Free 12 Days Of Forever by Heidi McLaughlin Page A

my heart is shut off. This thing between Yvie and myself is nothing but a vacation hook-up. She goes back to New York tomorrow night, and I’ll go back to doing what I do best, or find a new hobby. I may even start dating.
    There are plenty of eligible women here . . . once I find one who wants me for me and not for my connection to the band.
    So why I can’t I stay away? Why can’t I walk into a room and not make eye
    contact with her? Until I met Yvie, I thought I had to have what everyone else described: the electricity, the fire that burns when you touch the person you’re meant to be with. No one said anything about the magnetic pull that someone can have on you. That is what I’m feeling. Yvie is the energy source feeding my addiction.
    It was never my intention for us to get caught in a compromising situation, and I should’ve known better than to pull her aside in a house full of people, especially her family, but I couldn’t resist. I had to be near her to see if she’s feeling the same way I am.
    “We should join them,” I tell her, nodding toward the other room. Yvie smiles and starts to walk way, solidifying my thought that we’re working toward two different goals.
    Mine needs to be protecting my heart. I don’t know what hers is, and honestly I’m not willing to find out. If I’m lucky enough to have her again, it’s going to be nothing but sex.
    I don’t realize how long I stay in the other room watching her walk out of my life until I enter the dining room. Christmas music is playing and eggnog is flowing.
    “Tonight, the night before our kids become more spoiled, is for letting loose and enjoying our family. As parents, we know how stressful and exciting tomorrow is, so we all need a little relaxation,” Liam says, raising his glass. I quickly grab one and follow suit. “Tonight, let’s be adults while our children are making their last minute wish lists.”
    “Here, here,” everyone says as our glasses clank together.
    Yvie is across the room next to her mom and Katelyn, and she’s focused on them.
    This is how it should be. We aren’t a couple and my betraying heart implied that we were when I arrived earlier. I can’t make that mistake again.
    “So you and Yvie?”
    Jimmy pats me on the shoulder, as if to congratulate me. Only he doesn’t know
    that there’s nothing to celebrate.
    “Nah,” I say with a shake of my head. “We’re just friends.”
    “That’s too bad, mate. She needs a good bloke like you around. That arse she’s
    been with is a total loser.”
    “So I hear.” I haven’t really because we haven’t talked about him much. I
    honestly don’t care about him and if he succeeds in getting her back, he’s one lucky bastard in my book. But if I find out he tells her she has a fat ass again, I may just have to fly to New York and beat his.
    I hate that these thoughts are running through my head. I need to be enjoying the moment and not thinking about what it’s going to be like when she goes. She’s leaving, there’s no question about that. Yvie’s been pretty damn clear from the get-go she’s only here visiting.
    “You’d treat her better.”
    There’s no doubt about that, but it’s never going to happen. “Are you telling me
    that I should move to New York?”
    “What the bloody hell are you going on about? Yvie needs to move here, and
    you’re the one that could make it happen.”
    My gaze falls onto Yvie, who happens to look in my direction. Her smile is
    infectious, and I find myself returning one.
    “JD, even I don’t have the power to make a woman change her mind. Yvie has a
    career in New York, a life. Beaumont doesn’t have anything to offer her.”
    “That’s where you’re wrong. Take a look around you. We’re her family. If she
    knows you can give her all this as well as a happy life, what more could she want?”
    I down the rest of my eggnog and turn toward him. “Women like Yvie are just like
    you. You crave the bright lights,