Not Just the Girl Next Door

by Stacy Connelly

  “Me first,” he interrupted with another smile. “Or show you, at least.”

  He didn’t say anything more as they passed through the kitchen. He took her purse and set it and the bottle of wine on the black granite island before he led the way toward the dining room. An oddly colorful glow spilled out from the doorway, but nothing could have prepared her for the sight that greeted her as she stepped inside. Mollie stared, speechless, at the room in front of her. Zeke’s functional and somewhat staid dining room, with its light oak floors and farmhouse-style table and chairs, had been transformed into—into...Mollie didn’t know what.

  “What is all this?” she asked as she took in the lighted three-foot Christmas tree centerpiece, complete with two dozen or so red-and-green glass bulbs; the heart-shaped balloons bobbing on strings tied to the backs of the chairs; the bright green shamrocks twirling from streamers attached to the ceiling; the Easter eggs scattered across the table along with a stuffed bunny smiling out from a woven pastel basket; and the red, white and blue sparklers stuck in a carved jack-o’-lantern that shared space with a cartoon cut-out turkey. “Did a Party City explode in your house?”

  Zeke grinned at her shocked expression. “Something like that.” His smile faded, though, as he plucked a red rose out of a crystal vase on the table and trailed the tender bud over her cheek and across her lips. The heat in his eyes and the petal-soft touch had her legs trembling.

  “Zeke...”

  “This is Christmas, Mollie. It’s New Year’s and Valentine’s Day. It’s St. Patrick’s Day and Easter and the Fourth of July. It’s every holiday you’ve missed since your brother died.”

  The conviction in his deep voice grabbed hold of the longing inside of her, of the long-buried hopes and dreams and wishes, and made her believe. In Christmas miracles, in New Year’s resolutions, in Valentine’s hearts and flowers, in the luck of the Irish...

  Her lips parted, but no sound escaped. What could she possibly say? No one, not her brother, not her parents, not her friends, had ever done something so sweet, so amazing for her. Tears pricked the back of her eyes. “I can’t believe you did all this.”

  He waved his hand at the holiday bonanza behind him. “You deserve it, Mollie.”

  And just like that, the guilt she’d been battling since Lilah’s return hit full force. Setting the rose he’d handed her aside, she protested, “I’m not—”

  “You are, Mollie. You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known. You’re kind and caring and brave and passionate.” His voice deepened on the final word, setting off some of those Fourth of July sparklers in her belly. “You deserve to celebrate every holiday. Hell, you deserve to celebrate every day.”

  She shook her head, tears blurring her vision and clogging her throat. She didn’t need a year’s worth of holidays. She just needed one night. One night to spend with Zeke before she told him the secret she’d kept from him for far too long. “Did you hear that?” she whispered around the ache of longing in her throat.

  Zeke frowned. “Hear what?” he asked, his eyebrows drawing together in question.

  “I think the countdown’s starting.”

  “The countdown?”

  “To midnight.”

  “Ah,” he said, catching on, “because it’s twelve o’clock somewhere.”

  Mollie shook her head. “Not yet. We still have time. Ten...nine...eight...” With each second she counted down, the heat in Zeke’s eyes ratcheted up. “Seven...six...”

  She never made it to five as Zeke plunged his fingers into her hair, holding her still for his kiss when Mollie couldn’t have moved—wouldn’t have moved—to save her life.

  Eager for the feel of him, she ran her hands up and down his back. The thin black polo he wore wasn’t much of a barrier. The heat of his body burned through the material, and the easy slide of the shirt hinted at the smooth skin beneath. Skin that she wanted to feel sliding against her own.

  Desire flowed through her veins, leaving her weak, breathless and astounded by how quickly the rush came over her. She’d never felt like this before, so out of control, so head over heels, so ready to take this next step.

  Her head spun as if she’d consumed a bottle of champagne and goose bumps rose over her skin. “Zeke...”

  His name escaped her in a gasp as he lifted his head, breaking the kiss for a split second, for an eternity. His green-gold eyes burned into hers. “Are you sure, Mollie?”

  Sure she loved him? Sure she wanted this? Sure her world was about to change and nothing would ever be the same again? Mollie gave the only answer she could. “Yes.”

  Taking her at her whispered word, Zeke kissed her again. So caught up in the teasing, tantalizing kiss, she barely noticed when he swept her off her feet and into his arms. She clung to his shoulders as he carried her down the hall. Mollie had been to his apartment numerous times over the years, but she’d never set foot inside his bedroom. Another time, she might have taken more note of the masculine navy-and-tan color scheme, but in that moment, all she saw, felt, tasted was Zeke. The molten flecks of gold in his hazel eyes, the weight of his body as he covered hers on the wide expanse of his bed, the salt and seduction of his kiss.

  Mollie was only vaguely aware of pulling her shirt over her head and tugging Zeke’s from his broad shoulders. As his gaze dropped to her breasts, she had a moment to wish she’d worn some of the sexy lingerie she’d bought at the shop in Raleigh. But if the heat in his gaze was anything to go by, he didn’t care that her bra was white cotton rather than vivid colored silk. In the split second it took him to brush the utilitarian cups from her breasts, she figured any money she spent would have been somewhat wasted anyway since his only interest in the bra seemed to be in discarding it. Perhaps next time...if there was a next time.

  Pushing that worry from her thoughts, Mollie turned her focus to this time. This first time. With Zeke. With any man.

  Her eager hands charted a course over his broad shoulders and leanly defined arms. It had always amazed her a little, how he could be so smart and still so sexy. His muscles jerked beneath his smooth skin at her touch, the slight reactions fascinating her even more.

  “Mollie...”

  He groaned her name as he broke off the heated kiss. Reading the struggle written in his tense jaw, she found herself cursing the smart part. Didn’t he realize she was so much more interested in exploring the sexy at the moment? If he couldn’t turn off that big brain of his, she had the feeling he would stop. Stop kissing her, stop touching her, stop taking his clothes off, and that was the last thing she wanted.

  Mollie had never considered herself particularly bold or sexy, but then again, she’d never been in Zeke’s bed before. Taking his face in her hands, she murmured, “Don’t stop. Don’t think. Just feel.”

  And with more guts than it took to face down a one hundred and thirty-pound rottweiler, she took one of his hands and brought it to her naked breast. His fingers curved around her flesh, and her nipple instantly tightened in his palm. “Mollie,” he gasped, “you’re driving me crazy here.”

  “That is the idea,” she whispered, arching into his touch. She’d waited so long, she didn’t care if it was crazy, didn’t care that it would change everything. In that moment, all she cared about was Zeke. Everything he was willing to give, and all she feared he never would. Mollie might have been innocent, but she wasn’t naive. She knew making love didn’t equal falling in love. But she still had hope that Zeke might one day see her as someone he could care for and not just someone to take care of.

  She wasn’t sure how the rest of their clothes were tossed aside. All she knew was that Zeke was touching her, caressing, bringing her to a point of pleasure she’d never imagined. His hot palm laid claim to the bare skin of her belly before moving lower. The air evaporated from her lungs as waves of heat washed over her and she cried out his name.

  Still tremblin
g from the aftershocks that had turned her inside out, leaving her heart and soul completely exposed, Mollie panicked when Zeke pulled away. Surely he wasn’t leaving—but he was only gone an instant, the time it took for him to grab protection, and then he was back, covering her body with his. Erasing that split second of vulnerability and doubt with the heat and hunger of his kiss.

  Eager and desperate for him, Mollie ran her hands from his shoulders down his spine as he kissed her neck, her breasts, her belly before moving back up her body. Leaving her breathless and longing for more. Zeke wanted her, and Mollie told herself it was enough even as she tensed in that final moment as his body sank between her thighs. She gasped slightly at the moment of penetration, but it was Zeke who froze, his eyes wide with shock as he discovered one of the secrets she’d been keeping. Her hands clutched at the smooth muscles of his back. “Don’t stop, Zeke,” she whispered. “Please.”

  “Stop?” he groaned. “We’re just getting started.”

  And as he gazed down at her, the mix of tenderness and passion in his sharp features so clear, so perfect as he moved within her, stoking her desire until the flames consumed her, Mollie could almost—almost—believe it was love.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Mollie wasn’t sure exactly what to expect the next morning, but it wasn’t waking up in Zeke’s bed alone. Early morning sunlight sliced through a part in the curtains, highlighting the empty space beside her. He’d pulled up the sheets and straightened the blankets, and if she hadn’t been naked and her body slightly tender in places it had never been tender before, she might have thought she’d dreamed the entire night.

  A night that had been so amazing, so incredible. She’d done more than completely give Zeke her body, she’d irrevocably handed him her heart. And Zeke... He’d been so tender, so passionate. She’d looked into his eyes as he claimed her that first time, so sure she saw something more than desire reflected there and yet...she’d been wrong before, hadn’t she?

  Holding the sheet to her breasts, she sat up and glanced around the room. Her hands clenched in the soft navy cotton as she spotted her clothes neatly folded into a perfectly square pile on the top of Zeke’s dresser. So different from how they’d been scattered across the room the night before, almost as if he was trying to tidy away what had happened.

  She slid out of the bed on shaky legs, the oak floors cold against her feet. Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe she was making too big a deal out of waking alone in Zeke’s bed.

  Somehow she didn’t think so.

  After prolonging what was starting to feel like an inevitable heartbreak by wasting time in the bathroom, her hands trembled a bit as she dressed, her fingers fumbling with the clasp of her plain white bra, with the zipper and button on her shorts. She retraced her steps down the hallway, trying to block the memory of Zeke carrying her the night before. She didn’t dare look into the dining room, focusing instead on the kitchen where her foolishly optimistic heart hoped she might find him happily preparing for breakfast in bed.

  The sunny room was empty, as well, with no hint of coffee percolating in the state-of-the-art brewer or bacon sizzling on the glass-top stove. The sudden familiar ringtone of her cell seemed startlingly loud in the silent space. Spotting her purse on the large granite island where Zeke had placed it the night before, she pulled out her phone.

  She didn’t recognize the number flashing across the screen, but she answered anyway. “Is this Mollie McFadden?” a female voice asked over the din of barking dogs in the background.

  Assuming the call was work related, Mollie did her best to pull herself together. She rubbed at her aching forehead as if she could somehow wipe away the doubts circling within. “This is Mollie.”

  “This is Selena Martinez at the county shelter in Asheville. I believe we have one of your dogs here.”

  Mollie’s heart took a ten-story drop. “No, that’s not possible.”

  “Your dogs are all with you?”

  “Well, no, but—” She’d fed them and locked them inside the house before she’d left for Zeke’s the evening before. She lived far enough outside of town that she didn’t risk leaving them outside at night when she wasn’t home.

  Arti could be a bit of an escape artist given the opportunity, but not even the super-smart hound had figured out how to unlock doors. “I don’t know how they could have gotten out of the house. Are you sure it’s one of my dogs?”

  “Her tags are registered to you.” Some of the woman’s professionalism slipped a bit as she said, “She’s such a sweet Lab.”

  A sweet Lab...

  “Charlie?” Any relief she might have felt that Arti and Chief were safe immediately disappeared into a far greater worry over Charlie...and Bobby. Her fingers tightened around the phone as she explained, “I was Charlie’s foster for the past few weeks.” Since they never knew how long it would take before a dog was adopted, Furever Paws’s policy was to register the dogs with their fosters. “She was recently adopted.”

  Images of that first meeting between Bobby and Charlie flashed through Mollie’s mind. She’d seen the immediate bond between Bobby and the sensitive dog. She couldn’t imagine the vet letting her out of his sight. With the comings and goings of a busy family, a door might have been left open and most dogs would quickly take the opportunity to run free. Most dogs. But Charlie...

  “Do you know where she was found?”

  When the woman named an isolated back road almost two hours outside of town, Mollie clutched her free arm over her stomach. No way could the dog wander that far. Not unless she’d been gone for hours and if that was the case, then why—

  “Mollie!”

  She heard the back door open as Zeke called out her name. Quickly reassuring the woman from the county shelter that she would pick up Charlie right away, Mollie pocketed the phone.

  She didn’t have a chance to prepare herself before Zeke stepped into the kitchen. He wore a faded gray T-shirt and black gym shorts, and Mollie wished she could believe that he’d simply gone out for a run and had planned to be back before she awoke. But the slightly haggard expression and shadows beneath his eyes told a different story.

  Time seemed to stretch out between them as their gazes met, filled with everything Mollie wanted to say and everything she feared Zeke didn’t want to hear. Finally, he lifted the cell phone in his hand. “I just got a call from Amy. When she woke up this morning, Bobby was gone. She expected him back hours ago, and she’s getting worried.”

  Mollie swallowed, wishing she could say something to ease his concern. Instead, she filled him in on the call from the shelter. “I’m going to go get Charlie and bring her home.”

  She doubted bringing the dog back would offer Amy or the kids much comfort while Bobby was still missing, but it was the one thing she could do.

  “I’ll go with you.”

  Mollie hesitated as she reached into her purse for her keys. The last thing she wanted was an awkward, tension-filled ride to the shelter, but in that moment, they had bigger concerns than her bruised feelings. With a short nod, she led the way out of the kitchen. Her steps faltered as she passed by the dining room with its explosion of decorations. The heart-shaped balloons still held more than enough helium to keep them floating along, but for Mollie, it was as if all the air had gotten sucked right out of her lungs, leaving her light-headed and dizzy.

  Zeke nearly bumped into her from behind, catching her by the shoulders when she stopped short. She felt his chest expand, brushing up against her shoulder blades. “Mollie...”

  The husky murmur was far too reminiscent of the way he’d whispered in her ear, but where passion had filled his voice the night before, in the bright light of the morning, Mollie heard only the deep, discordant undertone of regret. Unable to bear it if he told her the night she’d been dreaming of, the night she’d been waiting for, was nothing more than a mistake, she quickly pul
led away.

  “Does Amy have any idea where Bobby might have gone?”

  “No, she said he didn’t leave any kind of note or anything... He’s been walking with Charlie early in the morning, but today his truck’s gone.”

  And Charlie was in a shelter in the next county.

  A few minutes later, as Mollie headed toward the shelter in Asheville, Zeke called Matt. She could tell by the half of the conversation she could hear that Amy had already called the other man. “Where?”

  At Mollie’s quick glance, Zeke shook his head. “The police found Bobby’s truck.”

  Waiting for him to finish the call, Mollie asked, “The police? Bobby’s only been gone a few hours...”

  “Too soon for any kind of missing persons report,” Zeke agreed, “but Matt has some friends on the force and asked them to keep an eye out. A ranger was investigating a report of illegal camping and found Bobby’s truck near the turnout at Sutter’s Point.”

  Mollie’s hands tightened on the wheel. She was familiar with the nature preserve. Nearly every year hikers got lost in the vast forest. Her stomach twisted at the thought that Bobby might have gone there not wanting to be found.

  Seeming to have the same thought, Zeke rubbed both hands over his face before he muttered beneath his breath. “That place is huge.”

  “Yes, but at least now we know where to look.”

  “You’re talking about hundreds of acres. If Bobby’s in some kind of trouble, how could we possibly find him?”

  “You and I can’t.” Forcing a confidence she wasn’t feeling into her voice, Mollie insisted, “But I know who can.”

  * * *

  Go find...

  Two hours after Mollie had given that command, they were still trailing behind Arti as the hound’s nose swept over every rock and leaf and twig along the path cutting through the dense forest.

  What little faith Zeke had in the dog finding the missing man dwindled with each passing second.

  Though the trees blocked the worst of the sun, the midmorning heat and humidity had sweat gathering at his temples and running down his face. Mollie’s ponytail had lost its typical bounce and curl, hanging limply against the side of her neck.