Truly Sweet

by Candis Terry

  “Why don’t you come by the center tomorrow and take a look anyway?” Abby shrugged. “You never know.”

  “No offense, but I can barely get my own shit together, let alone care for some poor defenseless animal.”

  “Baloney.”

  Annie’s tone was so sharp, it snapped Jake’s head around.

  “A dog really asks nothing of you aside from food, water, a place to sleep, and a little love. In return, the love and loyalty of a dog is limitless.” Annie’s delicately arched brows pulled together over a fierce look in her eye. “You can trust them with all your anguish. All your sorrow. And they will never betray you or your trust or withhold comfort when you need it. You’re a Marine, Jake. Surely you’ve heard of service dogs? Have you never heard of a wounded warrior who’s been given a dog to help them heal in both heart and mind?”

  Jake swallowed.

  How did this woman continue to nail him on everything? How did she know him so damned well when he knew so little about her?

  “I’m familiar,” he finally mumbled.

  “Then why not go to Abby’s shelter tomorrow?” Annie brushed away a fleck of ash from the fire pit that had floated down and landed on the leg of her jeans. When she looked up at him, ferocity still darkened her eyes. “Why not take a chance on finding that kind of friend?”

  Jake took a deep breath as the truth grabbed hold of his heart and squeezed. And he realized that, once again, Annie proved she knew him a hell of a lot better than he knew her, or himself.

  A walk after a heavy dinner and dessert was always a good idea. Annie tried to either speed walk or run on a regular basis, but finding the time often became the impossible dream. After putting Max down with a bottle in Izzy’s room and waiting till he fell asleep, Annie took up her sister’s offer to watch him while she took a stroll around the property.

  These days, she rarely got to her own backyard even after several of the Wilder brothers had been kind enough to relandscape for her in a manner that would require less maintenance. While she loved working in the yard, Max tended to eat everything in sight, which often included bugs, plant leaves, and those oh-so-interesting dandelion fluffs. The phrase “Don’t put that in your mouth” seldom left her lips fast enough before Max would look up with a horrified expression because, yes, he’d eaten a bug.

  However, taking a walk now wasn’t generated by the need for exercise. All night, she’d been battling something far more disturbing. One, the fact that she couldn’t keep her big mouth shut, and two, Jake Wilder. Or more accurately, her crushing desire for him.

  In the flash of a breath, her longings ran the gamut from wanting to wrap her arms around him and draw him in close for a comforting hug, to wanting to wrap her arms around him for a sensual body rub, to wanting to wrap her hands around his neck and squeeze until his eyes bugged out.

  The man drove her crazy in too many ways to count. Escape from his extreme hotness and her burning desire had not only been a want, it had become a need. Five more minutes sitting across from him could force her to spontaneously combust. Or worse. She could actually drool.

  Yeah, that was a pretty thought.

  Maybe in the length of time she toured the property, he’d pack up his badass grumpy self and go home. And maybe in that length of time she’d also learn to keep her yap shut. Doubtful, but as long as she breathed there was always hope. Or hysterical laughter at the thought that she could miraculously acquire the unattainable cone of silence.

  For several minutes, she wandered aimlessly. Then, like a woman with PMS drawn to a king-sized Hershey bar, she was pulled toward the old tree house the Wilder brothers had built back when they’d been young and full of mischief.

  Other than a few years, not much had changed with those men.

  Annie remembered they’d always been building something—go karts, tack boxes for their livestock supplies, jewelry boxes for their mom, even an Army-tank-sized grill for their huge family feasts. When they weren’t kept busy, they often found intriguing ways to get into trouble. A fact Jana still lamented. Especially when it required frequent visits to the emergency room.

  When Annie reached the tree house nestled beneath a thick canopy of oaks, she noticed the rustic structure had been given new life with a corrugated tin roof, diamond-paned windows, and a deck bordered with a railing made of branches. Someone had obviously put some time into it. And since there was a little floral wreath on the front door, she guessed it had been Jackson, who’d polished up the once “boys only” hideout for Izzy.

  The ladder had been rebuilt too, made easier and safer to ascend to the deck. Annie didn’t hesitate to climb her way up the short seven steps and open the door into a little girl’s paradise.

  Walls once covered in Jared’s old landscape and wildlife photos had been updated for the softer side with photos of flowers and cute, fluffy animals. A braided rug in vibrant lollipop colors covered a portion of the floor. On top of the rug sat a purple table and chair set with a Minnie Mouse tea set on top of a darling lace doily. From a wall plaque with mermaid hooks and Isabella painted in pink and green, several boas and fancy hats waited to be donned by the mistress of the tree house. The entire vignette made Annie wish she could be a little girl again. But maybe with more compassionate parents this time.

  From outside the tree house came the shuffle of leaves and uneven footsteps. Annie stepped out onto the deck and found Jake near the ladder, looking up.

  “Do I have to call ‘Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair?’ ” he asked, squinting against the setting sun.

  “Hate to disappoint you.” She leaned her elbows on the top of the railing to peer down at the handsome prince. “But these days, damsels in distress often get themselves out of trouble.”

  A grin spread across his face. “Which begs the question . . . are you a damsel in distress, fair Annabelle?”

  “I could be. Let me check to see if the ogre still has a lock on the door.” She made a great show of dashing back into the tree house, then back out onto the deck again. “Why, yes, the door is still locked, and there are guards at the gate. How’s the leg?”

  “My leg?”

  “Yes. The guards’ legs all seem to have fared the battle well. And yours?”

  “Much better. In fact, the castle Blood Letter insists on more exercise.”

  Enjoying the playfulness in his grin, she batted her eyelashes, then held out her hand. “Then perhaps you could climb up and show me those dashing princely rescue skills.”

  “I thought damsels could rescue themselves.”

  “Sometimes . . .” She winked. “A damsel just likes to see a prince in action.”

  He clasped a hand across his heart. “Alas, fair maiden, unless a dragon lights a fire under my arse, climbing the tower seems an unmanageable feat. For I am not a prince. Just a mere peasant wandering these woods in search of . . .”

  “In search of what?”

  Truly puzzled, his broad shoulders lifted in a shrug. “What does one usually wander the woods for? Food? Respite? Buried treasure?”

  “Doesn’t everyone search for love?”

  The expression that darkened his eyes caused a logjam of emotion in Annie’s throat, and she backtracked. “Buried treasure is all good and well, kind sir. But how does one defeat an ogre? The door is locked tight. How will I survive alone in this tower?”

  With his bottom lip snagged between his teeth and his hands on his hips, he continued to look up at her. She knew he thought the task of climbing that ladder might be difficult with the injury to his leg. But the doctor apparently wanted him to exercise it more, and the tree house was only seven easy steps off the ground. A tough Marine like Jake who’d regularly gone through strenuous training could scale the short distance using the power of his massive arms alone. His ogre—his doubts—were self-imposed, and the defeat in his eyes broke her heart.

 
In her mind, Jake Wilder had always been able to accomplish anything he set his heart to. Right now, it seemed he just needed a little reminding.

  She knelt on the deck, held her hand out between the rails, and implored, “Come on. You can do this. I know you can.”

  His broad shoulders lifted and dropped on a frustrated sigh. “Annie . . .”

  “Come rescue me.” She wiggled her fingers. “Please don’t let the ogre be victorious.”

  For a moment, she thought he would walk away because the horrific incident in Afghanistan and its dreadful outcome had swallowed him whole. Then she caught a subtle twitch in his jaw. His hands dropped from his hips, and he muttered under his breath. Finally, he crossed the path to the ladder. With one hand on the rung level to his shoulder, he looked up.

  Her heart leaped.

  “I don’t know if this will work.” He dropped his gaze. Shook his head.

  It will, she encouraged silently. It will. She would never put him at risk. Challenge him? Indeed. Hurt him in any way? Never.

  He looked up again, and caught her gaze. “But I’ll give it a shot.”

  She smiled down at him. “That’s all any damsel in distress could ask.”

  Once again, he muttered something incoherent while she kept her hand stretched out to him from between the rails.

  He placed the foot of his good leg on the first rung, slowly bent his knee and eased up the other foot.

  “That’s good, Jake.”

  Frowning, he looked up. “Annie? I’m only a foot off the ground. There’s a ways to go.”

  “But that’s a foot higher than a second ago. Come on, Jake. Seven steps total. That’s it.” She brushed the hair from her eyes, then popped her hand back out. “Easy for a tough Marine like you.”

  “I’m not so tough.”

  Annie heard the unspoken “anymore” beneath that grumbled statement. But she rejected it.

  “Are you kidding? You’re the best dragon slayer in the Texas Hill Country. Everyone knows that.”

  Brows slammed together, he looked up at her. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a pain-in-the-ass kind of princess?”

  “Yes. You. Frequently.” She wiggled her hand. “Six more steps. That’s all. Come on. I believe in you.”

  Using the strength in his arms, he pulled himself up and managed to skip a rung, quickly making it to the third. Watching him slowly bend and lift his injured leg nearly brought her to tears, but she’d never let them fall. Jake hated pity. And so, instead, she offered him strength.

  “That was great.” She grinned. “I’ll bet those boot-camp obstacle courses were child’s play for you.”

  “Shut up, Annie.” The muscles in his forearms and biceps bulged while he pulled himself up another two rungs. He sucked in a breath, then bent his knee and got his bad leg steadily beneath him.

  “Almost there,” she encouraged.

  He looked up again. Squinted his eye. And gave her a crooked grin. “What kind of reward do I get when I get to the top?”

  “Make it to the top, and you’ll find out.” She grinned too.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. Better get that body moving, soldier.”

  “I thought I was a prince.”

  “We’ll see about that once you get up here.”

  “Doesn’t the princess always grant the prince a kiss after a good deed?”

  “It’s been known to happen a time or two.”

  The next two rungs went much quicker, and Annie had to wonder if he’d mastered those steps to reap the reward or if he’d just gotten tired of hanging on that ladder.

  Once he pulled himself up onto the deck, he leaned his head back against the wood siding and let go a long sigh.

  “I knew you could do it.” A ridiculous amount of pride rippled through her heart.

  Head down, he picked up a twig from the deck and twirled it between his forefinger and thumb. “A few months ago, I wouldn’t have had to think about it. I would have grabbed hold and made it to the top in a split second.”

  “Speed is overrated.” Annie sat down beside him and covered his twig-twirling fingers with hers. “Life isn’t about having it rush by so fast you can’t see it. Sometimes, you have to sit back, take a breath, and let it happen. We aren’t always dealt a fair hand, Jake. But that’s when paying attention matters the most.”

  “How’s that?”

  “If you’re observant, then you can find a way out of the muck. You can figure out a way to assess the situation and move forward. Sort of like what they probably trained you for in the Marines.”

  His head came up then, eyes focused on her. “Is that what you did when Doug walked out?”

  She nodded. “After I used every foul word I could think of.”

  “I’ve already gone that route. It doesn’t change anything.”

  “Ah, Prince Charming, that’s where you’re wrong. Verbally giving it life changes a lot. Admitting the truth. Lashing out at the unfairness gives you the power to fight back. To breathe. To live. To find happiness you might never have imagined.”

  The last drop of sunlight sparkled in his eyes. “When did you get so smart?”

  “Just because I didn’t get straight A’s in school and because I wasn’t a big butt-kisser like you doesn’t mean I’m a dim bulb.”

  Laughter barked deep from within his chest. “You’re a pistol, Annie.”

  “Takes one to know one.” She squeezed his fingers. “Give yourself some time to heal, Jake. And when you’re ready, I promise the light at the end of the tunnel will be so bright, you’ll need shades. I’m proof that it can happen.”

  His responding smile was weak by Jake Wilder’s normal, gleaming standards. But it was still a smile. And Annie would take what she could get.

  “I thought you said the princess rewards the prince with a kiss for rescuing her from the ogre.”

  “Sometimes it happens the other way around.”

  “Yeah.” His gaze turned serious as he slipped his fingers around the back of her neck and drew her in. “Maybe sometimes it does.”

  Their lips gently met, and Annie’s heart sighed. His mouth was warm and delicious just before he broke the very brief kiss. His head went back and he looked at her with utter surprise and curiosity. Then he leaned forward and kissed her hungrily, and as if he was no longer startled that after all these years, they were in each other’s arms. Either that, or he was just accepting something he might not completely understand.

  Lucky for him, she did.

  When he leaned away again, he gave her the full-on impact of his smile.

  “You weave one hell of a fairy tale, Annabelle.” He pressed one more kiss to her tingling lips. “I’m looking forward to the next chapter.”

  For years, Annie had dreamed and fantasized about kissing Jake Wilder. This kiss didn’t come anywhere close to her imagination.

  It was so much better.

  Chapter 6

  Leave it to a mother to bang her pots and pans loud enough to wake the dead. Or in this case, him. Not that it was her first rodeo of starting up the “get your sorry ass out of bed” symphony. Back in the day, she reserved that special tune for when she knew Jake or one of his brothers had been out late the night before, tying one on, and had slept with a pillow over his head and his hand on the bottle of Tylenol.

  Today, he had no such hangover. Yet with what sounded like an entire cascade of aluminum cookware hitting the floor, Jake bolted up in bed and looked at the clock. Eight o’clock had come way too quick for someone who’d been up half the night trying to solve the mysteries of life.

  Or more specifically, wondering what in the hell had possessed him to kiss Annie Morgan.

  He was truly perplexed.

  Because not only had he kissed her, he’d wanted to do it again and again. Hell, he’d wanted to
lay her back on that deck beneath the stars and ease those jeans down her shapely hips. He’d wanted to untie that pretty red halter top and use his hands and mouth to explore everything that suddenly made her so intriguing.

  When the hell had Annie become so intriguing?

  It had been a struggle for him to get up that ladder—a feat at one time he could have accomplished without even thinking. But thinking was what he was doing now. And wondering why he’d even bothered to make the climb. What did he think he had to prove?

  He ran a hand through his hair, then scrubbed it over his face.

  Maybe nothing other than to himself that he could do it.

  Or maybe it had been the way she’d looked at him—not like he was damaged, but instead like he could save the world or at least rescue the princess from the evil ogre. Even if the villain was really only his own fears.

  He flopped back down to the mattress.

  Yeah, that had been it. He’d just needed to prove he could make the climb.

  So then, what had been his excuse for even thinking about the reward? For standing down on the ground, looking up at the promise and encouragement she offered, and wondering what those plump pink lips would taste like?

  Whatever had been the catalyst for the ascent, he’d found out.

  Her kiss had been like honey—a nectar he’d needed to sweeten something inside him that had bittered since that bullet had shredded everything he’d believed, worked for, wanted.