Love Is In the Air Volume 1

by Susan Stoker

  “Wow,” Dash said. “That’s amazing.”

  “It’s not really,” Holly said with a shrug.

  “Let me guess, you still keep in touch with her,” Dash said with a smile.

  Holly stared at him for a long moment before nodding. “I was one of her bridesmaids for her wedding a few years ago.”

  Dash wasn’t surprised. Holly seemed like the kind of woman who, once you became her friend, you didn’t ever want to lose.

  “Anyway, I realized that I had an affinity for languages. Spanish and other languages that used a Latin-based alphabet weren’t a big enough challenge for me, so I stuck with Arabic and added Pashto for fun.” She chuckled. “I know, I’m a nerd.”

  “I don’t think you’re a nerd,” Dash said in a low voice.

  She stared at him with wide eyes from the seat next to him. They hadn’t gotten out of the car since he’d parked, and as the sun was setting, he realized they’d been there quite a while getting to know each other.

  They stared at each other for a highly charged moment…before Holly licked her lips.

  That was it. Dash couldn’t stop himself from leaning toward her. The way she started to meet him halfway registered in his brain, giving him the satisfaction of knowing she seemed to be as into him as he was her—then someone rapped loudly on the window next to him.

  Dash registered Holly squeaking in surprise but he was already turning and had his hand on the knife he kept strapped near his seat, just in case.

  It took him only seconds to realize the man standing at his door was a police officer.

  “Open the door,” the officer ordered.

  Moving slowly so as not to alarm the policeman, Dash reached for the door handle.

  “Dash?”

  “It’s okay, Holly,” he reassured her.

  He opened his door and stood, making sure to keep his hands where the officer could see them. “Is there a problem?”

  “You tell me,” the officer said. “We had a report of suspicious activity going on in the parking lot.”

  “My friend and I have just been talking. That’s it,” Dash told him.

  It was obvious the man didn’t believe him. “There have been increased reports of drug activity in this area,” the cop said. “Do you have a problem with me searching your vehicle?”

  Dash was irritated. This wasn’t how he envisioned the evening going. But since he had nothing to hide, he simply said, “No.”

  After the officer searched him for illegal weapons or drugs and found nothing, he got Holly out of the car and searched her too. By now, two more police cars had arrived.

  “Dash?” Holly asked.

  “Come ’ere,” he told her, holding out an arm.

  Without hesitation, she snuggled into his side. Dash loved having her against him, but he hated the circumstance. He held her as the officers did their best to uncover something illegal in his vehicle.

  Holly shivered, and Dash mentally swore. The day had been fairly warm for this part of Texas in January, but now that the sun had set, the chilly air had moved in.

  “There’s a sweatshirt in my backseat,” he called out. “My girl’s cold, can someone please get it for me?”

  He hadn’t hesitated to call Holly his girl and hoped she didn’t mind. She definitely wasn’t a girl, but the phrase had simply popped out of his mouth without him thinking about it.

  “I’m okay,” she said softly next to him. “You’re very warm.”

  “You’re shivering,” he said, reaching for the sweatshirt one of the officers brought over to him. “Step back a second,” he ordered.

  Holly smiled and took a step away from him. Dash hated to let her go for the few seconds it took to help get the huge Army sweatshirt over her head. It was overly large on her slight frame, but Dash had never seen anything as sexy as Holly in his clothes. Visions of her wearing one of his t-shirts—and only his shirt, her long, shapely legs sticking out from under it—flashed through his brain.

  “Do I want to know what that thought was?” Holly asked with a grin as she curled into him once more. One arm went around his back and the other around his stomach. They stood in each other’s embrace as if they’d done it every day of their lives. It felt comfortable…right.

  “I don’t want to say anything that would make you not want to see me again,” Dash admitted.

  “I don’t think that’s possible,” Holly muttered.

  Dash grinned. He leaned down and rested his chin on the top of her head. Once again he marveled at how well they fit together. He opened his mouth to ask if she was feeling warmer when the original officer who’d knocked on his window strolled up.

  “Looks like you’re good to go.”

  Dash wanted to roll his eyes, but he merely nodded.

  “I suggest if you want to have a chat with your date, that you do so somewhere other than your car in a parking lot.”

  “Yes, sir,” he said respectfully. As annoyed as he was by someone calling the cops on them and having his car searched, he supposed he was glad someone was paying attention, since this was where Holly lived.

  “You two have a good night,” the officer said before turning and heading back toward his cruiser.

  “Well, that was interesting,” Holly said, not letting go of him now that the police had left. “You sure do know how to show a girl a good time.”

  “This? This was nothing. How about if I pick you up tomorrow and take you on a real date?” The words popped out of his mouth without Dash even thinking about what he was going to say. He held his breath waiting for Holly’s response.

  She tilted her head up and met his gaze. “You’re asking me out? On a date?”

  He hated the disbelief in her tone. Did she not know how amazing she was? How the hell she hadn’t been snatched up before now was beyond Dash. But other men had officially lost their chance. Their loss was his gain. Now that he’d found Holly, he was going to do whatever he had to in order to keep her. He’d treat her like gold…if only she gave him the chance.

  “Yeah, I’m asking you out,” he told her.

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  Neither moved. Dash could feel her breathing increase as they stared at each other. He slowly brought a hand up to her face and brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek. Her skin was smooth, if not a little chilled. She was cold, and as much as he hated to say goodbye, he needed to get her inside. But not before he had a taste of the lips he’d been thinking about since they’d been interrupted earlier.

  “I’d like to kiss you,” he said. It was a statement and a question all in one.

  “Yes, please,” she said politely.

  Dash’s lips quirked upward even as his head was tipping toward her. He felt her go up on her tiptoes as she tilted her head back.

  Tingles shot through his body as their lips met, making him feel energized and jumpy. It was as if the universe were sending him a sign that this was the woman made just for him, and making sure he knew it.

  Their kiss was chaste at first. Each tasting the other, feeling each other out. Then Holly moaned, and Dash couldn’t hold back anymore. He turned her so her chest was crushed against his and brought a hand up to the back of her neck. Her mouth opened and he accepted the invitation. His tongue plunged inside, and he groaned at the rightness of the moment.

  She tasted faintly of the mint she’d eaten earlier, while they’d been talking in his car. Dash knew from now on, any time he smelled or tasted peppermint, he’d remember this moment. The first time he’d tasted his woman.

  How long they made out, Dash had no idea, but when he heard a cat-call from someone nearby, he abruptly realized where they were. And as much as he wanted to continue to kiss Holly, this wasn’t exactly the best place to do it. He eased back, smiling when she frowned and pressed harder against him. Her hands had moved around his shoulders and her fingers grasped his hair, as if she wanted to haul his lips back down to hers.

  “Easy, Hol,” he murmured.
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br />   Her gaze flew up to his then, and she froze in his arms.

  Dash ran a hand down her spine, loving how she seemed to arch into his touch, like a cat would when being petted. “I need to get you inside, you’re freezing. I thought since we talked through dinnertime tonight, I’d make it up by taking you to one of my favorite restaurants tomorrow night. Do you eat steak?”

  It seemed to take a moment for Holly’s brain to reengage, which made Dash feel ten feet tall. But he did his best not to smirk about it, even if he wanted to pound his chest and announce to the world that Holly was his.

  “I don’t make it for myself, as I’m not the world’s greatest cook, but yes, I love a good steak.”

  “Good. How does me picking you up at six tomorrow night sound? That should give you time to get home from work and change if you want. But don’t feel the need to dress up. This is a jeans-and-boots kind of place. It’s super laid-back.”

  “That’s fine. But, Dash…tomorrow’s Monday.”

  “And?” he asked, his brows furrowing in confusion.

  “I just…you don’t want to wait for the weekend? Will you be tired?”

  “I absolutely don’t want to wait,” he told her, smoothing a piece of hair behind her ear. Somehow in the last few minutes, the scrunchie that had been holding her hair back had come out and her long black hair was clinging to his chest as if it had a mind of its own. “I can’t wait to get to know you better, and every day that passes is a day lost.”

  “Wow, um…okay.”

  “Too much?” he asked, worried he’d moved too fast and was freaking her out.

  “No. I just…” Her voice trailed off.

  “What? Don’t ever be afraid to tell me anything. If you’re thinking it, I want to know about it,” Dash told her.

  “I feel the same way. The connection I feel toward you is…”

  “Intense,” Dash said, finishing her thought.

  “Exactly.”

  He wanted nothing more than to follow her to her apartment, go inside, and show her exactly how powerful their connection could be, but he took a deep breath instead and reached for one of her hands. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your apartment.”

  Holly nodded and squeezed his hand. He walked her into her building and up to the third floor. He stopped in front of her apartment and watched as she unlocked the deadbolt and the doorknob. Then Holly turned and looked up at him a little shyly.

  Not able to help himself, Dash leaned down and kissed her once more. This kiss was gentler than the passionate one they’d shared in the parking lot but no less heartfelt.

  He forced himself to pull back and said, “Let me give you my number.”

  She pulled out her phone from her pocket and within a few seconds, they were programmed into each other’s contact list.

  “You gonna get a sub for lunch tomorrow?” he couldn’t help but ask.

  “Probably,” Holly said. “I know I should pack my lunch, but going out to lunch gets me away from the office for a while every day. I know myself; if I brought something to eat, I’d probably just eat it at my desk and I’d never take a break.”

  “Maybe I’ll see you at the PX then,” Dash said, making a mental note to definitely see her at the post exchange the next day.

  Holly smiled. “I’d like that.”

  “Me too.”

  Dash felt like he’d never smiled as much as he had tonight. It was a nice change.

  The hardest thing he’d ever done was take a step away from her. He vowed the time would come, hopefully soon, when he wouldn’t have to leave her at her doorstep. That he’d have the right and the privilege of going inside with her. Or she’d come home with him. Though he had a feeling once he got her inside his small house, he’d never want to let her go.

  Moving slow was never something Dash did well. Once he found something he wanted, he went after it with everything he had. Holly was definitely not an exception.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.

  “Text when you get home?” Holly asked tentatively.

  Her concern wrapped itself around his heart. “I will.”

  “Later.”

  “Later, Hol,” Dash said, then like ripping off a bandage, he turned and strode down the hall. He didn’t stop smiling the entire way home. And when he texted her and let her know he’d made it home safely, the grin only widened when he got her reply.

  Holly: I’m glad.

  Holly: I have an admission. I’ve been trying to get up the nerve to talk to you for a while now. And I have to say…the reality of you is even better than the fantasy. See you tomorrow.

  Dash couldn’t resist sending one more text. There was no way he could let her admission go without reciprocating.

  Dash: I hope you’re ready for this.

  Holly: For what?

  Dash: Us.

  He watched as three dots appeared on the screen, but then they disappeared. Knowing she was speechless wasn’t a turnoff. He liked surprising her. He wanted a lifetime of keeping her on her toes, wondering what he had up his sleeve. Holly Culver had no idea that her life had just changed…for the better. He’d do whatever he could to make sure she was always happy and content.

  Life with a military man, a Delta at that, wasn’t easy. But he’d bend over backward to make sure she always knew how important she was to him. There might be times she had to come second behind his job, but he never wanted her to think she wasn’t always on his mind.

  Tomorrow felt like the first day of the rest of his life, and Dash couldn’t wait for it to begin.

  3

  Almost a week later, Holly knew she was madly in love with Dash Anagnostopoulos. How could she not be? He was the most attentive man she’d ever dated. He simply made her happy. In the past when she’d started dating someone, it always felt a little awkward. She had to search for discussion topics and thinking about being intimate always made her break out in a cold sweat.

  But with Dash, everything seemed easy and natural. They never had a hard time finding something to talk about. They’d seen each other every day since they’d officially met. Hung out at lunch, then went out every night. They constantly talked via text, and one night after he’d dropped her off after dinner, he’d called and they’d talked well into the night.

  And the physical stuff was just as natural. Holding hands, putting her arm around him, touching his hand when they sat at one of the picnic tables outside the PX eating their sandwiches at lunchtime, and even kissing. The more she was around him, the more she wanted to be around him. Which was quite the revelation.

  Holly had always thought of herself as extremely independent. She and Stella were a lot alike in that sense. They’d thought about rooming together, but decided they liked being on their own too much to share a space with someone else…even a best friend. But Holly didn’t feel that way about Dash at all.

  Her phone vibrated with a text. It was Saturday night, and she and Stella usually went to a movie, or hung out at one or the other’s apartments and had some drinks and relaxed together, but tonight they both had dates with their guys.

  Stella: You nervous about tonight?

  Holly: A little. It’s the first time I’ll be hanging out with Dash at his place. Are you nervous?

  Stella: Hell no! I’ve been ready for some Magic in my life since he first moved next door!

  Holly giggled. She was relieved that Stella and Magic seemed to be clicking just as well as she and Dash. It was crazy that the two best friends were dating two men who were best friends. But it also felt…right.

  Holly: Maybe down the line we could double date or something.

  Stella: Oh, that’s definitely happening! Have fun! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

  Holly: Which leaves me open to just about anything.

  Stella: Lol. You know it. Text or call me tomorrow…but not too early. I’m fully expecting to sleep in *wink wink*

  Holly: Love you

  Stella: Love you too, girl!


  Holly admired her friend. She wasn’t afraid to go after what she wanted. And she obviously wanted Magic. Holly had no idea where the night would go with her and Dash, but she definitely wouldn’t complain if it ended with neither of them wearing any clothes and in his bed.

  Blushing at the thought, but feeling her nipples harden as she imagined making love with Dash, Holly smiled. Their relationship was moving at warp speed, but it didn’t feel wrong. She’d never been the kind of woman who jumped into bed with a guy just to scratch an itch. She had her fair share of sex toys that she used regularly, but she couldn’t deny the thought of sleeping with Dash excited her.

  Did she love him? Holly wasn’t sure. She cared about him and thought about him all the time. She worried about when and where his next mission might be. She’d also already told her mom about him, which wasn’t something she did with any of her casual dates. All indicators were pointing in the direction of this relationship with Dash being the real deal.

  Taking a deep breath, Holly did her best to put her worries behind her. For now, she was having a good time. She would take things one day at a time.

  Two hours later, Holly was sitting next to Dash on his couch in his apartment. She couldn’t remember being this relaxed around a guy this soon in their relationship. They’d made dinner together in his kitchen and laughed the entire time. Now they were watching a movie on TV and talking.

  “So…Valentine’s Day is coming up,” Dash said.

  Holly blinked in surprise. “Yeah, it is,” she said.

  “You had good ones in the past?”

  “Good Valentine’s Days?” Holly clarified.

  “Yeah.”

  “I guess.”

  “That means they’ve been pretty lackluster,” Dash said.

  “I mean, I’ve gotten flowers and chocolate. The usual stuff,” Holly told him.

  “Hmmmm.”

  “Dash, we haven’t been dating all that long. I don’t expect anything from you. I mean, it’s really a day made up to sell cards and crap. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just another day.”