Wild Hearts (Forever Wild) Read online

  I went to grab my suitcase out of the trunk but Wes was quicker, snatching my suitcase as well as his bag and guitar case. I didn’t protest this time and instead my face heated up just thinking how well he did the southern gentleman thing.

  “Are you two having a freaking moment or something?” Paige huffed.

  I cleared my throat and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “Just getting our bags.”

  Wes closed the trunk and followed us down the path to the main doorway. We were on the first floor and there were only four other units on that floor. Paige opened the door and we followed her in to our tiny apartment.

  I didn’t immediately love the place when we moved in. I always had this big dream of being the curvier Carrie Bradshaw and having some amazing apartment in River North, but then reality set in when I saw how much rent would be in that area. Luckily Paige needed a roommate and was willing to take me in. I got along with her well enough and we had our definite moments of girl fighting.

  Paige dropped her purse on the couch next to her black cat, Dexter, who was sunning himself in the light from the bay window. The small living room opened up to our even smaller kitchen with outdated, white appliances and light wood cabinets, so it only took a few steps for Paige to walk over to the fridge and grab a bottle of water. “So what happens now? This dude just hangs out here until you pay for a divorce and send him back to Vegas?”

  I sighed, plopping down on the worn-out recliner that faced the TV. “Layla helped me set up a meeting with a lawyer tomorrow, so we’ll see what happens.”

  Wes sauntered toward me but then stopped at the couch. “Hey, little fella.” He bent over, his hand hovering above Dexter.

  “I wouldn’t do that, cowboy. Dex doesn’t like to be touched,” Paige warned before taking a swig of her water.

  Wes didn’t listen and instead sat next to Dexter and scratched behind his ears. Whenever I tried that with Dexter he would usually grab my hand and then bite it. But the little brat actually purred when Wes touched him. Closed his eyes in an all-out, deep purr.

  Yeah. The guy had the same effect on me too.

  “Is this seriously happening right now?” Paige stomped into the room, wide-eyed.

  Wes looked over at us with a big grin on his face. “Should I not be touching the cat?”

  I shook my head and stood. “No, it’s fine. Dexter just doesn’t usually like people.”

  “I seem to have this effect on cats.” The grin spread wider on his face while a flame of heat creeped up my neck.

  “Ew. A pussy joke? Please don’t tell me this is going to be just all about you two screwing like rabbits. It’s bad enough when that douche Max tries to stroll in for a quick lay at 2 AM.” Paige rolled her eyes.

  “Max?” Wes raised an eyebrow.

  “Don’t worry, cowboy, he’s just her fuck buddy. He only texts or shows up when he wants sex,” Paige said, quickly picking up Dexter and cradling him in her arms like a baby.

  I clenched my jaw. I wasn’t expecting Paige to bring up Max, especially not so soon. He hadn’t even texted me in a week, so he might have been over me. Then again, he really did only text me when he wanted to get together. By get together, I mean fuck.

  “Why don’t I show you our room?” I asked, quickly changing the subject.

  “You two are sharing a room?” Paige asked.

  I shrugged. “We are technically married.” I turned my attention to Wes. “Unless you’d rather sleep on the couch or something.”

  He stood up, taking slow methodical steps over to me. “I’d love to share a room with you.”

  Paige rolled her eyes and walked toward her bedroom. “You two newlyweds make me want to puke.”

  Wes grinned. “She really is a sweetheart.”

  I sighed. “I know. She really is a cool chick once you get to know her. If you stay that long.”

  He opened his mouth slightly and then shut it, his shoulders slumping as if he was going to say something but decided not to. I wanted to know what he almost said but at the same time I was afraid I wouldn’t like it. I had to get over him. The guy who sang songs for me and did my dry cleaning was just a husband by mistake. Not my forever.

  “So you want to see our room then?” I asked.

  “Of course, darlin’.”

  My shoes squeaked on the hardwood floor as I walked through the living room, past our one tiny bathroom, and opened the first door. “Bathroom is to the right and Paige’s room is to the left.”

  “Hopefully I remember that when I need to take a piss in the middle of the night,” he said with a laugh as I opened the door to my bedroom.

  My room wasn’t anything special. Paige actually complained that our rooms were the size of her closet at her parents. But it was mine. I didn’t have to worry about my mom down the hall or anything else. My queen-size bed took up most of the room with a black-and-white chevron comforter made on top of it. I had a few turquoise throw pillows stacked up at the top which I figured made up for the fact that my black, upholstered headboard looked more like a kindergarten art project than the Pinterest picture I based it off of.

  Wes walked in slowly, his boots clicking on the hardwood floor before he placed his duffle bag between the register heater and my closet. “It’s nice in here,” he said, looking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling. A professor and his daughter lived in the apartment before us. For the life of me I couldn’t get the stupid stars off the ceiling no matter how hard I tried.

  I leaned against my white dresser. “It’s okay, I guess. It’s a place to sleep.”

  “Am I sleeping in here with you?” His eyes locked on mine and my breath caught in my throat. How was I ever going to divorce this guy?

  I swallowed hard, standing up straighter and rattling some of the pictures on my dresser. “Um, you can if you want. Or you can sleep on the couch. Whatever you want to do.”

  A broad grin crossed his face before he pounced on the bed then rolled over so he was lying flat on his back with a smile still on his face. He looked up at me, reaching his hand out. “Come here, babe.”

  “Why?” I raised a skeptical eyebrow.

  He grabbed my hand, pulling me forward until I fell on the bed next to him with a little gasp. Wes wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer against him before he nuzzled my neck. “I just wanted to see if we both fit on here comfortably and I think we do just fine.”

  I pulled back, knitting my eyebrows together. “Did you think I was too big for us to fit on here together?”

  “What?” His eyes met mine, a look of genuine puzzlement on his face and his smile gone. “That’s not what I meant at all. I just wanted to use it as an excuse to get close to you, geez.” His lips brushed against my jawline.

  I let out a sigh and rolled to my side, ignoring how good his warm lips felt on me.

  “What’d I do?” He put his hands out.

  I shook my head, smoothing out my skirt as I sat up. “Nothing. It’s fine. I just ... I need ...” I huffed. I couldn’t think of a better excuse than the truth. “Look. We have great sexual chemistry, that’s a given. But I just can’t spend every day cuddling with you and having sex with you whenever. This is just an arrangement until we meet with the divorce lawyer tomorrow and find out our next steps. That’s it.”

  Wes sat up slowly, dangling his feet off the bed. “Really? That’s all this is? After everything these past few days?”

  I couldn’t look at him. If I did I knew I would be a goner. So instead I looked at a framed picture of me and my sister Melanie on the dresser. “Yeah. That’s all ...”

  “All right, darlin’. Whatever you say.”

  Later That Night

  I laid awake in bed for awhile, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling. Wes lay next to me, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. My mind was racing too much to even think about sleep.

  What was I going to do now that I was really falling for the guy? Watching his face in the mi
rror on the plane made me see a hint of something. Something that suggested he liked me too. But it couldn’t work. He was the stripper I married in Vegas. Not the guy I would actually spend the rest of my life with.

  My phone buzzed on the nightstand. I thought it might have just been a Facebook notification, but then it buzzed again. I rolled over to my side, glancing at the time on my alarm clock. 1 AM. Awesome. I had to be up in four hours.

  I grabbed my phone and unlocked it. There was a message from Max waiting for me.

  Back from Vegas? I’d like to get you on your back.

  I rolled my eyes. He had the cheesiest lines. And, of course, they always came in the middle of the night. Not when he was out with his hedge fund friends or anywhere during daylight hours. That’s the type of girl I was. The one he snuck around with at night.

  Yeah. Sleeping. Sorry.

  This was how these little games always went with Max. First the late-night texts and then there would either be texting dirty things or I’d finally let him come over. Never to his place in Lincoln Park. Always at mine and always at odd hours. Paige told me I was stupid for letting him do that. But I thought it was the only way I’d get close to someone.

  Too bad, because I’m in your neck of the woods...

  My bed creaked, followed by a loud groan as Wes turned over, throwing his warm arm around me and pressing his stomach against my back. “What are you doing up?” he asked sleepily.

  “Nothing,” I muttered before typing a reply to Max.

  Maybe another time...

  Wes put his chin on my shoulder. “What the hell is that?”

  I put my phone down and turned to face him. “Nothing that concerns you.”

  “Are you seriously sexting another guy while I’m in your bed?”

  “What?” I raised an eyebrow. “No. Who the hell even says that word? That’s reserved for political scandals.”

  “I’m saying it because you were dirty texting another guy while you had me in bed with you? Are you also sending pics of your boobs too?”

  My mouth gaped open. “What the hell? Do you just think I’m some kind of slut?”

  He groaned, propping up on his elbow. “No. I just know how guys think. If some dude is texting you at 1 AM it’s not because he wants to go out for tea and cookies. He wants sex.”

  “And I’m sure you haven’t done that millions of times.”

  “I’m not an animal, Val. I have a little bit more respect for women than that.”

  “Says the guy who married a girl he just met in Vegas.”

  He grunted, grabbing my phone and putting it on the table beside us. “I could have done a lot worse.” He placed a quick kiss on my cheek but let his lips hover just above it. “And I don’t regret it one bit.”

  “I’m sure that’s not true,” I whispered, barely able to get the words out. Truth was, I was starting not to regret it either.

  He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear before his lips trailed back to my cheek and then down my neck, his stubble tickling my sensitive skin. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now than here with you in this bed. I could lay here forever underneath these fake stars.”

  I sucked in a breath, unsure of what to say next. But the moment didn’t really need words either. He breathed into my neck as if he was inhaling all of me. Trying to make a memory of my scent.

  My eyes snapped open when I heard a pounding at the front door. There wasn’t more than twenty feet from the front door to my bedroom so I heard it easily. Especially when there was a fist slamming on it like they were being kidnapped or something.

  “What the fuck?” Paige yelled from her bedroom.

  Wes sat straight up, looking at my bedroom door as if someone was going to come barreling through it. “Are you expecting someone?” he asked.

  “Sometimes people get the wrong apartment and knock on ours. Maybe they’ll just go away.” Even as I said the words, I didn’t believe them. Dammit. I knew it was probably Max.

  He banged again at the door, which caused Wes to throw the covers off the bed and jump out. He strode over to my bedroom door, yanking it open with purpose. My knight in shining black boxer briefs thought he was going to meet an intruder.

  I jumped up as quickly as I could but didn’t move as fast as Wes, who already had the front door open, staring at Max like he was a cockroach. “There something I can help you with, sir?”

  Max had one arm leaning on the doorframe and the cockeyed grin on his face that I always found sexy. He was still in his tailored suit from the office, his brown hair meticulously gelled back. There wasn’t a hint of stubble or anything out of place on his face.

  Max cocked an eyebrow at Wes and folded his arms across his chest, standing up straighter. I always thought he was a good-sized guy until I saw Wes. The stripper practically towered over him and had a presence, even in his briefs. But Max wasn’t one to back down. It was how he made his first million at twenty-five. He had no fear.

  “And who are you? Another one of Paige’s conquests?” Max asked.

  Paige burst out of her bedroom as if she heard her name called. She rolled her eyes and groaned as soon as she saw Max in the doorway. “If I would have known it was just your fuck buddy I wouldn’t have put on pants,” she muttered and then walked back into her room, slamming her door with extra oomph.

  Max’s eyes followed Paige and then landed right on me. Well, more like my chest that was falling out of my tank top. “So ...” Max said.

  Wes shook his head, one hand on the door. “Look, dude, whatever you’re selling, we ain’t buying it, so if you just want to take your fancy suit and go back up to Wall Street or whatever the hell they call it here, that’d be great.”

  Max grabbed the door, right underneath Wes’s grip. They stared at each other with hard looks, both of their hands shaking on the door like they were in a fight for it. “Hey, dude, I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but I’m Max fucking Green and I’m here to see Valerie.”

  Wes let out a slight laugh, shaking his head before taking a few steps closer to me and putting his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close against him. “Well that sure as shit ain’t gonna happen because Valerie here is with me.”

  “The fuck?” Max’s mouth dropped as he looked from me to Wes and then at me again. His eyes were locked on me like a father about to reprimand his child. “Is he serious?”

  I shrugged slightly, biting my bottom lip before nodding.

  Max shook his head, raking his hands through his hair. “A little warning would have been nice before I tracked all the way to Wrigleyville.”

  “And now you can just take that same track and mosey all the way back home,” Wes said, squeezing my shoulder.

  Max shook his head. “Whatever.”

  He didn’t even look back as he turned and walked down the hall. Wes shut the door before either of us could say anything else.

  “Ex-boyfriend?” Wes asked.

  “Boyfriend is the wrong word...”

  “Fuck buddy?”

  “Pretty much.”

  He nodded slightly and I wiggled out of his arm, walking to the bedroom. He followed, shutting the door behind us. I sat on the bed, pulling the covers over me, but Wes just stood in the doorway, his eyebrows knitted together. “You know you don’t need to screw some guy just to get him to hang out with you. You’re way too good for that.”

  I scoffed. “Says the guy who thought he was going to get a sugar mama he met in Vegas.”

  Wes pushed off the door, taking slow steps until he was at the bed, sitting in front of me. “I may have been half-cocked and thinking about getting out of Vegas with a pretty businesswoman, but it isn’t why I stayed with you.” He took my hands in his, running his thumb along my knuckles. Everything between my thighs instantly heated up and I had to keep my focus on his hands.

  “You’re pretty. Smart. Funny as all get-out. And you don’t act like you’re better than anyone. You’re real. The realest girl I’ve e
ver met and that’s why I stay with you. Not for late-night fucks or whatever it is that douchebag wanted.”

  I shook my head. “Wes, you don’t need to say those things. You don’t need to pretend like we’re something that we’re not.”

  He leaned in, his green eyes meeting mine in the dim light of my bedroom. “I’m not pretending anything, darlin’. I do like you and I know that this isn’t the most normal relationship in the world, but I’d like to see where it goes.”

  I let out a deep breath. “I know you want to stay and you think that this may be some messed-up romance thing, but we still need to talk to the lawyer tomorrow and figure out what we need to do. Until then, we’re together. Whatever you want to call it.”

  “I guess I can agree to that. For now.”

  “For now,” I repeated.

  He let go of my hands, crawling into bed next to me and under the covers. “Then for now you’re still Mrs. Wild and I’d like to spoon you.”

  I rolled my eyes as he looped his arm around my waist, pulling me against him. “Are you going to stop it with that Mrs. Wild stuff anytime soon?”

  He laughed, his breath tickling my neck as I lay against him. “You said you wanted to keep the marriage secret in public, but while I have you in my arms I’ll say whatever I want.”

  I let out a deep breath. I had a million things I wanted to say. How this wasn’t real. How I couldn’t fall for the stripper. How this would never work and he would be gone as soon as we figured out divorce arrangements and he got alimony. But instead I just snuggled against him and whispered, “Goodnight, Mr. Wild.”

  “Goodnight, Mrs. Wild.”

  The Next Day

  My alarm went off right on schedule. I moaned, leaning over to turn it off with a big yawn. I blinked hard and reached for the other side of the bed. I may have only known Wes a few days, but there was something oddly comforting about feeling his warm body next to mine when I woke up. He was the only guy that wasn’t in a hurry to leave the next morning or after the deed was done. It was addicting to feel him against me. And if he was pressed to me that would lead to other things.