Mixing Temptation

by Sara Jane Stone

  “Thanks.” He ended the call and focused on getting back to the hotel. The sooner he picked up Helena, the sooner they could get on the road to Oregon.

  And find a way to get Caroline out of those damn cuffs.

  No escape.

  Her words echoed in his memory. Maybe she believed that, but he wasn’t going to give up. He’d find a way to get her out. He’d get her another shot at freedom.

  Chapter 18

  CAROLINE STARED STRAIGHT ahead. She blocked out the sounds around her—­the radio, the soldiers’ voices, the click of the turning signal as the car merged onto the highway. None of it mattered. All she had to do now was focus on getting through this.

  She had narrowed her focus and shut down her senses on the taxi ride to the police station. Her heart, her feelings—­she’d spelled those out for Josh and handed the slip of paper to Helena. Then she’d taken her wallet with her identification and she’d walked out the door. Her gun, her backpack, and everything else she’d carried with her on this trip, including her black lace undies, had stayed behind.

  She needed to survive. There was nothing more now.

  No escape.

  She felt the urge to turn around and look out the back of the sedan into the dark night. She wanted one more glimpse of him. But she knew they’d already traveled too far.

  Still, she hadn’t expected Josh to find her. She’d avoided the nearest police station, knowing he’d look there first. And she hadn’t steeled herself for his words.

  Trust me.

  Oh, she’d heard every word he’d fired at the soldiers tasked with transporting her to the nearest military base. She’d listened as he jumped to her defense and she’d soaked up his every I love you.

  But when he’d asked her to have faith in him, to believe that he would fix this . . . she’d faltered.

  How could he help her now? She didn’t even know where they were taking her. She hadn’t asked how soon she would be court-­martialed. Or which military prison was nearby. She had no idea what would happen to her next.

  Something always happens next.

  He’d been right about that. And this was the only step left for her—­this bleak, heartbreaking path.

  She closed her eyes and beat back the tears. She’d wept once tonight. For Helena. And she’d opened her heart to a spectrum of emotions while she wrote that letter.

  Now it was best to remain numb. If she let herself feel, the despair would rush in.

  But no matter what happened next, no matter where they took her, or what sentence they handed down for her unauthorized absence, she was done living in fear.

  JOSH PULLED INTO the Big Buck’s parking lot at two in the afternoon the next day, a full twelve hours after he’d called Noah. He was surprised to find the bar closed. The lights were off. And as he climbed out of his truck, he saw a sign hung on the door that read ‘Closed for Emergency Repairs.’

  It had taken him longer than he’d expected to get back to the hotel in Palo Alto, rouse a passed out Helena, and get on the road. Plus, when they’d arrived in Forever he’d agreed to drop his hungover and exhausted travel companion at her mother’s house. Helena had been through enough in the past twenty hours and he wasn’t about to subject her to an interrogation. Plus, he knew her childhood friends would have a mountain of questions.

  He walked past the line of familiar cars and pickups. He raised a tired hand and knocked on the wooden door beside the sign. Noah pulled it open, propped the door with his foot, and folded his arms across his chest.

  “About damn time you got back here.” He nodded to the long wooden bar and scattered high top tables lined with familiar faces. “We got started without you.”

  Josh stepped into Big Buck’s and surveyed the space. His gaze landed on Brody and Chad. His brothers shared a table with Kat, the doctor who’d helped Josh reclaim his memory—­and in the process fallen for his oldest brother—­and Lena, the army veteran who never left the house without her golden retriever, Hero. Right now, her PTSD ser­vice dog sat at her feet chewing on his toy duck.

  “Before you start,” Josh said, pointing a finger first at Brody and then at Chad, “I love her. This is it for me. I’m not trying to win her back just because she walked out. I’m not playing out some messed-­up ‘abandonment issues’ or anything.”

  “Didn’t say you were,” Chad muttered, but one look from Brody and their middle brother shut up.

  “I’m not trying to slot her into some version of my fantasy future,” he added.

  His eldest brother raised an eyebrow.

  “OK, maybe at first, I was looking to make the pieces fit. But not anymore.” This earned an approving nod from Kat.

  “And I’m sure as hell not trying to be a hero,” Josh continued, looking away from his brothers and scanning the room. “I can’t do this on my own. I need your help because . . .”

  He shook his head. He couldn’t believe he was standing here in front of his family and the Big Buck’s crew spilling his guts. “I need your help because I’m so damn afraid I’m going to let her down. And she’s not just my second chance after all the shit I’ve been through . . . the accident, the coma . . . She’s my everything.” His voice broke over that last word, but he kept going. “And I’ll use up all my chances to get her back.”

  “We’re going to get her out,” Noah said, slapping Josh on the shoulder as he walked past. “While you were driving back, we started making calls.”

  “I found a therapist who specializes in military sexual trauma,” Kat announced. “She’s based in Washington, DC, but she’s willing to fly out here to meet with Caroline. She’s respected in the military community. I think we can get her access if we make some noise.”

  “We have a plan for that,” Lily piped up.

  “And I spoke with my counselor,” Lena said as she lowered her hand to her dog. “There’s precedence for a medical discharge. Women who suffer from MST or even PTSD have been released without jail time before. Even after they’ve gone AWOL. If we can pull some strings, she would avoid being court-­martialed.”

  “Pull some strings?” Josh repeated. How the hell was he going to manage that?

  “We have a plan for that too,” Chad said. “We’re going to call everyone who will talk to us. Reporters, representatives—­”

  “And friends who are still serving,” Noah jumped in. “Josie’s talking to her dad right now and seeing if he can help even though Caroline has already been handed over to the military police. Ryan is jumping at the bit to do you one helluva favor after what you did for Helena. Once we tell him what we need, he’ll do it.”

  “We’re going to get her out of there before anyone lays a finger on her,” Dominic said. “You can count on it.”

  Josh stared around the room at all the determined faces and his fear slipped away. He wasn’t going to let her down. He couldn’t fail—­not this time—­because if he tripped up there would be someone—­friend or family—­waiting to pull him up. They were all on her side.

  “Where do we start?” he asked.

  Chad grinned. “How do you feel about pouring out your heart on national TV?”

  “Whatever it takes,” Josh said firmly. “Whatever it takes.”

  This will work.

  He just hoped Caroline had enough faith in him—­in how much her cared for her—­to hold on.

  Chapter 19

  CAROLINE WALKED OUT of the barracks and silently cursed her surroundings. She’d been here for a handful of days and still hated everything about the base. She stared straight ahead and wondered if the California sun was playing tricks on her. She raised her hand to block the powerful rays, fully expecting the mirage to disappear. But he was still standing there, one ankle crossed over the other. His shoulder rested against the wall of her temporary home.

  “Noah?” she said. “What are you doing h
ere?”

  He pushed off the wall and gave a small shrug. “I thought you could use some company on your day off. You’re not working today, right?”

  “I’m not but—­”

  “Join me for lunch.”

  “You drove all the way down here to take me out to lunch?” She narrowed her gaze. “There’s not much around here. We’re hours from the ocean.”

  And civilization, she thought.

  Or at least she thought they were. She hadn’t paid attention on the drive, slipped back into numbness.

  “It took me twelve hours to get here. So I’m not dying to get back in my truck. I have a ­couple of sandwiches that I picked up just in case you had a break. Want one?”

  “Sure.” She followed him, feeling as if she’d traveled back in time. She was wearing her uniform and walking beside Noah. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Checking up on you,” he said. “Seeing how you’re holding up with all that’s going on.”

  She stopped beside his truck. “Noah, I don’t have a clue what is happening. I’ve been here for four days and I keep expecting a court-­martial. According to every rule and regulation, I should be in a military prison right now.”

  “You should.” He opened the driver’s side door and retrieved a brown paper bag from the driver’s seat.

  “Instead I was assigned a room in the barracks and a desk job.” She followed him to a nearby picnic table and claimed one of the benches. He sat on the other side and opened the bag.

  “Hard work?” he asked as he handed her a six-­inch sub.

  “I don’t have any responsibilities. I report for work and I sit there.”

  “And you have no clue why you’re hanging out at a desk?” he challenged.

  She shook her head.

  “Didn’t trust Josh when he said he’d find a way out, did you?” he asked.

  “Josh?” She set her sandwich down before she dropped it onto her lap. Across from her, Noah unwrapped his sub and took a bite.

  “It’s not that I didn’t believe in him,” she said. “I trust him as much as I trust anyone . . .”

  Maybe more in the bedroom, she thought. But she wasn’t sharing the intimate details of her relationship with Noah. Not over subs on some out-­of-­the-­way Marine base in God Knows Where, California.

  Noah raised an eyebrow and took another bite.

  “But how could Josh stop the United States Marine Corps from tossing me in a cell for unauthorized absence?” she demanded.

  “After you turned yourself in,” Noah said, his blue eyes flashing with temper. “Without so much as a word to anyone I might add.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t hide anymore.”

  He sat back and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I know. But that man cares about you. And I’m not stupid, Caroline. I know Josh didn’t take a scenic little road trip with you so that he could be your personal baker.”

  “What happened to staying out of my relationship with Josh?”

  “He gathered us all at the bar. Dominic and Lily. Josie. His brothers. Brody Summers’s wife. Hell, even Lena showed up. And he asked for help. He refused to accept failure as an option.”

  Her lips parted as she imagined all of those familiar faces gathered around the bar. “I don’t even know his older brother,” she murmured.

  “Look, I know you went through hell. And starting over with a guy, even a good guy like Josh . . .” Noah raised his hands and ran them through his short, blond hair.

  “Did you draw the short straw? Is that why you’re sitting here and not Josie or Lily?”

  “No, I didn’t draw the damn short straw,” he snapped, lowering her hands. “No one else knows I’m here. I woke up before dawn to come down here because Josh Summers is busting his ass to keep you out of jail. He’s called senators and spoken to legal experts. He’s fighting for you. He’s trying to win your love and your trust, but if you can’t give it to him, you need to tell him. Or shit, I will.”

  She arched an eyebrow. “You’re offering to break up with my boyfriend for me?”

  “Caroline,” he growled.

  “I’m not broken, Noah. And Josh knows that.” She looked down at her untouched sub. “But I messed up. I should have talked to him before I turned myself in. I let him into every other part of my life . . .” She looked up. “I thought I had to fix this first. Before I could have another shot at falling in love. I didn’t think I could give him what he wanted until—­”

  “Caroline, that man wants you. And if you’re sure you’re ready to move on, then you should probably tell him, not me.”

  “You’re not going to relay the message for me?” And she couldn’t help adding a healthy dose of sarcasm to her words.

  “I like the guy. And after everything he’s done for you . . . Do you know he went on a local morning show talk show and baked a cake with the host so that he’d have a chance to raise public support for you?”

  “He what?” Panic rushed at the thought of thousands of ­people in Oregon knowing she’d been attacked—­and seeing her as a victim.

  “He didn’t use your full name or broadcast your picture,” Noah assured her. “But he told your story. And ­people listened. There is a petition demanding your release. Josie showed it to me. Josh kept Dustin’s name out of it too—­”

  “He’s not coming after me.” She shook her head and filled him in on her drive-­by visit to their former CO.

  “Hell, I wish Josh would turn the media’s attention to him,” Noah grumbled. “But he’s not. Josh is attacking the system that is threatening to lock you up while Dustin goes free. That’s a lot to take on.”

  “He loves me,” she said softly.

  “And he’d willing to fight for you,” Noah said.

  She closed her eyes and nodded. She was haunted by her own choices. But this time—­if she got the chance—­she would choose Josh. She wanted to be a part of his happy-­ever-­after.

  “He’s going to get me out of here, isn’t he?” she said.

  Noah nodded. “Probably sooner than you think.”

  She fought the urge to hear those words and think impossible. She would put her faith, her love, and her trust in him.

  “Noah, I need to be ready for him.” She drew a deep breath. “You’ve done so much for me already, but I have to ask for more. I need an advance on my paycheck. Probably a ­couple paychecks.”

  “Done.” He smiled across the picnic table. “I’ll even toss in a promotion to part-­time bartender when you get back.”

  “Thank you. I don’t know how to mix drinks, but thanks.”

  “You’ll learn.” He shook his head. “You can’t be any worse than Lily.”

  She rested her arms on the table. “Now, I need to ask one more favor.”

  CAROLINE TOOK A tentative step forward. After weeks of walking around this base with purpose and determination, carrying her faith that Josh would come through for her around like a secret weapon, she felt nervous.

  Is it really over?

  She glanced down at the piece of paper detailing her medical discharge from the Marines. After spending over a year hiding, feeling hunted by her past, it was officially behind her. The Marines were done with her. And she had the man leaning against a familiar silver pickup to thank.

  She wanted to run to him. She needed to weep with relief. But not yet. Right now she had to savor this feeling.

  This is what freedom feels like. Scary. New. Exciting.

  Oh yes, the tears could wait until much, much later. Right now, she needed to share her gratitude, her relief, and her love with the man who’d set her free.

  “You’re here.” She crossed the parking lot, the base becoming a blur behind her. She’d spent days, weeks trying not to feel, and now . . .

  Emotion erupt
ed as if a faucet had been turned on. Her pulse raced and tears burned paths down her cheeks, refusing to wait. So she broke into a run. She needed to feel his hands on her, his arms around her. She wanted to hold on to him and never let go.

  But first, oh God, she had to tell him.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.” The words came out in a rush as his arms wrapped around her. She placed her palms flat against his chest and looked up at him. Ever since Noah’s visit two weeks earlier, she’d been planning her speech. She refused to write him another letter. She needed to tell him.

  “I should have told you that I was going to turn myself in,” she continued.

  “Caroline.” His hands roamed over her waist and hips before settling on her lower back. “I know you’re sorry. Noah told me.”

  Her eyes widened. “He did?”

  “We had a sleepover, ate one too many cinnamon rolls, one thing led to another and he told me everything.”

  She laughed and it felt so good and so right. “Josh—­”

  “All right. We skipped the sleepover. And I didn’t bake for him. But we did have a few shots of whiskey the other night.” His smile faded and his hands stilled on her back. “I owe you an apology too. For the past year, I told myself I was giving you space and working around your issues.”

  “You did, Josh,” she murmured, trying to fight a fresh wave of tears. She was free and he was here, holding her. She didn’t want to cry.

  “But I have one question for you,” she said quickly, reaching for facts to keep the feeling from running away with her. “If Noah found his way down here, why didn’t you? Too busy making TV appearances?”

  “That’s part of it.” He touched his mouth to hers, stealing a quick kiss. “I’ve also been poring over this mysterious set of blueprints that arrived.”

  She stared up into his green eyes. “You figured out they were from me?”

  He let out a laugh as his hands pressed into her back, drawing her closer. “The architect that you hired dropped them off at the farmhouse,” he said. “He wanted to walk me through them.”