What Makes Us Stronger (A Well Paired Novel Book 3)

by Marianne Rice

  What Makes Us Stronger

  A Well Paired Novel

  Marianne Rice

  Published by Star Hill Press, 2018.

  Also by Marianne Rice

  A Well Paired Novel

  At First Blush

  Where There's Hope

  What Makes Us Stronger

  The McKay-Tucker Men

  False Start

  False Hope

  False Impressions

  Standalone

  Smoke & Pearls

  Marshmallows & Mistletoe

  Watch for more at Marianne Rice’s site.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Also By Marianne Rice

  Dedication

  What Makes Us Stronger (A Well Paired Novel)

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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  Also By Marianne Rice

  About the Author

  To Natalina and Alisha, my sprinting buddies. Without you I'd never get any writing done.

  Copyright

  Published by Star Hill Press

  Copyright 2018 Marianne Rice

  Cover design by Just Write Creations

  Editor: Silla Webb

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author. This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  CHAPTER ONE

  TY PARKER STEPPED OUT of the Sunrise Diner and couldn’t help his gaze from glancing down the road to the Sea Salt Spa. This time it had nothing to do with the gorgeous blonde owner and everything to do with the black ominous cloud of smoke billowing from the third story window where her apartment was.

  “Shit.” He barely heard Cameron’s oompf as the door smacked his friend in the face. Ty had always been a fast runner, even with a load of artillery jacked on his back and four-pound combat boots on his feet buried ankle deep in Iraqi sand.

  Today, a bit out of shape since leaving the service five years ago, and even with his steel-toed work boots on, he sprinted toward the spa. Yanking the door open, he stormed inside the spa, hoping to find Lily still alive. The reception area was quiet, the girly music playing softly in the background. Annie looked up from the table where she was polishing someone’s nails.

  “You alright, Ty?”

  “Lily? Where is she?”

  He heard Cam come in behind him. “Everyone okay?”

  “Sure. You guys in need of a desperate cut or something?” Ty’s sister, Mia, asked from the sink where she was washing someone’s hair. Hell. His first thought should’ve been the safety of his sister and not the woman who occupied his dreams every night.

  “Smoke. I saw smoke. There’s a fire upstairs. You ladies need to evacuate.” Ty took in the rest of the room. The three other chairs were empty. He’d never been on the second floor, but he knew that was where Lily offered massages and facials.

  And the third floor, filled with smoke, was where her apartment was.

  “You sure?” Mia sat her customer up and placed a towel on her head.

  “Hell, I’m sure. Cam, take care of the women. I’m going upstairs.” He started for the stairs, and Cam yelled after him.

  “I’ll be right behind you.”

  Ty didn’t wait and, taking the stairs two at a time, reached the top in a matter of seconds. His trained eyes scoped out the area; not for enemy snipers, but for smoke, fire, and the sound of survivors.

  Lily.

  He opened the two closed doors and, not seeing anything, ran to the end of the hall, hoping the heavy door at the end led to the third floor. Turning the knob, he cursed when it stopped. Locked.

  He banged on the door and called out for her, “Lily?”

  Ty heard a scream and a stream of curse words he’d never imagined coming from the stunning, sophisticated spa owner.

  “Lily!” he screamed again. He heaved his shoulder into the door and got nowhere. Searching for something, anything to break the door down, he came up empty. Each of the rooms on the second floor held a small massage table and a tray of lotions and oils.

  There was no time to search for an ax. His heart heaved in his chest as the worst possible scenarios ran through his head.

  “Lily! You need to leave. Can you make it to the door?”

  The door opened, and he was greeted by a coughing, swearing, gorgeous blonde wearing nothing but a skimpy tank top—sans the bra—and shorts that were too indecent to wear out in public.

  The tang of an electrical fire stung his nose but did nothing to erase the image of her perky nipples pointing at him through the pale pink silk top.

  “There was a small fire.” She coughed. “It’s out now.”

  Snapping back to attention, he lifted his gaze to her face. Hair that he’d never seen out of place before was knotted and rumpled around her shoulders. Her face, clean of makeup, was smudged and rosy from the heat of the morning.

  “You’re okay?” he managed to croak out.

  “Yeah. My dryer, on the other hand, is not.” She turned her back on him and glided up the stairs, her shorts riding up to indecent proportions, and he kicked himself for gawking.

  Ty stood at the bottom of the stairs not sure if he should follow her or not. This was unchartered territory. Her apartment. The lack of clothes. The tightness in his jeans.

  This was Lily Novak.

  “Ty?” she called from the top of the stairs. “Can you take a look?”

  He cleared his throat and jogged up the stairs. “Sure.”

  He found her in the living room. Her hands lifted above her head as she pulled down the top windowpane. The miniscule piece of satin crept up, revealing slim hips and what promised to be the softest skin he’d ever seen.

  “Today’s my late morning, so I’ve been doing chores around my apartment.” She fanned the air with her hands in an attempt to push the smoke out the window. “I tossed my laundry in the dryer about twenty minutes ago and was working on breakfast when—oh, crap.” She dashed to the left and he followed behind, worry etched in his chest.

  While the electrical burn permeated the air to his right, a new smoky, burnt smell filled the left side of the apartment.

  He glanced about the small yet tidy living room, the cobalt blue couch and white pillows bringing a brightness to the tight quarters and into an efficient kitchen. Lily’s back was to him and he appreciated the pull of her shirt as she dumped a pan into the sink, steam and smo
ke rising above her head.

  “I’ve never been a great cook, but I don’t usually burn my underwear and my eggs in the same day. Heck, the same hour.” Lily coughed and waved her hand in front of her face as she turned to face him. “Sorry. My apartment doesn’t usually smell this bad either.”

  Ty couldn’t say he enjoyed the stench of burnt wires and eggs, but he’d wake up every morning to the aroma if it meant seeing Lily like this.

  Loud footsteps echoed on the wood floor and stopped short behind him. “Hey. Everything under control in—oh, uh. Yeah.”

  He turned around and watched Cameron cover his eyes with his hand. If Ty was a gentleman he would have done the same. Hell, instead, he’d been ogling Lily and wishing she was more than an untouchable friend of his sister’s.

  “Ohmygod. I can’t believe I’m dressed like this.” Lily gasped and covered her chest and passed them, her fresh as flowers scent slapping his nose and making him forget why he’d come up here in the first place.

  “So, uh. She’s okay?” Cameron jerked his head back, and Ty did his best not to let his eyes follow her down the hall.

  “Yeah. Sounds like her dryer fried out. Then a kitchen disaster.”

  “Want me to take a look?”

  Even though Cam was an electrician of sorts and Ty the carpenter, he wanted to be the one to fix whatever was wrong with Lily. Or, rather, her appliances.

  “I’ve got it. I’m sure Hope is worried. Why don’t you let her and the girls downstairs know everything’s okay?”

  Cam snorted. “Sure thing, man.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Holding up his hands with a smirk, Cam backed up. “I’m not about to infringe on your territory. I’ve got Hope and Delaney. Lily’s all yours.”

  Hope and Ty had been best friends in high school. She was his anchor while he was overseas and while he’d have liked to have confided in her about the mess he’d gotten himself into, she’d beat him to the punch, unloading her burdens on him.

  She’d gotten pregnant her freshman year in college and when the guy died and his twin brother was sent to jail, she dropped out and returned home. It wasn’t until Cameron was released from prison and showed up in town last fall, setting some of the misconceptions straight, that the two of them fell in love and were working on the happily ever after thing.

  He’d been wary of him at first, but Ty was a good judge of character and figured him to be a good man. Still, he stood by Hope’s side and would strap Cameron to an A-bomb if he did anything to hurt Hope or her daughter, Delaney.

  Cam may have become one of his closest friends, but he didn’t like the man thinking he had an interest in Lily.

  “She’s not my territory.”

  “Sure thing, Ty. Gotta go check on my ladies. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Ty flipped him off, and Cameron chuckled on his way out.

  Lily came out of her room and stopped Cameron with a hand to his forearm. “Thanks for coming to my rescue. Is everything okay downstairs?”

  “The girls were spooked at first, but they’re good. I’ll let them know it’s okay to come back inside. Mia already called 911. I’ll take care of things downstairs. I’m sure Ty can tend to things up here.”

  Could he sound a little less obvious? Ty didn’t think he’d made his interest in Lily that evident. Sure, Mia had teased him about Lily, offering to set them up, but he’d refused. And, according to his sister, Lily was completely against it as well. No need to be rejected to his face. He accepted her lack of interest with a speck of pride and fantasized about her instead.

  “Thank you, Cameron.”

  And could she sound a little less grateful to Cam? He hadn’t done anything. It was Ty who tried to bust down her door and rescue her. His mood quickly soured from rescuer to pissed off and sexually frustrated.

  “Where’s your dryer?” He didn’t mean to bark at her, but the sooner he could get out of her apartment the better.

  “Uh, in the bathroom.”

  He unglued his eyes from her long, lean legs and brushed past her, heading toward the smell. The opened window had let out most of the smoke, but the stench still lingered. Thankfully she stayed back, although leaning against the doorjamb like a model in a Victoria’s Secret ad wasn’t helping the tight space in his jeans.

  Pretending she wasn’t there—which he deserved a freaking medal for attempting—he pulled the dryer away from the wall and unplugged it. Squatting behind it, he inspected the back, black from smoke.

  Without his tool belt there was only so much he could do. Wiring wasn’t his specialty, but he could change a fixture and replace a wire or two if necessary. Seeing there wasn’t any damage to the outlet, he deduced the fire must have come from within the machine.

  Ty crawled around to the front of the dryer and opened the door. A waft of electrical burn mixed with fabric softener accosted him. He coughed and cleared his throat. He didn’t mean to paw through her clothes, only wanted to search inside for anything suspicious.

  The only thing suspicious was the amount of white and pastels in the dryer. Lots and lots of undergarments. Not something he needed to see or think about right now.

  “Uh, how old is the dryer?”

  “I’m not sure. It came with the apartment. I can ask Melissa Button. I’m leasing the building from her.”

  The Button Agency owned pretty much every building in town. They were a respected couple and agency, and Ty doubted they’d keep out of date appliances in any of their buildings.

  “There had to be a reason for the smoke and fire. Maybe a loose wire inside the machine? You’ll want to look online for any recalls.”

  “Sure. I’ll grab my laptop.”

  The lint trap was in an unusual place, toward the back of the machine. He slid it out and inspected it. There wasn’t too much accumulation; no more than what he’d expect from the current load. Sticking his hand in the tight space where the mesh trap goes, he felt around for an obstruction and felt something larger than a ball of lint. Tugging, he yanked until the material came free.

  Dangling from his fingertips, inches from his nose, was a black lace thong. Ty gulped.

  Sweat formed above his brows and dripped into his eyes. Instinct moved his hand to wipe it away and only stopped when the lace touched his cheek.

  “Damn.” He dropped the panties and crab crawled backward until his head hit the windowsill. Swearing, he rubbed his head and gawked at the scrap of lace staring at him from the white linoleum floor, taunting him. Teasing. Tempting.

  Ty rolled his shoulders and lengthened his neck, trying to get a hold of himself. He’d fantasized too many nights about what Lily Novak wore under her clothes. She had a body meant for a runway, yet she never wore anything flashy. Simple jeans and t-shirts. They fit her differently, though. Like the clothes were made for her body, hugging every curve, showing off every muscle.

  Lily wasn’t waif-like thin like a model, though. She had muscles that Ty could appreciate. Toned and in shape, yet she often held her body like she was hiding something. A deep, dark secret that no one knew.

  Mia had alluded to Lily’s mystery numerous times, but Ty always pretended to be indifferent and kept his distance.

  It was becoming harder to stay away from her as their circle of friends began to overlap, so he remained quiet, aloof. He’d been burned too deeply by another woman with dark secrets, and Lily with her golden looks and skimpy undergarments held her own closet of mysteries he didn’t want to get messed up in.

  The dark thong stared him in the face, and he leaned forward to pick it up and toss it to the side. Pinching a small piece of fabric between his fingers, he held it out in front of him as if it were a serpent ready to strike.

  Long, bare legs stood in front of him and his eyes took forever to travel their length and make contact with their owner.

  “I, uh, found the problem.”

  Her blonde mass of tangled hair was pulled back in a bun, her manicured fingers clutched a
t her chest. And that mouth. Normally her lips were lightly glossed and pursed in a soft smile, but she’d tucked them inside her mouth.

  And those eyes. Those stunning blue eyes were glossed over in fear. And then he noticed her shoulders begin to shake. He’d spooked her, and he didn’t have a freaking clue how.

  LILY CLUTCHED HER SHIRT in her fist, fear running through her veins. She instantly calculated the eight steps it would take to get to her door. The fourteen stairs that led to the second floor and fourteen more to the main floor. Hopefully the front door was unlocked and she had a clear path to...

  No. This was Ty. He was in her bathroom trying to fix her dryer.

  He wasn’t Malcolm looking for...

  Shaking her head clear of the past, she loosened her grip on her shirt and released her lips from between her teeth. She could feel them swell from the tight hold she had on them.

  “Are you okay?” Ty stood, his tall, powerful body filling up her tiny bathroom.

  Instinct had her stepping back into the hall. Her eyes darted to the erotic image of her black thong dangling from his fingers.

  “Lily?”

  The close proximity of Ty and his leather and woodsy scent was too much. She barely noticed the smoky smell anymore and, for a moment, she wished for it back. Anything to distract her from Ty Parker.

  “You said... you said you found the problem?” She reached out and grabbed the panties from him.

  “Yeah.” He swiped his arm across his forehead.

  Was it hot in here? The window was open, and the cool spring air felt good on her tense muscles. If there weren’t four buildings to her left she’d have a fantastic ocean view. Still, the breeze off the Atlantic filled her third-story apartment enough to make it bearable even when August humidity hung thick. Not that Crystal Cove, Maine ever got too hot in the summer.

  “Looks like your, um, undergarments got stuck in the lint trap. Probably caused the belt to clamp up and overheat. I don’t see any wiring issues, but I’d like to take the back panel off to check. Just in case.”