Stone Cold Sparks

by Cami Checketts

  “I’m kind of getting cold. Should we get in the hot tub?”

  Abi wanted to pitch a fit, but she just didn’t have it in her right now. The cold running along her spine had nothing to do with the pool water not being as warm as a hot tub and everything to do with Stone shutting down when they were finally having a real conversation. Of course, it was awkward to talk about why he’d had premarital sex, but it had happened, and he should know Abi wasn’t going to judge him.

  She let him take her hand and lead her to the hot tub. They soaked, and she enjoyed the jets pounding into her back. She dipped underneath and let them pound against her skull. If only they could knock some common sense into her. She was desperately in love with this man and trying to be patient and let him share when he was ready to, but good heavens, it was excruciating. The thing she really feared was he’d never be ready.

  They left the hot tub and showered off quickly in the guest bathrooms then climbed into Stone’s truck and drove to her house. They were both quiet on the drive as his mind mulled over their conversation. He wondered how he’d ever be able to tell her the truth. Of course, she assumed that he was the father of Virginia’s baby, he and Virginia had told everyone that he was. Of course, she assumed he and Virginia had had a normal marital relationship. The truth was they’d never been intimate. Virginia had been sick and pretty miserable with the pregnancy, losing Jace, and adjusting to being married and giving up her future at a young age. Stone had tried to commit himself to her, but he’d been relieved when she’d asked their first night as a married couple if they could wait until after the baby was born before they consummated their marriage. In his mind, once they had their baby girl he’d finally be able to fall fully in love with Virginia.

  They pulled into Abi’s house, and he hurried around to walk her to the door. They walked around to the side door by the garage and punched in the code. Stone should’ve said goodbye and headed home, but he didn’t have to work tomorrow, and he just wanted to be with her more, even though the risk of her digging out the secret he’d promised Virginia he’d never tell was huge. How was he supposed to let himself fall completely for Abi and have a relationship with her while allowing her to think he’d gotten Virginia pregnant?

  The promise he’d made to Virginia had followed him around the past seven years, and it had only hurt him with Virginia’s family and other locals thinking he’d been out of control and had ruined Virginia’s life. Now, he realized keeping his promise to Virginia had hurt Abi more than he wanted to think about and had the capability of destroying her and any chance of a relationship for the two of them. But how did he go back on a promise?

  Even if he could bend his integrity enough to tell Abi the truth, justify to himself that Virginia wouldn’t want Abi or him to be miserable, how would Abi react? His fire and ice girl might kiss him or slug him. How did he bring something like that up? Should he even try? Abi would be upset for sure. She assumed he had never told a lie and was the straight arrow that he’d always portrayed himself to be. How would she feel when she heard this whopper? If only Virginia would appear to him and grant permission for him to share her secret. Abi would keep the secret if he told her, and he had no chance of a relationship with the love of his life without coming clean. His head was a mess. He needed a large dose of Ibuprofen or heavenly intervention.

  They walked through the garage and laundry room into the kitchen and attached living area.

  “Do you want a water?” she asked.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  She pulled a couple out of the fridge and tossed him one. Stone had a sinking feeling that he’d closed off and upset her again. She looked like she’d rather he leave, but he was going to be brave and talk to her. He had to do it if they were ever going to have a hope of a relationship. He loved her, but oh man, this was going to be tough. Maybe he could give her some clues and she would figure it out on her own then he wouldn’t be breaking his promise. He shook his head, he was justifying and he hated it.

  He opened the water bottle and drained half of it before setting it on the counter and turning to her. She was taking tentative sips of her water bottle and eyeing him with what could only be described as uncertainty. He was hurting her by not telling the truth, and that killed him. He loved Abi, and Virginia was gone. Abi wasn’t going to reveal Virginia’s secret to the world and upset her family or broadcast it around town. For some reason, he thought about how livid Virginia’s dad had always been with him. He’d almost told the guy a few times that he wasn’t the one who took advantage of his daughter, but he cared too much about Virginia to hurt her like that. But it was time to clear things up with Abi, no matter what anyone else thought about him. The next step would be telling her about the day Virginia died and how miserable Stone had made her. One step at a time.

  Stone drew in a deep breath and said a quick prayer for strength. He could do this. He could reveal his secrets to the woman he wanted to love forever. “Can we … talk?” His voice kind of squeaked out the word talk, but at least, it was out in the room. It seemed to linger in the air like one of Blue’s protein shake farts.

  Abi’s eyes widened. She set her water bottle down and cautiously said, “You want to talk?”

  “Yes, yes, I do.” As he said it, he grew stronger and knew he could do this. Tell her the truth and still protect Virginia’s secret from the world. He could talk, at least to Abi.

  Abi ran across the small living room and jumped, almost knocking him off his feet. She wrapped her legs around his back and screamed, “I love you, Stone Ryland!”

  Stone held onto her waist and couldn’t help but laugh. He loved this exuberant, impulsive woman more than any person in the world.

  Abi grabbed his face and kissed him. Stone responded, oh how he responded. He poured his love and his desire for her into that kiss, and before he knew what he was doing, he’d sunk down onto the couch with her still wrapped around him. He kissed her lips then her neck then her lips again. His hands explored her back and the curve of her waist. He tried to remember to be strong, but she was right that they had only kissed wearing snowsuits. Having her close to him was absolutely impossible to resist.

  Abi was on fire from her head to her feet. Stone’s firm body close, his lips caressing hers, and his hands doing their own dance across her back. When he framed her face with his hands and murmured, “I love you too, Abi,” she wanted to pause and cry tears of happiness, but she was too busy kissing him again. His lips were so firm and warm. They eradicated any rational thought. She wasn’t planning on ever telling him how many men she’d kissed, but she wanted to tell him that it had never, ever felt like this. Yes, his kiss made her want to run and find a justice of the peace to make things official, but more than that, it was filled with friendship and true love.

  Through the roar of happiness in her ears, she registered the garage door clacking loudly up. It was always noisy, but in the wintertime, each crank open sounded like it was going to shatter.

  She yanked away from Stone and slid off his lap, straightening her hair. “Julia,” she managed to say.

  “Does she not know?” He pointed back and forth between them.

  “She’s been working late on a case the past couple of nights. She probably thinks I’m still ticked at you. Do you want her to find out about us and drill you with twenty questions, or do you want me to tell her after you go?”

  Stone chuckled. “I’ll say hello to her then go.”

  Abi thought that would probably be much easier on him, but wait, what about the talk he’d just offered so beautifully?

  The back door popped open. “I’m home,” Julia sang out.

  Stone stood, and it was all Abi could do to not grab his hand. She stood next to him. “Hey, sis.”

  “Hey.” Her eyes lit up as she saw Stone. “I thought that was your truck. You two friends again?”

  “Yep.” Abi answered. “We went skiing today and snuck into the Grand Summit’s pool.”

  “I lov
e that pool.” Julia was giving them the normal sisterly eyes, full of questions that had dang well better be answered. Too bad eyes like that didn’t work to pry out Stone’s secrets and thoughts. No, he had promised they would talk. Abi was going to trust in that.

  “I’d better go,” Stone said. “I know you both have to work early in the morning.” He started toward the front door, and Abi followed him. “Good to see you, Julia.”

  “You too.”

  Abi knew she was in for twenty questions, but she had to walk Stone out first. She needed at least one more of his kisses, and she needed to commit him to that talk he promised tomorrow. She shouldn’t have interrupted the talk with kissing, but it had been so worth it.

  He held the door, and they walked onto the porch. It was freezing. Stone quickly wrapped her in his arms. “Where were we?” he whispered huskily.

  Abi giggled and stood on tiptoes. “We were going to have a heart-to-heart talk.”

  Stone tenderly kissed her. “Hey, I’m not the one who jumped on the other one and interrupted the talk. You’ve got nobody to blame but yourself.”

  Abi trailed her hand along his jawline then kissed it softly. “I’ll take the blame. Is every kiss going to be like that for us?”

  Stone groaned. “I hope so.” Then he took full possession of her mouth, lifting her slightly off her feet as he pulled her up and in.

  Abi returned his kiss wholeheartedly. He deepened the kiss, and every nerve in her body seemed to be on full alert. Finally, he released her and set her feet back on the ground. “I’d better let you get back inside so you don’t freeze.”

  “It’s cold out here?” she asked, kissing his neck.

  Stone chuckled. “I guess we can freeze together.” He started kissing her again, and after who knew how much longer, he released her. “Julia is going to have a few questions for you.”

  “I might be up all night answering her questions.”

  “I can think of something a lot more fun you could do all night.”

  Abi laughed and forced herself to back out of his arms. “We’re talking tomorrow, right?”

  “If we have to.” He winked at her. “Yes, we’ll talk. Can I pick you up at six? Let’s go to Red Rock. We can share mac and cheese and chicken schnitzel.”

  “Sounds good.” Though she couldn’t care less about delicious food, she only wanted to be with him. Finally getting some questions answered and having a heart to heart would be almost as fabulous as his kisses.

  She gave him one more quick kiss. Then he pushed the door open behind her. “Night,” she said.

  “I love you, Abi,” he whispered.

  Abi’s eyes widened. He’d said it twice, and it was the most amazing feeling she’d ever had. He kissed like a champion with magic powers, and he’d promised her they’d talk. She wasn’t sure what the talk was about it, but she didn’t care. Stone was going to talk. Was this really her best friend Stone or had aliens taken over his body?

  “I love you.” Then she was kissing him again, and she didn’t even care that the door was open and Julia probably saw it all.

  Much later, she walked inside, shivering with cold but lit up from Stone’s declaration of love and his warm lips and hands.

  Julia was standing in the living room staring at her. “What in the Sam Hill is going on?”

  Abi wrapped her arms around herself. “I love him.” She sighed dreamily.

  “You’ve always loved him.”

  “Yes, but he finally admitted that he loves me back.”

  Julia’s eyebrows shot up. “You’ve got some talking to do.”

  Abi nodded her head and grinned like a clown. “Yes, he promised he’s going to talk to me tomorrow.”

  “Okay, come back down to earth and talk to your sister.”

  “And he kisses like heaven.” Abi released a happy sigh and sank onto the couch.

  Julia gave a much-less-excited sigh and sat down next to her. “Spill it.”

  Abi grabbed her hand and happily complied.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Abi floated through work on a cloud of happiness. No matter what complaints she heard, she dealt with them with a big old cheesy grin on her face. She hurried home and freshened up, but then she realized it was only five-thirty. Stone wasn’t going to be there until six. She unloaded the dishwasher, swept and vacuumed the main area, then gave up on being productive and just waited by the front door, peeking out the side window.

  Six o’clock finally came, and Stone’s truck pulled up to her house. She grabbed her coat and ran out to meet him. He hurried up the sidewalk, and she flung herself against that beautiful chest. Stone grinned and wrapped her up in his arms, kissing her.

  He pulled back and smiled. “Guess somebody had a good day?”

  “All I thought about was you. You should’ve seen my smile.”

  Grinning, he kissed her softly. “I painted an entire wall in the dining room before realizing I was using ceiling paint on the wall.”

  “Oh, my goodness, that’s sweet.”

  “No, you’re the sweet one.” He kissed her and murmured, “Mmm. Like candy.” Releasing her, he took her hand. “We’d better go eat before I have to burn my man card.”

  Abi giggled, walking next to him. “I guess Nikola would be a little disgusted to hear you be all gushy.”

  He opened her door and squeezed her hand. “Nah. Jeremy would be appalled, but Nikola would be proud of me. He’s told me since he first saw you at the grocery store that I was dumb as any American cowboy if I let you go.”

  “I knew I liked him.” She climbed into his truck and pulled her phone out of her purse. “You mind forwarding his number?”

  Stone growled low in his throat and took her phone, pushing it back into her purse. “Don’t even think about calling that pretty boy.”

  Abi touched his face, liking the feel of his firm jaw under her fingertips. “You’re the prettiest boy I know.”

  Stone took her hand and kissed it then quickly released her, shut the door, and jogged around to his side. He started the truck, but before he pulled away, he glanced at her. “Thank you, Abi. I didn’t know it was possible to feel this way.”

  Though Abi was eating up each look, word, and touch Stone gave her, she was a little shocked that he could be so sentimental and sweet with her. He was light years from Stone Cold. Had he been like this with Virginia? No. She couldn’t let her thoughts go there. Couldn’t let herself compare.

  “You’re surprised that you’re so enamored with me?” Abi winked and flipped her hair.

  “No.” He shook his head, his eyes solemn. “I’ve been enamored with you for as long as I can remember.”

  Abi sucked in a breath. Oh, be still my heart.

  “I didn’t know that you could truly feel the same way about me. I didn’t know that I could be this happy.”

  Tears sprang to her eyes and traced down her cheeks before she could stop them. Stone. The man she’d always loved was being a romantic sap, and she was eating it up. “You’re the luckiest guy I know. That’s for sure.”

  Stone chuckled and tenderly brushed the wetness off her cheek. “Yes, I am.”

  He pulled the truck into gear and drove toward the Redstone Shopping Area. Abi wondered if her crying had pushed past his emotional boundaries. He’d been Stone Cold for so long. Could he truly change seemingly overnight? And for her? She’d told him when they were skiing that they could just kiss and take the emotional stuff slowly, but he was the one who’d started it, right? She wasn’t pushing him too fast, and she wasn’t going to lose him again. She said a quick prayer for help.

  They didn’t say anything as they drove, but he took her hand in his, and that was enough for right now. He escorted her out of his truck, and they walked toward the restaurant hand in hand. She was pretty certain her every dream had come true. She and Stone were finally together. It was the happiest she’d ever been.

  The glass doors of Marty’s Ski and Board shop swung open from the inside,
and a man strode out. A stocky blond man with piercing green eyes and a chiseled face that everyone had always said looked like Val Kilmer.

  Abi stopped dead in her tracks. “Jace,” she whispered. Why was he here? Not now!

  Stone’s head whipped up. He stared at Jace without moving. A muscle worked furiously in his jaw, but everything else about him had gone deadly still. His eyes that had been a warm blue moments ago went to that cold gray she dreaded.

  Jace stopped on the sidewalk in front of them. His eyes swept from Stone to Abi then back again. “I was going to come see you,” he said to Abi. “I didn’t know about—” He looked pointedly at their joined hands. “You two? It makes sense. You always did have to have everything, didn’t you, Stone?”

  Stone’s grip tightened on Abi’s hand until it was painful.

  “Stone?” she said.

  He broke his focus on Jace and relaxed his grip, turning to her. “I’m sorry. I promise I was going to tell you.”

  Confusion traced through her. What did that mean?

  “You were going to tell her what exactly—that you stole the love of my life?” Jace took a step closer, and though Stone was taller and more built than him, he didn’t seem intimidated. His fists were clenched like he was ready to throw down. “That you ruined my life and killed Virginia and my baby in the process?”

  His baby? Abi stared at Jace, certain she’d misheard somehow. She knew Jace had cared for Virginia, but he’d left, and Virginia and Stone had gotten together almost immediately.

  Stone’s lips tightened. “You deserted Virginia. What did you expect me to do?”

  “I didn’t expect you to marry her two weeks later! You always had to step in and be the hero.”

  Stone shook his head. “Did you expect her to wait who knows how long for you and raise a baby alone while you went off to make some big career for yourself?”