Page 94 of Durango

Her smile falls. “Oh, well, yeah, I guess.”

Willow arches a brow at me.

“I mean, I could share my bed,” Axel says. “It’s king-sized.” He rubs the back of his neck again.

Samantha crosses her arms. “Share?”

Well, now I’m uncomfortable. I can’t tell if Axel is trying to be nice or if he’s flirting. If it’s the latter, he’s doing a bad job. “Willow, why don’t we go upstairs and let these two discuss this privately?”

“Sounds good to me.”

We retreat from the kitchen and go upstairs. We aren’t even in the room one minute when I hear footsteps on the stairs. Our eyes lock as we listen. Two sets of footsteps continue down the hall to Axel’s bedroom.

“I’m not used to seeing Axel nervous,” I say.

She laughs. “Samantha seemed nervous, too. I’m just happy there is a bathroom between us, so I don’t have to hear them.”

“Me too.” I sit on the bed.

She sits next to me and leans in as I wrap my arm around her. “I’m surprised you left the service,” she says. “Back in Virginia, you told me you planned to stay until retirement.”

The pang of loss hits but is fleeting. I’m more surprised she is bringing this up now. It’s something I want to talk to her about, but I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. “I did plan on staying, but something happened.”

“I’m sorry. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.” She sits up, and I scoot back on the bed, leaning against the headboard. “No, I want to tell you. It’s what changed everything for me.”

She crawls up and sits next to me. Snuggling close.

“My dad died shortly after I last saw you in Virginia. It was sudden and unexpected.”

Her hand finds mine, and she interlocks our fingers. “I’m so sorry. I know you were close to him.”

I nod. “I went home for a few days, and I thought everything was going to be all right. The twins were in college. Pricilla seemed to be doing all right working in town.” I take a deep breath as it all comes back to me.

“I quickly learned my parents hadn’t planned well if my dad died first. I called Pricilla one day to check in, and she said Mom had received a foreclosure notice on the house. I couldn’t understand that because I thought it had been paid off.”

I lean my head back and stare at the ceiling. “My sister dug into my mom’s finances and discovered a second mortgage had been taken out years before. Also, there was a savings account that should have lasted her several years. It was depleted because she was covering tuition for the twins at college.”

When I talked to my younger brothers, they had no idea how bad the situation was for Mom.

“I knew I could make more money doing private security than I could make in the service because a guy I served with was doing it. I reached out to him, and while his company didn’t have any openings, he introduced me to David Hawthorne. Hawthorne hired me, and I’ve been able to keep my mom in her home. The twins ended up taking out some loans for tuition, but I helped them when I could.”

Finally, I turn to her, and there is pure awe in her eyes.

“Wow. You gave up your dream to help your family. You’re amazing.”

“No, I’m not. I did what had to be done. I protected my family.”

“Not everyone would have done that. You truly are amazing.” She leans over and kisses me.

“Losing my dad was hard. Almost losing Piper to her asshole ex was hard. I couldn’t take losing you.”

Her hands cup my face. “You won’t lose me.”

“I’ve wanted you for so long.”

“I feel the same.” Her hand goes to the bottom of my T-shirt and pulls it up.

I stop her. “I want to take this slow.”

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