Then he noticed the tree. The knot is his stomach grew. All thoughts of the romantic reconciliation evaporated.
He raced to her door. Locked. Three strong kicks finally broke the weakened wood.
The tree had split open the roof, catching some power lines on the way. Water was dripping onto the floor and over everything. He stalled at the bedroom door, making sure he wouldn’t step into a wire that could become live.
“Annie?”
A bang from the closet caught his attention.
“Alec?” She sounded strong, but was barricaded behind a pile of debris from the ceiling and the tree.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but I can’t get out.”
“Hold on.” The old house had been built to survive hurricanes, and the material in front of the closet was a heavy mix of plaster and wood. Sleet continued to seep through the opening, and the wires had dangled close to the floor. If the power came back on, they’d have bigger problems. He pulled carefully on what looked like a joist. It didn’t budge. He moved a few of the smaller bits of debris but needed help with the larger stuff.
He called 911. Due to slick roads, multiple accidents, and other power lines down, the fire department would arrive as soon as they could. That wasn’t soon enough for him. He ended the call and dialed Zac.
“What do you mean she’s stuck?” Zac hollered over the other guys’ voices. The background noise disappeared.
“A tree collapsed on her roof and barricaded her in a closet. The fire department is on their way, but I don’t know how long they’ll take.”
“We can get there quicker.”
“Zac, I don’t want anyone drinking and driving, especially in these conditions.”
“I understand. I’ve only had a few sips of beer. I’ll take Mikael with me. And Sweeney. He’s expendable.”
“I heard that,” Sweeney shouted from somewhere behind Zac.
“Fine, but make sure everyone else stays there. And bring some flashlights.”
“Deal.”
He tried to pull the main beam from the pile again, but it was wedged between the wall and the closet doorframe.
Chapter Twelve
The floorboards creaked louder than Annie had ever heard them creak before. Images of her floor giving way and them crashing into Elsie’s living room seemed like a very real possibility. “Alec, it’s not safe. You need to leave. I don’t want anything happening to you.”
“You’re crazy if you think I’d leave you alone.” He grunted, shoving something across the floor. “The guys will be here soon. Just hang on.”
His voice, his words, his presence calmed her racing heartbeat. Tension eased from her muscles. He wouldn’t leave her to face this alone. She squinted over the pile trapping her and found his large shape moving among the shadows in the room. “I’ll push, you pull. Maybe we can get this beam loose.”
A rectangular shaped light appeared over the debris. “My phone’s display isn’t bright enough. I can barely see you. Are you sure you didn’t get hurt?”
“Just some scrapes.” She leaned into the pile, aching to touch him. “I want to get out of here.”
“I want you out of here.” His words tight, his tone as gruff as when he’d spoken to her right after the car accident deepened her desire to be free. The light disappeared. More sounds of movement came from his side of the wall. Faster, louder.
The floor creaked again, and the wind whipped the wires into twisted snakes. She winced and willed help to arrive faster. “I’m so happy you’re here, but why did you come looking for me?”
“I came to tell you that I love you.” His voice deepened into the softer tone he usually reserved for their more intimate moments.
Her limbs locked. Her heartbeat paused. Her mind whirled. It wasn’t too late. He hadn’t moved on.
“I love you too.” She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and forced her voice to be strong. More than anything, she wanted to hold him. “I shouldn’t have left when I did. I should have talked to you about everything going on in my head.”
“When we get you out of here, we’ll do all the talking you want. I have some things to say, too.”
Heavy footsteps clanked on the steps. Strong beams of light entered the room. “It’s about time you guys got here.” Relief was evident in Alec’s voice.
“What the…” She recognized Zac’s voice. A beam spanned the room, spotlighting the ruined bed, wet boxes, scary wires, and a crater-sized hole in the roof.
Annie hitched a breath. So much damage. What if nothing could be salvaged?
“Shit, what a mess.” Sweeney’s voice accompanied a second beam of light.
Another light shined over her head. She could make out Mikael’s profile. “You okay, Annie?”
“Put down the lights and help me move the beam. We need to hustle.” Alec’s command, urgent and impatient, cut off her response. The light fell across his body. Seeing him clearly, close but not close enough to touch, brought tears to her eyes. She forced them away and pushed at the rubble blocking her exit.
The guys hefted the beam and then dug through the pile. Finally, a large enough space emerged for her to get free.
“Ready?” Alec’s gaze met hers. Tingles crept up her spine. He reached out his hands and clasped his fingers around hers. Annie held on tight, absorbing his warmth and strength, and climbed over the remaining mess.
“We need to get outside.” Zac held a flashlight and led the way.
Keeping her hand tucked in Alec’s firm grip, Annie fixed her gaze on the column of light and followed. Mikael and Sweeney kept close at her back, shining more light on her path.
The tightness in her chest eased when they reached the yard beside the house. The pounding of her heart ceased when Alec’s strong arms stroked up and down hers.
“You’re okay.” He clasped her shoulders, then slid one arm around her back and pulled her against him. “Thank God you’re okay.”
She raised her shaky hands to cup his face. “Thank you for saving me.”
“You’re everything to me.”
Before she could ask what he meant, his head lowered and his lips settled over hers, strong, insistent, and right.
Sirens wailing, a fire truck came to a stop in the street. Help had arrived. Red and white lights flashed against the house. Another thought about the damage inside went through her mind.
Alec tucked her closer to his side and traced his finger down her face. She didn’t care if she had to replace the entire contents of her apartment. Being back in his arms was all that mattered.
Alec wrapped his arm around Annie. Her body shivered, a normal response to a frightening situation. He lifted his eyes to the stormy clouds overhead. Thank God she was safe. He made her stay for a few minutes to let the EMT examine her. As always, she fought the attempts at people trying to take care of her. His heartbeat had finally slowed to something bordering on normal. He kissed the top of her head and refused to move more than two feet from her side. Even that distance was too much.
“I’m fine. Really.” Her body was shivering even wrapped in a blanket.
“Can I take her someplace warm now?” he asked.
The EMT nodded. “Go ahead, just be careful driving.”
“Thanks for everything.” Alec shook his hand and then hugged Annie closer. “Come on, we can go to my house.”
“Sure. Can I borrow some clothes? Mine are a bit wet.”
“You can have anything in the house. I have to warn you though, I have a few guests there.”
She paused on the walk toward the car. “Who?”
“Mikael, Zac, and Sweeney went back there. Andre’s there too as well as Johnson.”
“Were you guys celebrating the win? Do you think they’ll mind if I’m there too?”
He squeezed her hand. “They’ll be thrilled to see you with me.”
An hour later, the guys were still sitting around as though they had no intention of leaving.
/> Zac picked up a few pieces of the bust. “You lost the bet. I hope Annie doesn’t mind you sprinting around the arena in the nude, because that’s what you’d promised.”
“That’s not fair.” Annie came into the room wearing her jeans and his sweater. She placed a tray with several bottles of beer and soda for the team on the coffee table. “I feel partly responsible. He wouldn’t have been so upset if I had been honest about my feelings from the start.”
Mikael placed an arm over her shoulder. “If you feel responsible, I’m sure Sequoia would let you run in his place. We don’t mind, do we guys?”
The guys started laughing and catcalling. The care and friendship they’d shown to Annie meant they’d all protect her through thick and thin, so Alec let their ribbing slide. If it hadn’t been for the team, he wouldn’t have pulled his head out of the fog and realized how much Annie cared about him.
He moved to her side. “It’s okay, I’ll grin and bear it.”
“You mean ‘bare’ it.” Sweeney wiggled his ass as though he was a really sucky pole dancer.
Alec turned toward Annie. “Come with me for a minute.”
They held hands and went outside to the edge of the patio overlooking the ocean. Snow colored the sand white. Gentle waves rolled onto the beach and provided a soothing backdrop of sight and sound.
Annie was silent. Her gaze seemed focused far off on the distant horizon. When she turned toward him, she curled into his side and sighed. The feeling of contentment with her in his arms matched the feelings in his heart. “I don’t know what I would have done if anything happened to you tonight. Not only do you make my days better and my nights hotter, you give me a reason to wake up every day.”
Her smile grew into something breathtaking. “You sound like a Hallmark card.”
“I have my moments.”
She paused for a moment. “I really love you, Alec, but I need you to understand that I can’t be a replacement for Tamara.”
That paranoia of hers had crept back in her again. She needed something to free her from Tamara’s shadow.
“I hate to break this to you, but besides your red hair, you’re nothing like Tamara was.”
“Excuse me?” She stepped back, her brows narrowed at the perceived insult.
He clasped her shoulders and shook his head. “Tamara was my high school and college sweetheart, and the person who supported me during my first years in the national league. She was the team’s biggest fan, and she displayed more strength dying from cancer than I’d ever shown on the ice. She also ate like a bird, took forever to get ready for any event, and hated playing sports. And I absolutely loved her, flaws and all.”
Annie tried to pull away, but he held her so he could finish. “You, Annie Davidson, are different. Very different. You’re more argumentative, way more competitive, and you challenge me to be better both on the ice and off with your caring attitude and beautiful smile. You’re an amazing physical therapist, a great athlete, and much to my annoyance, you’re the favorite girlfriend of all the guys on the team. I love you, Annie, not because of your red head, but despite your red hair.”
Everything faded away when he kissed her. His arms pressed her against his chest, for warmth, for strength, and to remind her of just how much he needed her. They remained linked together until the chill of the ocean air and the sounds of the men in the other room forced them inside.
She whispered to him at the door. “I do like your teammates, but do they come over often?”
He walked toward the living room. “Only when the stubborn guy who lives here needs a kick in the ass.”
“So should I expect to see them a lot?” She laughed.
“After tonight, I’m changing the locks. This house is only big enough for you, me, and Slash.”
Epilogue
Annie stepped out of the hospital’s doors and into the late afternoon sun. After a day filled with back-to-back therapy sessions, she should’ve been exhausted. But excitement over seeing Alec increased her pace. Living together for the past few months had only strengthened her feelings for him and kept her high on emotional bliss. She slipped her sunglasses into place and strolled to the employee parking lot.
Alec leaned against the hood of her new Passat. “Can I catch a ride home?”
Pleasure pulsed through her. She brushed her lips over his. “What are you doing here?”
“Coach ended practice early. Mikael dropped me off. I thought I’d take you to dinner.”
He slipped her keys from her hand, then opened the passenger door for her. She climbed inside. “I’m starving. Where are we eating?”
“You’ll see.” He shifted into drive and eased onto the street.
She leaned against the soft leather headrest. “How was practice?”
After ending the regular season with more goals scored than any of his teammates Alec was a huge reason why the Hustlers had clinched a playoff berth and home-ice advantage in the first round. “Fine. Mikael and Sweeney suggested getting me another bust, to celebrate my being voted team MVP.”
She chuckled. “Oh, God. Please no.”
He passed by her old house. Alec had bought it from Elsie and offered more than the asking price. He’d had the house torn down and rebuilt. Annie had helped select paint colors, appliances and furnishings. And then, at Elsie and Vito’s wedding, Alec and Annie had given the house to them as a gift. They lived in Vito’s house and had the income of two rental units to help them. Nothing could have made Annie happier than helping the woman so close to her heart.
When he turned the car away from the direction of the beach and headed inland, she cast him a glance. “Will you give me a hint as to where you’re taking me?”
He smiled and came to a stop in front of Absecon Lighthouse. “We’re here.”
“It’s too late in the day. They aren’t open. Tours stopped over an hour ago.”
He again offered that same enigmatic smile and pushed his door open. “Come on. We’ll eat afterwards.”
A woman welcomed them by name and told them to enjoy their visit. Annie sneaked another look at Alec. Something was definitely up. He winked at her and secured her hand in his. “Great view at the top.”
Two-hundred-twenty-eight steps later, they reached the top of the lighthouse. Scattered rose petals added dashes of pink and red to the floor. Alec turned to Annie and grasped both her hands in his. “You know I love you.”
“I do.”
He bent on one knee and reached into his pocket. “Since I met you, life is better.”
Annie’s pulse pounded. She opened her mouth, but words wouldn’t come.
Alec’s large fingers withdrew a delicate platinum solitaire. “No one gets me the way you do. What do you say, Annie? Will you marry me, become my wife?”
Tears sprang into her vision. With a shaky hand, she brushed them away. Her heart swelled to near bursting. Alec. Offering her everything. His hand, warm and strong, held hers in a delicate grip. Annie reached out and caressed his face. “I love you. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life showing you how much.”
Alec slid the ring on her finger, then kissed her palm and rose. His serious expression gave way to a grin. She couldn’t stop from smiling too. He lowered his head and his mouth slanted over her lips. Like the ring, a perfect fit.
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Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thank you to our families for your support and understanding of a writer’s life. It’s not an easy path to follow, but you guys make it worthwhile.
A huge thank you to our critique partners Kate and Betty for challenging our words, reading draft after draft, and keeping us smiling with your comments.
As always, thank you t
o our wonderful agent Michelle Grajkowski. We love having you in our corner.
Finally, a special thanks to everyone at Entangled Publishing for all the support and guidance, especially our amazing editor Candace Havens. We’re so grateful for your time and dedication to our book.
About the Authors
Veronica Forand is an attorney and an award-winning writer of romantic suspense.
She’s lived in Boston, London, Paris, Geneva, and Washington, DC and currently resides near Philadelphia. An avid traveler, she loves to roam across continents with her husband and kids in pursuit of skiing, scuba diving, and finding the perfect piece of chocolate.
Susan Scott Shelley is an award-winning author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. She currently resides outside Philadelphia with her very own Superhero and spends her days writing about tough heroes, smart heroines, and love being the strongest magic there is.
In addition to writing romances, she is also a professional voiceover artist. Her favorite things include running, sports, hard rock and old Hollywood movies. An unapologetic optimist, she believes life should be lived with laughter and a sense of wonder.
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