THE STARLIGHT HILL COMPLETE COLLECTION: 1-8

by Bell, Heatherly

  “No, she was alone.”

  “Alone.”

  A teenager dining alone at Giancarlo’s? Odd. The place had been known to be a secluded intimate place for lovers, even if Sophia had turned it into more of a family place. That had certainly been his experience the times he’d been there recently.

  “I didn’t think you needed to know this, but the girl was actually pretending to be my former friend. Bruce. The one I told you about.” She cleared her throat.

  Now he understood. Sophia hated it when he was right. He didn’t especially like being right this time, although it was pretty convenient for him to have no jilted boyfriends he’d have to scare off.

  “What did she want?” For the girl to show up and confess—no, it didn’t make sense. What else was going on here? Maybe this was why he’d been jumpy tonight. Instincts. Sophia might have been in danger.

  “Just to talk.”

  “I doubt it.” He didn’t like this. Didn’t like it at all.

  Too many reminders of Nikki for him to be comfortable. A girl, appearing to be a friend. Sophia couldn’t see it, of course, because she was too kind and compassionate. One of the reasons he loved her, but also the reason she wore a sheepdog out.

  “Riley, don’t. I can almost hear what you’re thinking, but I can take care of myself. I’ve done it for years, haven’t I?”

  “I’m not arguing.”

  “I had planned to meet ‘Bruce’ in a public place for the first time. My restaurant. I never gave anyone any personal information they could use to track me down.”

  “Good.”

  “You suspect the whole world of having an ulterior motive, which okay, this time you were right. But the motive was that she wanted someone to talk to because she must be lonely, and I’m ashamed to say I probably wouldn’t have spent time talking to her had I known ‘he’ was actually a ‘she’.”

  “You thought she was a guy. A guy who looked like the Oriole’s shortstop.” He didn’t really want to spend too much time thinking about that potential disaster. Tonight wasn’t about other dudes, real or imaginary.

  “It was nice to think someone was interested in me. Lyric and I had a lot in common, actually. We were both lonely.”

  And he’d made her feel that way. Left her alone for far too long. He was lucky, damned lucky, that he’d arrived when he had. Much more time and he would have been forced to sign those divorce papers, because by then maybe it would have been what she really wanted.

  He pulled her naked body up into his arms, a small wave of water and bubbles splashing on him. “I’m here to fix that.”

  “You already did.”

  “That’s what you think. But I’m just getting started.” He traced the curve of her beautiful and wet breast, watching as a single drop of water rolled off. Then he tweaked her nipple between his fingers, gratified by her slow sweet moan.

  She took his left hand and raised it to her lips. There were tears in her eyes when she noticed he’d slipped his wedding ring back on, the one he’d kept in a box all these years.

  “Don’t cry, baby. I can’t take that.”

  “I’m sorry,” she sniffled. “But this is so…so romantic.”

  “Yeah?” He felt a smile coming on. Never had been accused much in his life of being a romantic. War had taken it all out of him, he’d thought, except with Sophia. Only she managed to turn him into a bit of a pussy, truth be told.

  He could live with that. “That’s me. Romantic.”

  “I want to get my ring.” Sophia stepped out of his arms and the bathtub, water splashing in her wake.

  “Now?” Sentiment aside, he could wait. Right now he wanted her. Under him. On top of him. He wasn’t picky.

  “Of course.” She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her naked body, and walked out toward her bedroom.

  He followed her, because at least they were headed in the right direction. “You can find it later.”

  “No,” Sophia said, squatting down to rummage through her closet, towel barely hanging on with all her movements.

  If she insisted on doing this, he might as well watch. He sat on the edge of her bed as the towel slowly slipped off her body.

  “It’s in here somewhere,” she said, as the towel fell to her waist. “I saw it not long ago.”

  Now the towel had slipped down more to reveal the soft and fleshy small of her back, and the strong pull of desire in his belly told him this was not the worst way to spend his time.

  “Here it is!” Her towel completely forgotten on the floor, Sophia stood and turned to him.

  She was bare ass naked coming towards him wearing only a smile, her long hair a wild mane falling around her shoulders, lips wet and parted. He went instantly hard and for a moment was speechless.

  “So beautiful.”

  “I know,” she said, staring at the ring.

  Oh, yeah. He’d hardly noticed it.

  “Would you put it on me?” she said softly, handing him the ring.

  “Try and stop me.” He slid it on her left hand finger, and her gaze got suspiciously wet again.

  “Are we really doing this?” She whispered, her arms coming up around his neck.

  Something about that simple question broke his heart a little bit. She still didn’t realize how much he loved her, how much he’d be willing to sacrifice to get her back. He pulled her between his legs. “Marriage, take two. I’ll get it right this time, baby.”

  She shook her head a little and gnawed at her lower lip. “I’m so sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For leaving you. For being a coward. For not being a military wife.”

  “You were perfect for me only I didn’t know it at the time. Not like I came to understand later. I shouldn’t have volunteered for that deployment. At the time I believed my men and I would win that war. We just had to try harder. More men. More time. I wanted to fight but more than anything I wanted to win. For a long time, I couldn’t give up. But I’m not interested in fighting any more. I’m interested in building bridges.”

  “You want to be an engineer?” She grinned, ruffling his hair.

  “Metaphorical bridges.” Then he kissed her, a long and deep but tender kiss that he could only hope showed her more than told her about the future he wanted with her. Full of kids and dogs and whatever else she wanted because all he really needed was her.

  She went for the waistband of his now snug jeans, and then slowly unzipped them. He pulled off his shirt with one arm, kicked off his boots and went for his pants. When she climbed up on her bed he was treated to a rear view that had him nearly losing his mind with lust. Now she lay splayed before him for his viewing pleasure and he remembered all the times he’d fantasized about this moment. In the desert, while training between deployments, one right after another until he had forced dwell time. That time alone made him angrier, because he wanted to get back to the business of winning so he could hurry up and get on with the rest of his life. He couldn’t see he’d already lost more personally than winning one stupid war could ever make up.

  He joined her on the bed and got comfortable between her legs because he intended to stay a while. “I sure as hell hope you don’t have any plans for the next few hours because this is going to take some time.”

  “If I had any plans, I’d break them.”

  “What I like to hear.” He slid down the length of her body, licking and kissing every delicate and soft spot as he went south. When he reached her soft breasts he sucked and licked, gratified when she gasped his name.

  Fuck, how he loved that loss of control from her. Her soft little whimpering noises fed him like food would a starving man. And holy shit, he’d been hungry far too long. Sophia surprised him when she gave him a little shove. He moved willingly for her, and she rolled on top, straddling him.

  “Now I’m in control.” She smiled and clasped her hands with his, holding on to him. “We’re riding bareback.”

  Her legs were flush against his hips, he
r core right above his, not quite where he needed her to be. He thought he might go mad with lust but he wasn’t about to take away her control, not when she looked like a sex goddess hovering above him, her nipples hard and rosy pink. Then she lifted a little on her knees and moved to take him deep inside. She threw her head back and moaned. He gripped her hips, syncing with her circling movements, moving in time with her.

  She stilled for a moment and met his eyes. “I’m not afraid anymore.”

  Good. But he couldn’t say that out loud, because he was breathing as hard and fast as a man on his tenth mile wearing full armored gear. He’d been in the desert in one hundred plus degree temperatures but this, this fiery heat, the hot woman on top of him who happened to be his wife, would be the one to kill him dead. For the first time there was nothing between them. No condom, nothing at all. He’d never not used a condom and the sensations rolling through him made him wonder if he ever would again. It was so right for it to be the first time with her, the only woman for him.

  She still hadn’t looked away from him, her hips bucking and driving him wild, moving in a perfect gyrating rhythm with him.

  “Look at you, baby,” he finally managed to say. “You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.”

  A few more strokes and she began to shudder over him, gripping his shoulders tightly. He wouldn’t let her get off that easy, and kept pumping deep into her, riding the crest with her as he felt her orgasm when she clenched all around him. Eyes almost rolling to the back of his head when her tight muscles milked him, he came right along with her, unable to hold back another moment.

  Shaking and sweaty from the ride of his life, he switched positions with her, tucking her under him. “I may never ride with a saddle again.”

  She threw her head back and laughed, leaving her neck wide open.

  Big mistake. He licked that soft spot, then nipped at it. “Please don’t get pregnant right away. This is way too much fun.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  He glanced at the digital clock on her bedside table. “We go again at twenty-two hundred.”

  “Yessir, Sergeant. Oorah.”

  But they fell asleep in each other’s arms and were awakened by his cell phone ringing. He opened one eye. Two in the morning.

  He groaned and went to pick up the phone. No caller ID. “Jacobs.”

  “Hey Chief, it’s Luther.”

  Riley hopped out of bed, immediately alert. “What’s up?”

  “It’s Lucy. I responded to a call for assistance tonight. Overdose. Riley, she coded and is on her way to St. Vincent’s now.”

  * * *

  Even if Sophia didn’t know Riley as well as she did, she would have realized something was wrong. Terribly wrong. After the phone call he’d received, he didn’t talk, but started shoving clothes on in a methodical and lightning fast fashion.

  “What’s wrong?” She sat straight up. Who was hurt? Was it an accident? Would he tell her if it was someone in her family?

  “I’ve got to go.”

  “Tell me.”

  “It’s Lucy. Don’t worry.” He slid a glance in her direction, avoiding her eyes. “I’ll be back.”

  “Back from where?” Sophia climbed out of bed. Pulled on her panties, bra, sweater, jeans. He wasn’t going to leave her behind, the poor little wife who had to be protected. He still thought of her that way. Oh, hell no.

  “It’s going to be all right.”

  She’d done this to him. Made him the kind of man who hid things from his wife, things that were too ugly or unpleasant. Too raw. And after what they’d been through, she couldn’t blame him. Sometimes, she still worried too much but she was working on it. She’d changed from the terrified young wife who thought she’d lose her husband every day. She now hovered in a healthy balance between the girl she used to be—the girl who didn’t think anything would ever go wrong—to a woman who understood that life didn’t always go according to plan. But she could handle it. She could deal and adjust. Survive. She was no helpless girl he needed to protect anymore.

  She’d already told him she wasn’t afraid, and now was the time to prove it.

  “I’m going with you.”

  “No need.”

  “Because you’ll take care of it?”

  “Right.”

  She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “I want to go with you. I care about her, too.”

  He studied her a minute, his eyes tense. She didn’t want to be more trouble to him, but he needed to know she could help. There had to be something she could do for him.

  He finally shoved a hand through his hair. “Let’s go. St. Vincent’s Hospital.”

  Lucy. St. Vincent’s Hospital. Sophia had two pieces of information and put together they weren’t good. Poor Riley. His sister could be dying and Sophia had slowed him up. No. Lucy wasn’t dying, but too bad there wasn’t time to light a candle at St. Mary’s. Sophia could still pray. And she did, as Riley broke speed limits getting across town.

  At the hospital, they were met by Luther, who had apparently been the one to call Riley. “They’ve taken her up to intensive care.”

  “What happened?” Riley grabbed Sophia’s hand and pulled her toward the elevators.

  Luther managed to keep up with Riley’s long and quick strides, though Sophia barely could. “I responded to a nine-one-one call. Ambulance was already there when I arrived. Overdose.”

  Riley’s grip got tighter. “How bad?”

  “She coded on the way, but they got her back quick,” Luther said. “A good sign.”

  The elevators opened.

  “Thank God for that,” Sophia said, just before Riley tugged her inside.

  “Chief, don’t worry about coming in today. I’ll let Claire know where you are. And I’m so sor—” The elevators doors closed before Luther could finish.

  Sophia studied Riley’s face while she waited for something, anything, she could say. Something encouraging. Optimistic. She had nothing. He stared at the elevator numbers as they went up the floors as though he could kill someone right now. His entire body looked like one tight cord that would snap at any minute. She opened her mouth to say something encouraging. Closed it. There were no words. Lucy had hit bottom. Sophia had never imagined the bottom meant nearly dying but what did she know? No wonder Riley had intervened so many times before Lucy ever got to this place. And Sophia had offered advice from articles she’d researched online. Both of them were way out of their league, and she could only hope that Riley understood now that Lucy needed the kind of help neither one of them could give her.

  Riley went up to the nurse’s station and identified himself.

  “No one can see her now,” a nurse said. “She’s critical.”

  They had no choice but to sit in the waiting room where they waited. And waited. For hours.

  Finally, another nurse came and found them. “Only family, and one of you at a time.”

  “I’ll wait here.” Sophia squeezed his hand.

  Riley gave her a quick nod and strode off.

  God only knew what he was going to see when he got there and Sophia’s heart took a dive. This was possibly the worst thing that could have happened to Riley, who felt so responsible for Lucy. He felt responsible for far too much. She wished she’d understood that years ago.

  Her cell phone rang. She’d expected this call. “Hi, Daddy-o.”

  “Sophia! We’re back early. And how are you?” her father asked.

  “Good. It’s so early. I just got up a while ago.” She faked yawned into the phone.

  “Time difference. I couldn’t wait to talk to you. Are you at home?”

  “Um, no. I … I’m visiting a sick friend.”

  “What? So early?”

  “Yes, but I do want to see you soon.”

  “I thought I’d stop by the restaurant tonight. Might be nice. I miss the place, you know?”

  “Of course you do. I might not be there tonight, though.”

  “
Sorry, did you say you might not be there?” He sounded surprised, and why not? She hadn’t missed a day in years. “How sick is this friend?”

  “Pretty sick. I have an idea. Would you cover for me tonight? It would be just like old times.”

  “Yes, yes, of course! You deserve a day off. Maybe even two.” Daddy-o laughed. “How is Angie doing? Still throwing a fit a week?”

  “She’s going to love seeing you again.”

  “I’m the only one who knows when she’s put too much garlic in the sauce.”

  Just like Sophia was the only one who realized when she hadn’t put in enough. “She’s not too happy about my new idea to close on Mondays.”

  He didn’t sound surprised, but then she’d already discussed the idea with him. At one time, years ago, Mama had insisted on closing the restaurant on Sundays. “It’s your decision.”

  God, she hoped he remembered that when she told him about Riley. “Thank you.”

  “We’ll see you soon, though, for dinner? Eileen wants to have the whole family together again. One big dinner. With all these grandkids, we’re going to need a new dining room.”

  And maybe soon she’d have a little one to add to the mix with the man her father hated. She would save that little bit of information for another time. Dole it out piece meal. Out of the corner of her eye, Sophia noticed Riley stalking back towards the nurse’s station.

  “I’ve got to go. Talk soon.” Sophia rushed to meet Riley. “How is she?”

  Jaw right, he nearly spit out the words. “Not good. I only saw her for a few minutes.”

  “What can I do?” She wanted to help but she was so far managing a bit fat zero.

  Riley’s phone rang and he held up his finger. “Jacobs. Yeah, Luther. What’d you find out?” He took a few steps away and paced the hallway, obviously embroiled in the conversation.

  What to do, what to do. She waited for Riley in front of the elevator. She’d been able to comfort him many times before, and get his mind off the kind of things he couldn’t talk about. The stuff that woke him up at night. But the kind of relief she’d mostly offered him couldn’t be done in a public place.

  And then she realized exactly what she could do.