Spring Romance: NINE Happily Ever Afters

by Tessa Bailey

  Wait For Me

  J.H. Croix

  Chapter One

  Valentina

  Rounding the corner in the hallway, I ran smack into a wall. A wall that turned out to be a person. With two boxes cradled in my arms and a pile of mail on top of that, everything tumbled to the floor. Flustered, I looked straight up into the dark green gaze of Lucas Cole. If he even noticed I’d just dumped mail all over the floor, he didn’t show it.

  But that was nothing unusual. Neither was the fact my pulse lunged and my body got hot all over. Lucas had that effect on me, and probably most women. He took that whole tall, dark, and broody thing to heart.

  “I’m sorry!” I blurted out. “Let me just get all this …”

  My words trailed off because the bad luck of literally running into him only amped up my flustered state and left me breathless. I leaned over to scoop up the mail and bumped my head into his forearm. Dear God. Since when were forearms that hard?

  “No worries,” Lucas replied as he handed me the mail he had already gathered.

  My fingers brushed his as I took it, causing a zing of electricity to race up my arm. Before I could formulate a response, he leaned over and picked up the two small packages. As he handed them over, my brain fired off a thought.

  “Oh, one of these is yours,” I said, my words coming out rushed.

  Juggling the mail and the boxes, I gave him one box. Lucas took it, hooking it in the bend of his elbow. “Thanks. See you around.”

  With a brief nod, he continued down the hallway. I remained frozen, waiting until I heard his footsteps recede. At the sound of the door closing behind him, I sagged against the wall. Of all the people to run into, it had to be Lucas.

  Lucas worked at Stolen Hearts Lodge like me. He was also the sexiest man I’d ever laid eyes on. I could hardly be near him without my body going haywire, as evidenced by this brief encounter. I knew without a doubt that Lucas was waaaaay out of my league.

  After several deep breaths, I carried on, dropping off the mail in the office and heading to my cabin.

  Climbing the steps, I turned to look behind me. The setting sun cast the mountains in shadow. I didn’t linger long, not with the small box in my hands. I’d gotten so frazzled seeing Lucas that I forgot about my own mail until I was almost here.

  I let myself into my small cabin. This was the first place I’d lived away from my family, so it was ridiculously awesome for me. With only one bedroom, one bathroom, and a pretty view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, it was tiny, but I loved it. Like loved it, loved it.

  I set the small square box on my dresser. As I held the thin blade of my pocketknife over it, my eyes landed on the label. My heartbeat lunged, and my belly spun in a nervous flip. I was expecting a package, but this was not it. For those of us who worked at Stolen Hearts Lodge, all mail came addressed to the lodge, so it was important to pay attention to the return address. Much too late, I noticed this box had the name of a construction supply company on the return address label.

  There was only one other person who had received a package in the mail today. Lucas. I’d handed him the wrong one.

  “Oh, shit!”

  I clapped my hand over my mouth. I didn’t know if I’d ever get over that habit. Despite my parents’ best efforts, my mouth had a mind of its own. The issue of having the wrong box was worthy of more than one oh shit, though.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

  If only I could apply that word to something beyond a curse. My complete lack of in that area was part of my problem right now. I just gave Lucas Cole a box with …

  There was a sharp knock on my door. Startled, I dropped the pocketknife, jumping at the sound of it clattering to the floor. As I leaned over to pick it up, my elbow collided with the corner of the Bible my mother had mailed to me the other day. Like I needed a Bible. The plump book thudded to the floor just as another knock sounded.

  My heart was pounding wildly, and I was already about to melt from embarrassment even though I didn’t know who was at the door. Not for sure. Ignoring the small mess I’d made on the floor, I squared my shoulders and turned and strode to the door, curling my hand around the knob.

  No need to freak out. It’s probably not him. On the heels of a deep breath, I opened it and found myself staring into Lucas’s green gaze for the second time in an hour.

  Shit, fuck, hell, damn.

  That was technically only three swear words, and all of them stayed in my brain. You know, like a silent vowel except the entire word was silent. Hell was a place, so it didn’t count as a swear. Or so I’d convinced myself at some point during my childhood.

  Lucas stood there with an opened box in his hands.

  Oh. My. God.

  He’d opened the box.

  I had the worst luck. Or maybe it was the most embarrassing luck. Was it too much to ask that I have a little dignity around the one man who tended to leave me feeling all swoony and ridiculous?

  My eyes, because they were naughty and ignored my mind, meandered over Lucas, taking in his bold features—a strong nose, angled cheekbones, a square jaw with a dark trimmed beard, and sensual lips. Okay, his face was too much. Throw in his to-die-for body—all rangy muscle—and well, I thought God had been a bit too generous in the looks department with Lucas. Just sayin’.

  Lucas stared at me quietly, his gaze scanning my face. My cheeks heated the moment I saw his lips quirk with a hint of a smile.

  “I think this belongs to you,” he said, his voice like sweet sorghum, sliding over me with its slow drawl.

  My face was on fire. Hell, it wasn’t just my face. I was on fire.

  “Um, are you sure?” I hedged.

  “The address was for the lodge, but it has your name on the receipt in the box,” he replied smoothly, losing the battle against his smile.

  Not fair! The first time I got to see Lucas smile and it was all because I was an idiot.

  “Oh,” I replied brilliantly.

  He held the box forward, and my eyes—still disobeying me—dropped to look in the box at the hot pink vibrator. It wasn’t even hidden. Encased in clear hard plastic, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it jumped out of the box and said hello to me, so bold was its presence.

  I swallowed and looked back up at Lucas. I couldn’t think, much less speak. I now understood how clichés came to be. I was quite certain I might actually die of embarrassment. I was hot all over, my pulse had taken off like a rocket—not joking, it could’ve propelled me into space—and I felt lightheaded.

  Lucas’s voice came to me from a distance. “Valentina? Are you okay?”

  Nope. Definitely not okay. Everything blurred, and my legs felt wobbly. Then, I fell over.

  I seriously fainted in front of Lucas hot-as-sin Cole while he held a box with the vibrator I ordered in his hands.

  Chapter Two

  Lucas

  Valentina Smith stared at me, her blue eyes wide, and her cheeks nearly as pink as the vibrator in the box. I was doing my damnedest to keep my response to her in check, but you have no idea how hard that was. Well, some things were most definitely hard. Valentina should’ve come with a warning sign.

  She had curly red hair that practically begged for a man to tangle his hands in it, round blue eyes, and cheeks with freckles dusted over them like gold glitter. She was on the short side and had nothing but curves. She was sex and sin with this hint of innocence to her that made me fucking crazy.

  To deal with my out-of-control response to her, I generally ignored her. However, when I tore open this little box and discovered what was inside, holy fucking hell, I had no choice but to come return the package to her. Any other alternative involved someone else, and I could only imagine the less people involved, the better.

  It was as if I could hear the beat of time ticking as we faced each other. I gathered she was a bit embarrassed about the situation. Hence, my reason for delivering this personally. Or so I told myself.

  My eyes dropped down to the box, and I
bit back a chuckle. When I opened the box and saw that vibrator staring back at me, my mouth fell open. I’d been expecting a box with new work gloves. Far more boring than this. I didn’t doubt any woman would find satisfaction from this thing. It appeared to have quite a few bells and whistles.

  When I looked back at Valentina, her eyes were hazy. I could see the wild flutter of her pulse in her neck and realized she might be about to faint.

  “Valentina? Are you okay?”

  As I reached over to steady her, she wobbled slightly before collapsing. Fortunately, I caught her by the arm, letting the box fall to the floor as I wrapped my arm around her waist. She was completely out.

  I lifted her limp body into my arms and carried her over to the bed, the only obvious option at the moment. There wasn’t even a couch in here. It was either the bed or the floor.

  Although alarm bells were blaring in my mind—because me, Valentina, and a bed weren’t a great plan—I eased her down gently. I quickly checked her pulse to find it was shallow but steady.

  I adjusted the pillows under her head and rested my hips on the edge of the bed. Part of me wanted to simply leave at this point. Not because I wanted to leave Valentina after she fainted, but rather, to escape this crazy sense of protectiveness she elicited from me.

  With that tangling up in my body’s always instantaneous response to her, I needed to be careful. Very careful.

  I lifted a hand and brushed a few of her wild red curls away from her forehead, resting the back of my hand against it briefly. Her skin was cool and clammy under the flushed surface.

  As a first responder, my instincts to check on things like that were automatic. Her breaths came in shallow pants, and after a few moments, her eyes opened slowly.

  “Well, there you are,” I commented, unable to keep from smiling.

  Whether it was in relief or this strange sense of joy I experienced being near her, I didn’t know. That odd feeling of joy didn’t make a lick of sense. Not right now. She had just fainted, for God’s sake. I knew she was fine, but still. Her eyes focused on me, slightly confused.

  “What happened?”

  “You fainted.”

  She rose on her elbows, her skin turning pink again. “I fainted?”

  “Most definitely.”

  “Did I fall?” she asked as she pushed herself back up on the pillows, looking around.

  My eyes lingered on the smatter of haphazard freckles on her cheeks and dropped to the tempting dimple in the center of her plump bottom lip. As she sat up, her T-shirt stretched tight across her generous breasts. I couldn’t help but notice the press of her nipples through her bra and the thin cotton shirt.

  Dude. What the hell are you doing? She just fainted in front of you, and you’re staring at her breasts.

  I can’t help it. They’re near perfect.

  That was how bad I had it. My internal debate had a point. I didn’t like to think about it, but I had wondered more than once just how her curves felt.

  “Lucas?”

  Valentina’s voice, a soft Southern twang and a little raspy—yes, even her voice dripped sex—punctured my train of thought.

  “You didn’t fall,” I replied, belatedly answering her question. “I was right there, so I caught you.”

  Her nose wrinkled, and she lifted a hand, nervously twirling one of her curly locks around her fingers. “Oh,” she said softly. She caught her bottom lip in her teeth, and I thought I just might not be able to manage myself around her.

  I’d never been alone with her. That wasn’t unusual. I was rarely alone with any woman. I had a six-year-old daughter who I was raising on my own, which didn’t leave much time for anything. I had one priority, and that was Rylie, my little girl.

  Usually, I wasn’t even tempted. I was busy, fucking busy as hell. Between working as a first responder and working at the lodge and trying to be a parent, sometimes I wondered if I should schedule time to breathe. I didn’t know what the hell I would do if my mom and sister weren’t around to help me out with Rylie whenever I needed it.

  To get to my point, I wasn’t easily distracted. But Valentina, damn, the woman distracted me just by existing.

  She eyed me warily, her cheeks still pink. “Well, thank you,” she said politely. “I guess you saved me.”

  A grin twitched at the corners of my mouth again. In the past half an hour, with the exception of the time I spent with Rylie, I had smiled more than I had in years.

  That was fucking depressing.

  “I didn’t really save you,” I said. “I mean, you would’ve fallen and maybe sustained a bruise or two. But you’d have been fine. Always glad to help, though.”

  The temptation to lean forward and kiss her was so insanely strong that I had to force myself to stand abruptly. “Now that you’re doing all right, I’ll leave you be,” I said, stepping back.

  Valentina moved swiftly, swinging her legs off the bed and following me over to the door. It was then I realized I had dropped her package in the act of catching her. The vibrator had fallen out and lay on the floor in its molded plastic.

  I might’ve sold my soul to see just what Valentina would be doing with it.

  Incongruously, an open pocketknife and a Bible were on the floor as well. I gave my head a quick shake, uncertain what to think of the combination of a vibrator, a Bible, and a pocketknife. I couldn’t quite sort out what Valentina had been doing before I arrived unless she had a habit of throwing random items on the floor.

  She hurried past me, ignoring the Bible and knife, but picking up the vibrator and flinging it behind her onto the bed. As if we would somehow both forget it had ever been there.

  The door to her cabin was still open, and I started to step through it. Just then, her hand caught my wrist. “Lucas,” she said, her tone agitated.

  With nothing more than the curl of her hand around my wrist, her touch felt like a ring of fire on my skin.

  Turning back, I found her standing there, chewing on the bottom lip I wanted to kiss with her cheeks almost as red as her hair. “Yes?”

  “Please don’t mention this to anyone,” she blurted out.

  I shook my head. “Of course not. If your name had been on it, I wouldn’t have opened it. Just so you know.”

  She nodded, her hand still around my wrist. “Right. It’s just, I know how things get around. Wade’s mother is friends with mine, and I might be twenty-five, but my parents still think I shouldn’t even kiss a man unless I’m marrying him. I know that’s weird, but I love them and …” She paused to gulp in a breath.

  It was downright crazy she thought I would mention this to anyone. I might keep to myself, but I wasn’t an asshole. Not to mention, even if I told Wade, he would get a kick out of it, but he sure as hell would not tell his mother. As these thoughts passed through, Valentina kept on talking.

  “You see, I don’t have a boyfriend. I’ve never had a boyfriend. I wasn’t allowed to have a boyfriend. And lately, well …” She paused here to let out a ragged sigh. “I just thought I should do something about that. I mean it’s embarrassing to be a virgin at my age, don’t you think? It’s just crazy.” This time, her pause was nearly electric. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone.”

  Valentina’s light touch on my skin left my control hanging by a thread. She was so damn honest it almost hurt, and there were not very many people like that in the world. I couldn’t say I knew her well because she’d only started this job at the lodge a few months ago. Wade had mentioned in passing that she’d led a sheltered life and we should all be nice to her, or his mother would give him hell.

  I wondered if he had any idea just how sheltered her life had been. So there was that, and the fact my brain was about to fucking explode with the knowledge that Valentina was a virgin. That made no sense.

  I could not fucking believe she had gone through life without some man realizing just how amazing she was. She was beyond beautiful, beyond sexy, and so damn nice. No wonder my body went insane
around her.

  Now? My mind had jumped on the bandwagon of insanity. Because I couldn’t imagine any other man would appreciate her the way I would.

  By the time she stopped talking—and I lost track once the word virgin trotted across her lips—I was just staring at her. I took in the elegant arch of her brows, the way her eyes tilted slightly at the corners, the soft curve of her cheek, that sweet dimple in her bottom lip, and her freckles. I’d never considered freckles a temptation, but on Valentina, they were unholy.

  I didn’t know what she saw cross my face, but she took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. “Well, I guess maybe I’m asking too much. Please, just don’t make it a joke.”

  I shook my head sharply, both in response to her question and to clear my fucking thoughts. “Valentina, you didn’t have to ask me not to tell anybody. I’m a pretty private guy, and I respect your privacy. That’s why I brought the box straight to you even though I knew it might be a bit awkward for you to get it from me.”

  Her eyes widened, and before I realized what she was about to do, she launched herself at me, flinging her arms around my shoulders. “Oh, thank you! I didn’t know you were nice.”

  My arms wrapped around her reflexively, and I felt her feet kick against my shins. She seemed downright overjoyed. She leaned back to look in my face, and I swear it took more discipline than I thought I had not to kiss her.

  I eased her down. Then she started talking. Again. “Before you go thinking I’m wacky, I’m not. It’s just my parents are kind of religious, and they took the chastity thing a little too far.” She paused abruptly and gave her head a shake. “Anyway. Thank you.”

  Before I had figured out what I was about to say, or that I even had something to say, words strolled out of my mouth. “You know …” I began, gesturing to her toy, now glowing bright pink on her cream-colored down quilt on the bed, “that’s not technically losing your virginity, right?”