Page 50 of The Cold Ride

Beautiful Rory had sprinted away from me, from us, like she’d left the oven on at home and only just now realized it.

Trudging through the sand, the ceaseless crash of waves against the shore couldn’t drown out the party. People laughed in groups, everyone still drinking. I’d bet the party would go until the early morning hours or whenever the cops made us leave. And given the proximity to base, most police just looked the other way. This beach was where servicemen and women came to blow off steam. And tonight’s party was a rager.

Where had she gone? What had spooked her? Had I hurt her? Because it seemed she had enjoyed it as much as me. I couldn’t remember being with a woman, sliding inside them, and feeling deep in my soul that this was the woman for me.

Because it had never happened before.

Panic engulfed me. What was I going to do if I never saw her again? That couldn’t happen. Surely fate wouldn’t be that cruel. But then, I knew firsthand just how cruel it could be. I’d watched my best friend die. Torn apart by a mine. There hadn’t even been a body to ship home to his folks.

I shook off my malaise. I had to focus on the present and not the past. Because Rory, hopefully, was my future. I just had to find her.

I scanned every group I passed, searching for strawberry blonde hair and luminous pale green eyes.

The moment I spied Rory, she pulled me in with her sunny nature. The way she’d sat apart from the crowd near a piece of driftwood, sipping on a beer and staring out at the ocean with such aching stillness. I’d been drawn in, the proverbial moth to a flame.

And the moment she shot me a smile, I was a fucking goner. I’d not intended for the night to take such a wild and unpredictable, but thoroughly enjoyable, turn. Everything inside me demanded I lock her down and make her mine. And not just for the night. I’d never been clobbered by a desire so hot it burned.

I used to write off love at first sight as a young girl’s fantasy. Until I was smacked upside the head with it. For the first time in my life, I’d met someone and saw a future with them. And for me, that meant marriage, kids, the whole deal.

It was tricky with my deployments, but we could make it work. Even if she took the job in Maine, we could figure it out as we went along. I just had to figure out where she ran off to and why.

My buddies stood around the biggest bonfire, laughing and joking. Aiden clapped Roman on the shoulder, both grinning from ear to ear as they flirted with a pair of brunette coeds. Even Wyatt, who was normally stoic as ever, wore a smile as he sipped his beer.

And then it felt like all the air had been sucked from my lungs. There she was—the woman meant for me. I knew it into the furthest reaches of my soul.

Yet something was off. She stood there stiffly, her calm demeanor a thing of the past. I opened my mouth to yell her name. And suddenly, it felt like I’d taken a punch to the gut. Because she wasn’t alone. There was an arm around her shoulders. And then I finally glanced at who that arm was attached to.

My heart fucking dropped.

It couldn’t be. I had to be seeing things. I blinked, trying to clear my eyes. But the scene before me remained the same.

She never said a word. And she had ample time to tell me. The budding sense of rightness turned to acid. My heart floundered at her unquestionable betrayal.

And I was shredded by an undeniable truth—I’d slept with my friend’s wife.

21

“Hey guys, thanks for getting all that done outside. Baby, I want you to go take a shower and get dressed.” I stood at the kitchen island, peeling potatoes.

“Are we going out tonight?” Amelia asked.

“Actually, Jenna’s mom called and asked if you could spend the night.” I grinned and wiggled my brows at her. She was all sweaty and dirty from being outside with James.

Amelia whooped. “And I can go?”

“We’re not having pizza night?” James asked with a small frown.

Dammit, I didn’t want to disappoint him. I wasn’t trying to keep Amelia from him. But I wanted a night where it was just us.

“No. It’s Jenna’s birthday sleepover. We’ve been trying to schedule it for weeks. And I thought we could have a night,” I explain, giving him a stare laced with meaning.

I knew his time away from the military dwindled. We needed to have a frank discussion without Amelia around. If our conversation went south or didn’t yield the result I hoped for, I didn’t want her affected by it. And while I didn’t want to rock the boat, we couldn’t continue down this path without clearing the air. We had to bury the past if we had any hope of a future together. And I didn’t even know if he wanted a future together.

“I hope that’s all right.”

He glanced at Amelia. And in his eyes was love for our daughter, so much love it was damn near tangible. But I knew what he was thinking. He had to head back to base soon. He didn’t have a choice. And he wanted as much time with her as possible.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” But he wasn’t thrilled. Maybe I should have talked to him about it. In my defense, I was new to the co-parenting gig. I was used to making decisions for Amelia without input from anyone else. It would take adjustments on both our parts.

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