Un-Break my Heart: Book 2 (The Heart Trilogy) Read online

  As Charlotte burst through the door of her room Mitch looked up in surprise from his lounging position on the bed. When he didn’t dance his body itched to keep moving and as long as Charlie was in reach there was plenty of potential for that. Flinging herself onto the bed beside him her lips sought his for a quick kiss.

  “Mum says that’s ok so you’ve got a passenger tomorrow and me all week and next weekend” she sighed. Moving over her he pushed her down into the softness of the duvet.

  “Sounds good to me” he murmured. Running his fingers down the side of her face he watched her close her eyes in anticipation of his next move. He ran them over her lips and she opened her mouth so they could enter. She sucked on them and relished the sound of Mitch’s breathing starting to quicken. She was just starting to get the hang of the power she could wield over him just with some very easy moves and gestures.

  Opening her eyes she saw the desire burning in his as he replaced his fingers with his lips and started to kiss her. He ran his hands down her body and lifted the hem of her t-shirt so he could move it over her head. She wore no bra so immediately he sank down lower to capture her nipple in his mouth. Charlie ran her fingers down his back and pulled his t-shirt up so that her hands could feel warm skin beneath them. Mitchell was the one in control now, as she surrendered completely to his touch. Freeing him from his t-shirt, she hoisted up her hips and he removed her leggings and knickers in one swift tug.

  “Turn over” he said, as Charlie grinned and wiggled her ass at him, she was having so much fun. Looking over her shoulder she watched as he slipped his jeans off and headed towards her. Sliding his warm hands up her legs to her firm cheeks he grinned.

  “Are you ready to try it this way” he murmured. Charlie nodded and buried her head in the pillow beneath her. Gently he thrust into her, as his hands moved up to cup her breasts. Then he ran one down her spine as she arched, her sleek lines making her look like a feline in human form.

  Her muscles gripped him as they rocked together, a gentle rhythm that increased as the intensity rose within them.

  “Mitchell” she gasped, as she shuddered around him and he couldn’t resist any longer and joined her. Spread eagled beneath him she felt his weight resting on her as he dropped a kiss or two on her shoulders, before he rolled off.

  “Oh my God that was amazing” Charlie breathed, as he lay next to her.

  “I agree” Mitch replied “I needed to let off some steam and that is definitely the best way”

  “Well, that and dancing” Charlie said, joining in as she snuggled closer to him.

  “So I’ve got you for a whole seven days, what are we going to do” he grinned. His sexy smile got her every time as she leaned in and kissed him.

  “I’m sure we’ll think of something”

  Downstairs I heard my phone beep and realised that I must have dozed off. Retrieving it from the work top in the kitchen I saw it was a message from James.

  “Hi Steph, just to let you know I am home, alone in an empty house and missing you already x”

  “Hi James, that will be my house tomorrow when Mitchell heads home with Charlie in tow x”

  “I’ll get on the internet shortly and find us a great hotel and email you the details x”

  “Great, speak later x” I finished. As I had my phone in hand I found Sarah’s number and gave her a call.

  After a couple of rings she answered

  “Hi Steph, recovered yet” she asked.

  “Almost, just tired and worried about lots of things. Are you free tomorrow afternoon?”

  “Yes I should be finished at the Library around three so shall I call over to yours” Sarah said “I guess you want to discuss James”

  “How did you know” I sighed.

  “Because you’re my best mate, that’s how” she said. I smiled at her comment; she really did know me too well after our thirty five year friendship.

  “Thanks Sarah, see you tomorrow, I’ll put the wine in the fridge”

  “Or a cuppa, I don’t mind which” she finished “See you tomorrow”

  I rustled up some food for tea and then gave Charlie and Mitchell a shout. Their flushed faces hid nothing and I smiled at their carefree romance and hoped that it would all last now that I was going out with Mitchell’s Dad.

  Chapter 3

  Watching Charlotte leave on the back of Mitch’s bike the following morning I headed into the house to get back into the usual routine. Listening to Paul on the morning show I realised that I was waiting for my secret admirer request and now I knew who it was I was disappointed. James had told me he was off work today so I grabbed my phone and typed in a text to Paul at the station.

  “Morning Paul, can you play “Father Figure” for James, from Steph”

  “So the sort of blind date went well then” Paul replied “Fill me in when you get in later” he finished. Then I quickly sent a text to James.

  “Hope your radio is on x”

  Listening to the familiar strains of a song I knew so well, I floated around the kitchen as the romance of the situation carried me away from the worries trying to tie me down. I knew that I had to exorcise the ghost of my husband Mark and I realised that I needed to go back to the place where it all happened. Perhaps tomorrow, once I had spoken to Sarah I thought as I started to gather my things ready for work. Suddenly another song stopped me in my tracks as I turned the radio up and listened to “Take my Breath away” I knew it was from James. A text message popped up.

  “For you, because you do x”

  As the song ended I headed upstairs to finish getting ready for work. The lyrics filled my head for the rest of my drive into work.

  Pushing open the door of the studio office I spotted a bouquet of flowers on my desk. It was the pink roses from Saturday night. Smiling I moved them aside and motioned at Paul in the studio that I would make us both a coffee.

  As the news played between our swap over we had time for a quick chat.

  “You’re looking lovely” Paul said “Must be the look of love”

  “I hope so” I replied “What a fantastic event it was, everything ran smoothly and a good time was had by all”

  “Yeah, I think we should do another one next year, perhaps you can find me a blind date” he said, grinning as I headed into the studio.

  “Finding someone to put up with you, now that will be a tough job I’d better put an appeal out now” I joked.

  After my show and some quick shopping I headed home so that I could either charge the kettle up or find the wine glasses. Sarah found me in the kitchen in front of my laptop.

  “Hey Steph” she said, spotting the various vases filled with the pink roses. Their scent seemed to permeate the house and instantly put a smile on my face.

  “Wine or tea” I asked.

  “Wine after the day I’ve just had” she said, slipping her shoes off and heading for the fridge to get the bottle as I grabbed the glasses. We headed into the conservatory and sat down; the white wine frosted the glasses with its cold kiss.

  “So how’s the library world” I asked, concerned by the signs of worry and fatigue on Sarah’s normally cheerful face.

  “Short staffed so I have been running around like a headless chicken all day and then to cap it all they’re thinking of reducing the opening hours at most of the branches before the proper consultation has even finished” she said.

  “Shit, it sounds bad” I said, reaching to give her hand a squeeze.

  “But enough about my work how did things go with James, did you” she asked.

  “Of course not, he slept in the spare room” I replied, giggling at her innuendo

  “I’m not the sort of girl who sleeps with a guy on the first date”

  “But James is not just any guy” she said.

  “But to be honest with you I’m shit scared about the whole sex thing, I haven’t done it in such a long time” I said, frankly.

  “Fuck, I’d forgotten you haven’t been out with anyon
e since Mark died” she said, her turn to look concerned.

  Pausing I took a sip of the wine.

  “It will be fine, you still look good, perhaps we should go and have a pamper afternoon on Thursday. You know get some things waxed and buffed ready for the weekend” she said.

  “That’s a great idea. I’m supposed to be meeting him at a hotel somewhere between our two houses on Friday afternoon. You know neutral territory so we can talk without Charlie, Mitchell and his other son Darren being around” I said.

  “How romantic” Sarah sighed.

  “You mean how scary” I replied “What if when I get naked he doesn’t fancy me anymore. Shit I need new underwear too”

  Sarah laughed at me.

  “So how easy will it be for you to either get the day off on Thursday or change a shift. I can see we need a shopping trip” she grinned.

  “You’re on” I replied “I’ll speak to Paul and see if I can do the breakfast show instead”

  “Great, I can head up on the bus and meet you for coffee before we hit the town. I’ll get us booked into the health spa” Sarah finished, her enthusiasm infectious.

  “Ann Summer’s here we come” I laughed. A sudden flashback crossed my mind as I remembered a day spent shopping, a long time ago.

  “Chris won’t mind me taking up a day of your precious time” I said.

  “He won’t have too, a friend in crisis needs a friend” she said “Anyway, if I tell him where we are going he won’t complain too much” she finished, arching her eyebrows.

  I refilled the glasses and spotted my phone had a message on it so I checked.

  “Hi Steph, have you seen your emails yet, I’ve sent you a link for a hotel and wanted to check it was ok before I booked x”

  “I’ll do it in a bit, Sarah’s here” I replied.

  “So that’s why my ears are burning, give me a call later when you can”

  “Ok x” I finished, turning back to Sarah.

  “He’s sent me an email with the hotel link on it, shall we have a look” I said, as I located my tablet pc and fired it up.

  I was stunned to see the fabulous location of this grand hotel, the photographs of the rooms looked fabulous and it also had a gym, spa suite and swimming pool. It was beautiful and I felt my heart soften again, melting me back to the pure romance of love.

  “He loves you alright, no doubt, you have nothing to worry about” she whispered, in awe of the images that scrolled across the screen. I couldn’t speak; it would be like our first night together all over again. The images of that other hotel room crowded in alongside the ones on the screen, filling my mind with memories and my heart with hope and desire. Eventually Sarah stood up and turned to hug me.

  “I’d better get going otherwise Chris will send the search parties out for me” she said, pulling me into her arms.

  “Sure, give him a kiss for me” I replied as she headed home.

  The house was silent apart from the music from the stereo in the lounge. Changing it from the radio to George Michael I refilled my glass with the remains of the wine and curled up in the armchair, phone in hand. Tapping in the number I waited for James to answer, I couldn’t wait to hear his voice again. It was Mitchell who answered, and after a quick chat to make sure Charlie was ok he passed the phone to his Dad.

  “Hi Steph, how are you” he said, just the sound of his voice made my body start to tingle with desire.

  “Hi James, fine thanks and yes the hotel looks fantastic” I replied, holding the phone just a tiny bit tighter.

  “Great I’ll get it booked for Friday and Saturday night then” James said “What time are you able to get away”

  “I’ve booked the day off so anytime” I replied.

  “Great, so have I so shall we say noon and we can have lunch together”

  “Lovely” I breathed, as I wondered if he could detect the tremor in my voice. Partly from desire and partly fuelled by fear of how quickly things were moving.

  “Well, my place is far from quiet” James said “Although they have spent most of the day in the studio dancing, or at least I’m guessing that’s what Charlie and Mitch have been doing in there” he said, laughing softly.

  “We were young once so I’m sure we’ve got a pretty good idea what’s going on” I replied.

  “Yes I vaguely recollect the time we spent in your garage” he laughed. I blushed as I remembered it too, such happy memories. We chatted for a little longer before the conversation finished.

  “I’ll give you a call tomorrow night” James said.

  “That’ll be fine” I replied “Goodnight”

  “Goodnight Steph, I’ll be looking at the stars later”

  “Me too”

  Chapter 4

  Just before I went to bed I took a moment to look out onto the moonlit night. As it was cloudy there were very few stars shining, but occasionally one would come into view and I wished upon it. I wished for my life to be as happy as it once was now that I was back together with James. In my dreams I found him there, standing on the beach with me as I traced two hearts onto the sand, the same ones that had previously been washed away.

  In the morning I decided to have a clear up in Charlie’s room while she was away. As I cleared up the clothes scattered beside the bed I noticed the edge of my pink photo album pushed under there. Sitting down on the bed I started to leaf through the pages. Laughing at the pictures of me and Sarah at school until the final page showed me the measure of my love for James in 1988. Taking it downstairs with me I held it up next to my wedding photograph and I could really see the difference in my eyes, the sparkle had gone.

  Finding my mobile phone I dialled Jack and as I waited poured a coffee.

  “Hi Steph, how are you babe” he asked.

  “Fine thanks Jack, I think I need your help with something” I replied. In my mind I still wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do, but I had to try. I needed to find the old me as soon as possible.

  “I need to come to the hospital to remove some ghosts, well one ghost from my past” I said “I’ve not been back since that night” I finished, my voice trailing off.

  “Ok Steph, I can help” he said.

  “How about this afternoon, we can go for a drink afterwards and I can tell you about the guy I met on Saturday night and you can tell me all about you and James” Jack said.

  “Thanks Jack, can you meet me outside the Love Shack studio’s at around two then” I replied, suddenly wondering if this was a good idea after all.

  “No probs catch you later I can’t keep my fans waiting” he joked.

  “See you later Jack” I finished, hanging up and taking a deep breath.

  In front of me I looked again at the photograph of the two of us looking so happy and so in love, that’s where I wanted to be again. I didn’t want to continue to be haunted by my past, even though some of it would live with me forever. One step at a time I told myself as I hurried upstairs to gather my things for work. Pausing in the bathroom I grabbed one of my pills, just in case the darkness decided to hit me like it did sometimes. In the car I chose A-Ha and sang along to all their wonderful classic songs.

  Just before I finished at two I spotted Jack heading through the office door and I waved as he chatted to Ian. Once I’d wrapped everything up I grabbed my bag and linking my arm through Jack’s we headed through the centre of town.

  “So where do you want to go, just into the hospital in general or the car park or both” Jack asked.

  “All of them I think, I’m not really sure what I need to do, but as I haven’t been back here since that day I really need to now so I can start to move on” I said. As we reached the road down to the hospital car park I stopped suddenly. A cold shiver crept up my spine and closing my eyes I remembered the sick feeling I’d had when I arrived here in the police car.

  Jack put his arm around me and waited patiently and for a change silently.

  “Christ, I don’t know if I can do this” I wh
ispered. I started to rub one of the scars on my wrist; it was a habit I picked up whenever I felt nervous or anxious about anything.

  “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want too” Jack said, pulling me into a hug “We can try again another day”

  The tears were already seeping out from under my lashes, splashing down my cheeks as I tried to find a hankie.

  “Here have mine” Jack said, pushing it into my hand and making my tears flow even faster. In my mind Jack had changed into Mark on the day that he found me lost and alone in the corridor, the day after the letter had arrived and shattered my dreams for the future. It was all so tangled up and I knew that I needed to remove these knots to move on.

  Leading me back up the pavement we went into the nearest pub and found a quiet table in the corner. Jack headed to the bar and came back with two tall rum and cokes. He pushed the one across to me but I couldn’t hold it until I stopped shaking. Taking a long sip I waited for the alcohol to take effect and my tears to finish flowing.

  “Sorry, I thought I was ready to do that, but there are so many memories at that place, not just Mark but also my suicide attempt too” I stammered.

  “I know, and you will get there. Perhaps you need to do this with someone closer to you than me, maybe with Charlie” Jack said “Maybe with James”

  “I don’t know what’s for the best. I just know that I feel really guilty about my whole relationship with Mark. I never really loved him, I used him as I knew he loved me and that I wouldn’t have to be alone again” I said, taking another long sip of the drink.