by Elle James
At the thought of staying home, her body heated along with the water.
She shampooed her hair quickly and squirted some conditioner into it, rinsing thoroughly. Using one of her favorite bodywash scents, she scrubbed her skin and let the spray wash the suds down the drain.
Switching the water off, she reached for a towel and dried off, her body super sensitive in anticipation of seeing Duff again.
Ivy threw on her clothes and ran a brush through her hair. She turned on the hairdryer and flipped her hair upside down to dry the underside.
A glance at the clock made her squeak. Ten minutes wasn’t nearly enough time to dry her hair and apply makeup.
Turning off the dryer, she worked the makeup, finishing as the doorbell rang. A quick brush through her damp hair and she ran for the door.
She stood for a moment, willing her pulse to slow and the heat in her cheeks to abate, counting to ten before she opened the door.
One, two, three…
Unable to wait a moment longer, Ivy yanked open the door. Her chest swelled and the heat in her cheeks sank low in her belly, making her channel slicken with moisture.
Magnus McCormick stood before her in freshly pressed jeans, a white button-down, long-sleeve shirt, and a bolo tie. His dark hair was neatly slicked back and he held out a small bouquet of slightly crushed flowers.
“Sorry, they got a little ruffled on the ride over,” he said.
She took the flowers and sniffed their fragrance. “They’re beautiful,” she said, her normally clear, concise tone nothing more than a breathy whisper. Why did this man steal her breath away?
“You’re beautiful,” he said, staring at her face, his gaze then slowly traveling down the length of her body to her bare feet.
He opened his arms.
She stepped into them and he held her, crushing the flowers between them. “I’ve looked forward to this all day long,” he murmured against her damp hair.
“Me too.” When she lifted her face to his, he claimed her lips in a soul-defining kiss that left her knees weak and her heart beating erratically against her ribs.
“Ready?” he asked.
Ivy nodded. “So ready,” she whispered.
Duff chuckled. “You might want to wear some shoes. Boots would be even better. And if you have a leather jacket, that would be good.”
“In this heat?” she asked, leaning back to look up into his face.
“In any weather.” He kissed her forehead. “If we have a wreck, you have a better chance of keeping your skin with a leather jacket on.”
“Oh.” Ivy frowned. “What are the chances of having a wreck?”
“With me? Slim to none.” He winked. “It’s the other people on the road we have to worry about.”
“Got it.” She stepped out of his arms, already wanting to be back in them. “I’ll be right back.”
“Hurry. Our dinner is sitting in the sun.”
She ran for her bedroom, grabbed socks, her leather boots and a brown leather jacket. She plunked them on the counter in the bathroom and made quick work of braiding her damp hair into one thick plait at the back of her neck.
When she was finished, she shoved her feet into the socks and boots and grabbed her jacket.
When she came back out, she smiled. “Ready.”
“Keys?” he asked.
Ivy grabbed them out of her purse. “Do I need to take my purse?”
“Not unless you’re going to use it to buy fish food at Belton Lake.”
Her brow dipped. “We’re going to the lake?”
He nodded. “I thought a picnic would be nice and, if we’re lucky, we might catch the meteor shower that’s supposed to be happening tonight.”
Ivy quivered in anticipation. It didn’t get dark until later that evening. Which meant he had plans to be with her for more than a few hours.
“That sounds lovely.”
He nodded. “Good. Otherwise, I was going to take you to Lampasas to a barbeque place I know out there and a dancehall afterward.”
“That sounds nice, too.” She smiled. “But I think the lake sounds more relaxing, and I’ve had a very busy day at the store.”
His brow dipped. “Any trouble?”
“None at all. Just a bunch of customers keeping me hopping.”
“Right. You’re there alone.” He frowned.
She was impressed he’d remembered that from her conversation with her mother. “I just opened a month ago, and I’m waiting to see if the place generates enough money to hire help.”
“Sounds like a lot of work.”
She shrugged into her jacket. “I love it.”
“Better than lawyering?”
She nodded. “Much. That was always my mother’s dream. Not mine. I was too obedient to tell her different.”
“And now?” Duff asked.
“Now, I realize I need to follow my own dreams.”
“Will you ever go back to law?”
She lifted her shoulders and let them fall. “Maybe. If I do, it will be to advocate for people who can’t afford to hire the high-powered, expensive law firms. People who really need help to make things right in their worlds.”
“Very altruistic.” He held the door for her. “You sacrificed a lot to make it through law school. Seems a shame not to cash in on your knowledge.”
As she stepped across the threshold, she smiled up at him. “You sacrificed a lot to become Delta Force. Seems you could get paid a lot more by going into the private security business.” She cocked an eyebrow in challenge.
“I do it because I love it and believe in the results,” he said.
She nodded. “If I go back to law, I’ll do it because I want to help others and believe in the results.”
“Fair enough.” He took her keys from her and locked her front door. Then he handed back the keys and took her hand. “Are you good with riding on the back of my motorcycle?”
She nodded. “I am.”
“If not, I can go back and get my truck,” he offered.
Ivy shook her head. “I’m looking forward to the wind in my face to clear a few cobwebs.”
He brushed a loose strand of her hair back behind her ear. “I don’t see any cobwebs,” he said and kissed the tip of her nose.
“No?” She leaned up on her toes and pressed her lips to his. “I thought I saw a few on your face yesterday. Seems they’ve disappeared today.”
“Put it down to a night with you,” he brushed his lips across hers, “and an afternoon on the dirt bike track.”
Ivy laughed. “I think the afternoon on the dirt bike track would have more of an impact.”
“It would have, if I’d crashed.”
That made her laugh.
He handed her a helmet. “But the night with you wins, hands down.”
Her chest swelled at the resonance in his tone. His words and his expression made her feel beautiful, with and without her clothes on. At that moment, she had the overwhelming urge to grab his hand and drag him into her house for the clothes-off version.
He slipped the helmet over her head and buckled it beneath her chin.
She’d look kind of funny wearing a helmet back into the house, so she waited while he put his on and buckled.
Then he mounted the big motorcycle and scooted forward to give her room to sit behind him.
Ivy swung her leg over the bike and sat behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and her legs around his hips and thighs.
She’d thought about this position all day long. She couldn’t imagine it could get any better, until he got the motor humming. The rumble of the engine, the man between her thighs and her arms around his waist made her hotter than the leather jacket and ready for anything. As long as it was with this man.
He drove out of her driveway, her neighborhood and Copperas Cove, heading east.
Most of the rush-hour traffic from Ft. Hood had dissipated, leaving the usual traffic to navigate through.
Thirty minutes late
r, Duff left the highway and drove a curving road to get to Belton Lake.
Ivy leaned into him, loving the scent of leather and male. At one point, he laid a hand over hers, in a reassuring way before placing it back on the handle.
Ivy slid her fingers beneath his jacket to the crisp, white shirt, loving the feel of his tight muscles beneath.
All too soon, they arrived at a bluff overlooking the lake. An open, grassy area stretched out in front of them with a few trees close to the edge, providing shade.
Duff drove off the road and parked the motorcycle beneath the shade of one of the trees.
Ivy climbed off the back, shed her helmet and helped him unload the storage compartments on either side.
He pulled out a Mexican blanket in bright shades of orange, blue and red. He laid it out on the ground and anchored it from the wind with a bottle of wine on one corner and an insulated container on the other.
Ivy was glad they hadn’t gone to one of the more populated day-use areas. She liked having Duff all to herself.
Duff dropped down on the blanket and opened the insulated container, pulling out cartons of food, including fried chicken, potato salad, dill pickles and fresh peaches.
Another container held paper plates, plastic stemless wine glasses and a corkscrew.
While Ivy dished up the food, Duff opened the bottle of wine and poured two glasses.
Ivy handed him a plate full of chicken and sides. Duff handed her a glass of wine.
They touched the rims of their wine goblets together.
“To getting to know each other,” Duff said.
“Hear, hear,” she said and drank a long swallow.
“So, your favorite color is aqua?” he said.
Her brow twisted. “How did you know?”
He looked to the sky. “A birdy told me.”
“Gwen?” she asked, liking that he’d gone to the trouble of finding out more about her.
He sipped his wine before saying, “Would you think I was stalker if I said yes?”
“Yes.”
“Would you care?”
She sighed and picked up a fork. “Did she tell you that I liked fried chicken, too?”
He nodded. “She might have mentioned that you liked chicken more than red meat.”
“Good call,” she said, picking up a juicy chicken leg. “Although a good steak is always well received.”
“She said that, too.” He bit into a piece of the chicken and chewed before swallowing. “And she told me not to break your heart.”
“Don’t worry. I can—”
“—take care of yourself,” he finished for her. “I learned that one from you.”
“You know more about me than I do about you,” Ivy said with a frown. “My turn.”
He raised his hands, palms up. “Go.”
“Your favorite color?” she asked.
“Green.”
“Why green?” she shot back.
“It’s the color of grass and the leaves on the trees in the spring and summer. It’s also the color of your eyes.” He closed his. “What color are my eyes?”
“No fair,” she said. “We’re only just getting to know each other.”
“That’s what I said to Gwen when I called her.” His eyes still closed, he asked again, “What color?”
Ivy closed her own and thought back to all the times she’d stared into his and fallen deeper. “Brown.”
He opened his eyes and nodded. “Good guess.”
She snorted. “I knew. You just surprised me and put me on the spot.”
“Best rock band of all time?” he asked.
“That’s easy. The Beatles. They laid the framework for the rest.”
He nodded. “Best sports team?”
“Aggies,” she replied. “My undergraduate alma mater. I attended every home game.”
He shook his head. “Longhorns.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree.”
“True.” He ate a bite of the potato salad.
“Beach or mountain vacation?” she asked.
“Mountains in the summer,” he said. “Beach in the fall after the kids go back to school. I like a long walk on the sand at sunset. And I like the cool of the higher elevations in the heat of the summer.”
Ivy smiled. “Me, too.”
“Fish?” he asked.
“Eat or catch?”
“Both,” he said.
She nodded. “That’s one thing my father taught me at a young age. He wanted a son. Thankfully, I enjoyed fishing, and I didn’t babble out on the boat. Lakes, deep sea and ice fishing. I love them all.”
“Ice fishing?”
“My father took me on a fishing vacation in Minnesota one year and we fished on the ice in a little hut.”
“Your mother?”
Ivy smiled. “Wouldn’t be caught dead with a fishing pole in her hands. It was the only time I had my father all to myself.”
“You had a good relationship with your father?”
She nodded. “I did. And I had a good one with my mother, though we can be too much alike.”
“How so?”
“Both of us are hard-headed and stubborn. I went along with her and my father’s idea of what I should do with my life, to a point. When I reached that point, I pushed back and started down my own path.”
“Giving up law to own your gift shop?”
She nodded. “My mother was livid. Like her, I didn’t back down from what I believed in. Hopefully, she’ll get over it eventually. She’s all the family I have left.”
“Your father was the governor of Texas. How was that?”
“He always made time for me. It might not be much, but he made the effort.” Her eyes misted. “He was a good man and a great governor. He led with his heart.” Ivy popped a fork full of potato salad into her mouth and chewed.
“And your mother?” Duff asked.
She swallowed. “She also follows her convictions. The lobbyists are frustrated with her. She can’t be bought.”
“Do you think they’re playing dirty with her and sending thugs out to bring her down?” Duff asked.
“Could be,” Ivy said. She lifted her wine goblet and took a sip. “What about you? Family?”
“Parents moved to Florida when Dad retired. Mom thought it was hot in Texas, but she’s finding it’s even hotter in Florida. I expect they’ll move back eventually.”
“Siblings?” Ivy prompted, taking a pickle from the container and biting off a piece. The dill was just sour enough to make her lips pucker.
“Two brothers. One joined the Marines. The other is also in the Army.”
Ivy tilted her head. “Is he Delta Force, like you?”
Duff shook his head. “No. He’s a Ranger, though, and damn good at what he does.”
“He has no desire to join the Delta Force?”
“He has a wife and baby girl. I think he likes being home more often to be with his family. The occasional deployment is manageable. Delta Force is always on call and ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.”
“And you like that?” Ivy asked.
He shrugged. “Never had a reason to dislike it.”
“You almost did,” she said quietly.
“Almost is only good in horseshoes and hand grenades,” he said.
Ivy held up her hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a painful subject.”
“It’s okay. It was a long time ago. Before I joined Delta Force.”
She nodded. “Is that the reason you joined?”
He stared out at the water. “Yes. The more intense the training, the less time I had to think.”
“And now?”
“Now, I love what I do. I feel like I make a difference.”
“Do you still think of her?” Ivy spoke softly.
He nodded. “I do. No matter how many years have gone by, I still ask myself if I could have done more to save her.”
“You can’t undo the past.”
He
shook his head. “No.” He pushed the cork back into the wine and stood. “Feel like a little exercise?”
She shrugged. “Sure. What did you have in mind? I have to tell you, my pushups aren’t up to Army standards. The best I can do is plank for thirty seconds.”
He chuckled. “I wasn’t thinking of that kind of exercise. How about a hike down to the water and back? My teammates like to take the fast track down by jumping off the rocks into the water, but we’re not dressed to swim.”
“A hike would be nice. Although, jumping could be fun too. Just not in jeans and boots.”
“Next time, we’ll wear suits beneath our clothes. The water’s deep and cool here.”
“You’re on.” Her heart warmed. He was already talking about a next time. She’d like that. A lot.
Ivy helped pack up the food and wine and put them in the storage compartment on the motorcycle.
Once they’d stored everything, Duff took her hand and helped her find her footing down a narrow trail leading down the side of the bluff to the water below.
He was patient and careful to make sure she didn’t fall. Ivy was more worried he’d fall off the trail no wider than a goat might travel. He was a big guy. Yet, he descended the path with a sureness of foot that Ivy envied.
A small area of rocks and sand waited at the bottom. They stripped off their boots and waded into the cool lake water. Afterward, they sat on the sand until their feet dried, skipping stones across the smooth surface.
The sun was well on its way to the horizon when they started up the trail to the top of the bluff.
Dusk had settled over the land, blurring the trees with shadows.
“Thank you for a wonderful evening,” Ivy said as they neared where they’d parked the motorcycle.
“It’s not over yet,” he said. “The stars will make their appearance soon, and that meteor shower should start soon after.”
“That’s right.” She hurried toward the motorcycle. “We’ll need the blanket.”
“And the wine,” Duff added, coming up behind her.
A dark shape exploded from the shadows, rushing toward Ivy. Another came at Duff, bent low like a defensive player on a football team.
Ivy screamed and tried to duck to the right to avoid the man rushing toward her.
A third man emerged from behind the tree and hurtled toward Duff.
