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She was washed out, with specks of blood on her hollowed-out cheeks. Her eyes were dull and her lips tight. She began shaking as she stood there, the shock of the night overwhelming her as she thought about the situation.
Never before had she even come close to experiencing what she’d just gone through. Fear and the need to escape had been with her from the moment those men had pushed their way into her house until Ace had charged in to save her.
She’d managed to catch a few minutes of rest in Ace’s car, but he’d spoken on the phone, rousing her. She now knew just how dangerous Ace’s job could be. She couldn’t believe he was trying to blame himself, though. What had happened to her had nothing to do with him.
However, Ace had been shot. She’d never witnessed a person getting shot before. She’d seen it a thousand times in movies, had read about it in books, but the reality was so much worse than she ever could have imagined. It hadn’t seemed real. She still felt as if she’d been placed in some script, or, for that matter, an alternate reality.
But all she had to do was look in the mirror to know it was all very real. She couldn’t stand to stare at herself anymore. She found that her legs were growing weaker. She sank down onto the side of the tub and cradled her face in her hands as her first tears fell.
Dakota hated weakness, prided herself on her strength, but she decided she could forgive herself for having a small meltdown. She’d been through a lot this night, and it wasn’t even over yet. She had to let out some of the anxiety before she would be able to put on a strong mask again and sit down with the Armstrong family to tell them of her crisis, which in reality wasn’t that bad. Everyone had come out relatively okay. Well, everyone but Ace.
Tears silently streamed down her cheeks, and Dakota turned on the tub’s faucet to drown out the sound just in case anyone happened to be outside the door. She didn’t need them to see her falling apart. Chloe was worried enough as it was. If her own family had even an inkling of what had happened, they’d be rushing in through the private gate of Cooper’s property, breaking it down if need be, to get to her. She didn’t need that on top of everything else.
Dakota had known from the moment she’d met Ace that he was trouble with a capital T. She’d chosen to be with him anyway. Maybe she liked the appeal of danger. Being shot at hadn’t been exactly what she’d had in mind, but sometimes her life was too predictable, too boring. After this night, that wasn’t something she could ever say again.
Slipping out of her ruined robe, she sank down into the overly hot tub and felt prickles of pain shoot through her body. She wanted this reminder that she was very much alive and unharmed. She also needed to scrub away the blood and grime clinging to her.
As she adjusted to the temperature of the water, she hugged her knees tightly to her chest and rocked back and forth in the deep tub. She felt some of the terror of the night begin to fade. She would pick the pieces back up. That was who she’d been raised to be, and there was no use in falling apart now.
Uncurling, she found bruises here and there on her legs and arms. She wouldn’t show those to Ace. He’d been so worried about her getting injured, he hadn’t focused at all on his own much more traumatic injuries. She smiled as she thought about that. He wasn’t as hard as he wanted the world to believe he was.
There was a protective spirit about Ace that made her want to stay plastered to his side. Was it possible to fall in love with a person after knowing him for such a short period of time? Dakota shook her head at the thought of that. She didn’t think so.
To fall in love, a person needed to really know someone inside and out. Anyone could mistake lust for love. That was easy. Your body reacted to another’s, and attraction was instant. But to fall in love with a man, you had to know him, know what he liked, understand who he was behind the many years’ worth of barriers he’d built around himself.
She hadn’t been with Ace long enough to feel anything more than attraction, but the thought of him being hurt any more than he already had been nearly broke her heart. She felt something much stronger than attraction for the man. She just didn’t want to think about what that was.
When the bathwater began to cool, Dakota stood on legs that were much weaker than she liked. She left the tub carefully and grabbed a fluffy towel from the shelf. Stepping from the bathroom, she found a fresh set of clothes on the bed and her best friend sitting in the corner in a chair.
“They are new underwear, don’t worry,” Chloe said with a smile.
“I’m so glad we’re the same size,” Dakota told her as she began slipping the clothes on beneath the warm towel. She felt as if she were back in her dorm room getting ready for the day while speaking with her roommate.
“These are Stormy’s, but she’s about our size as well. This worked to our advantage tonight, since you showed up here in a skimpy robe. You know I want an explanation about that,” Chloe told her.
“Ace is going to fill everyone in on what happened after he has a bit of rest,” Dakota said as she turned and put on the bra before slipping a sweater over her head. She was feeling so chilled. She was sure that was from the adrenaline rush as well. Her body had used up all its fuel, and now she couldn’t even stay warm.
“I know he is. I want to know the stuff he’s not going to talk about,” Chloe insisted.
Dakota could fight her best friend, but she knew she’d lose. When Chloe had been Nick’s physical therapist, she had tried unsuccessfully to keep things from Dakota. That hadn’t gone well for her. They had shared everything their entire lives. It’s what best friends did.
“We went flying today, though that feels like a million years ago. We had an incredibly hot kissing session that I never wanted to end, then I left,” Dakota said, wondering if she could get away with only half the story.
“And then?” Chloe prodded. She should have known that short explanation would never fly.
“And then he showed up at my house . . .” Dakota paused. “And we ended up in the bedroom.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Chloe said. Dakota looked at her best friend, who was grinning. It was so odd to see a smile after all she’d been through tonight, but it also was a relief.
“It was incredible,” Dakota admitted as she sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at Chloe. “It made me wonder why in the heck I’ve waited so long.”
“This is a huge deal,” Chloe insisted. “You waited a long time to make love, and then when you do, a heck of a lot more than fireworks happened. You got shot at afterward!”
As she processed the words her friend had just spoken, it somehow hit Dakota’s funny bone. She looked at Chloe’s serious face, and
suddenly, she couldn’t keep in the laughter that was bubbling up in her throat.
“Seriously,” she said between bits of laughter. “Who in the heck gives up the V card and then is chased by gun-toting killers?”
