“But…”
He got off the bed and headed for the bathroom. When the door closed, her female brain asked the obvious question. What the hell had just happened? Didn’t she want him to stay? Was he insulted she hadn’t answered immediately? Or maybe she hadn’t answered right away because she wasn’t sure about him staying. She flopped back on the bed. Oh, God. Inside an ache started, one filled with confusion. What did she want now that the earth-shaking sex was over? The man was a stud and a half. She snapped on the bedside lamp. Yet he was far more than that. He was—
When the bathroom door opened, she’d already pulled the covers up around her chin again.
He searched the area for his clothes.
Say it, damn it. Before he gets away. “Do you have to leave?”
Jeans back on, he stood bare-chested and hands on hips. A sad smile touched his mouth. “No, I don’t. But here’s the thing…you didn’t answer right away. You’re not sure about what we did. You need some time to think this whole thing over. You need to decide if the fact I’m in the military bothers you. Or if the fact that other women have come onto me bothers you. Maybe there’s a little part of you that believes the sexual harassment charge.”
Her mouth opened, but again nothing came out.
Lucy swallowed, her mind racing with questions. Only one would emerge. “Are you…what are you doing all this weekend?”
He shrugged. “I have a room over at the Beckworth Inn. Since my plans were changed last night, I’m kind of unsure what to do next. I planned on being here at least a week more, then back to Colorado Springs.”
“Oh.” Oh? Is that all I can say? “You hadn’t planned on seeing Marisa and Jake?”
“I planned to call them sometime this weekend. They knew I was coming in to town.”
When silence stretched, she slipped from the bed and rummaged in the closet for her robe. In the meantime, he pulled his sweater over that amazing chest. He returned to the utility room for his leather jacket and boots. She followed him to the door.
“Well, then,” she said when they stood at the door.
He smiled. “Yeah. Look, I’ll be at the inn, so you know where to find me.” Vic cupped her face. He kissed her softly, without any of the passion. “Wait. Got pen and paper? I’ll give you my cell number.”
She grabbed a notepad from a kitchen drawer and jotted down his cell number.
“Call me if you decide what you want,” he said.
He drew back and started to open the door. She clasped his forearm. “What do you want, Vic?”
His gaze searched her face. “To give you time. You’re confused, and hell, maybe I’m confused too. I thought Shelly cared about me and then she hosed up my life with lies, and you thought that jerk cared about you. One thing I do know. Last thing I want is to make you uncomfortable. Even if I’m in the military, I’m not like the ass wipe who didn’t have the brains to realize he was damned lucky you wrote him while he was at war. I know if you wrote me, I’d sure as hell fight tooth and nail to make sure I came back to you.” He shrugged. “But I’m through with women who aren’t sincere. Who don’t know what they want.” His eyes darkened. “I think I learned something about myself tonight. Maybe I don’t want one-night stands anymore.”
After he closed the door and left, she locked it and then slumped on the couch, her mind a bundle of contradictions. It had been a few hours of hot, incredible sex. Why did it have to become clouded with feelings? She felt connected to him at a level she wouldn’t have expected from such a short acquaintance, as if by letting him leave she’d lost a genuine chance for happiness. She wanted to be with a man who mattered. Who cared about people’s feelings, who had honor and integrity.
She headed back to bed a short time later and burrowed under the covers. Vic’s scent was on the sheets, and she loved it. She buried her face in the pillows, rolled from one side to the other as she experienced vivid recall of his body deep in hers, pounding out a bone-melting orgasm. She sighed. Confusion was a bitch. She hated confusion, and damned if she wasn’t baffled. Damn the man. He’d given her no ultimatums. He’d only asked for clarification and she couldn’t give him an answer. Perhaps he was right. Maybe the one-night stand needed to stay that way, a pleasant—hell, freaking fantastic memory to hold on to if her nights ever turned colder.
As she drifted into a restless sleep, a nightmare arose. Vic walked off into a sunset, never to be seen again, her opportunity to know something special blown to high hell.
Chapter Six
“Sounds like you had an interesting New Year’s Eve,” Neena said as she stood across from Lucy at Neena’s Breakfast Bar Sunday morning.
Lucy sighed as she slumped down on a barstool. She’d told Neena the whole story about Vic, including the part where his ex-girlfriend had dragged his name through the dirt. “I can’t believe that woman did that to him.”
Neena shook her head and took a sip of tomato juice, then rubbed her four-months-pregnant stomach. Her russet hair fell in a long, semi-wavy stream over her breasts. Her green eyes sparkled with genuine warmth and subtle amusement. Her oval face was never too made up. “Well, well. I never thought…” She shrugged. “Here I thought you and Danny would be all snuggled up somewhere for the weekend. Now you’re telling me that you did the two-backed beast with another military guy instead?”
Bleary eyed from not sleeping well Friday and Saturday night, Lucy stared at her half-full coffee cup. “Yup.”
“He’s good friends with Jake?”
“Well, he didn’t say friend. I guess they know each other.”
Neena laughed and stretched. Even pregnant and wearing a purple sweater hugging her rounding tummy, Neena had a glow about her, a kind of happiness Lucy feared she’d never know.
“Speaking of rascally men, where’s your husband?” Lucy asked.
“Dunno. He’s always tinkering with this place.” Neena glanced around the old house. “I have a hard time believing that this place is so pretty now. It took a lot of hard work.” The contentment on her face spoke volumes. “But I don’t regret a minute of it.”
“It’s beautiful. And you guys deserve it. You worked hard. Now you’ve got a little one on the way.”
Lucy tasted her coffee again, wishing she’d eaten more for breakfast. Her stomach grumbled and rolled a bit. Maybe it was punishment for New Year’s Eve’s sexual excess.
Neena shook her head again. “So Vic was this geek in high school.”
“A-number one. No glasses, but this big nose, big ears, gangly. Skinny. Dorky as hell. Yet he was the sweetest boy.”
Neena’s inquisitive expression widened to an evil grin. “Never underestimate a geek. Eve did that with Sean, and boy, did I underestimate Mitch.”
Eve had discovered when she saw Sean decked out in military uniform and packing a weapon, that the computer nerd was gorgeous as hell. Mitch had startled Neena by saving her skin during a robbery, while she saved his.
Lucy pushed her coffee away, confusion still twisting her up. “It was a mistake hooking up with Vic.”
Neena’s eyebrows lifted. “Honestly? Are you sure?”
“I’m not doing the military thing anymore.”
Neena nodded. “That’s what Marisa once said,”
True. Jake had come into Marisa’s life during a rescue in the Mexican jungle. Marisa had barely recovered from the death of her fiancé when Jake found a way into her reluctant heart.
“I’m not Marisa.”
Neena threw her a half-smile. “Your record with crappy military men is truly amazing.”
Lucy glanced around, not sure she wanted Mitch to hear this conversation. He’d been outside the isolated house shoveling snow when Lucy had arrived. While Lucy liked Mitch very much and had enjoyed photographing him for the Clarksville charity calendar two years ago, he had that something—whatever it was—that held him apart from other men. A watchfulness. She guessed being in a war could do that to a man. She’d seen it in Freddie’s husband, Keith W
allace, an Army Special Forces man, and fellow Special Ops soldier Jake Sullivan. They all possessed an extraordinary ingredient that made military men different from Joe Blow down the street. She didn’t want to like it, but seemed drawn to it every time. And her friends were very happily married to their big, tough military dudes. She couldn’t fault the guys for making her good buddies happy women.
“You ladies talking about me again?” Mitch sauntered from the utility room into the kitchen. A wide grin on his mouth said he found it amusing rather than irritating.
He was over six feet of tensile strength with piercing brown eyes that never missed anything. His collar-length dark hair and rugged features assured that he’d never be called a pretty boy.
“Of course we are.” Neena went into her husband’s arms and the two shared a short and yet tender kiss.
Mitch kept his arm around his wife’s waist. “Okay, since you weren’t really talking about me, who were you talking about?”
Keeping a straight face, Lucy said, “A friend of Jake’s. Well, a guy he knows anyway.”
“What’s this guy’s name?” Mitch released Neena and came around the counter.
His curiosity surprised her a little, but she answered after she finished a sip of coffee. “I ran into him on New Year’s Eve.”
Mitch threw her an even more curious look, his eyes narrowed. “So that’s where you were. We thought you were with Danny.”
Neena cleared his throat. “Mitch, that’s a long and personal story.”
“What did Danny do?” Mitch asked.
Lucy couldn’t hide her surprise as she swung toward Mitch. “How did you know he did something?”
Mitch reached for a peanut-butter cookie on a platter. He took a bite and chewed. “Never liked the guy.”
“You met him once,” Neena said. “For about two seconds.”
Mitch shrugged. “With some guys, that’s all it takes.”
Neena sighed. “Well, in any case, it isn’t any of our business.”
Lucy sighed. “It’s okay.” She laughed softly. “Besides, I have to have someone to complain to.” She gave Mitch the short version of the tale.
Mitch finished munching the cookie, a big frown forming on his handsome face. “Damn.”
Lucy then gave Mitch a brief and sanitized version of how she met Vic. Mitch nodded. “I have a call to make. Be right back.”
Mitch disappeared into a back room, and Lucy winced. “What’s he going to do?”
“Nosy business.” Neena poured another cup of decaf coffee for herself and offered a refill to Lucy. “He’s concerned, so he’s contacting Jake about Vic.”
If she hadn’t found Mitch’s protective friendship valuable, she would have been annoyed at him. Still… “What if Vic finds out Mitch checked on him?”
Neena came around the counter and patted Lucy on the arm. “Vic will probably understand. If he didn’t, you may not want to be with a guy like that.” She winked. “But you’re acting guilty about your time with him. Why is that?”
“Well, I was supposed to have feelings for Danny.” Lucy pushed aside her coffee cup and snatched a cookie to munch. “When I met Vic, all those feelings, other than complete annoyance and disappointment seemed to disappear. Vic and I have a…something I didn’t expect.”
Neena sank onto the barstool next to her. One eyebrow lifted. “A connection?”
“Yeah. A connection. It took me off-guard.”
Neena grinned as if she had a secret. “You know how I met Mitch.”
Lucy frowned as she remembered that Mitch and Neena had survived a café robbery. “Yes. You were both very lucky you weren’t killed.”
“We were. He was wearing that ghastly Hawaiian shirt so he could paint, and I’d judged him before I even met him. When he held me in his arms and I felt all those muscles, and when I realized what a fantastic man he is—well, all bets were off. Isn’t that what you did with Vic?”
Lucy smiled. “Yes, but we weren’t thrown together by violence. Our time together just happened.”
“I can understand you being cautious, especially after hearing that he was accused of sexual harassment.”
Lucy sighed. “But don’t discount him because he’s in the military?”
“Well, with your track record…”
Lucy groaned. “I know. Jake is always going on those special spook-type deployments and so is Keith. They’re gone a lot. Would you be able to stand it if Mitch was still in the military and gone all the time?”
Neena pushed back her hair and leaned one elbow on the counter. “I guess I wouldn’t know until I had the experience. But I love Mitch with everything inside me. I’d face down a herd of wild animals for him. So, yeah. I’d have married him if he’d still been in the military.”
Mitch strode back into the room and slipped his hands onto her shoulders. He kissed the side of her neck. “I love you too, darlin’. No chance of wild animals attacking me in Clarksville.”
Neena patted his hand. “I know, honey. What did you find out about Vic?”
“I called Jake and he vouches for Vic. Says that even though they don’t know each other well, Vic has a solid reputation in the military. Seems Vic is highly decorated and considered an upstanding soldier. The sexual harassment thing stained things a bit, but it’s cleared up now. ”
Lucy felt her cheeks turning red. “Thanks, Mitch. I know I can trust him…” She trailed off, unsure of herself in a big way. “That’s not the problem.”
Mitch smiled. “This sounds like girl talk. Ladies, I’m back to work.” He left the kitchen.
Neena grinned at Lucy, her eyes sparkling. “You okay? You’re as red as a beet.”
Lucy rubbed her arms. “I’m embarrassed. Now everyone in Clarksville knows that I’ve got a squiggy for Vic Moore.”
“Everybody? Just me and Mitch and a few friends. That isn’t everybody.”
“Feels like it.” She closed her eyes and shook her head before opening them and giving her friend a lopsided smile. “I’m a little confused. One minute I want to pick up the phone and pursue a relationship with him, and the next minute I think it was a great one-night stand, and I should just leave things as they are.”
Neena smoothed one hand over the granite countertop, her gaze thoughtful. “Every relationship is confusing and has its ups and downs.”
“Even yours?”
“Even mine. Welcome to being in love.”
Love? “Uh, no. I am not in love with Vic. I just met him.”
“In severe lust then.”
That she could admit to. “Major lust.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
Now that was the question, wasn’t it?
When Vic strode into his room at the inn Sunday night, it felt damned cold. He turned up the heat and stood for a moment soaking in a restless feeling he didn’t understand how to banish. He’d spent a couple of hours with Jake and Marisa, happy to see his fellow soldier and his pretty wife. They’d introduced him to Sean O’Callahan, an Army reservist, and his wife Eve. The men had talked computers and war while Eve and Marisa had taken their conversation to the kitchen and fixed dinner.
Vic found Sean and Eve very nice people, and his time with Jake was like being with a close friend, he felt like they understood each other well and they could build a stronger friendship. They’d tasted bad water and even nastier food when they worked in the desert together. They’d bonded the way only soldiers could when confronted with tough times. Jake had revealed that their Special Forces unit was returning to Fort Carson, so he and Marisa would be moving there. They expected fellow Special Forces officer Keith Wallace and his wife Freddie to get orders soon. So there would probably be more opportunities in the future to get to know all of them better.
Not surprisingly, word had already gotten around that Army Major Daniel Mendoza had tried and failed to rearrange a fellow officer’s face. Luckily for Danny, Vic was in a good enough mood New Year’s Eve to give Danny a break.
The fact Lucy didn’t plan to go back with Danny made Vic damned happy. On the other hand, he didn’t know that for certain, did he? What if Lucy had changed her mind about the rat bastard? Jesus, he hoped not. Worry crept in. Vic wanted to growl, wanted to pick up the phone right now and assure himself she hadn’t decided to take back the scum. Jealousy surged upward when it shouldn’t, but an even stronger emotion followed. Worry. If the guy was that possessive, that violent when drunk—
Stop. Just stop. Take a deep breath. It was her business and not his, but damn, he wanted to make it his business.
He sucked in one breath and released it slowly. This wasn’t combat.
A tiny twinge of worry remained inside him. What if…what if Lucy didn’t want anything to do with him because of the sexual harassment bull crap? Then maybe she isn’t for you. He’d have to live with it and move on. But damn it, his feelings for Lucy went far beyond what he’d felt for Shelly. Way beyond.
Vic tossed his coat, socks, hat and gloves onto the bed. The room was decorated for female sensibilities—nothing male at all. Frills, gingham, ruffles. The gas fireplace was cold, and he fired it up by hitting the switch near the mantle. He rubbed his hands together and stood by the fire, contemplating. A while longer and it was back to Fort Carson. His thigh no longer ached, and sex with Lucy had proved he’d returned to one hundred percent. On the other hand, his mind hadn’t. He didn’t want to return to the Middle East right away, and he probably had six months before anyone considered sending him back, but he did want to fight for his fellow soldiers to make sure they came home safely. He’d do what he had to. If going back sooner meant he could help, he would. Two tours in the Middle East should be enough for any sane man, but maybe sanity had departed him long ago.
He rubbed his forehead and sighed. He’d almost called Lucy a half dozen times even though he’d told her to call him. He’d almost asked Marisa to give him Lucy’s cell-phone number.
Maybe he’d pushed Lucy too far when he’d left her after they’d had sex. A hollow had grown inside Vic. The last time a woman had affected him like this had been when he was the ripe young age of twenty-five. He was too old to obsess now. At least he’d thought he was until Lucy Creed walked back into his life.
Hot Pursuit: Hot Zone, Book 5 Page 6
