Switched

by HelenKay Dimon

  The general view was the place was cursed. It didn’t help that one article talked about dead bodies on every floor. That was an exaggeration, of course, but every time people told the story it seemed to get worse. Having lived it, she wouldn’t have said that was possible.

  Personally, she wanted to petition to shut the place down permanently. Revisiting the terror and uncertainty was her nightmare, and she wouldn’t let it happen. Being in the place where her feelings for Aaron had exploded into love sounded just as awful.

  She wanted to forget. She’d played every mind trick she could think of to push the image of his face out of her head, to erase the memories and rewind to the moment right before she met him. Nothing worked.

  She’d picked up the phone to call him so many times since their last rough encounter. Leaving that hotel had been the hardest decision of her life. Some part of her, that romantic part deep inside, had hoped he’d follow. The idea seemed ludicrous now, but it hadn’t been then.

  Realizing he wasn’t the type for a grand gesture, she was sometimes tempted to give in and let their relationship meander along the way Aaron wanted. Maybe he really did need time and space. Or maybe she was just sad and pathetic.

  Seeing happy couples and all the holiday decorations didn’t help. The holiday season was a killer for a person in love and alone.

  He wanted the strings loose. She weighed the pros and cons of letting that happen, but in every scenario he treaded water and she got her heart broken.

  A reluctant smile curled her lips when two guys wrestled for the microphone on a carol singing dare. The cameras came out and the bragging grew to Big Band levels. Her coworkers made it all bearable.

  A weight pressed against her back. She was about to push away and send a have-you-lost-your-mind? glare when the husky voice broke through the celebration and touched like a kiss against the back of her neck.

  “Are they always this loud?”

  “Aaron?” She spun around to face him.

  He continued to watch the festivities. He wore dress pants and a sweater as he rocked back on his heels. His handsome face was even more breathtaking than she remembered, even with the shadowed valleys under his eyes.

  His hands stayed in his back pants pockets. “You may need a bouncer.”

  The party blended into the background. The sounds and lights faded away until all she saw was him. “What are you doing here?”

  He looked at her then. Those blue-green eyes held both sadness and a flicker of an emotion she couldn’t identify. “You asked me to be your date.”

  Her heart leaped, but she ignored it. “That was before.”

  His eyebrow lifted along with his mouth. “Before I was a jackass?”

  “I… Well, yeah.”

  “Dance with me.” He held out a hand and nodded toward the now-empty dance floor. The engineers liked to sing but, apparently, not to dance.

  The sharp change in direction caught her by surprise. She never expected to see him here, in this environment. She absolutely didn’t expect for him to offer his services as his date.

  But touching him… She’d been dreaming about that for days. Her wavering control would take a hike if she let him get close.

  For her self-protection, she gave him the answer she didn’t want to say. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “But I want to touch you.”

  Yep, the man knew just what to say. It wasn’t just her heart jumping around inside her. She’d bet every internal organ was up and spinning around. “I have no idea what to say to that.”

  “How about yes?” He slipped his fingers through hers in the intimate hold she loved so much.

  Before common sense could kick in and ruin everything she gave in. “Okay.”

  She fell into his arms as if she were born to be there. Her hand went to his biceps, and his palm slid to her lower back. The press of his fingers against the thin material of her dress touched off a flash of memories, all of them welcome and more than a few X-rated. If her mind wandered down that lane too far, she’d be blushing.

  “This is a nice place.” He bent his head close to hers.

  Her breath caught in her throat. She tried to push it out, but it just hung there as if waiting for him to take it from her. “I love it here.”

  She loved him. Every single thing about him. The way he smelled. The way he held her. The promise of his kiss and the staking of a claim in his hold.

  He continued to dance them in a circle. Their feet moved in time with the music. Like with everything else he did, he was good at dancing. Could keep a beat and knew how to lead.

  “The company suits you. The mood fits your personality.”

  Her mind spun off and his conversation kept to the mundane. Much more of this and she’d go insane. She stepped back, putting a bit of air between them.

  Though meeting his gaze without melting proved difficult, she looked up at him. “Aaron, honestly, I have no idea what we’re doing here.”

  He stopped moving but didn’t let go of her. “I’m groveling.”

  She must have misheard. “What?”

  “See, I’m not afraid of much in this world. I carry the gun, issue orders and generally stay in control. Dad taught me that. The navy reinforced it. Operating that way more or less guarantees my life runs like I want it to.”

  She had no clue what any of that had to do with him being there or the dancing. He put pieces together in a way that didn’t always make sense to her. “Okay. That’s good, I guess.”

  “It all worked, went along fine or what I grew to believe was fine, until you came along. You mess everything up.”

  The last flicker of hope blew out.

  She dropped her hands and stepped back. She didn’t need air between them. She needed a building, possibly a state. “Thanks for stopping by, Aaron, but—”

  He didn’t move. “You scare the crap out of me because I can’t control my feelings for you.”

  The sentence kept her from storming off the dance floor. “Is that bad?”

  Some of the tension left his face and he smiled. “When I look at you, all my plans blow apart and my brain misfires. I want you in bed and then with me at the table the next morning. I look at every aspect of my life and see room for you.”

  She finally recognized that compelling look in his eyes—hope. She felt it. It burst to life in the room, filling it to the rafters.

  Daring to believe was a huge risk, and she wasn’t ready to go there yet. “You do?”

  “Then you walked out and I learned what a huge sucking void you leave when you exit a room. Every part of me ached.” He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, a storm raged in them. Whatever he battled inside him showed on the outside. “It’s about missing you. About rolling over in bed and wanting to hold you and you’re not there.”

  She closed the gap between them. Her arms went around his neck and his lips brushed against her hair. “Aaron.”

  It was as if he’d been waiting for her touch. Now that he had it, he crushed her against him. She glanced up to see the whole room watching. The engineers lined up, most of them smiling. She doubted they even knew she had a boyfriend. Not a surprise since ten minutes ago she hadn’t thought she did, either.

  Aaron shrugged as his face lit up with a look she could only describe as happiness. “They can listen in. I don’t care who knows.”

  “Since when?”

  He had always struck her as such a private man. The idea of him making a public declaration, of him welcoming the other people into their relationship was huge. It was him telling the world they were together. This wasn’t a casual thing. This was an actual thing.

  He cupped her face in his hands. “Since I realized loving you means not being in control all the time.”

  The bottom fell out of her stomach. Her mouth moved, but no words came out.

  It took his smile and the sweet light smiling in his eyes to give her the confidence. “Love?”

  He nodded.
“Did you really not know?”

  Waves of happiness crashed over her. She felt sunny and alive and happier than she’d ever been.

  Her hands roamed over his back as her gaze caressed his face. “I hoped. I certainly didn’t think you knew.”

  “Admittedly I was slow on this one. I’d see you and feel this tug. We’d go out and the tug turned to a yanking pull. I didn’t know what it was, so I ran from it.”

  “And now?”

  He kissed her then. A hot mouth and a soft touch filled with promise. Without words he told her how much he cared. It was in his hold and the way his lips slanted over hers.

  When he lifted his head she saw the love. She had no idea how anyone could miss it.

  “I’m so tired of running, of being alone and without you, of pretending I don’t feel something. I want to celebrate Christmas with you, take you home to meet my dad, who is going to love you, and then start the New Year with you in my arms.”

  Any one of those things would have been perfect. He was pushing past his personal boundaries and taking her to the place she wanted to go. To where they needed to be.

  “You are saying all the right things.”

  “Better than that, I’m feeling them.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “Consider it a vow. A promise of forever.”

  She could hear the engineers talking. Some were asking about the guy in her arms. Others were demanding an introduction. They’d get to all of it, but she wanted him to herself first.

  “That’s the best Christmas gift. I’d give up everything else for your love.” She kissed him again because not doing so was killing her.

  “That’s the thing, Risa.” He set her slightly away from him, but not far away that anything could come between them. “You don’t have to give up anything. I’m ready to hand you everything you need and want. All I ask is that you keep on loving this hardheaded man through his stupidity and cluelessness.”

  She jumped into his arms, knowing he’d catch her tight against his body. “Give me one more dance and I’ll let you take me home and we can try some of that loving there.”

  “The plan is to give your coworkers an extra thrill by steering this dance under the mistletoe for a bit of a show.”

  She didn’t say no. She kissed him right there instead. When they finally lifted their heads she thought she heard some clapping.

  “Merry Christmas, baby.” He whispered the words against her lips.

  “You’re early.”

  “No, I’d say I finally got the timing just right.”

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt of Mason by Delores Fossen

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  Chapter One

  The scream woke Deputy Mason Ryland.

  His eyes flew open, and Mason stumbled from the sofa in his office where he’d fallen asleep. He reached for his shirt but couldn’t find it. He had better luck with the Smith & Wesson handgun that he’d left on his desk.

  He threw open his office door and caught the scent of something he darn sure didn’t want to smell on the grounds of his family’s ranch.

  Smoke.

  The wispy gray streaks coiled around him, quickly followed by a second scream and a loud cry for help.

  Mason went in the direction of both the smoke and the voice, racing out into the chilly October night air. He wasn’t the only one who’d been alerted. A handful of his ranch hands were running toward the cabin-style guesthouse about a hundred yards away. It was on fire, the orangey flames licking their way up the sides and roof. And the place wasn’t empty.

  His newly hired horse trainer, Abbie Baker, was staying there.

  That got Mason running even harder. So did another shout for help. Oh, yeah, that shout was coming from the guesthouse all right.

  “Call the fire department,” he yelled to one of the ranch hands.

  Mason also shouted out for someone to call his brothers as well even though they would soon know anyway. All five of them, their wives and their children lived in the family home or on the grounds of the ranch.

  Mason made it to the guesthouse ahead of the others, and he tried to pick through the smoke and the embers flicking through the night air. He hurried to the sound of his trainer’s pleas for help.

  And he cursed when he saw her.

  Abbie was in the doorway, her body half in and half out of the house, and what was left of the door was on her back, anchoring her in place.

  The smoke was thick and black, and the area was already hot from the flames, but Mason fought his way through just as one of the ranch hands caught up with him. Rusty Burke. Together, they latched on to the door and started to drag it off Abbie. Not easily. It was heavy and bulky, and it didn’t help that the flames were snapping at them.

  Mason didn’t usually think in terms of worst-case scenarios, but he had a split-second thought that his new trainer might burn to death. The possibility gave him a much-needed jolt of adrenaline, and Rusty and he threw the door off her. In the same motion, Mason latched on to her arm and dragged her away from the guesthouse.

  “I couldn’t get out,” she said, her voice clogged with smoke and fear.

  “You’re out now,” he let her know.

  Out but not necessarily safe. The ranch hands were already there with the hoses, but he doubted the house would stand much longer. If it collapsed, Abbie could still be burned or hurt from the flying debris.

  “Are the horses okay?” she asked. Mason was more than a little surprised that she’d think of the animals at a time like this.

  “They’re fine.” At least he was pretty sure of that. “This is the only building on fire.”

  Mason scooped her up, and she looked at him. It was pitch-dark, probably two or three in the morning, but thanks to the flames and the hunter’s moon, he saw her eyes widen. A single word left her mouth.

  “No.”

  Mason didn’t have time to question that no before she started struggling. She wasn’t a large woman, five-five at the most and on the lean side, but she managed to pack a punch when she rammed her elbow against his bare chest. He cursed and put her in a death grip so she couldn’t fight her way out of his arms.

  “I’m trying to save you,” he reminded her, and he added more profanity when she didn’t stop fighting.

  Abbie was probably still caught up in the fear and the adrenaline, but Mason was finding it a little hard to be sympathetic with the cold rocky ground biting into his bare feet and with her arms and legs waggling around.

  “We have to get away from the fire,” he snarled.

  Those wide frightened eyes looked at the flames, and she stopped struggling just long enough for Mason to get a better grip on her.

  He started running toward the ranch office where lately he’d been spending most of his days and nights because of the heavy workload. He could deposit Abbie there and hurry back to see if the guesthouse could be saved. He wasn’t hopeful, especially because the ranch wasn’t exactly in city limits. It would take the fire department a good twenty minutes to reach them.

  The door to his office and quarters was still open, and he hurried inside, flipped on the lights with his elbow and placed her on the sofa. Mason looked down at her, to make sure she wasn’t injured.

  She didn’t appear to be.

  Visibly shaken, yes. Trembling, too. Pale and breathing way too fast
. All normal responses under the circumstances.

  Her eyes met his again, and Mason saw the fear that was still there. And maybe something else that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

  “Did you try to kill me?” she asked.

  That single question seemed to be all she could muster because she groaned, closed her eyes, and the back of her head dropped against the sofa.

  Mason huffed. That definitely wasn’t something he expected to hear her say. He’d been a deputy for fifteen years, and his employee no doubt knew it. Even though most people were leery of him because…well, because he wasn’t a friendly sort, they didn’t usually accuse him of arson or attempted murder.

  “Why would I set this fire?” he demanded.

  Abbie opened her mouth, closed it and shook her head. She also dodged his gaze. “I’m not sure what I’m saying right now. I thought I was going to die.”

  Mason guessed that was a normal response, but he was beginning to get a bad feeling about this. “How did the fire start?”

  Abbie shook her head again. “I’m not sure. I woke up, and there was smoke all around me. I tried to get to the door, but I started coughing and couldn’t see.” She paused, shivered. “When I got to the door and opened it, it fell on me.” Another pause. “Or something.”

  “Or something?” he pushed.

  Oh, man. The bad feeling was getting worse, and Mason blamed it on that stupid question. Was there a nonstupid reason that she thought someone had tried to kill her, or was this the ramblings of a woman whose mind had been clouded with fear and adrenaline?

  “Or something,” she repeated.

  Abbie pushed her light brown hair from her face. Long hair, he noticed. Something he hadn’t realized because she always wore it tucked beneath a baseball cap. In fact, he’d thought of her as tomboyish, but there wasn’t anything boyish or tom about the person lying on his sofa. In that paper-thin pale blue gown, she looked like a woman.

  An attractive one.

  Something Mason wished like the devil he hadn’t noticed. She worked for him, and he didn’t tread down that path. Business and sex never sat well with him.