Chapter One
Car exhaust and espresso. It smelled so wrong, but for Zane, it was almost perfect. Only one thing was missing. He scanned the cars passing the wooden shack, which was barely big enough for a coffeemaker and a couple of employees.Where’s Riley?
It was April, too early in the year for many people to be occupying the plastic benches surrounding the drive-up coffee shop. He grabbed their drinks from the barista, knowing what kind of coffee she’d want, and picked one of the empty tables to set the cups down on.
He tapped his toes inside his shoes in time with the passing seconds. Why was he so on edge? Aside from the obviousmy past haunts my every waking and sleeping moment.
Was he really nervous about seeing Riley again? Okay, so he’d been deployed in the Air Force for the past six years, but they’d kept in touch. Email, hanging out when he was on leave, and chatting online whenever possible.
Oh, and those chats. Heat flooded his veins at the rush of pleasant memories.Chattingwas a bit of an understatement. He’d barely been gone for a year when their conversations changed. Got more intimate.
Jesus.The things they’d said to each other, wrapped in excuses likewe’re thousands of miles apartandit’s just two friends helping each other out.For the sake of their friendship he hoped those conversations wouldn’t come between them now, but that didn’t stop his fantasies from running rampant with images of stripping her down. Pinning her against the wall. Making her scream with pleasure...
He shook the vivid thoughts aside. The last thing he wanted was for this to cause a gaping rift between them when they were face to face.
His pocket vibrated and he reached for his phone. Was she canceling? He wasn’t sure if that would be a relief or a disappointment. When he saw the messages, he rolled his eyes, his irritation surging. They weren’t from Riley.
Checking in.
How’s civilian life?
I’m in your part of the country. Meet me for coffee?
He glared at the phone. No matter how many times he told Sabrina he wasn’t interested, she kept trying to recruit him.
And now the memories of his deployment were back, along with emotions he’d rather not have. Guilt. Horror. Resignation. The thoughts tightened in his chest and danced in front of his eyes.
“Sexy love letters from your girlfriend?”
Riley’s voice came from behind and jolted him back to the now. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her slender frame pressing into his back when she hugged him. She was almost as tall as he was, but experience told him she had to stand on tip-toe to do that. The familiar scent of cherry lip-gloss mingled with everything else and made it easier to stash his sins behind thoughts of her. Her breasts molded to him and rested against his shoulder blades.
He smiled and concentrated on falling into the sensations of her. “Hey, stranger.”
“Hey, yourself.” Riley settled her forehead against his shoulder. “Am I interrupting?”
It was easy to relax against her, as though with Riley’s touch, the last six years faded. He pocketed his phone. He could tell Sabrinanofor the fiftieth time later.