Holding Her Hero

by Amy Lamont

  “No? What was your dream?”

  She was silent long enough to make him glance her way again. Her teeth bit into her bottom lip, chasing away the smile. But even as he watched her, she visibly shook off whatever thought had caused the moment of sadness. From what she’d told him about her fiancé, he could only guess at the dreams she had in the past.

  His fists tightened on the steering wheel as a jolt of…something hit him when he thought of her pining for another man. Shit. Was he actually jealous of a dead soldier?

  Before he could dig too deeply into that disturbing thought, he realized her smile was back and she looked bursting to share her news now.

  “I always wanted to open a pastry shop. It’s the whole reason I went to culinary school.” Her words came faster as she told him of her dreams of settling down in a small town and the shop she wanted to open. He enjoyed her excitement so much it almost flew over his head when she finally got to her big announcement. “That’s why I decided to move to Kismet Beach and open my shop here.”

  Move to Kismet Beach. The words replayed over and over in his mind. He did his best to make appropriate comments about her news, but he couldn’t help but feel like he’d been cheated.

  He had planned things out perfectly. He would date Mandy, give into the obvious attraction between the two of them, and then put her on a plane back to New York. He would never think of having a one-night stand with Miss Abigail’s granddaughter, but their circumstances meant she was the perfect no-strings attached kind of girl. When he’d realized it, he’d felt like a kid on Christmas. He’d found the perfect loophole.

  Except now she was moving to Kismet Beach. He should have known she’d have him tied in knots.

  * * *

  Sunday morning came too soon for Mitch. He squinted into the sun as he stood next to Cal on the tarmac, waiting to start the training exercises planned for today.

  “Late night?”

  Mitch lowered his head, shaking it in disgust. He knew there was no way to keep Cal from asking about last night. He decided not to drag this conversation out any longer than necessary. “She’s moving here.”

  “What?” Cal’s jaw dropped.

  At least Mitch could take some small measure of pleasure in shocking Cal. “She told me last night she’s moving to Kismet Beach. Permanently.”

  Mitch turned his head and the two men shared a look.

  “Is she staying to be with you?”

  “No, no, nothing like that.” Mitch shook his head. “She’s not a stalker. She wants to live near her grandmother and settle down and start a business.”

  “Settle down, huh?” Cal shuddered.

  “Yeah.” Mitch’s flat tone said it all.

  The silence stretched between the two men until Cal broke the silence as Mitch fully expected him to do.

  “So, did you get some last night?” Cal wiggled his eyebrows.

  Mitch barked out a humorless laugh, but didn’t bother to say the words.

  Cal squinted, looking closer at Mitch. Mitch braced himself for whatever was about to trip off Cal’s tongue. “You like this girl.”

  “That’s been established,” he said drily. “And not the problem.”

  “You know,” Cal said, “I don’t think I see the problem.”

  Mitch lurched back. “What’re you talking about? We’ve been over this. There’s no way I’m going to lead on Miss Abigail’s granddaughter. It was one thing when she was planning on leaving, but now….”

  “Now…what? Did last night totally suck?”

  Mitch’s mind played over memories of last night—Mandy’s obvious happiness to be with him, laughing over the movie, making out on the beach. “No, it didn’t suck.”

  “You going to see her again?”

  “It’s not like I can avoid it without leaving Miss Abigail high and dry on fixing her house.”

  Cal gave him a hard jab in the upper arm. “You know what I’m asking. How did you leave things? Did you ask her out again?”

  “You want to paint my toenails after we’re done with the gossip session?”

  Cal ignored him. “You fucked it up, didn’t you?”

  Mitch’s jaw tensed. “I didn’t fuck it up. I just don’t want to give her the wrong idea. I only asked her out because I knew her visit was temporary.”

  “Well, I’m sure the girl’s not waiting for a proposal after one date.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “You’re afraid that while she’s making plans to open a store and settle down, she’ll start looking around for someone to do all that settling down with.”

  Mitch lifted his sunglasses from where they hung from the pocket of his shirt. He put them on without bothering to comment on Cal’s words.

  “Why are you making such a big deal about this?” Cal asked. “Date her like you planned. The two of you can work each other out of your systems and then move on. What’s the difference if she lives here?”

  “The difference is I plan on continuing to visit Miss Abigail long after anything between Mandy and me is over.” The tightness in his chest as he talked about things being over between them took him by surprise. “What if she thinks I took advantage of Mandy? And if things don’t end well with Mandy, what am I going to do, keep dropping by for awkward dinners?”

  “Man, you think too much. Mandy isn’t going to live with her grandmother forever. I’m sure she’ll get her own place. If things don’t work out, you plan on seeing Miss Abigail when Mandy’s not around.”

  Mitch gave his friend a long, hard look. Was he overthinking things? Maybe it could be just as simple as Cal said. He could keep dating Mandy and not worry about the fallout when things ended. But he couldn’t help but play devil’s advocate. “What happens if she starts getting ideas about making things more permanent?”

  “What if she does?”

  Mitch narrowed his eyes. “I’m not looking for a relationship.”

  “Maybe you should think about it.”

  “What the hell, man?”

  “I’m just saying. But hey, if things didn’t go well last night, give her the friends speech, duck for cover and move on.”

  Mitch clenched and unclenched his jaw. Was he ready to end things with Mandy before they’d had a chance to begin? But if he kept seeing her, wouldn’t that be leading her on?

  “Hey,” Cal said, “here’s a crazy thought. Maybe you’ll end up happy with this girl.”

  Mitch just shook his head. He and Cal had always shared the same outlook on relationships. Or so he thought.

  Cal was the one person in the world who knew every last detail of Mitch’s life. His earliest memory was of being taken away from his parents at the age of four. After that he moved from foster home to foster home. Aside from the guys in his unit, Mitch had never been part of a family. “I’m not family material.”

  “I would have thought that once. But look how you are with Miss Abigail. She’s as good as family. Maybe it’s time to make some changes.”

  Mitch stared at Cal until they heard the sound of chopper blades in the distance. He never thought he’d be so happy to see new recruits.

  “You’re an ass,” Cal said.

  A sudden picture of Mandy looking up at him with her ingenuous smile popped into his head, and he couldn’t help but silently agree with Cal.

  * * *

  “How was your date?”

  Mandy strolled across the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee before answering her grandmother’s question. Mug of the steaming brew in hand, she perched a hip against the kitchen counter. “It was…good?”

  “Are you asking me or telling me?” her grandmother asked with a laugh.

  “It’s just…it was odd. We had a wonderful time. At least I thought we had a wonderful time.” Mandy filled her grandmother in on the movie theater under the stars and the moonlit stroll on the beach, skipping over the part where she barely restrained herself from tackling Mitch to the sand and having her way with him. “But then
on the way home, he got awfully quiet.”

  Mandy wrinkled her nose as she thought about Mitch’s odd behavior the night before. After one of the most wonderfully romantic nights of her life, she was surprised when Mitch clammed up on the drive home. Not that he was a chatterbox by any stretch of the imagination.

  But there was something different about the way he held himself so separate from her on the way home. They hadn’t talked much on the car ride to the beach, but the feeling of intimacy was there. That feeling was gone on the way back.

  And then when they got to the house, she’d expected another kiss like the one they shared at the beach. But before she’d even managed to turn to face him, he was out of the car and at her door waiting to help her out.

  At the front door, she’d almost giggled at the idea of being kissed goodnight on her grandmother’s front porch. It felt like being back in high school. She was about to share her thoughts, but again, before she could move, he gave her a perfunctory kiss on the side of her mouth and wished her a goodnight.

  She shook her head. It didn’t make any more sense in the light of day.

  “Maybe he was just tired.” Grandma Abigail patted Mandy’s hand as she bustled by. “That boy works hard.”

  “Maybe.” But Mandy wasn’t convinced. After all her soul searching about dating Mitch, had he decided he wasn’t that into her?

  Her throat tightened and she took a gulp of hot coffee to push down the rising emotions. It was silly to get upset after one date. She needed a distraction.

  After dumping all her issues on Hal the other day when the other woman was going through so much herself, Mandy didn’t want to call her again. Luckily, between her grandmother’s house and her own new business venture, she should have plenty to keep her mind occupied.

  8

  Hours later Mandy wanted to take that thought back. She’d changed into old clothes, piled her hair into a messy knot, and went to work scraping the peeling paint from the front porch.

  Unfortunately, her mind wasn’t needed as much as she’d hoped to get the task done. While muscles she hadn’t known she had screamed, her mind had plenty of time to play back and pick apart every detail of her date last night.

  After two hours she had no more answers than she had last night or in the kitchen this morning. There was only one conclusion she could come up with that seemed fitting.

  “He’s an ass.”

  As if her words had conjured him, the sound of an engine rumbled to her ears. Turning, she caught sight of Mitch’s black Mustang pulling into the driveway.

  An excited smile touched her lips for half a second before she caught herself. Had things ended with the same warm feelings she’d had on the beach last night, she’d be running to greet him with a hug. But the memory of his aloofness and swift departure kept her glued to her spot on the porch.

  It was only as he climbed out of the car, looking as mouthwatering as ever in his jeans and black T-shirt, that her own grubby appearance occurred to her. She raised a hand to her hair self-consciously and sighed. Nothing she could do about it now. She stood up straight and tilted her chin, prepared not to show anything no matter what he threw at her.

  “I’m an ass,” he said when he stood just a few steps from the porch.

  “Yes,” she agreed. She wanted to hide the smile, but she failed miserably.

  He returned her smile and took a few steps closer so he stood just below her perch on the porch. “Forgive me?”

  She looked down into his handsome face—the short-cropped, dark hair sticking up in spikes, the rugged line of his jaw, the dimple. Staring down at him, her heart started beating so hard she wouldn’t be surprised to look down and see it pumping through her shirt. She raised her gaze up to the cloudless sky and considered his plea.

  Part of her wanted to just jump off the porch into his arms. But another part of her, the part that was wary about getting involved with him in the first place, held her back. She wasn’t going to make this too easy for him.

  She returned her gaze to his face. “Maybe.”

  He swallowed hard and looked away for a long moment before raising his eyes to meet hers again. “Will you at least let me try to convince you to give me a second chance?”

  She couldn’t help it. She snorted out a choking laugh. “I guess I’d be a hypocrite if I said no to giving you another chance, wouldn’t I?”

  He gave her a lazy grin and crossed his arms over his chest. “This is true. And it’s not like I paraded another date in front of you.”

  Mandy’s cheeks flooded with heat at the reminder of her date with Doug. She looked down at her feet. “I’m sorry.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for.”

  Glancing at him from underneath her lashes, she reminded him, “I did give you a pretty darn good explanation about my behavior. Am I going to get the same consideration?”

  His throat worked again. “Yes.”

  She lifted the back of her hand to her lips to hide the giggle that wanted to bubble from her at his choked-out answer. She decided she could let him off the hook. Or at least reserve judgment until she gave him the chance to explain.

  “Do you think your confession can wait until after I shower?” she teased.

  “How about if you listen to my confession over lunch?”

  “Deal.”

  * * *

  “You’re really going to eat all that?”

  Mandy looked up from the big stack of pancakes covered in butter and real maple syrup. “Uh-huh.”

  Mitch just shook his head. She’d show him. When they arrived at the diner, she’d realized she hadn’t eaten yet today. Between being upset this morning and then working so hard on the porch for a couple of hours, she’d worked up a hearty appetite. Even though it was after noon, she figured she could get away with pancakes since this was technically her first meal of the day.

  “And what do you call that?” She used her fork to point to his plate. He’d chosen an egg white omelet with spinach and feta cheese, sliced tomatoes instead of home fries and dry wheat toast.

  “Lunch.” He shrugged.

  Mandy rolled her eyes. She wasn’t going to let his choice ruin her joy in the delicious mountain of carbohydrates in front of her. The first bite assured her the retro diner Hal had introduced her to was just as good at making breakfast as they were at making macaroni and cheese. She stifled a moan as she licked some maple syrup from the corner of her lips.

  She looked up to find Mitch’s gaze focused on the spot her tongue just touched. Heat spread through her cheeks, and maybe a few other parts, too.

  She cleared her throat. “So now that we’re all settled in, is it confession time?”

  Mitch chewed a mouthful of omelet and nodded.

  “You’re going to tell me why you got so...” She struggled for a minute, trying to find the right word to describe his behavior last night. “...distant?”

  “Yes. It wasn’t you.”

  Uh-oh. Since she’d really only had one serious boyfriend in her life, and she’d planned on marrying him from the moment they met, she’d never heard a breakup speech up close and personal. But girlfriends and many a television sitcom had clued her in to the “It’s not you, it’s me” speech she and Mitch had been joking about just the other day. She’d even been told it was common practice to give the speech in public so the person on the receiving end of the breakup couldn’t make a scene.

  “Are you about to tell me you don’t want to see me anymore?”

  “No.” Mitch shook his head and reached across the Formica-topped table to squeeze her hand. “Not at all.”

  His voice was low and reassuring, so Mandy let her shoulders relax. She used her fork to gesture for him to go on as she continued to dig into her pancakes.

  “I know I got odd last night. It’s just when you mentioned opening the restaurant—.” He took a sip of coffee. “Look, you have to know I was attracted to you pretty much from the second I opened the door the day you got here
.”

  Mandy smiled in pleasure at his confession. “I felt the same way,” she said softly.

  “But, I didn’t want to be attracted to you.”

  Mandy wrinkled her nose. “Why not?”

  “Well, first there was the fact I thought you had deliberately left Miss Abigail in dire straits.”

  Mandy nodded. “I guess I can understand that, but I thought we cleared that up pretty quickly.”

  “We did. But then I realized it probably wasn’t a good idea to get mixed up with Miss Abigail’s granddaughter.”

  Mandy mulled this over while she chewed on a bite of spicy sausage. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t fought the attraction, too, so it was tough to find fault with him there. But since his objection still held true, she wasn’t sure it made sense.

  “I’ll always be her granddaughter. What changed for you?”

  Mitch grimaced and dropped his fork beside his plate. He leaned back into the red cushioned seat and looked at her, and then lifted a hand to rub at the back of his neck. “That’s sort of the reason I got so quiet after you told me you were making the move to Kismet Beach a permanent one.”

  When no further explanation was forthcoming, Mandy turned his words over in her head. It took a few minutes, but things suddenly sunk in. “You only asked me out because you thought there was no chance of anything permanent between us because you thought I was going back to New York soon.”

  The pancakes and sausage sank like a lead ball to the bottom of her stomach. The tightness around his mouth made him look grim, and she knew she was exactly right. He’d planned on having a fling with her, but she’d changed the rules on him when she announced her plans to stay.

  “So, what? You brought me here to give me the brush-off?” Mandy gestured around the restaurant.

  He leaned forward quickly, and again captured her hand. “No. Not at all. It’s just, well, you caught me by surprise last night.”