by Taylor Hart
Every part of her went still. “And I told you I loved you for the first time, and you told me you loved me.” She remembered riding the four-wheelers with Oliver and going to the tree house. She remembered wanting to be his girlfriend so badly, thinking he was so handsome, thinking about the life they would share together when they grew up.
A pained expression flashed over his face. “I just can’t stop thinking about you. How it was with us.” His eyes lingered on her lips, then floated back to her eyes. “I mean, if you could still see our life together. In Snow Valley. Holidays. Children. I have five acres south of my parents’ place I’m buying. I just think … I think it was supposed to be ours.”
Before she could move or breathe or do anything, his lips gently brushed against hers.
None of the old feelings resurfaced. None of the warmth or the memories or the sweetness. Now it was just the cheap smell of another woman’s perfume and the reality that Oliver had never been who she’d thought he was.
“No.” She pushed away from him, stumbling and almost falling, staring at him. Even though this was what she’d thought she wanted, it felt all wrong.
He held her beneath her elbow to steady her. “Are you okay?”
Yanking free, she slapped him. The sting on her palm was satisfying, as was the stunned look on Oliver’s face as his mouth dropped open. “Don’t do that to me. Or to her.” She jabbed her finger toward the window, only keeping her voice down with the greatest of efforts. “You can’t have a fiancée right there and stand here trying to kiss me. Because I’m not a cheater.”
Before marching out of the room entirely, she glanced back. “And I have a boyfriend.” With that, she ran out of the kitchen and up to her bedroom, confused and crying and thinking how all of her plans to get Oliver back now made her want to throw up.
Chapter 14
Dom came inside with his jeans pretty much frozen from snow. Every part of him felt a little beat up, but his heart sang. All he wanted to do was tell Lacey about the game, brag to her that he and Mike had pretty much played against everyone and won. He knew it was stupid and childish, but he had loved every minute of the cousins trying to tackle him and Mike. He’d loved feeling like a family.
Searching through the groups of people throughout the house, he couldn’t find her. It didn’t escape his attention that when he walked into an office room, there was Oliver with Linda on his lap.
Looking at him, Oliver reddened and looked away. His face was still red from being outside, but only on his left cheek. Something was up.
Dom’s heartbeat quickened. He thought back and realized he hadn’t seen Oliver out there for the last part of the game. He’d been so involved in running the plays Mike wanted him to run, he hadn’t thought anything of it. With a deep breath, he held his ground. “Have you guys seen Lacey?”
Oliver shook his head, then looked at Linda and pressed his nose to hers. “You’re cold.”
Again, Dom felt the urge to belt the guy in the face. He could tell he was lying about something. Grunting, he turned and made his way through the house, frantically looking for Lacey. The rest of the family seemed to be winding down in groups; they huddled around different televisions, worked on puzzles, played games, or snuggled with their little ones.
Finding Lacey’s parents on the couch in the family room watching a game on television, he awkwardly cleared his throat. “Sorry, do you guys know where Lacey is?”
Drowsily, her mother sat up against the couch. “No.”
Her father looked around. “The last time I saw her she was doing dishes.”
Janet seemed alarmed for a moment, then fell back into the couch. “Sorry, Dom, she has to be around here somewhere.” The poor lady looked exhausted.
Her father frowned. “Look in her room. Maybe she went for a nap.” Lifting a stern finger, he added, “But don’t stay in her room.”
For a second, Dom wanted to make sure her father understood that he was twenty-six and she was twenty-three, but he didn’t think pointing out that they were both grown adults would win him any points. “Yes, sir,” he said and moved toward the stairs, cringing as he realized he’d just used “sir” after Lacey had asked him not to say that. He sounded like a military guy.
As he took the stairs two at a time, he wondered what had happened, because he didn’t think Lacey would leave and not tell him why.
Getting to her room, he saw the door was closed. He knocked gently.
No one answered.
He knocked again, then pushed the door gently open. “Lacey?”
She lay on her side in the middle of her bed, facing the window. As he ventured closer, he saw that she was asleep. Her hair was spread out around her in a fan. The sky was hazy but cast a gentle glow over her. Her face was relaxed, and Dom thought she looked almost childlike.
She held a tissue in one hand, and Dom wondered if she’d been crying. All he wanted was to sit and caress her face or touch her soft hair. He’d taken the chance earlier to touch her hair and knew it felt as soft as he had imagined it would. It’d been a long time since he’d played with a woman’s hair.
Looking down at her, he felt himself start to thaw inside. He put his hand to his chest, not liking the feeling. Panic threatened, and he fled her room and rushed down the stairs, through the half-asleep house, and back to the guesthouse.
After he entered the guesthouse, he barged in for a shower. The house felt cold, but when he went to turn up the thermostat, it didn’t work. His clothes were soaked with a mixture of sweat and snow from the football game. He wanted to get clean, warm up, and change as quickly as possible.
He got into the shower and let hot water rush over him. Luxuriating in the warm feeling, he thought about what the therapist had said at his last appointment. She’d asked him, “Do you miss loving someone?”
All he could see in his mind was Lacey’s face.
Chapter 15
When Lacey woke, it was dark. Not completely dark, but the sun was going down. Jolting to a sitting position, she checked the time—nine o’clock at night. She scrunched up her face and clenched her fist, crumpling the tissue she’d used to wipe her tears over what Oliver had tried to do.
Well, what he had done, more accurately. He’d used her as some pawn, like he just wanted to see if he could have her and Linda, then pick one at his leisure.
Dom! She got to her feet and rushed toward the door. Where was he? She felt bad for not telling him where she was. The whole afternoon had passed, and she didn’t even know what he had done. As she went downstairs, she saw everything was a mess. The couch pillows were all over the floors. Some of the tables had been left up. She saw puzzles and toys strewn about all the rooms.
When she got to the kitchen, her mother was back in action, an apron around her waist. Her father was at her side, and he noticed Lacey first. “Hey, sweetheart. Are you hungry? Do you and Dom want something?”
There were people eating at the table and the counter. Most of the crowd had gone, but Aunt Kate was still there. Her kids were in the family room with Mike, staring at the huge screen. Some football game was on the television. She watched her brother yell out and sit up, say something to the screen, and lie back down in the midst of people.
If only the mood were infectious. “No. Do you know where Dom is?” She didn’t want to have another run-in with Oliver, because she didn’t know if she could or should resist telling his fiancée what he’d done. She just wanted to see Dom.
Her mother frowned. “He was looking for you a couple of …” She turned to her father. “When was he looking for her?”
Her father tapped his chin. “Well, I think he asked us during the Oklahoma game right before the second touchdown. So probably about two thirty.” Of course her father would calculate time by the football play. He grinned. “Oklahoma won that game, Lacey. I know you were dying to know.”
With a tired smile, she moved around the counter to hug her parents.
“Ah.” Janet held her c
lose.
Her father put his arms around both of them. “My girls. Back together.”
Another pang of sadness twisted her heart, and she thought of all the reasons it would be good to be home. “Love you guys.” Pulling back, she looked around again, hoping she wouldn’t have to see Oliver.
“He’s gone, sweetheart. He and Linda left about an hour ago.”
Of course her mother would know what she was thinking, but she didn’t want to admit she was right. “Oh,” Lacey said, playing it off but really wanting to tell her mother everything. Today was not the day, though. Definitely not this day. “I’m going to go look for Dom.” Putting on her winter coat and boots, she rushed down the steps and crunched across the newly fallen snow.
The guesthouse looked empty, but one light was on down the hallway that led to the rooms. She knocked, waited a minute, and then knocked again.
Finally, Dom flung the door open. He wore sweats and a T-shirt under the blanket draped across his shoulders and over his head. “Run to the room.” He pointed down the hall and motioned her in.
“What?” She laughed, noting how different she felt around Dom today.
“It’s freezing. Run to the bedroom.”
“But …” She kicked her boots off and jogged to the bedroom, following him through the cold house. “Why don’t you turn up the heat?”
Jumping onto the king bed, he laughed. “Thermostat’s broken. Since there’s a nice fireplace in here, I was taking my Christmas nap.” He patted the bed next to him. “Grab that blanket at the foot of the bed and cozy up.”
It was strange because, in truth, she’d only met the man a day and a half ago, but she felt completely comfortable with him. She laughed and shed her coat, taking the blanket and jumping on the huge bed next to him. It was easy to keep their distance on the huge bed. The room still had a chill to it, though, even with the fireplace. “You could have stayed in the big house. We do have guest rooms there too. In fact—” She moved to get up. “—let’s go back there. We’ll take your stuff.”
“No.” His hand was on her arm, pulling her back down and closer to him. “There are still quite a few people there, and I just want to chill.”
She still wasn’t in his arms or anything, but she was very close to him. Face to face, lying on the pillows. She didn’t smell his CK. She smelled shampoo and … She tried to figure out what else.
“What?” he asked, a smile playing at his lips.
She tried to roll away. “Nothing.”
He pulled her back toward him and searched her face. “Man, you talk about me being evasive and walking away, but you …”
Her pulse pounded. The guy was gorgeous.
“What?” he demanded, keeping his hand on her arm to hold her in place.
Giving in, she rolled her eyes. “I was just noticing my fake boyfriend didn’t have his CK on at the moment.”
He arched an eyebrow. “You noticed?”
Their eyes held, and her breath caught. She lost herself in the warmth of the fire, but also in Dom’s eyes—they felt like he could dive into her soul and emerge with her secrets in hand.
“Hey.” He smiled.
Tentatively, she smiled back. “Hey.”
“So what happened with Oliver?”
It shouldn’t surprise her he knew something had happened. “What do you mean?”
“C’mon, I was looking for you after the football game. I asked him if he’d seen you, and he lied and said he hadn’t. The look on his face was guilt. Pure guilt.”
Feeling unsure of herself, she lay on her back. “We kissed.”
“What?” he asked loudly, jolting to a half sitting position.
She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “He came in from the football game and started helping me dry dishes. He started talking about all the old Christmases and how he would take me back if I wanted. Then he kissed me.”
“That’s … wow. So what are you going to do?”
She scoffed. “I slapped him and I told him I have a boyfriend.”
Dom laughed, and she opened her eyes in time to see him fist-pump the air. “You slapped him? Nice.” He cleared his throat, a bit embarrassed, and slipped down on his side, propping himself up with an elbow and resting his head on his hand. “I mean, good for you.”
Without meaning to, she looked at his lips. She didn’t know if these feelings were real or fake, but she felt … she didn’t know—something like complete acceptance. Was it because he’d been paid to be her date? She wondered how it would feel to kiss him. To really kiss him. To have him kiss her. Every part of her felt alive and awake.
His eyes flicked from her lips to her eyes, as if reading her thoughts. She wondered if he would lean in. Holding her breath, part of her wanted him to. It felt like they were synced up to the same speed or something, because it was like he was waiting for her.
Finally, she shifted to her back, sucking in a breath and releasing it. The link was finally broken.
He didn’t move. “What are you going to do, Lacey? Looks like you got the old boyfriend if you want him.”
“I told you, I slapped him and told him to go away.”
Dom sized her up. “Mike and I need to teach you some knockout swings.”
Lacey thought about everything she’d been feeling since last night. “I started this whole thing wanting to get Oliver back and have my life in Snow Valley because I think part of me was afraid of not having a home. Like you said, I didn’t want to lose Snow Valley, but now … I just see what a fool I’ve been.”
“I get it,” he said without missing a beat. “I’m military, remember? All of us want that on some level.”
“What do you mean?”
A gentle tugging pulled at the ends of her hair. Looking up, she saw he was focused on combing it through his fingers as he said, “We always talk about God, country, and family. That’s kind of the mantra as a military guy.” He sighed. “But lately, I’ve been thinking about what I’m fighting for. Not that I won’t fight, because I’m committed. But I don’t have a woman. Or a home.”
“Do you want a woman?” she asked, and then felt ridiculous for asking.
A slow smile filled his face. “You volunteering?”
Her heart beat rapidly, and she didn’t know when it had started or how it had grown, but all this between her and Dom felt real.
Letting out a laugh, he shook his head. “I’d definitely take Snow Valley. You’re not a fool for wanting that.” He was quiet for a moment. “It’s been a good day today, being part of this. I guess you came through on the Lacey Hamilton guarantee.”
Part of her melted at his admission, and she wondered if he meant it when he asked if she was volunteering. “Thank you, Dom. You go out there and serve our country. You trust … You trust yourself. You trust that you can do it. You fly an airplane across enemy territory and trust you’ll get out. You’re amazing.”
He paused and looked into her eyes. “Can I tell you something?”
Every part of her stilled, and she realized that Dom telling her something wouldn’t be some silly thing. No, it was something most likely “classified.” Like really classified. “Yes,” she said slowly.
He let out a breath. “After my plane was shot down, I was trying to get the technology and get away from the plane before my brothers came to destroy it.” Leaning back onto the bed, he put his arms behind his head. “When a plane goes down in enemy territory, we go in to retrieve our brother, but also to destroy the plane. We can’t have our technology getting lost to the enemy. We aren’t supposed to be there, so we try to get rid of proof that it was us.”
Understanding dawned on her, and she felt intimidated by this man. “Okay.” She realized he wanted, needed to tell her something, so she prepared herself for his admission.
He hesitated. “I’d retrieved the disk I’d been using to record, and I got out of the plane and started to move out of range so I wouldn’t get killed by my people. I knew they would be t
here any second. Then I felt this tap on my shoulder.”
Goose bumps crept over her skin.
“It was the same kind of tap I got when I went hunting with my dad and we were all quiet, right before we got to the animal we were hunting. It was his signal.” Reaching up, he softly touched her shoulder, giving it two taps. “Just like that.”
Another surge of warmth and goose bumps.
“I turned back. There was no one who could’ve tapped me, but I saw three enemy soldiers coming at me, one lifting his gun.” He sighed. “I don’t know where they’d been—somewhere out in the brush, I suppose—but I hadn’t seen them.”
“What did you do?” Adrenaline spiked through her body.
Dom blinked. “I pulled and got them first.”
The confession burrowed deep into her heart—not just because of what this guy had gone through, but also because he was sharing this very spiritual experience with her.
Dom gently tugged on her hair again. “I know my dad was there. I know it.” He let out a rippling laugh, and his breathing quickened. “I know he warned me. I know the only way I got through those two days was because my dad was right beside me. The whole time I was crawling through that dang desert, every bug I ate, there was no doubt I would get out because he was there.” A tear ran down Dom’s cheek. “I miss him. I miss both of my parents.”
Unable to hold back, she threw herself into his arms, hugging him. It was like she couldn’t stop herself from comforting him.
He chuckled and held her.
“Dom, you’re amazing.” For a while she just held him, basking in his strength. Then she pulled back, and their eyes locked.
Something was shifting inside of her. She groaned. “I’m such a wimp. I’ve been wanting a failsafe net to catch me, just in case. I’m nowhere near as brave as you. You are way out of my league.”
“No. We all have our own stuff we deal with.” His eyes met hers. “What do you want right now?”
The moment congealed around them. “Right,” she said, letting out a slow breath as if getting ready to meditate. “Gun to my head. I want the feeling of having the flu and not being able to get warm.”