A Fix Fling (The Fix Book 5) Read online

  A Fix Fling

  The Fix Series Novella

  Carey Heywood

  Carey Heywood LLC

  A Fix Fling

  Falling into bed with a sexy stranger while on vacation isn’t a first for Heather Carter, falling in love with him is.

  Malcolm Barnes, broody owner of The Drunken Moose is tall, tattooed, and in lives in the wrong state.

  Is their long distance romance doomed from the start, or will their fling turn into forever?

  A Fix Fling

  Copyright © Carey Heywood LLC

  All right reserved.

  Editor: Jennifer Van Wyk

  Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via other means without the permission of the publisher are illegal and the punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  A Fix Fling is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Visit my website at www.careyheywood.com

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Also by Carey Heywood

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Epilogue

  Also by Carey Heywood

  About the Author

  Also by Carey Heywood

  The Fix Series

  Fix Her Up (Finley & Noah)

  Fix Me Not (Paige & Asher)

  Fix My Fall (Abby & Spencer)

  My Perfect Fix (Lucy & Gideon)

  A Fix Fling Novella (Heather & Malcolm)

  Him & Her Series

  Him (book 1)

  Her (book 2)

  Them (book 3)

  Sawyer Says (spin off)

  Being Neighborly (spin off novella)

  Carolina Days

  The Other Side of Someday (Courtney & Clay)

  Yesterday’s Half Truths (Lindsay & Luke)

  Chasing Daylight (McKenzie & Mitch)

  Love Riddles

  Why Now? (Kacey & Jake)

  Why Lie? (Sydney & Heath)

  Why Not? (Reilly & Trip)

  Standalones

  Better

  Stages of Grace

  Uninvolved

  A Bridge of Her Own

  Audiobooks

  Him

  Her

  Better

  One

  I did it again.

  Seriously, when will I ever learn?

  I’m thirty. I assumed lusting after, and throwing myself at, any bad boy in my vicinity was an affliction of my twenties.

  I’m supposed to be older and wiser now, right?

  Apparently not.

  Last night was my cousin’s bachelorette party.

  This morning, I’m not waking up in a cabin next to a picturesque lake as originally planned. Nope, I’m in the crash pad located above the bar we partied in last night.

  And, I’m not alone.

  Malcolm Barnes, the owner of said bar is asleep next to me.

  As fun as spending last night with him was, here’s why it can never happen again:

  I live in Texas

  He lives in New Hampshire

  He owns a bar named The Drunken Moose

  I’m too old to still be chasing after bad boys

  With all the stealth I can muster, I slip out of bed. Most of my clothes from last night are on the floor around it. The only thing I can’t find is my underwear. Giving up on them, I grab my purse and head for the stairs. Malcolm may have rocked my world in bed, but now all I want to do now is pretend it never happened. I’d like to avoid the awkward morning-after small talk.

  Unfortunately, this wasn’t my first one-night-stand. Honestly, I’m doing Malcolm a favor by getting out of his bed and his hair so he doesn’t have to deal with acting like a gentleman or anything. If he were awake, he’d probably be thanking me right now. At least, that’s what I tell myself. Figuring out a way to get back to Asher and Paige’s place is a good distraction from the pleasant ache between my legs.

  Pure annoyance at myself is the only thing keeping me from crawling back into his bed for another round. No, the only attachment I need to New England is my cousin. I’m not about to start crushing on Malcolm.

  First off, he doesn’t seem to be the commitment type and secondly, even if he was, long distance relationships are for masochists.

  With my phone in hand, I open up my ride app and freeze.

  There are no cars.

  None.

  How am I supposed to make a clean getaway without a driver?

  “Crap,” I whisper. I’ll have to do a web search for a local cab company. At the base of the stairs there’s a mudroom with two doors. One is an entrance to the bar and the way I came up here last night, the other, I’m assuming is an exit.

  I unlock it and pull it open only to hear a beeping noise.

  As quickly as possible, I exit and pull it shut behind me, praying the beeping will stop.

  When it does, I exhale in relief.

  Then the alarm goes off.

  My eyes close and I press my forehead to the door. There goes any hope I had of making a clean getaway.

  At this point, I have two options. I can stay and face Malcolm, or I can run like hell. Since I have no idea where I am other than the fact that my cousin’s future brother-in-law’s place is about thirty minutes away.

  With a dejected sigh, I turn around and sit on the nearest concrete parking block. With one hand I try to tame my hair as I try my best not to look guilty.

  I don’t have to wait long.

  His footsteps as he races down the stairs are loud enough for me to hear from where I’m sitting. There’s more beeping just inside the door as he must be entering a code into a security panel I missed.

  The alarm stops and the door swings open.

  Malcolm stands there, in all of his shirtless glory, the tattoos I enjoyed discovering last night on full display.

  I lift my hand. “Hi.”

  He blinks down at me. “What the hell?”

  With as much grace as I can muster, I rise. “Sorry about setting off your alarm.”

  His eyes move from my bare feet slowly up my body. They pause around waist level, (maybe he knows where my underwear are) before coming to rest on my face.

  “You could have woken me up first Heather.”

  Sure, that would have been the mature and rationale thing to do. Instead, I shrug. “You looked peaceful.”

  He motions for me to come back inside. “I’m up now.”

  Shaking my head, I hold up my phone. “I was about to call a cab.”

  He looks up into the sky and I turn to try and see what he’s looking at. All I see are blue skies and a dusting of wispy clouds.

  When I look back at him, his hazel eyes are on me. “Come inside long enough for me to throw on shoes and a shirt. Then I’ll drive you wherever you need to go.”

  Taking a step back, I argue, “You don’t have to.”

  He moves quietly, his long stride eating up the space between us. “You’re in that much of a hurry to go?”

  Kind of.

  I gulp. “I’m trying to let you off the hook.”

  He pulls in a breath. “Get your ass i
nside.”

  His tone suggests an argument wouldn’t be welcome. Scurrying past him, I step into the small space. He moves in behind me, his big frame all but surrounding me. When he leans in, I lean away.

  “Fine,” I grumble, dumping my phone into my purse.

  He turns and lumbers back inside, not even holding the door for me. Well, I suppose that’s my own fault for trying to ditch him the way I did. Still, I was only trying to be nice. There’s no need for him to be rude about it.

  I pull open the door and ease through it. “I’ll wait in the bar.”

  “The hell you will.”

  He’s on the stairs, his torso twisted, his eyes piercing even in the dim morning light.

  “Why not?”

  “Because the minute I let you out of my sight you’re going to take off again. This town might be quaint but it isn’t Mayberry. Don’t worry, you’ll be rid of me soon enough.”

  Folding my arms over my chest, I glare up at him. “I’m not going to take off again.”

  When he makes no move to concede, I throw up my hands in annoyance and stomp past him up the stairs. His heavy footsteps echo on the stairs behind me. The door that leads to his place is open. With my head held high, I stroll right through it.

  “Do you know where Asher and Paige live?” I ask, glancing back at him over my shoulder.

  He grunts something that sounds like an affirmative as he moves past me to open some curtains.

  Golden rays of the early morning sun stream in, brightening up the place with natural light in ways no lamp ever could. It was late and dark the first time I walked up those stairs. The only thing I was interested in then was finding his bed and jumping him.

  With its high ceilings, exposed brick walls and ductwork, and rustic hardwood floors, it has a cool loft vibe. The appliances that I can see are all stainless steel and high end; same goes for the furniture, well minus the stainless-steel part.

  Now that I can actually see the place, I have to admit, it’s nicer than just a plain old crash pad. “Do you live here?”

  “Why do you care?”

  Spinning to face him, I watch as he pulls a t-shirt on. “I suppose any hope for polite conversation went out the window when I left.”

  His thick brows come together. “You tried to take off without so much as a goodbye. Don’t lecture me on polite behavior.”

  I chew on the inside of my cheek. He has a point.

  “Look, all I did was try and do you a favor by getting out of your hair. I thought you’d appreciate it.”

  “Yeah, I loved waking up to my building alarm blaring when I thought I’d be sleeping in before I had my way with you again.”

  His words fan the sputtering flame in my belly into a wildfire. He absolutely did have his way with me last night and the prospect of him doing it again is tempting. Though, as pissed as he seems I doubt that’s an option anymore.

  “Can we go yet?”

  He takes his time pulling on and lacing up his work boots.

  My eyes move past him to the rumpled gray sheets of his king sized bed. Next time I’m attracted to a guy like Malcolm I’ll try not to be so impulsive. Maybe then, I can avoid a scene like this one.

  “Why are you even making such a big deal about driving me yourself, when it’s obviously the last thing you want to do?”

  He stands, reminding me how much taller than me he is. “Don’t assume shit about me. Let’s go.”

  My eyes move around his space once more as I wonder how many women he’s invited up here before me. Paige had warned me he was a player last night. Instead of turning me off, the idea he wouldn’t likely get attached had been super attractive.

  It was only this morning, waking up with his warm naked body flush to mine had I realized the error of my plan. He might not get attached, but I could.

  He moves past me, the faint scent of his lingering cologne invading my senses, making me inhale to smell more of him.

  I follow him out to his vehicle, not surprised at all that it’s an SUV. It seems like everyone here drives some sort of four-wheel drive.

  Must be for the snow this place gets. Yuck. No thank you. We all thought Finley was crazy when she moved up here to fix up a house. But, crazy behavior is allowed when your husband cheats on and then divorces you. A situation like that could make the snow preferable to Texas. So far, I’ve visited once in the winter. Thank God they’re having a spring wedding because holy crap I may have reconsidered being Finley’s Maid-of-Honor if it was in the winter. I love her, I’ve just learned I don’t do snow.

  We both climb in and, when he turns the key, the cab is instantly filled with Sublime.

  Twisting in my seat, I press my hands to my chest. “I love Sublime.”

  He turns the stereo off.

  Well that was rude.

  I pull my seatbelt out with more force than necessary and clip it with as much attitude as possible. He doesn’t breathe a word in response.

  Great.

  Slumping back into my seat, I lift my hand to shield my eyes from the sun. If I had my normal purse I’d have my sunglasses. Instead, I have a useless clutch.

  Malcolm reaches his hand up and presses on a compartment above the rearview mirror. He plucks a pair of aviators from it and passes them to me.

  Surprised, I try to push them away. “You don’t have to.”

  “Shut up and put ‘em on.”

  My nose crinkles with distaste at his words but since he is being nice given the circumstances, I accept them and put them on. “Thank you.”

  We drive in silence for a while, until I can’t take it anymore and break it. “I need you to know my leaving the way I did was no reflection on you or last night.”

  His thumbs tap the steering wheel to a rhythm I can’t place. “I’ll bite. Why did you sneak out the way you did?”

  I shift uncomfortably in my seat. “It’s going to sound crazy.”

  His gaze moves briefly to me before settling back on the road. “I’d still like to know.”

  Hugging myself, I turn my face toward him and rest my cheek on the fabric of the seat. “I live in Texas.”

  He nods his head. “You told me that last night.”

  “Well?”

  Even in profile I can’t miss the way his brows move in confusion. “Well what?”

  Dropping my hands in exasperation, I explain, “I figured it was best if I stopped while we were both ahead since it’d be pointless to keep going.”

  “And the most logical way to do that was sneak out of my bed?”

  My fingers move to nervously fiddle with the seam of my skirt. “When you put it like that…”

  For the first time this morning, his lip twitches. “How’d that work out for you?”

  He might be laughing at me but I’m already a master at laughing at myself. “Obviously, it went great. No awkwardness whatsoever. I’m pretty proud of myself.”

  His eyes move from the road to me again, this time full of warmth.

  It’s impossible to ignore my attraction to him. Hell, it’s half the reason I threw myself at him the way I did. The other half was split between the sexy way he spoke to me, and the fact Paige told me not to. I’m stubborn that way.

  It’d be helpful if he could tone down his attractiveness.

  “Thanks for,” I start to say taking me back but change my mind and say, “everything,” instead.

  “Everything?”

  My mouth is dry and I gulp in an effort to relieve it. “Yeah.”

  His fingers tighten on the steering wheel. “Still think it was a mistake?”

  Before I can stop myself, I reach out across the console and rest my hand on his bicep. “Spending last night with you wasn’t a mistake, but getting attached would be. That’s all I’m trying to avoid.”

  Steering with one hand, he uses his other to cover mine. “Okay.”

  His response isn’t a shocker. I’ve yet to meet a guy who isn’t okay with no strings sex.

  Malcolm’s hand
leaves mine so he can turn onto the long drive leading up to Asher and Paige’s cabin.

  I pull my hand away. “I’m sorry I left the way I did.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  After a minute or two, the cabin comes into view.

  He parks and turns to look at me.

  I look down as I unfasten my belt. “I guess this is goodbye.”

  His fingertips caress my jaw as he tips my face towards his and gently kisses me. My eyes flutter closed. It’s a complete opposite of the way he kissed me last night. Those kisses were hard and demanding. This one is sweet and melancholy.

  Wow.

  I blink open my eyes and stare into his hazel ones.

  Then I blurt, “Will you be my plus one to Finley and Noah’s wedding?”

  He leans back and taps the tip of my nose with his index finger. “You’re adorable.”

  It’s difficult to be annoyed at him when he’s smiling at me so warmly but I manage somehow and snap, “Never mind.”

  My hand moves to the door handle. Screw him. I don’t need a date anyway. I don’t even know why I asked him. Ugh. My gut reaction to flee had been the right one. He’s a jerk, a sexy jerk, but still a jerk.

  I don’t even look at him after I slam the door of his stupid giant gas guzzling killing the environment SUV. I’d make a hasty escape if I wasn’t barefoot and Asher’s drive wasn’t gravel. Those darn rocks hurt like hell. Planting one hand on the side of his car, I pray he doesn’t pull away while I slip my shoes on.

  I have one shoe on when I hear his door shut and the crunch of his footsteps on the gravel.

  With one shoe still dangling from my hand, he presses me against the side of that idiotic ride and gives me one hell of a kiss. The way his lips move against mine, has me dropping my shoe and wrapping my arms around his neck.

  When he lifts his head, he grins down at me. “I’d love to be your plus one.”