Stealing His Heart:
A Sweet Contemporary Romance
(Finding Love, Book 2)
by
Delaney Cameron
©2016 Delaney Cameron
Photo courtesy of : Olesya Kuznetsova
Used under license from Shutterstock.com
All rights reserved. No part of this e-book can be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted without the written permission of the author.
This book is fiction and its characters are purely a manifestation of the imagination of the author. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places, and events is entirely coincidental. (28)
Other books by Delaney Cameron:
Team Mom: A Sweet Contemporary Romance (Finding Love, Book 1)
Dream of Me: A Sweet Contemporary Romance
Finding Allie: A Sweet Regency Romance Novella
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delaneycameron.weebly.com
Dedication
To Ryan: thank you for showing me that an illness doesn’t have to define who you are.
Prologue
Matt smiled at the animated conversation being tossed around among the various members of Ian’s family. This experience was so different from his own. His father hadn’t been around enough to count on, and his mother died when he was a teenager. The only family he had was Eric, and they hadn’t seen each other in months.
His older brother had crowned a fantastic career as a college pitcher by getting drafted. He was currently playing with his minor league team in Vero Beach, Florida. Matt had joined the army out of high school. He’d been at Ft. Benning for the past eleven months, and was due to be shipped to Iraq in a few weeks.
Sensing movement around him, Matt looked up guiltily, hoping no one had noticed his preoccupation. Several men were leaving the deck, presumably to build a bonfire. Tonight’s celebration was in honor of Katie’s birthday, the oldest of Ian’s three sisters. She was also the girl Ian had been trying to set him up with since they came home on leave.
It hadn’t been easy, but so far Matt had managed to avoid his friend’s scheming. In his mind, there wasn’t any point in getting involved with someone right before he left the country. His glance went to the far end of the deck where Ian had cornered his girlfriend Faith. No need to worry about him for a while. Smiling faintly, he stood up and walked over to an oversized cooler sitting outside the door leading into the house.
Childish laughter, carried by a sultry summer evening breeze, reached his ears. It was a stark reminder of how quickly time was slipping away. Where would he be this time next year? He lifted the lid of the cooler and surveyed the contents before plunging his hand into the melting ice. After finding what he wanted, he wiped the dripping can on his shirt.
“Don’t you know soda is bad for you?”
A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that he hadn’t imagined the high-pitched voice. A young girl was standing behind him, hands on her hips and head tilted to the side. “I do know, but I thought that since this is a party, I could have one.”
“That’s your second. You drank one before dinner.”
Matt popped open the lid and took a drink. “How do you know?”
“I was watching you.”
“Why were you watching me?” he asked as he resumed his seat. This was taken as an invitation to sit on the arm of his chair.
“I wanted to see what all the fuss is about.”
“All the fuss about what?”
“About you. Katie and her friends haven’t stopped talking about you since I got here. I wanted to see you for myself.”
“And now that you have, what do you think?”
Her tip-tilted nose twitched slightly. “Oh, you’re nice enough, I guess; but your eyes don’t remind me of melted chocolate. Natalie says the silliest things sometimes.”
Matt choked on a laugh. “Who’s Natalie?”
“One of Katie’s friends. Let’s not talk about them anymore. I want to know why you look sad.”
“I didn’t realize I was looking sad.”
She tapped her chin with her finger several times. “You’re not now, but you were earlier.”
“Hmm. I’ll have to remember to smile more.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He stared down at her in surprise. She was a persistent little thing. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“My mom says it isn’t good to keep things inside. You need to let it out.”
His mother had said something similar. He wished he’d taken more time to talk to her when she’d been alive. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She leaned toward him and lowered her voice. “You should go talk to Katie. Then maybe you won’t be sad.”
Had Ian put her up to this? It was definitely something he’d do. “I’d rather stay here with you.”
Her blue eyes widened. “Why? I’m not that interesting.”
“Who told you that?”
There was the merest hint of a shrug. “It’s kind of obvious when no one wants to talk to you.”
“I’m talking to you.”
A small hand came to rest on his arm.
“You’re nice. If I was older, I wouldn’t mind being your girlfriend.”
Matt tugged on one of the pigtails hanging over her shoulder. “Should I come back when you’re all grown up?”
“I’m only twelve. You’d have to wait a long time.”
“Girls like you are worth the wait. I think they got the fire started. We should probably head that way.”
She stood up and reached for his hand. “Can I sit with you while we make s’mores?”
“If you want to.”
The sound of voices behind them caused her steps to quicken. “We need to hurry. Once the little kids get here, there won’t be anything left.”
Matt hid a smile. “I haven’t had s’mores since my one and only Boy Scout camp.” He’d lasted exactly two days before the troop leaders called his mother to come get him. Looking back now, he couldn’t blame them for wanting him gone. In forty-eight hours, he got a fish hook stuck in his arm that required a trip to the ER, fell out of a tree, and bloodied the nose of the kid who’d dared to make fun of a girl he liked. That last one had been the only part of the trip he enjoyed.
“I like my marshmallow almost burnt because then it’s crispy on the outside and all melted on the inside.”
“Me, too,” he agreed with a grin.
Once they reached the picnic table set up some distance from the blazing fire, she thrust two sticks and a bag of marshmallows at him while she grabbed a box of graham crackers and handful of Hershey bars.
“I don’t think we’ll have to worry about running out of anything,” he murmured as he followed her to a wooden bench nearby.
A half hour later, the combination of a heavy meal and a too-sweet dessert were having their inevitable effect on Matt. His stomach was in full protest. That obviously wasn’t the case for his companion. In something like awe, he watched her stuff another gooey marshmallow in her mouth. “How many of those have you eaten?”
She looked up at him. “Four. Or is it five? I’m not really sure. When are you going to do it?”
“Do what?” he asked, wishing he’d stopped at one. He’d have to hit the gym early tomorrow to undo today’s indulgences.
“Go talk to Katie.”
“I never said I was going to talk to her. I hardly know her.”
A shrewd look entered her face. “That’s the point of taking a walk.�
�
“How do you know so much about this?” he asked suspiciously.
“I read some of my mom’s old romance books. They were hidden in the attic.” She stopped to lick her sticky fingers. When that didn’t work, she wiped them on her shorts.
“You can’t believe all that stuff you read in books.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know that, but you have to be alone with a girl to kiss her.”
Matt sat up abruptly. “Who said anything about kissing her?”
“You have to. She’ll be expecting it.”
“Now you’re scaring me.”
“Look, Katie’s walking toward the house, and she’s by herself. It couldn’t be better.”
“You’re starting to sound like Ian.”
Her mouth turned down. “Ian’s leaving soon. Are you going away, too?”
“Yes.” He moved the bag of marshmallows out of reach. “You’re going to make yourself sick.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“Long enough for you to forget all about me.”
“I won’t forget you.”
“That’s what they all say.”
She stood up, sticky hands on her hips, remnants of marshmallow and chocolate stuck to her cheeks. “Well, I’m not them.”
“No, you’re not,” he agreed slowly. “Like I said earlier, you’re a girl worth waiting for.”
Chapter One
Nine years later…
As Darcy waited offstage for her cue, she wondered how she’d let herself get talked into this. She’d just finished a summer internship followed by a frantic day of packing up the contents of her apartment. Filling in for one of the actresses in her sister’s play wasn’t what she’d envisioned doing within days of her return to St. Marys. Instead of soaking up rays on the beach, she’d been stuck learning lines and helping Cason scour thrift stores for props.
With a shake of her head, she returned her attention to the stage. If she could get through the next half hour, this particular ordeal would be behind her. She wiped a bead of moisture from her face and tried to ignore the urge to rip off the itchy red wig resting on her head. Thankfully, she only appeared in a few scenes, but this final one involved getting up close and personal with a man she’d met exactly two times. Gerard was personable and good-looking, but that didn’t make it any easier to kiss him.
Cason had complained about her efforts in that direction after the dress rehearsal the night before. You should have seen your face, Darcy. You looked as if he was trying to bite you. You act like you’ve never been kissed before. What would her sister say if she admitted that she hadn’t? More to the point, what girl in her right mind would want her first kiss to be from a stranger in a play?
The pealing of a bell penetrated her thoughts. Her head snapped up in time to see a hand waving frantically from the opposite side of the stage. Great! She missed her cue. Cason was going to kill her. With a burst of movement that would certainly bring censure later, she stepped out of the shadows and delivered the first of her lines in a voice she hoped could be heard beyond the third row.
Several minutes elapsed before she ceased to be aware of the pounding in her chest and felt reasonably certain she wasn’t going to faint. Her hands were slightly damp, but nothing short of getting this scene out of the way was likely to cure that.
Gerard was moving toward her with a smile that should have settled the tension in her stomach instead of making it worse. He clasped her hands - the ones that were definitely still sweaty - and raised them to his lips. Darcy tried not to squirm as his goatee tickled her skin. She closed her mind off to everything but the man in front of her, silently applauding his acting ability and shamefully aware of how little help she was giving him. It couldn’t be enjoyable to work with a statue, which is what Darcy looked and felt like.
As he led her to the couch, she felt a sudden urge to laugh. Gerard was about to say the words most women dream of hearing. Instead of being scared, she should take a moment to enjoy the experience. This was probably the closest she’d ever get to hearing a man tell her that he loved her.
* * * * *
Matt’s chin fell forward to his chest, the jolting action snapping his eyes open and bringing with it the realization that he’d fallen asleep. Again. He peered down at his watch, trying to read the dial without appearing to do so. How much longer could this play possibly last? This wasn’t a Broadway show; it was amateur theater.
This date didn’t rank as his worst, but it was definitely in the top three. Dinner had been an epic failure. It was impossible to make conversation with a person whose only verbal offerings were ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘that’s so funny’. At least his steak had been good. The drive to the opera house had been no better. By the time the lights dimmed in the auditorium, he’d run out of things to say.
This is what he got for listening to a twenty year old. Jonathan was too focused on what a female looked like rather than what kind of person she was. Something Matt had been guilty of at that age, too. He’d quickly found out that appearance is a poor indication of compatibility.
The girl he took to prom came to mind. She had the face of an angel, but man, did she get mad when he forgot her birthday. She wrote the date in shaving cream on the hood of his car. It was still there when he sold it several years later. A chuckle escaped him, drawing an annoyed glance from Vera as well as the elderly woman seated on his other side. Not to worry; after tonight, neither of them would have to see him again.
He murmured an apology and told himself to behave. His problem was he’d been with one person too long. He didn’t want to start over with someone else. A twinge of guilt went through him. It didn’t seem right to be with one girl and be thinking about another – even if the girl in question had made no attempt to hide her boredom with his company.
Frustrated and trying not to show it, he lifted his eyes back to the stage. The cute red-head he’d noticed earlier was making another appearance. She must be new at this; the poor girl had that deer-in-the-headlights look. Not that he blamed her. He couldn’t imagine being on a stage in front of an audience.
* * * * *
Gerard was reaching the end of his monologue. Darcy hoped she didn’t look as scared as she felt. Her glance moved to the left of his face and settled on the back of the brown patchwork sofa. She noticed a darker spot in the fabric that seemed to be moving. How could that be? Blinking her eyes, she looked again, and her body stiffened. The dark spot wasn’t a spot at all. It was a huge, brown spider, and all eight legs were heading her way. What was she going to do? At the rate the thing was moving, it would be upon her in seconds.
The pressure on her fingers increased. Her glance flew to Gerard’s face. Oh, no! She was supposed to be saying something. What was it? Her eyes darted between the spider, which seemed to have increased its speed, and her impatient companion.
Gerard got tired of waiting for a response that clearly wasn’t coming and pulled Darcy into his arms. The spider, startled by the movement, shifted downward, landing on her shoulder. From there instinct and panic took over. Nothing else mattered except putting as much distance as possible between her and the spider. A scream loud enough to be heard by the people waiting in the lobby erupted from her throat as she jumped up from the couch and swiped frantically at the sleeve of her dress.
“Is it gone, Gerard? Is that awful spider gone?” she shrieked.
After a moment of stunned silence, the audience roared with laughter.
Darcy’s cheeks flooded with color. Not only had she embarrassed herself, but she’d turned what was supposed to be a touching scene into a farce. Cason would never forgive her.
In this she was right. In the so-called green room (which was actually yellow), Cason fumed and fussed about never being able to hold up her head in public. Darcy waited until she ran out of breath before apologizing again. She also pointed out that it would be her and not Cason who would draw all the attention.
This comment did little to p
acify her sister. All Darcy could do was hope that her faux pas would be quickly forgotten.
* * * * *
Matt pulled into the parking lot of the apartment building where Vera lived. An evening that had grown progressively more uncomfortable was almost over. He got out and walked her to the door, his mind already thinking ahead to the next day.
“Would you like to come in for a while? It’s not that late.”
It was, however, too late to save this evening. “I really should be going. I have to work tomorrow.”
“I had a great time. Too bad that girl had to ruin the play by freaking out over a spider.”
This probably wasn’t the right time to tell Vera that the spider incident had been the most exciting moment of their date. “Maybe she’s allergic to spider bites.”
She shrugged, and another awkward pause followed. What was she waiting on? And then it dawned on him. She couldn’t be serious. They hadn’t exchanged fifty words the entire night. He wasn’t going to make things worse by pretending to feelings he didn’t have.
Matt held out his hand, and she took it after a moment’s hesitation. “Thanks for a nice evening, Vera. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”
“You, too.”
Back in his car, he exhaled a long, exasperated breath. “Well, that went about as well as I expected. Maybe I should stick to something I’m good at – like fishing.”
By the time he got home, his usual good humor had risen to the surface. He’d known this wasn’t going to be easy. Sarah might not be with him physically, but she was with him in every other way.
* * * * *
Darcy frowned as she read the note taped to her bathroom mirror. Left the script in the kitchen. You’re playing Sylvia. The first rehearsal isn’t for ten days. Plenty of time for you to learn your lines.
Cason must truly be desperate. It had only been a week since that disastrous scene with the spider. No amount of persuasion was going to get Darcy to accept another part. Ripping the note into pieces, she undressed and stepped into the shower.
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