by Jen Talty
But that all changed the moment a trickle of flame moved across the driver’s side of the car.
He turned her body, resting her back on his chest and carefully, but quickly pulled her petite body up and over the center console, watching her legs, praying he wasn’t inflicting any more damage.
The smoke turned a thick grey-black.
Time was running out.
Leaning over her, he put one arm under her knees and the other circled her back as he lifted her from the seat, carefully stepping backward, cradling her against his chest.
She moaned as he moved away from the car, going across the road, to a grassy patch where he laid her down gently.
Boom!
He covered her body with his as the car exploded, sending debris and tires flying across the road. The few people who had gathered across the street gasped and screamed, but thankfully were out of harm’s way.
Siren’s echoed off on the distance.
Ace went about checking the young woman for any external injuries he could treat. He found a few gashes on her legs, that he cleaned. One was deep enough that it would need stiches. Her beautiful face was swollen and bruised from the impact of the airbag.
She moaned, her head rolling to the side.
“Ma’am,” he said cupping her face, worring about a neck injury. “Can you hear me?”
“What?” Her eyelids fluttered open. “What happened?” She titled her head and groaned.
“Don’t move. You were in a car accident.”
“Oh…” she whispered.
An ambulance pulled up behind the first fire truck. Two paramedics jumped out.
“We’ll take it from here,” one of them said.
Ace stepped to the side, giving the paramedics room to work when he heard a woman screaming and running down the road.
“Lexi!”
It was the owner of O’Grady’s. He jogged toward her, stopping her before she crossed the street.
“You need to give them room,” he said holding onto the girl’s arms. “She’s conscious but I don’t know the extent of her injuries.”
“I have to get a hold of her mother.” The woman wrapped her arms around her middle. “I need to be with Lexi.”
“I can call her mother if you’d like to ride with her to the hospital.”
“You’d do that?”
“Sure. Just tell me who to contact.”
“Gretchen Aberdean.”
He blinked. “That’s Lexington Aberdean?” His stomach knotted. He’d sat through many hours helping Mrs. Aberdean with minor projects around the marina, listening to stories about her daughter and how she wished she’d come home. That the life she chased in New York was not the right life for her. He could understand her wanting her daughter to take over the family business as much as his father had wanted him to be an insurance salesmen, but after he lost his high school sweetheart, and her entire family to a house fire, his fate had been sealed.
The woman nodded. “What happened?”
“She was T-Boned.” He opted to leave out the fact it was also a hit and run. “Come on.” He took her by the elbow and guided her across the street as the first responders lifted Lexi onto a gurney.
“Shea,” Lexi whispered.
“I’m right here.”
“You go with her and I’ll go get her mother.”
“Thank you,” Shea said.
“Not a problem.”
Ace watched as the paramedics lifted Lexi into the back of the ambulance. He swallowed, remembering all those he couldn’t save, thankful he might have saved her.
Chapter 2
LEXI HELD THE COMPACT make-up mirror, staring at the damage the airbag had done to her face. Her entire body throbbed, especially her thigh where she’d gotten twenty-five stiches total between the two cuts.
Now, twenty-four hours after the accident, she still hadn’t met the man who saved her life.
Her mother was finally going to have her way and Lexi would come face to face with the Ace Enders, the perfect specimen of a man, and a gentleman, according to her mother.
“I wish Shea could have come back and gotten us, or even one of your neighbors.” Lexi knew she should have kept her mouth shut. “I hate to put this man out again, considering he put his life in danger to save mine.”
“All the more reason to thank him properly and in person.”
“I agree, but we’re asking for another favor just to say thank you. I would have rather done it a different way.” And not in front of her mother, who carried a Tupperware container full of cookies because her baked goods solved all the problems of the world.
“He offered, dear, when he drove me home yesterday.”
Lexi closed the compact. No amount of make-up could get rid of the dark bruises under her eyes, the cracked lip, or swollen cheeks. The only way to describe what she looked like was to say she wrestled with an airbag…
And lost.
Ding. Ding.
“Is that your phone?” Lexi asked.
Her mother set the cookies on the hospital bed and reached deep in her purse. “I set different ring tones for texts, email, Facebook, Twitter, as well as Instagram. That is an instant message.”
Lexi shook her head. Most of her friends couldn’t get their parents on social media. She couldn’t get her mother off.
“Jefferson is here.”
“Jefferson?” Lexi questioned.
“You remember Jefferson, don’t you?”
“As in the man who used to manage boat sales for us?”
Her mother pushed her spectacles down on her nose and peered over the rims. “Not us, since you turned your back on the family business, but yes. That Jefferson.”
“You’re dating?”
The corner of her mother’s mouth twitched. “One of the reasons I want a partner in the marina.”
Lexi’s pulse raced. Not so much because her mother had put herself out there. No. That Lexi encouraged. Her mother was a spry sixty-year-old woman with many years ahead of her and Lexi wanted her mother to love again. She was too young not to.
“You could sell the marina,” Lexi said.
Her mother glared over her glasses. “I’d rather have a partner who did the grunt work while I took in the profits.”
“All right, but what do you really know about this Hudson Nally person?” Lexi had barely begun her research on the man when she’d gotten in the car to drive south. Her initial Google search came up with very little, which made her nervous. If he was such a big time, successful investor, she figured he’d be all over the internet.
“He seems like a level-headed businessman with creative ideas to increase profits.”
“I don’t want you rushing into anything.”
Her mother shook her head. “I’m not stupid, dear, that’s why I wanted you to look at things, but ultimately, it’s my decision, unless you want to come back.”
Leave it to her mother to drop the proverbial hint. Of course, when she found out Lexi didn’t have a job, or a boyfriend, her mother would be hitting even harder. “Let me take a look at things tomorrow, okay?”
“Works for me.” Her mother dumped her phone in her purse. “I won’t be out too late tonight, but don’t wait up.”
“Wait, what? You’re leaving me?”
“I’ve got a date.” Her mother smiled. “Wasn’t it you who said I should get out more often?”
“But now? Seriously, mom. I can’t believe you’re leaving,” Lexi muttered, although she absolutely knew how her mother operated, and it was generally underhanded. That said, her mother’s heart was always in the right place.
“And if I told you I had a date, but then cancelled it to take you home from the hospital, what would you have done?”
“Taken an Uber home.”
“Exactly,” her mother smiled. “I’m sure Ace will be here soon,” she said before kissing Lexi’s cheek.
She wrapped her arms around her mom, sucking in a deep breath. “It’s good to be home, Mom.”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
Lexi leaned back, fluffing up the pillow. “Don’t you dare make me wait up for you. And no kissy-kissy at the front door.”
Her mother laughed shyly. “It’s a first date. I haven’t kissed a man other than your father in thirty-five years. But if another’s man’s lips need to touch mine, I think I could tolerate Jefferson’s.”
“Go for it, Mom. Dad would want you to go on with your life.”
“That is the truest statement on this planet.” Her mother patted the box of cookies. “Ace is a good man with a kind heart. Give him a chance.”
“Mom, I’ve got to tell you something. Tom and—”
“I know you broke up with Tom.”
Lexi opened her mouth, but her mother cupped her cheeks.
“I’ve known for a while and chose not to say anything because I didn’t want to upset you. I might not have liked him that much, but I love you, and all I want is for you to be happy.”
Lexi sucked in a breath as she released her mother, tucking her knees to her chest. “Did you know I quit my job, too?”
He mother cocked her head. “That, Tom did not tell me.”
“You spoke to Tom?” Bile bubbled up Lexi’s throat.
“He called me looking to talk to you a few months ago, which is how I found out.”
Lexi swallowed her breath. “Well, I just quit my job last week.” She lifted the lid off the Tupperware container and pulled out a cookie, breaking it in half. “And don’t go getting any ideas about me coming home and taking over the family business.” She shoved half the cookie in her mouth, her eyes watering from delight.
Cookies did make things better.
Her mother raised her hands. “I’ve had ideas since the day you left, but I won’t nag you.”
“Yeah, right.”
Her mother glanced at her phone. “I’ve got to go. I’ll see you tonight.”
“I would like to thank Ace properly, so do you have any ideas other than just thanking him for the ride home?”
“The only thing I know about him is that he’s a fireman for the Air Force, he loves fishing, and Shasta follows him around like she’s in heat.” Her mother fanned her face. “And he’s damn good looking.”
Lexi watched her mother disappear down the hallway as she drew her good leg up, hugging it, resting her chin on her knees. She closed her eyes, and let the moments before the crash rush into her mind. She remembered everything, right up to the moment of impact. Then absolutely nothing until she woke up on the side of the road, and even that was fuzzy.
In the last twenty-four hours, she’d learned the man who had hit her fled in his vehicle and the police were still looking for him. They didn’t have many leads since the car had been stolen.
Had it not been for the off-duty police officer in front of her and the Air Force fireman behind her, she probably would have blown up with her car. She shivered.
No boyfriend. No job.
And now, no car.
Tap. Tap.
She blinked opened her eyes, tilting her head toward the door. Swallowing her gasp, she tried not to gawk at the sexy man standing in the doorway. He sported a black T-shirt and a pair of cut off jean shorts that showed off his tanned, muscular legs.
“Ace?” she questioned, staring into his dark eyes.
“That would be me.” He leaned against the doorjamb, folding his arms across his broad chest. “You must be Lexi.” His smile brightened the room. Her mother was wrong about him being good-looking.
He was fucking gorgeous with his five o’clock shadow, high cheekbones, and those damn intense eyes that captured her gaze and wouldn’t let go.
An overwhelming sense of gratitude dripped over her body like a melting piece of chocolate left out in the sun. A sob threatened to bubble up from her gut. “I don’t know how to thank you for what you did,” she whispered, letting her feet hit the floor.
He shrugged. “Just doing my job.”
“You weren’t on duty and you certainly didn’t have to come all this way to bring me back to my mothers.”
“Not a big deal,” he said, taking a few steps into the room. “You look a lot better than when I pulled you from that car.”
She smiled, grabbing the side of her cheek, feeling the swollen flesh. “Not by much.”
When he smiled, letting out a small laugh, his eyes lightened, becoming a warm, hazelnut-like color.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Just have to let the nurse know my ride is here.” She hit the button on the side of her bed.
A long, awkward silence filled the room. He continued to lean against the doorjamb, arms folded across his chest, looking down at the floor, but every once in a while he glanced up, always catching her staring at him.
She’d never been a shy girl, nor had she ever been at a loss for words, then again, she’d never nearly died before.
“Will you let me buy you dinner or something? I know there is nothing I can do that will adequately express my gratitude.”
He shook his head. “Really, it’s not necessary, but thank you,” he said in a soft, but distant tone.
She was about to push, but the nurse peeked her head in. “Are you ready to go?”
Lexi nodded.
“Good, there is an orderly here that can wheel you down to patient discharge.”
“Do I have to go out in a wheelchair?” She placed her hand over the bandage on her leg, knowing walking would hurt.
“Hospital rules,” the nurse said.
A young man rolled a chair into the room.
Before she lifted her butt off the bed, Ace was at her side, one hand holding her arm as he practically shoved the poor orderly out of the way to hold the chair steady.
“I can take her down. My truck is right at the discharge doors.” He handed her the container of cookies.
“Sorry, hospital policy,” the orderly said.
“You can come with us if you must, but I’m pushing her.” Ace stood behind her and gently guided the chair toward the door.
The orderly tossed his hands in the air, shaking his head.
Had Ace not saved her life, and if she knew him better, she’d be giving him a piece of her mind for being rude. Of course, she was more than curious as to why he’d behaved in such an ungentlemanly fashion.
She glanced over her shoulder with a narrow-eyed stare, catching his gaze.
He shrugged. “Your mother told me to make sure I took good care of you or Shasta wouldn’t be able to go fishing with me anymore and she’s my good luck charm.”
“So, you’re doing this just to spend time with my mother’s dog?”
“That, and your mother gives me a discounted rate on my boat slip and storage.”
She hadn’t meant to laugh, but it was impossible not to when he flashed her a huge, cheeky smile.
The orderly followed them through the corridors of the hospital and down the elevator until they ended up at the circle where discharged patients were picked up.
“This is me.” Ace opened the passenger door of the blue pickup she’d seen at O’Grady’s the day before. He waved to the security guard standing on the other end of the circle as he tossed the box of cookies on the center console.
“Did you bribe him in order to be able to park here?”
Ace laughed. “He’s retired Delta Force and I served with him on a few missions. Saved his sorry ass from a burning airplane, while in the air.” He tucked her legs into the car, being extra careful with her injured one as he gently let it rest on the seat, before slamming the door shut.
She watched him jog around the hood. His short, dark hair soaking in the hot Florida sun. He couldn’t be any taller than five foot ten, and while he had well defined muscles, he wasn’t bulky. The way the sun stroked his skin sent her hormones into high gear.
Stifle it.
“Please let me buy you dinner,” she said as he climbed into the cab and turned the key. “You have to let me repa
y you somehow.”
He tapped the cookie container with his finger. “This is payment enough.”
“My mother made those, not me, and trust me, you wouldn’t want to eat mine.” She stared at his profile as he drove, one arm resting on the open windowsill, the other drooped over the steering wheel. She remembered seeing him at O’Grady’s and noted his serious expression. She remembered blinking her eyes open after the accident and his serious-laden look had been the first thing she’d focused on. In the last half hour, he mostly sported a solemn expression, though when he smiled, something magical happened like when a magician made something disappear and the audience gasped with pleasure.
“I insist,” she said.
“If you insist, then how about I cook you dinner instead of going out.”
She let out a long sigh. “That’s not me thanking you. That’s you cooking for me.”
“You know, the words thank you work better than going out of your way.” He turned his head and winked as he pulled into the family home, which was located right next to the marina.
Her heart fluttered like a stupid school girl sharing her peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a boy in the playground. “Not when you save someone’s life.”
The truck rolled to a stop in front of the garage. She looked at the window next to the front door. Shasta had her nose against the glass, her tail wagging feverously, like she had done when her father would return home form the boathouse.
Her parents had been quite the team in love and in business, but her father took care of most of the major financial stuff, while her mother was better with people. Lexi glanced at Ace, wondering how close he’d grown to her mother.
“Has my mother ever discussed with you a man by the name of Hudson Nally?” She swallowed. Her mother would have her head if she knew she was discussing her business with anyone, even if it was utterly obvious her mother adored Ace.
He shook his head. “No. Why?”
“He’s offering to invest in the marina so she can take more time off.” She shifted in her seat, getting a better look at Ace.
“She does work too much.” He nodded, lowering his gaze.
“I won’t argue with you there, but I don’t understand why she wants to bring in an investor and the fact that this guy approached her makes me pause. There are so many con artists out there taking advantage of people like my mom.”