Here And Now (American Valor 2)

by Cheryl Etchison

  “What the hell are you doing?” Lucky asked, fearing he was going to undo the last two hours of hard work.

  “Stress test.” Ben moved to the opposite side and repeated the action. “Have to make certain this thing is structurally sound. Trust me when I say that while toddlers might be small, they’re mighty. And those little terrors will give this crib a run for its money.”

  Lucky shook his head, silently praying his kid wouldn’t be anything like the mini-monster that Ben described.

  Just as he heard the rumble of a large truck, his phone chimed in his pocket. After a quick glance at the screen he took off down the stairs and out the front door as his father backed the large U-Haul truck into the driveway while Brenda parked her SUV along the curb. Rachel must have been as excited as he was, because she flung open the car door and hopped out the moment Brenda came to a stop.

  He met her in the middle of the front yard and wrapped her up in his embrace, her belly noticeably larger than the last time he saw her in person. “God, I’ve missed you,” he whispered in her ear. He buried his face in her hair, soaked up her warmth, breathed in her scent, his heart and mind at ease for the first time since he’d arrived in Savannah because she was finally here with him.

  Lucky held her face in his hands and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, before he knelt down and placed another to her belly. “Hi, baby,” he whispered, and when he rose to his feet he noticed the shimmer of tears in her bright blue eyes.

  Her fingers skimmed over the light stubble on his face. “It’s still so strange to see you without your beard. And your hair, it’s so short.”

  “Having a change of heart?”

  She ran her hand over the top of his head. “Absolutely not.”

  IT WAS HOURS before she had him all to herself. His friends stood on the front steps, anxious to meet her the moment she climbed out of the car. They were able to steal a few minutes alone while Lucky gave her a quick tour of the condo but then he and the guys went right to work unloading the U-Haul. They spent the next hour carrying in boxes and mattresses and the new couch Lucky had bought her. Brenda and Duke helped unpack a few things, but left to check in at the bed-and-breakfast Lucky booked for them as a thank you for helping them move and driving her across country.

  By the time they were done, it was well past dinnertime so it was only right to feed them. Then they spent the next three hours eating pizza, drinking beer, and telling Ranger stories. Ben and Danny were just as Lucky had described them. And Gibby was just as she remembered. Together the three of them were funny and loud and had a million and one stories. Most of the time Lucky was content to sit back and listen, unless he thought he was portrayed incorrectly. Then he was quick to lean over and whisper loud enough they could all hear that he thought they were full of shit.

  Around midnight, with the guys finally gone, Lucky led her upstairs to their bedroom, laid her down on cool sheets, and did his absolute best to make up for the past eight weeks apart. The time away from each other wasn’t easy, but Rachel considered it good preparation, an army wives boot camp of sorts to prepare her for a military marriage. As they laid there in the darkness, the moonlight streaming in through the plantation shutters, she imagined this is how it would always be when he returned after a long training session or even longer deployment. How all that time apart would fade away into the background as they lay in each other’s arms, sharing stories about things the other missed.

  She still couldn’t get over the shape of his body now. How much harder, leaner, his muscles were. The first time she saw him in the ER she’d thought he was the best-looking thing she’d ever seen in person. And now he’d gone and made himself look ten times better. She could hardly believe he was hers.

  Even more surprising, how he completely changed her life for the better. By showing her there was so much more to life outside her little bubble. Because of him she’d quit her job, given away her brother’s truck, and moved halfway across the country to a city she’d never been to. And soon she’d be a wife and a mom. Her life was a lot like this house he’d found for them to live in—far better than she ever could have imagined.

  She smoothed her hand over his face and lightly scratched the chin covered in a day’s worth of stubble. He smiled at her, and despite video chatting almost every day they were apart, she was still surprised by the dimple in his cheek no longer hidden beneath his beard.

  “You look happy,” she said.

  “I am.” His hand smoothed idly over her belly, alternating between sweeping side-to-side movements and lazy circles. The baby was still for the moment, but Lucky was trying his best to jump-start a kicking session. “In some ways it’s like I never left the army. The training is the same. The places are the same. For the most part, the people are all the same. But when I’d get back to the barracks and things were quiet, like now, that’s when I missed you the most.”

  Lucky smoothed his hand across her arm and shoulder, finally reaching her jaw, his fingertips curling around her ear as his thumb brushed across her cheek. “So yeah, I’m very happy.”

  And then, without any warning, he threw back the covers and sat up in bed. “You need to get dressed.”

  Rachel looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table. “It’s not even five in the morning. I’m pretty sure there’s nowhere I need to be right now.”

  But he didn’t relent, taking hold of her wrists and tugging her into a sitting position. His eyes and smile conveyed his excitement as he leaned over to kiss her forehead, the tip of her nose and then to her lips. “Come on, Shortcake,” he whispered against her lips. “There’s something I want to show you.”

  LUCKY MADE HIS way around to the passenger door where he helped Rachel out of his Jeep. Instantly her head tipped back, her gaze traveling upward, to the bright light at the top of the lighthouse.

  “I didn’t know places still used lighthouses.”

  “They don’t, really. Not with all the navigational equipment that’s available these days. I think it’s more for the history and charm than anything else.” He took hold of her hand as they made their way across the boardwalk. “Just so you know, they do a lot of weddings here.”

  He looked to see what her reaction might be, but she was too busy looking at the sand oats and the dunes and everything else.

  “Is that right?” she replied.

  Just as he anticipated, Rachel didn’t take the bait. As long as it took her to say yes to his marriage proposal, he could only imagine how long it would be before she set a wedding date. He didn’t care where or when they had it. Or if they invited two hundred people or kept it to the two of them. None of that mattered. He just wanted Rachel to be his wife. The sooner, the better.

  When they reached the end of the boardwalk, she sucked in a breath.

  “What do you think?”

  Rachel shook her head as if she couldn’t find the words.

  Lucky wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side as she looked out at the ocean for the very first time. The sun was just breaking over the horizon, adding streaks of pink and orange to the dark blue sky.

  “It’s amazing. Beautiful.” She turned to look at him with a bright smile on her face. “And definitely bigger than the farm pond.”

  Lucky chuckled. “Just a little bit.”

  They made their way onto the sand to the water’s edge, walking along where the tide slid up and over their feet before retreating back into the ocean. He liked listening to her talk about how soft the sand was. How white it was. He loved watching her discover this place, seeing her smile, hearing her laugh as she wriggled her toes in the sand and the foam tickled her feet. She kept stopping every few feet to gather another shell until the pockets in both her jacket and his were stuffed full.

  “I found another one of those pink ones,” she said, leaning over and plucking a half-buried shell from the sand. She was rinsing
it clean when the tide receded and a tiny crab scuttled across her toes. Rachel panicked, screaming and jumping around as if the crab was the size of a dog instead of the size of a pink eraser. In all of the excitement, she threw the pink shell she’d found at it, and the tide came in and swept it away.

  Rachel held her hands up in surrender. “You know what? I’m done.”

  “No more shells?”

  “Not after that.” Rachel brushed her hands together, knocking off the sand and grit from her fingers. “Besides, I’m hungry.”

  “Say no more.” He held out his hand and she twined her chilled fingers with his as they made their way back to the Jeep.

  Much to his surprise, they’d had the beach all to themselves the entire time they’d been there. As they started the mile walk back to the lighthouse, their hands swung between them as they walked hand in hand. Lucky could easily picture their future, how one day there would be a child between them, holding on to each of their hands as they swung back and forth.

  “Have you given any thought to baby names?”

  Her smile was sweet and a little shy. “I have.”

  “And?” He prompted her with a squeeze of her hand.

  “I only have one name so far.”

  “Ethan?”

  “Am I that predictable?”

  “Not really.” After all, it was pretty easy for him to guess what the one name would be. If they had a boy, it would be the perfect way to honor her brother. Plus it only seemed right that when she finally let go of one Ethan that she’d gain another.

  But as much as he’d love a little boy, he really wanted a little girl. One with fiery red hair and bright blue eyes just like her mother. “Maybe we should buy a baby name book to help with the girl names.”

  “Do you really think we need one? It shouldn’t be that hard to come up with one.”

  So they continued walking hand in hand, listing girls’ names off the top of their heads. Anna. Emma. Laura. Elizabeth. Many of the names were quickly scratched off the list because they either reminded them of a girl they once knew and didn’t like or someone in their families already had it.

  Rachel dropped his hand and stopped in her tracks. “I’ve got it!” She flung her hands in the air like a cheerleader. “Brittany!”

  “No. Absolutely not.”

  Rachel laughed hysterically. To the point of tears even. She only stopped once he pointed out the likelihood of her peeing her pants.

  “By the way . . . your little Brittany joke?” He wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his side. “Still not funny.” With the brainstorming of names effectively finished for the day, they walked in silence the rest of the way, the only sound that of the waves crashing on the shore.

  “What’s your schedule next week?” she asked.

  “Nothing special. At HAAF all week. Three-day weekend.”

  “Well, then, if you aren’t busy next Friday, I thought we could elope.”

  Lucky rounded in front of her, needing to see her face. “I thought you wanted your brothers to be there. You said they wanted to come to the wedding.”

  “I changed my mind.” She shrugged one shoulder. “On the drive here I was getting information on marriage licenses. There’s no waiting. No witnesses required.”

  A breeze kicked up off the ocean, sending those red strands in every direction. Using both of his hands, he smoothed them back from her face, burying his fingers in her hair. “You want it to be just the two of us.”

  She wrapped her hands around his wrists and smiled up at him. “I want it to be just like this. Here. At sunrise. With no one else around. Is that okay?”

  “It’s perfect.” Lucky sealed their wedding plans with a gentle kiss to her lips, and another to her belly. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her as close as their baby would allow. “And afterward, I’ll take the two of you to breakfast.”

  Acknowledgments

  IN THE PAST few months, I have definitely learned it takes a village to produce a book and I have the best village out there. Thank you to my editor, Rebecca Lucash, and her figurative mighty red pen. Many thanks to the art department for making my fiery redheaded heroine look simply amazing on the front. I cannot show off this cover enough. Thank you to my agent, Stephany Evans, for her cheerleading, her feedback, and her well-timed emails.

  Thank you to Edith Lalonde for reading an early version and not pulling any punches when I knew something was wrong and desperately needed brutal honesty. Many thanks to Liz Kerrick for labeling Lucky a unicorn as well as listening to me go on and on and on about this series and not once telling me to shut up. Special thanks to Eric Leisering for providing a wealth of one-liners and insight into the single man’s mind. I find myself appreciative and scared all at the same time. Once again, many thanks to George Kohrman, MD, who doesn’t run screaming from my messages and tells me all I need to know about hospital protocol and medical procedures. Any medical mistakes in this book are the fault of the student, not the teacher. And a special shout out to the crew at Red Horn Coffee House and Brewing for keeping me fed and caffeinated.

  Last but certainly not least, thank you to my husband and three girls. I love you all more than you will ever know.

  Don’t miss the first fantastic romance in Cheryl Etchison’s American Valor series,

  ONCE AND FOR ALL

  Rule #1: Military and matrimony don’t mix.

  But if there’s one person Staff Sergeant Danny MacGregor would break all his rules for, it’s Bree—his first friend, first love, first everything. Maybe he likes playing the hero. Maybe he’s trying to ease ten years of guilt. Either way, he’ll do whatever he can to help her.

  Wish #1: A little bit of normal.

  Bree Dunbar has battled cancer, twice. What she wants most is a fresh start in a place where she can find a new job, and where people aren’t constantly treating her like she’s sick. By some miracle her wish is granted, but it comes with one major string attached— the man who broke her heart ten years before.

  The rules for this marriage of convenience are simple: when she’s ready to stand on her own two feet, she’ll walk away and he’ll let her go. Only, as they both know all too well, things don’t always go according to plan . . .

  Available Now!

  About the Author

  CHERYL ETCHISON graduated from the University of Oklahoma’s School of Journalism and began her career as an oil and gas reporter. Bored to tears and broke as hell, it wasn’t long before she headed for the promised land of public relations. But that was nearly a lifetime ago and she’s since traded in reporting the facts for making it all up. Currently, she lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and three daughters.

  www.cheryletchison.com

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  By Cheryl Etchison

  American Valor Novels

  Here and Now

  Once and For All

  Give in to your Impulses . . .

  Continue reading for excerpts from

  our newest Avon Impulse books.

  Available now wherever ebooks are sold.

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  STIRRING ATTRACTION

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  SMOLDER

  THE WILDWOOD SERIES

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  An Excerpt from

  ONE LUCKY HERO

  The Men in Uniform Series

  By Codi Gary

  Violet Douglas wants one night where she can be normal. Where she can do something for herself and not be just her siblings’ guardian. So when she spies a tall, dark, and sexy stranger, she’s ready to le
t her wild side roar. The last thing she expects is to see her one night stand one week later, when she drags her delinquent kid brother to the Alpha Dog Training Program.

  “You done throwing a tantrum?” he asked.

  As his hard body moved into hers, tension hummed around them. “I was not—”

  “Yeah, you’re revved up into a full-on hissy fit, but I’m going to overlook that while I . . . clarify a few things.”

  The way his voice softened on those last four words made her body tighten, especially when she realized one of his legs was pressed between hers. His wide shoulders blocked her view of who might be watching them, and his hands were braced flat just above her shoulders. If she moved a fraction higher, he could graze her bare skin with his thumb, and just the thought of it made her nipples perk up against the sheer lace of her bra.

  “First of all, yes, I was rude to you, but not because I wasn’t attracted to you.”

  Violet held her breath at this, her eyes riveted to his lips.

  “I was trying to save you.”

  Huh? Save her? She could hardly concentrate on what he was talking about, his proximity casting a spell of confusion over her. Maybe she’d been binge watching too much Charmed, but she was too caught up in the obsidian flecks in his brown eyes to fully process.

  “From what?” Was that her voice? It was soft, dreamy, and not at all normal.

  And good God, but were his lips inching closer? “From me.”

  “Are you dangerous?” Silly question. If he was really dangerous, you wouldn’t be putty in his hands.

  His right hand moved, and he began trailing one of his fingers along her temple and cheek, until the very tip smoothed over her bottom lip. “I would never mean to hurt you, but I’m not looking for anything serious.”

  That woke her up a little, and she frowned. “Neither am I.”

  His finger dropped, and he stared down at her grimly. “You say that now, but—”