from her chair to kneel beside her at the table. Her heart had relocated to her throat. “I would never leave you. You’re my girl. My precious daughter.”

  She whimpered. “I know that now. When you ended things with him…I knew I’d been wrong.”

  Claire kissed her forehead. “I wish you would’ve talked to me sooner.”

  “I was scared. I thought you’d leave sooner.”

  Claire was crushed. Tears filled her gaze. “I love you, Lacey. You’re a part of me.”

  She grasped Claire’s hand. “Nox is a good guy, Mom, and he’s pretty wise, too.”

  She furrowed her brow. “And how would you know that?”

  She reached into her jacket and pulled out her mother’s cell phone. “I might have called him today.”

  Claire gasped. “You did?”

  She nodded. “He told me to talk to you. Said you were the one to answer my questions and that I shouldn’t be afraid to tell you how I felt.”

  Nox surprised her, yet again. “He did, did he?”

  “He sounds like a really nice guy, Mom. I’d like to meet him.”

  “Well, he’ll be at my graduation. He works at the university. I’ll introduce you.”

  Lacey wrapped Claire in the tightest hug, and for a moment, both of them just held each other. A weight had lifted off of Claire, and she smiled. Lacey hadn’t wanted her to end things with Nox. She simply wanted to be included and not abandoned.

  Now she just hoped that introducing her daughter to her ex-lover wouldn’t be as weird as she thought it might.

  * * * *

  Family and friends were supposed to hold their applause until the end of the graduation ceremony. That went ignored the second Claire Buckman’s name was read by the school president. Nox quirked a grin, as his gaze found the crowd of Claire cheerleaders. He recognized a few from Iron Horse and lots of new faces. He also spotted Lacey. His smile grew when she waved at him.

  Claire was smiling as she crossed the stage, her gaze finding him, before taking her diploma in hand and shaking the president’s hand with the other. Nox’s gaze followed her as she moved across the stage and disappeared back to her seat.

  Once the long list of names was called and every diploma handed out, the president took a moment to say a few words of encouragement and to reiterate just how proud he was of the graduating class and of all their hard work. Nox understood how hard it was to finish school, but the difficult part started now, finding a job and making the most of a career. He wished only the best for Claire, regardless of what happened between them.

  After the ceremony, Nox found Claire surrounded by friends and family. He locked eyes with her, and everything around him melted away. Everything except the little hand tugging at his arm.

  He looked down to see Lacey, a perfect likeness to her mother. “Hello, Lacey.”

  “Hi, Nox. Thanks for helping me work things out with my mom. You were right. She was the right person to talk to.”

  “Anytime,” he whispered, giving her a little squeeze.

  “So,” Claire started. “Imagine my surprise when she tells me that she’s spoken with you.”

  Nox’s mouth opened and then closed immediately. What was he supposed to say? Was she going to be angry with him?

  “I’m glad she opened up to someone. I wasn’t doing so well on my own.” Claire patted Lacey’s head. “Was I?”

  “Oh, Mom,” Lacey moaned.

  “I’m glad I could lend an ear.” He smiled, returning his attention to Claire. “I wanted to give you something. I took the liberty of compiling a current list of all the area legal firms needing paralegals.” He handed it to her. “I hope you’ll consider submitting your resume. They would be lucky to have you on board, Claire.”

  She gaped. “Thank you.”

  “Well, I’m sure you have some festivities planned to celebrate your graduation, so I’ll let you get to it.”

  Claire shrugged. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do, to tell you the truth. I hadn’t planned anything.”

  Talking with her was likely to kill him. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and hold her, kiss her and tell her just how proud he was of her. But he couldn’t. He stiffened his spine. “Maybe your friends will surprise you with a nice lunch or something.”

  Claire nodded. “Maybe.”

  Nox hesitated, wanting to say more, but didn’t know what. Small talk was not his thing. “Enjoy yourself.” He looked down at Lacey. “It was a pleasure to see you, Lacey.”

  She hugged him and his breath caught. She was the first child to ever do so. “Thank you,” she muttered against him.

  “Be good for your mom, okay?”

  She nodded, and before he could say more, he walked away.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Claire wasn’t sure whose bright idea it was to have lunch at Iron Horse, but she agreed to tag along anyway. They were celebrating her graduation, after all, and it appeared that her friends really couldn’t get enough of this place. She spotted all of their vehicles in the parking lot.

  “We must be the last to arrive.” She parked her car and glanced at Lacey in the reflection of the rearview mirror. “You ready?”

  “Yep. Starved. I can’t wait to get my burger and fries.” She cooed like a bird. “And a chocolate shake.”

  Claire smiled. “Duly noted.”

  Holding hands, she and Lacey cut across the parking lot and into the bar. She spotted Jace, leaning his back and elbows against the bar. “Gee wiz,” he started. “It’s about time you joined us. We’re all about to go hungry waiting on you.”

  “Hey,” she cried, furrowing her brow, glancing down at her watch. “I’m right on time.”

  “Yah. Yah. Yah. That’s what all the tardy people say,” Jace playfully teased, making a funny face at Lacey, and then tucked her into a one arm embrace as he led them into the private party room.

  He whispered into Lacey’s ear and she giggled, taking off in a run.

  “Lacey, wait,” Claire called after her, then sped up to catch her.

  When she entered the room, she froze in her tracks. A barrage of voices cheered, “Congratulations!” Her mouth fell open as she scanned the room of friendly faces—Janie, Victor, Jace, Sage, Noble and Finn, Sam and her husband, Daniel, and Jason Whitmore, the other owner of Iron Horse, and his wife, Layla.

  She smiled, stunned by the surprise party—balloons, a giant cake, and presents filled her view, but it was the person standing in the corner that held her attention the most. Nox. He’d come to celebrate with her, and it was the one thing that made her heart skip a beat.

  As if he held a magnet that only attracted her, she moved toward him. With each step she took, everything around her vanished into oblivion. All she saw was him, his eyes on her the way hers were on him.

  “Hi,” she whispered with a smile. “Did you know they had this planned?”

  He tucked his hands into his pants pockets, looking more charming than she’d ever seen him. “I asked them to do it for you.”

  Her lips parted on a gasp. “You arranged this?”

  He nodded. “Lacey might’ve mentioned that you weren’t planning to celebrate your graduation. I couldn’t allow that.”

  “You couldn’t?”

  He stepped toward her. “You earned this, Claire. You deserve to celebrate.” He brushed a strand of hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “You deserve so much more than that.”

  “I do?” Her eyes watered. “It doesn’t feel like I do.”

  “Don’t do that,” he snapped. “You graduated. You and Lacey are working things out.”

  “And what about what happened between us?” Guilt hit her hard as she looked at him, his eyes filled with forgiveness. “You didn’t deserve that. I fr
eaked out. I couldn’t handle—”

  “You did handle it. You did what you needed to do. I get that.”

  She laughed, not a humor filled laugh, more a sound of disbelief. “Why are you taking this so well?”

  “Because you want me, Claire. You want me and I want you.” He closed the distance between them. He looked down at her, his fingers sliding over her cheek and wrapping around her nape. “Don’t you?”

  Her lower lip quivered. He still wanted her. It was as if the clouds opened up to allow the sun to shine down on her. The angels were singing. “Yes,” she told him. “I want you very much. But—”

  “But what?”

  “How do you feel about children?”

  He quirked a grin, his hand sliding forward to brush his thumb over her lower lip. “The daughter you have or the ones we’re going to make?” he paused. “Or both?”

  She glared at him. “I’m serious.”

  “Me, too,” he countered with a smile.

  Her glare intensified.

  “I think Lacey is pretty amazing. She has insight and she cares about people. She’ll make a great attorney one day.”

  Claire grinned. “She will, huh?”

  “And you and I are going to make amazing babies one day.” He pulled her against him, his fingers teasing the flesh of her neck, the other at the small of her back. “But not until we’ve practiced. A lot.”

  Tears and a smile warred within her. “I almost lost you.”

  He kissed her, his lips gently pressed to her mouth. “You never lost me, Claire. I’ve been right here waiting.”

  She whimpered, her arms flying around his neck. Joy, unlike anything she’d ever felt, swept through her like a whirling tornado. Again he took her mouth and as they kissed a roar of cheers sprung out around them. She pulled back to see everyone in the room clapping and whistling. Lacey rushed to her mother, hugging her. She stared up at Nox and he patted her head. She hugged him, too.

  “Thank you for making my mommy smile again,” she told him.

  He knelt down to be eye to eye with her. “Lacey, you make your mommy smile every day, and I’ll do my best to do the same.”

  She placed her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure you will.”

  He smiled, hugging her again. Then he stood and put his arm around Claire. “Shall we celebrate?”

  Claire placed her hand on his chest. “Only if you promise we can continue at home.”

  “My home or yours?”

  “We’ll start at yours, but eventually…it will have to be—”

  “Ours,” he finished.

  “If you were serious about wanting babies with me, then yes.”

  He kissed her and nipped at her lips. “I’ll start looking at real estate Monday.”

  “Make sure there’s plenty of bedrooms.”

  His brow pinched at the bridge of his nose. “How many rooms are you thinking?”

  “As many rooms as you’d like to christen.”

  “Do they make houses that big?”

  She laughed.

  He cupped her face. “I love you, Claire,” he told her, his eyes held a promise she’d never witnessed.

  “I love you, too.” And she did, more than she thought she would ever love another man. No one in her life had ever possessed her heart the way he did. No one ever would. “I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you, too.”

  Lacey was sitting on Noble’s lap, poking her finger into the icing of the cake, giggling each time she was busted for doing so. Suddenly, she pictured a house filled with children, a career she’d always wanted, and a man she’d always dreamed about. All those things were in reach. She glanced to Nox who was already looking at her.

  “What?” he asked, when she didn’t say anything. Her expression clearly showed more than she meant to.

  “I have everything I ever wanted.”

  He put his finger under her chin and brought her eyes to meet his. “And just think, had you not come to my office that night…” He let the words fade.

  “So I should totally thank you for all of this then, right?”

  “Hell yes,” he told her, his mouth curving into a sexy grin. “I welcome your appreciation.”

  “I already told you that I’d go home with you tonight.”

  “Why wait?”

  She darted her eyes to Lacey who was still sneaking icing off of the cake. “Maybe we should at least have cake.”

  He laughed. “I think you might be right.” As she moved to join Lacey, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “But afterward, you show me your appreciation as promised.”

  She kissed him hard, savoring his mouth. “I would love to.”

  And she planned to thank him for the rest of their lives.

  THE END

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