by Lexy Parker
He looked at me and grimaced. “And I would pay a lot to not be in that position.”
“Take a left at the next light. There’s a clothing store down there. I’m sure they’ve got clothes for kids, not that I’ve ever looked.”
He followed my directions and headed down the street. “How long were Gage and Dani married?” he asked nonchalantly.
I loved that he remembered their names. “They were married eight years, but they had been together for twelve.”
“How old was he?”
I cleared my throat. “Twenty-eight,” I said.
“High school sweethearts?” he asked.
I laughed. “Yes, they were. She was two years ahead of me in school. I should have known there was an ulterior motive to her befriending me. I was so thrilled to have one of the most popular senior girls wanting to hang out with me. She was a cheerleader and absolutely gorgeous. It wasn’t until she was at my house for a sleepover that I figured things out. I caught them kissing. I was so mad.”
“Clearly, the two of you made up,” he said with a laugh.
“Yes, we did, but it took me a few months to get over it. Now, she is my best friend. I think of her as a sister,” I said with a smile.
He nodded. “I’m glad you have her, and she has you.”
“Here!” I said, pointing to a store on the right.
He veered to the right, sending my body tilting sideways. We were both laughing hard when he finally pulled into a parking spot.
“Next time, a little warning would be nice,” he said dryly.
“Sorry! You got me talking and I forgot where we were going,” I said, still laughing.
We walked into the store, his arm going around my shoulders and pulling me close to him. We found the kids’ section and dove right into the dresses. Most of them were red and pink, but we struggled to find any with blue in them.
“I think I’m going to be learning to sew.” He groaned.
“We have one more place we can look. It’s a consignment store, is that okay?” I asked.
He shrugged. “At this point, I’m desperate.”
“All right, it’s not too far from here. If we hurry, we should be able to make it before they close. I’ve gotten a few things from the store. It’s a little more upscale than other shops around here.”
“Show me the way.”
Once again, we set off, both of us more determined than ever to make Sadie’s dreams of having a new blue-and-pink dress come true. I was about ready to offer my tenth-grade home ec skills. I’d never actually sewn anything, but I probably had a better shot of pulling off a dress than he did.
“Right here,” I told him.
When we walked in, I could feel the disappointment rolling off Philip. “Here?” he looked at me as if I were crazy.
I nodded. “I know it’s packed, but that ups our odds of finding something for her. We have to be prepared to dig a little, which is half the fun, if you ask Dani.”
He didn’t look convinced. “If you say so.”
“Divide and conquer. It looks like it’s arranged pretty well,” I said, doing my best to sound upbeat.
He took one rack while I took the other, using force to push the clothing hung on wooden hangers apart. If I were trying to sell something in the place, I would be very irritated by the lack of exposure. It was like digging through the most cramped closet. A soft-pink satin sleeve caught my eye. I pushed and pulled before pulling the dress off the rack.
“Philip,” I said a little breathlessly.
I held up the dress with a satin pink bodice and a blue-and-pink tulle skirt that shimmered in the light. There was a row of sparkling fake diamonds around the neckline that matched a small heart on the right side of the bodice.
“That’s it.” He gasped.
I giggled. “It’s so pretty.”
“What size is it?” he asked hesitantly.
I lowered the dress, digging for a tag and smiled when I saw the tiny number seven. “It’s a seven!” I squealed, excited as if it were my dress.
“I can’t believe you found it. This is going to make her day, her week. It couldn’t be more perfect. It’s like it was made especially for her,” he said reverently, taking the dress.
“Do you have shoes?” I asked him.
He groaned. “Shoes?”
“Look at this dress, it requires the perfect pair of sandals.”
“I don’t suppose they sell shoes here?” he said, not looking all that excited.
“They probably have some, we’ll check. Shoes are the easy part. We can get those at Walmart if necessary,” I told him.
He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”
We happened to find a pretty pair of sparkling white shoes with pink bows on top that perfectly matched the dress at the shoe store next to the consignment shop. I was elated and a little bummed I wouldn’t get to see her in the outfit.
“You’re a good daddy,” I told him. “Few men would be so persistent. She is absolutely going to love this.”
“Yes, she is, and I owe all the gratitude she is going to bestow upon me to you. Thank you for sticking it out.”
Before he opened the door of the truck for me, he grabbed me around the waist and kissed me soundly. I couldn’t stop smiling when he pulled away. I could get used to kisses like that.
Chapter 21
Philip
“Are you hungry?” I asked her, starting the engine of the truck.
She shrugged a shoulder. “I could eat.”
“It’s almost six,” I said. “I’m starving, especially after the last couple of hours. That was exhausting.”
She giggled. “Remind me to never take you on a shopping spree with me and Dani. I’m pretty sure you would faint.”
I nodded. “I have no doubt that I would. I will not be embarking on one of those sprees with you anytime soon.”
“Do you have time for dinner? Do you need to pick up Sadie? Please don’t think you have to feed me.” She laughed.
“I want to feed you, and I want to feed myself. Sadie will be fine with Clay for another hour. In fact, I’m sure she would love to hang out with him.”
“Okay, I’m game,” she said, shrugging.
“Do you like wings?” I asked. “Barbecue?”
She burst into laughter. “Do you know where you are?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Of course, I like barbecue,” she said as if it were obvious.
I guessed it probably was. I should have known. Since I didn’t have a lot of time, I settled for one of the fast-food barbecue places.
“What’s good here?” I asked, hoping she would know.
“Everything is good, but I usually do the wing platter with all the dipping sauces. Of course, I don’t think I want to eat that with you.” She wrinkled her nose.
“Why not?”
“Because it is messy business,” she said with a small smile. “I tend to wear more of the sauce than I get in my mouth.”
“Isn’t that how you’re supposed to eat barbecue?” I asked with a grin.
“I suppose, but I’m afraid it isn’t all that delicate. You can’t look at me while I eat.” It was an order, not a request.
I threw my head back and laughed. “Deal, and you can’t look at me.”
“Great. I’m going to wear one of those super-attractive bibs as well,” she said. “I’ve lost more than one shirt to these places.”
I laughed again. “Thanks for the warning.”
“How are you liking it here so far?” she asked after the food arrived and we dug into our meals.
I nodded my head, wiping my mouth. “I like it. Sadie loves school. I like not having to commute over an hour each way to work. The people are nice.”
“I’m glad you guys are settling in,” she said with a smile.
“How long have you lived here?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “Forever, really. My parents bought the house on the outside of town right af
ter I was born. We grew up here.” She shook her head and smiled. “I remember I always said I wanted to leave the minute I graduated high school.”
“Did you?”
She nodded. “I did. I went to the University of Florida for two years. I had all these grand plans to live in Miami or New York or Los Angeles. I wanted to be in a big city, and then one day, I realized I hated the city. I wanted to come home. I had some money from my parents’ life insurance. I used it to start the flower shop and bought my own house.”
“Wow, that’s ambitious,” I told her.
“What about you? Did you go straight into the Marines?”
I nodded. “Yep, summer after graduation. I always knew that’s what I was going to do. My dad was a Marine.”
She smiled and nodded. “Were you planning to make a career out of it?”
I laughed. “After boot, hell no. I was ready to do my four years and get out. Then I found my groove, and I liked it. I mean, there were certainly bad days, but in general, it wasn’t bad.”
There was a look of sadness in her eyes. “I think it’s one of those things you absolutely love or you absolutely hate.”
I nodded. “Your brother, was he a lifer?”
She got a smile on her face. “He thought he was, but he changed his mind. He was ready to come home and settle down. He was set to take terminal leave a few months after he came back from his last deployment.”
I had to fight not to wince. I had known too many guys who had the same fate. They’d be on their last tour or their last few months after a long career, and that was when they were killed. It was wholly unfair, but it was the way it went sometimes.
She reached out and wiped my cheek with a napkin, grinning the whole time. “You had a little something there,” she said with a giggle.
An employee stopped at our table, a middle-aged woman carrying a pitcher of soda. “You guys are the cutest thing ever. I remember when my husband and I were like that.”
I looked up at her and smiled. “Thanks.”
“It isn’t often you find a married couple that still acts like the two of you, so in love, eyes only for one another,” she said with a wistful sigh as she refilled our drinks.
Jamie and I exchanged a look, but neither of us said a word.
“Thank you,” Jamie told her, her eyes dancing with delight as she sipped her drink.
“You two keep taking care of each other and never lose that look of love,” the waitress said and walked away.
When she was across the room, Jamie burst into giggles. “Awkward.”
I laughed, shrugging a shoulder. “I didn’t want to embarrass her by correcting her assumption.”
“Me either.”
We finished our meals, both of us in no hurry to leave. I knew I had to get to Clay’s to pick up Sadie, but I was having such a good time with her. I didn’t want it to end.
“Why flowers?” I asked.
She blinked. “What?”
“What made you decide to become a florist?”
She smiled. “I’ve always loved flowers and decorating. I had planned on being some big, fancy interior designer. I found out the flower shop was for sale back home and took a chance on buying it. I like my job. I like most of the people I get to deal with, and I really like being able to set my own hours.”
I laughed. “That is definitely a perk.”
“What about you? I got the feeling being a delivery driver wasn’t your dream job?”
I shook my head. “Definitely not. I don’t see myself doing it for a long time, but for now, it’s what I need to help get Sadie settled into a new home and a new place.”
“What kind of work are you going to look for?” she asked.
“I’m not sure. I was doing criminal law courses a while ago.” That felt like another life.
“Criminal law, like a lawyer?” she asked.
I laughed. “I’ll admit, I had plans to become a lawyer, and then after I saw all the schoolwork, I quickly changed my mind. I was thinking more along the lines of a police officer.”
“Oh, you know, I saw an advertisement just last week that Hope was starting their recruiting for the summer academy,” she said excitedly.
I grimaced. “I’d like to, but I don’t think I’m in a place to commit myself to the academy or a cop’s hours. Maybe next year.”
She nodded her head. “I understand. That would be very difficult to have that rotating schedule.”
“I have to make sure I’m around for Sadie. I don’t know if being a cop is the best thing for her, or for us. It’s a dangerous job.”
“This is true, but if it’s what you want, you have to do what makes you happy. Life is risky in general. Us sitting here is risky.” She shrugged.
I laughed. “Yes, but when I’m standing in front of bad guys with guns, I think my odds of being hurt or worse are significantly higher than me sitting here, stuffing my face with chicken wings.”
She giggled, the sound filling the air around me and making me feel things I hadn’t felt in a very long time. “Okay, okay, you have a point. No cop job for you.”
“I’m keeping my options open,” I said, grinning.
“I could hire you as my apprentice,” she teased.
I curled my lip. “Me putting together pretty flower arrangements is never going to happen.”
“Aw, you might have fun.”
“I doubt it.”
We sipped our drinks, knowing our dinner was over and it was time to head back to the flower shop. I sensed her reluctance to leave, or maybe I was projecting. I drove back to the shop, and both of us sat in my truck for a few seconds.
“I’ll walk you inside and make sure there are no boogeymen waiting for you,” I told her with a smile.
“Thank you, the boogeymen are ridiculous these days,” she teased.
We got out of the truck, and I reached out, holding her hand as we moved toward the shop’s entrance. She quickly unlocked the door. I knew exactly what she was feeling. There was an urgent need to be alone with her. She pulled open the door before turning to look at me.
I gently pushed her inside, not bothering to turn on the lights as I closed the door behind us. I didn’t need lights for what I wanted to do. The muted light coming in through the glass windows in the front of the building was enough for me to see her.
I reached for her, my hands holding her face in place as I lowered my mouth to hers, gently at first before that carnal need drove me to be far more aggressive.
“I want you,” I whispered just inches from her lips.
“I need you now,” she replied, her hands moving up my back.
It was all I needed to hear. I reached for the button on her jeans, flicking it open and pushing the tight denim down her thighs. I had to know if she was as ready for me as I was for her. I reached my hand between her legs, cupping her sex. Her hot wetness was evident through the lacy fabric of her panties.
I groaned with pleasure. She wanted me. It felt good to be desired. It made me feel like a whole man again after living as half a man for years. Her hands were moving to my own jeans, fumbling with the buttons, her fervent need evident in her jerky movements.
I reached down and stilled her hands, taking them in mine and kissing her soundly. I could taste the passion in her. I moved forward, forcing her to move back against the wall, being mindful of the jeans halfway down her legs. When her body was up against the wall, I raised our joined hands, pushing them against the wall on either side of her head as I devoured her mouth, sucking her bottom lip before nibbling at it.
I wanted her hot and wet and screaming for more. The first time had been too fast. I’d been on the verge of exploding the entire night and didn’t have the strength to tease and draw out her pleasure. With the edge off, I could take a little more time.
“You’re beautiful,” I told her, pulling my mouth away from hers to stare into her eyes.
Her lips were glistening wet from my kiss, and she gently bit her lower lip.
“I want you so bad,” she whispered.
I nodded my head, ready to let her have me.
Chapter 22
Jamie
I stared at the man in front of me in the dark back room of my shop. My hands were pinned to the wall beside me, my jeans were pushed down my legs, and it was one of the most erotic moments of my entire life.
Desire pumped through my veins like thick, molten lava. Heat slowly rolled through me, sparking little delicious sensations of arousal and ecstasy, and he had yet to do anything more than kiss me. It was him. My body had some kind of weird chemical response to him, like a magnetic pull.
He leaned down, his lips brushing over mine as his mouth moved over my jaw toward my ear. His tongue lapped at me before his lips spread kisses over the area. It was electrifying and pushing me toward an orgasm I didn’t want to happen—not yet. I couldn’t keep climaxing with a few well-placed kisses. What would he think of me?
I moaned when he sucked my flesh between his teeth. “Oh god, what you do to me,” I whispered, not meaning to say the words out loud.
He stepped closer, his hardness pressing against me. “What do I do to you?” he asked, his voice gruff.
“You undo me,” I replied, too caught up in a haze of lust and want to censor my words.
His mouth slammed over mine before he dropped my hands, his long arms coming in handy as he pushed my jeans down farther. I quickly went for the button of his jeans, this time more focused on what I wanted, and I quickly undid them.
“Window,” he moaned, pulling me away from the wall and rounding the corner where it was much darker in the room.
I was too busy kicking off my tennis shoes and using my toes to pull my jeans off. I had to have him inside me. I felt as if I would implode if I didn’t get some kind of relief.
“Okay,” I told him when my jeans and panties were shucked and his were down around his ankles.
He chuckled softly, bending over to quickly untie his boots. I ran my hands over his broad back, covered by the shirt he was still wearing. I wanted to feel his hot skin again. I wanted him naked and looming over me. We weren’t really in the best place for that, but if I closed my eyes, I could imagine it. A few seconds later, he was stepping against me once again, his broad chest pushing my breasts as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tight.