“Are you planning to stay in St. Claire?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said, “I liked growing up in a Smoky Mountain resort town, and I’m starting a job at Hathaway and Morrison Accounting Services tomorrow. But if that doesn’t work out, I may sell and go somewhere else. What about you? Are you home to stay?”
He swiveled on the bench to face the open side of the shelter and stretched his legs out in front of him. After a moment he sighed. “I don’t know. After being in the army for six years, I’m not sure I can settle down at all.”
He glanced back at her, and she tilted her head to one side as she stared at him. “Ever thought about going to work for your father?”
“I’ve thought about it, but I haven’t decided yet.”
“I’m sure you have a lot of choices, and you’ll make the right one. The people in St. Claire look up to your family, and everybody’s proud of you for the bravery you showed in combat.”
Ash shook his head in disgust. “They shouldn’t be,” he growled.
Lainey gasped “And why not? I read the articles in the paper how you risked your life to evacuate wounded soldiers. I’m sure those you saved are thankful for what you did that day.”
He gritted his teeth. “What about the ones I couldn’t save? They’re the ones I think about.”
He closed his eyes for a moment and tried to ignore the memories. All he’d done. All he’d lost. Then he felt her cool hand on top of his, and he opened his eyes to see a sad smile pulling at her mouth. “You’re home now. And you have a family who can help you.”
If only she knew, but that was one of those things he’d buried beneath the surface that no one could see. And he wasn’t about to open up to a girl he’d just met. He tried to smile and stood up to shake off the memories. “Yeah, I’m home all right.”
He walked to the edge of the shelter and looked out. In the few minutes he’d talked with Lainey, he’d told her more than he’d ever shared with anyone else, but he couldn’t voice the thing that was tearing him apart.
He felt rather than saw her move to stand beside him. For some unexplained reason, he wanted to reach out and lace his fingers through hers. Just touch her but she would think that was too forward.
Instead he turned to her and smiled. “Lainey, I’m glad we met today, and I really meant it when I said I’d like to get to know you better. Would you have dinner with me tomorrow night?”
A slight frown wrinkled her forehead. “Dinner? I don’t know, Ash. I’m starting a new job tomorrow.”
He smiled. “Then it can be a celebration. How about it? I’d like to spend some time with you.”
The frown vanished, and her wet pony tail swished against her shoulders as she nodded. “I’d like that. What time?”
“I’m not sure.” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “Give me your number, and I’ll call you tomorrow.”
She recited the number as he programmed it in his phone, then told her his. Neither spoke for a moment as they tucked their phones back in their pockets. She didn’t meet his gaze as he glanced first at her, then outside. The rain was letting up. “Should we head to the parking lot?”
She nodded, walked over to where her wet shirt still hung on the back of the bench, and picked it up. She stared down at the shirt for a moment before she draped it over her arm and turned to face him. Her eyes bore into him, and he swallowed hard.
“Ash, you said you left your campsite this morning. Where did you camp last night?”
He frowned and tilted his head to one side. Why would she care where he camped? He gestured toward the mountains in the distance. “Up by White Oak Creek. I’ve been there a week. Why?”
She didn’t say anything as she stepped beside him. Then she stared in the direction he’d pointed, her eyebrows pulled down in concentration. “That’s mighty rugged country. No trail. Lots of climbing over boulders to get there. It’s a perfect place for someone to be alone and think.” After a moment she smiled, reached out, and patted his shoulder.
At her touch, chills raced up his arm. How could she know exactly why he’d been up at White Oak all week? Maybe because she had just scraped off the first layer that covered all those things he’d hidden for years. Reeling from the look of sympathy she’d given him and the burning touch of her fingers on his arm, he followed her as she headed down the trail to the parking lot.
This day had turned out differently than he’d thought when he left his campsite this morning. He’d started home with the intention of telling his father that he was leaving St. Claire and wouldn’t be taking his expected place at DeHan Enterprises. But now he found himself rethinking that decision, and all because of his encounter with Lainey Simpson.
Did he really know what he wanted out of life? Maybe the answer lay with this woman who intrigued him. If so, he was going to enjoy every minute discovering what it was.
Chapter 3
Lainey took a sip of coffee and stared at Ash over the rim of her cup. Never in her wildest dreams would she have believed that she’d be on a date with the guy who still reigned as the local legend on the football field as well as the most decorated soldier to ever come out of St. Claire, North Carolina.
Since their chance meeting three weeks ago, her friendship with Ash had been like a whirlwind. They’d had dinner together at least twice and sometimes three times each week. On other nights he appeared content to sit on her den sofa and watch old movies on TV as they shared a bowl of popcorn.
It was during those quiet evenings that they’d come to know each other better as they shared memories from their growing-up years in St. Claire, and he never tired of hearing about her college experiences and how she liked her new job. Although he never talked about his combat missions, he was quick to regale her with stories about his off-duty exploits with Reese Alexander and Colt Hanson, his two best friends in the military. In fact she’d almost begun to feel like she knew them personally.
The more time they spent together, the more she realized that she genuinely liked him. She loved the way his mouth curled up when he smiled, and his dark brooding eyes had the power to sap the strength from her body. He was still that cocky boy she’d watched from afar in high school, but she was beginning to see he was so much more. He was smart, confident, and kind.
No doubt about it, Ash DeHan had wedged his way into her heart, but she had to be careful. There were times when she detected a faraway look in his eye, as if his mind were somewhere else. When she’d asked him if something was troubling him, he’d been evasive and changed the subject.
Throughout dinner tonight he’d been especially quiet, and she’d had time to study him more carefully. She had to admit he’d matured a lot since their high school days, but he still was a puzzle to her. She wished she could see what lay behind the hooded expression of his eyes, but so far he hadn’t let her in.
Even so, she had to confess that every time she looked at him her heart pumped faster, and her stomach clenched as she wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips. They looked as if they’d been molded to fit perfectly against hers. So far that hadn’t happened, but dreaming of a kiss from Ash was always a pleasure.
As she sat there studying him, he glanced up from scraping the last bite of chocolate cake from his plate and grinned. “What?”
The cup slipped from her fingers at his question, and she grabbed at it before it crashed to the saucer. Setting it back down, she smiled. “I was lost in thought.”
He smiled, reached up, and raked back the hair that tumbled across his forehead before he pushed his plate aside. Then folding his arms on the table, he leaned forward, and his dark eyes stared into hers. “Thinking about those things you’re still keeping hidden from me, no doubt.”
She reached across the table and covered his hand with hers. “It’s more like the things you’re keeping hidden from me.”
He stared down at her hand for a moment and frowned as he looked back up at her. “What are you talking about?�
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“From the day we met in that trailside shelter, I’ve sensed something is troubling you. I’d like to help, if I can.”
He wrapped his fingers around hers and shook his head. “It’s nothing to concern yourself with.”
“I didn’t mean to pry.”
She started to pull her hand free, but he tightened his grip on her. “You’re not prying. It’s just that I haven’t talked with anyone except my family and Reese and Colt about this.”
“Then you don’t have to—”
“Lainey,” he paused and swallowed before continuing, “I need to tell you. But not here.”
Before Lainey could respond, he glanced around the dining room and motioned for the waitress.
The woman hurried over, ignoring Lainey as she had done ever since they arrived, and beamed down at Ash. “Yes, sir, Mr. DeHan, what can I do for you?”
“The check, please.”
The young woman glanced from Lainey to Ash. “Yes, sir. I’ll get it right away.”
Lainey let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. “I’m sorry if I upset you. But I just thought. . .”
He shook his head. “I’m not upset with you. I’m upset with myself for not being fair to you.”
She started to question what he meant, but the waitress returned and placed the bill next to his plate. He glanced at it before he pulled out his wallet and tossed a handful of bills on top of it. Then he pushed back from the table and stood up. “Let’s go. We’ll talk at your house.”
Neither of them spoke all the way to her house. When he pulled up to the curb, he turned off the motor, looped his arms over the steering wheel, and stared out the windshield for several minutes before he turned to her. The street light lit the interior of the car, and Lainey almost recoiled at the tormented look on his face.
“Ash,” she murmured, “what has happened?”
He bit down on his lip for a moment and took a deep breath. “The morning we met out on Moss Creek trail, I told you I’d been camping for a week up in the mountains, and you said that was a good place to get away and think. Do you remember that?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you were right. That’s exactly what I was doing. At the time I’d been home about a month from the army. When I came back, my father assumed I was going to go to work at DeHan Enterprises like my brother did. The problem is that I have no interest in the family business and don’t want to work there.”
“Have you told your father?”
“Yeah, I told him, but it makes no difference to him. It’s what I’m expected to do, and he intends to make me, whether I like it or not.”
Lainey smiled, reached over, and rubbed her fingers across his knuckles that were turning white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. “Is there something else you want to do? Is that why you’re so opposed to working for your father?”
“Yes.” His dark eyes flashed as he leaned closer to her. “I was a good soldier, Lainey, and I was happy doing my job. Right before I left the army, a man from the CIA came to our camp and talked to Reese, Colt, and me about going to work for them. The government is in need of a covert group of operatives that could do undercover missions, and they singled us out to head it up. We’d be in charge of recruiting, training, and leading our men on missions that the government can’t sanction publicly.”
Lainey swallowed the fear that rose in her throat. “That sounds dangerous.”
“It’s the kind of work that makes me feel alive. Some men are cut out for the life of a soldier, and I’m one of them.”
“So have they started the group?”
“Yes. We’re calling the organization Firebrand, and Reese and Colt are recruiting right now. The fourteen month training program begins in September in South America.”
Lainey blinked to keep tears from filling her eyes. She and Ash had only been seeing each other for three weeks, but she’d begun to think it might lead to a real relationship, that she might finally have someone in her life who cared for her. That hope had just died.
She took a deep breath. “So when are you leaving?”
He swiveled in his seat and grasped her shoulders. His fingers dug into her as he pulled her close. “That’s just it. Firebrand was all I could think about when I came home. I couldn’t wait to get out of St. Claire. I came down off that mountain the day we met, and I was ready to pack my bags and leave town the next day.” He trailed a finger down the side of her face. “And then I met you, and everything changed.”
Her mouth opened, and she gave a small gasp. “How?”
“All of a sudden, Firebrand didn’t seem so important. I wanted to know you better, and I knew I couldn’t leave when I’d found a woman who intrigued me more than anyone had before.”
She tried to digest everything he’d just said. The job he’d described sounded well-suited for a man with no ties, and that’s what Ash had intended to be, until he met her. On the other hand,maybe this was his way of letting her down easy.
She should have known her relationship with Ash DeHan was too good to be true. He’d had a reputation in high school for not dating a girl very long before moving on to someone else. In her case it had been something else, Firebrand. He’d planned to leave town all along, and she’d been nothing more than a diversion while he was still here.
She pulled free of him and sank back in her seat. “I’m sorry you’ve been going through such a hard time, but I’m sure you’ll be okay once you start training.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
Her heart lurched, and she clasped her hands in her lap. “It’s okay, Ash. I never expected anything from you, and you don’t have to stroke my ego by spouting off some line you’ve probably used a hundred times before.”
His mouth dropped open. “Are you accusing me of lying?”
“Of course not. You’re so skilled at wrapping women around your finger, you probably don’t even realize what you say to them.”
He carved his hand into his hair, held it for a moment, and then released it. “So you do think I’m lying to you.” He gritted his teeth and leaned closer. “What do you think? I have women all over the place? I feed them lines to get what I want?”
He looked at her as if he didn’t know her at all. Her heart pounded at the hurt expression in his eyes. “Ash. . .”
“That wasn’t some line,” he hissed. “I meant it. I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent together, and I thought you had, too.”
She swallowed hard. “I have, but I know where this is going, Ash, and I’m just trying to be realistic.”
He leaned back in his seat, stretched his arms out on the steering wheel again, and flexed his fingers. “And where is it going?”
She shrugged. “Nowhere. You’re leaving for Firebrand, and I’m staying here. Once you’re back with your friends, you’ll forget me in no time. You never stayed interested in one girl for very long, anyway.”
His mouth opened, but he didn’t say anything as he gave her a look that sent chills down her spine. She wondered if that was what his enemies on the battlefield had seen right before they’d died. After a moment he took a breath and shook his head. “You have it all figured out, don’t you? You formed an opinion of me years ago, and you can’t let it go. If that’s the case, then a relationship with you is already dead in the water, no matter what I say.”
“I’m just saying—”
“From the minute I met you, I liked you, really liked you. I knew your memories of me weren’t good, so I’ve purposely taken this relationship slowly. I wanted you to see what kind of man I really am, but I guess it was a waste of time. You’re never going to give me a chance, are you?”
Tears were about to spill down her cheeks. She had to get away. She reached over to open the door, but he was out of the car first. He came around to the passenger side and jerked the door open. “I’ll walk you to the door.”
She stepped out and took a deep breath. She didn’t want their time together to end this way. Th
ere had to be something she could say, but when she stared up at him, she decided perhaps she’d already said enough. The muscle in his jaw flexed as he ground his teeth together. She squared her shoulders and returned his glare.
“You don’t have to do that. I can find my way alone.”
He clenched his teeth, and she flinched at the angry look he directed at her. “Contrary to what you may think, I still try to conduct myself like a gentleman. And I always walk a woman to her door.”
When they stepped up on the porch, he turned to leave. She grasped his arm. “Ash, I’m sorry. I’ve enjoyed our time together, and I wish you well in Firebrand.”
He stared at her for a moment and then shook his head. “You really don’t get it, do you?”
She frowned. “Get what?”
His gaze raked her. “Firebrand was the most important thing in my life until I met you. You’re the most gorgeous and the smartest woman I’ve ever met, and as much as I don’t want to, I can’t help thinking about you. All the time.” He waved a hand back and forth between them. “I don’t know what this is between us, and I’ve been scared to death thinking that I may mess it up before we even start. But even if it meant giving up Firebrand, I wanted to take a chance. I hoped you did, too, but it looks like I was just kidding myself. If you ever get ready to give me a chance, let me know.”
He turned and strode down the steps and back to his car. Lainey stood on the porch with tears streaming down her face. She didn’t move as she watched the taillights of his car recede in the distance and wondered if she had just messed up the best thing that could have ever happened to her.
Chapter 4
Ash stared at the television and tried to concentrate on the baseball game, but it was no use. He hadn’t been able focus on anything since that night with Lainey.
Ever since the moment they began to talk at the shelter, he’d known she was special. His pulse still raced when he remembered how she looked that day. Suspicious. Drenched. And beautiful.
His knees had gone weak when she’d blinked her long eyelashes and stared at him with the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. Her rosy cheeks accented her flawless complexion, and the minute she opened her mouth, he heard a musical lilt to her voice that made his heart soar. No doubt about it. She had captivated him that day, and he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind since.
Igniting the Flame (Firebrand Series) Page 2
