Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
S
he packed an overnight bag then loaded Rufus into the backseat of Tripp’s truck. He was excited to get another ride.
At the end of her street, she glanced back at her sweet little house. Her new haven until some asshole had taken away her sense of safety tonight. “This sucks.”
“Yeah. I’ll feel better once you’ve got a good security system installed. No offense, Rufus. You’re a great security system too.”
Rufus ignored him, too busy sniffing at whatever was on the air with his head stuck out the back passenger window as they drove along.
“The important thing is, you’re okay. Now we’ll make sure you stay safe.”
Yes. Whoever it was hadn’t broken into her house.
Nothing had been stolen or damaged. And most importantly, no one had been hurt.
That’s what mattered, she told herself, but she was also aware of the immense relief of having Tripp with her, and that she was going to his house for now. Without a vehicle of her own, she—
“Oh, damn, with everything going on, I just remembered I need to get back down to the library for a shift starting at nine.”
“You sure you still want to go?”
“Yes. They’re short-staffed, and I promised. Plus it’ll help take my mind off everything for a few hours. I should be done by lunchtime. Unless you don’t think it’s safe?”
“No, it’ll be fine.” He sounded so certain, she breathed easier. “You’ll have lots of people around you there, and it’s not a bad thing to have something else to focus on right now.”
She nodded. “I need it.”
“What about starting that new painting tomorrow after you’re done at the library?”
“We’ll see. Depends on my headspace.”
“Understandable. I can always get your supplies and bring them to my place. There’s plenty of light in the kitchen. You could set up there. I’d be out of your way, and you’re far enough from the workshop that you won’t risk getting any sawdust or shavings in the paint.”
She smiled. “I might take you up on that.” She turned to look in the backseat and found Rufus’s ears flapping around in the breeze.
“If I hadn’t already been totally smitten with him, this would have clinched it.
” Without Rufus warning them tonight, the intruder might have been able to get into the house before they’d realized there was a threat.
“He’s definitely got your back.”
Dense dark forest surrounded the road on both sides. It was dark up here, no streetlamps and not much traffic. “When did you move up here?”
“Little over a year ago.”
That would have been close to when he’d finished his initial program at the recovery center. She wasn’t going to ask him about it though. If he wanted to share that with her, he would.
He turned onto a quiet two-lane road, the truck headlights illuminating the rolling landscape ahead. “I’m just up here on the left.” The end of the driveway was marked on either side by stone pillars. At the top stood the shadowy outline of a house and outbuilding.
“Did you build this?” she asked as his headlights illuminated a craftsman-style two-story house with a detached workshop next to it. They both had natural cedar beams on the exteriors, with the rest of the siding painted a deep slate blue.
“My dad and me. We hired a lot of contractors to help us out, but we did most of it ourselves.”
“It’s beautiful.” But isolated. Surrounded by a thick band of forest on at least two sides. She could see why he wanted that. Space and privacy from people.
“Thanks.” He parked and shut off the engine.
She got out, drew in a breath of warm night air. “It’s so quiet up here. I mean, even quieter than at my place.” Crickets chirped rhythmically in the grass. Stars glittered overhead. “Can you see the water from here?”
“On clear days, you can see down to the harbor. It’s too dark to see it right now, but there’s a vineyard next door to the east. Nothing but grapevines for acres that way.” He gestured down the hill sloping away from the house and forest.
“And your dad lives with you?”
“He’s got a smaller place at the back of the property with its own driveway. Wanted to downsize after my mom passed.”
She nodded. How sad to lose your life partner that way.
Willow opened the back door to let Rufus out, held onto the leash while Tripp grabbed the dog bed and led the way to the side door of the house. He unlocked it, flipped on the light. They stepped into a mudroom with a slate tile floor.
“Kitchen’s through here.” He walked into it and turned on the light, revealing a beautiful, clean kitchen with stone countertops, a large center island, and modern appliances. Yet it still had a traditional feel with all the honey-toned woodwork in the cabinets and trim.
“It’s beautiful. It smells like wood.”
He smiled. “It should. There’s enough of it.” He pulled a stainless-steel bowl from a drawer and filled it with cold tap water. “Here you go, Rufus. You must be thirsty after all that guard dog work.” He placed it on the floor, and Rufus went over to lap it up.
“Not too much, young man. I don’t want to have to get up before dawn to take you outside,” she told him.
“Guest room’s upstairs.”
She followed Tripp through the kitchen that opened up into a family room with a big fireplace on one end. There was cozy leather furniture made to stretch out on, but the wood was the star of the show. “This is absolutely gorgeous. The wood gives it such a warm feel.”
He flashed her a grin over his shoulder. “Thanks. I think it’s the best room in the house. Up this way.”
She paused in her tracks when she spotted a framed photo on a shelf they passed. Tripp with Peyton and some other guys in their military contractor uniforms with their arms across each other’s shoulders.
Her parents had the same one at their house. It had been taken on their second deployment to Syria, right before the attack when Peyton had been killed and Tripp was wounded.
A sharp twinge of grief stole her breath for a moment. She looked away and kept going, wishing her brother had been here.
Tripp was partway up the stairs when she reached the bottom. Her heart ached at all he’d been through. She was proud of him for fighting his demons and moving forward with his life. He was talented and deserved peace and happiness.
She stopped to trail a hand over the carved newel post that he’d probably made himself, her fingertips skimming the satin-smooth finish of the wooden railing as she walked up the stairs, her steps silent on the center carpet runner.
At the top Tripp turned right and led her down the hall. “You’ll be in here. I’m at the other end of the hall.”
Inside the guestroom she unhooked Rufus’s leash and slid her bag off her shoulder onto the wide king-size bed. The room was cozy with a patterned rug covering part of the hardwood floor, the walls a soothing, deep blue-green.
The whole house felt solid and safe. A reflection of the man in front of her.
Tripp set Rufus’s bed on the floor near the foot of the bed on the side they stood on. “Here okay?”
“Perfect.”
Rufus immediately went to his bed, did a few circles, and flopped down with a groan, his chin resting on the padded edge.
She chuckled. “He looks pretty comfy.”
“I think as long as you’re in the room with him, he’d be comfy anywhere.” He put his hands on his hips and faced her, giving her an up-close view of every mouthwatering inch of him and the way his muscles filled out his shirt and the thighs of his jeans. “You need anything else?”
“No.” Well, nothing she was going to come out and ask for. He was so hard to read, had never once acted on the desire she was certain she’d seen in his eyes a few times. She knew she hadn’t imagined it. “I really appreciate everything you—”
He held up a hand. “Stop. You don’t need to thank me.”
“Fine. Then by the way, you scared me tonight.”
He frowned. “Scared you how?”
“When you went charging after that guy over the fence. He could’ve had a gun.”
Something like amusement flickered on his face. “He could’ve, yeah.”
She didn’t see anything remotely humorous about it. “And you were unarmed.”
“I was,” he allowed with a nod, then stood there studying her.
The way he watched her sent a delicious shiver down her spine. He hadn’t moved. Was close enough for her to see the lighter flecks of brown in his dark eyes.
“Tough to hit a moving target, especially in the woods. And it was dark out there,” he finally said.
She took a step toward him. Drawn by that invisible force pulsing between them. “I was worried about you.” Scared for him.
The thought of anything happening to him made her feel sick to her stomach. Strong and trained as he was, he was still just made of flesh and bone, and he’d already suffered so much.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you. Especially because of me.”
“You don’t need to worry about me. And I’m going to make sure nothing happens to you.”
“Too late,” she whispered. Way too late. He’d reawakened all the old feelings she’d tried to bury, and intensified them. Proving that she’d never really gotten over him at all.
Tripp didn’t move. Didn’t say anything, just watched her as the tension thickened, charging the air between them.
She took another step. Stopped in front of him, heart pounding. Lifted her hands and settled them on his chest. Praying he wouldn’t reject her.
His nostrils flared slightly, the muscles under her palms contracting.
A wild thrill shot through her at the sheer power of him. The emotion simmering in his dark stare.
Her heart thudded hard against her ribs as they stared at each other. Both of them teetering on the brink of the unknown.
She wasn’t sure which one of them moved first, but the next moment his hands were in her hair and she was holding onto his wide shoulders. The instant their lips met, a torrent of heat flooded her body.
Willow pressed closer, flattening herself against all that warmth and strength. Tripp groaned and banded a thick arm around her back, holding her close while he kissed her.
Her head spun, the kiss unlike any she’d ever had. She could feel the raw hunger driving him as he held her locked to him, yet he kissed her with such reverence, like he was trying to memorize her. As if he had wanted this forever and was savoring every single moment.
His lips were firm yet soft as they moved over hers, his fingers urgently gripping her hair.
The velvet stroke of his tongue against hers made her gasp, igniting a desperate throb between her legs.
She clung to him as time stretched out, endless and elastic, lost in the feel of him, in the inescapable tide of desire he’d unleashed.
But then without warning he pulled back.
She blinked up at him, disoriented, her breathing unsteady as her legs. “What?” she whispered.
His jaw flexed, the force of his stare burning her. “I can’t.”
She frowned. “Can’t wait?”
He shook his head and expelled a hard breath, the internal battle he waged reflected in his eyes before he groaned almost helplessly and kissed her again.
Just firm pressure of his lips. And far too brief before he straightened, putting an invisible barrier between them.
Tripp stared down into her eyes for a long, endless moment, then closed his eyes and kissed her forehead. “Good night, Will.”
He walked past her without another word, shutting the door behind him. She sank onto the edge of her bed, her legs a little unsteady.
What the hell had just happened?