AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My question was answered when I reached her front door and was greeted by a petite blonde who obviously wasn’t Holly.
“Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome?” She asked, with a knowing grin.
“Excuse me?”
She stuck out her hand. “I’m Rachel. I’m Holly’s BFF. You’re Jack, right?”
I nodded.
Rachel grinned up at me, looking a little starstruck for a moment before she came to and pointed inside. “Holly went out with Hunter. He was giving her hell and she wanted to wear him out before bedtime. You’re welcome to come in and wait for her.”
I was about to accept the offer when Princess caught a scent and tore off around the house. Night was falling rapidly, and I didn’t want to lose track of her down the beach. I bolted after her, and Rachel chased after both of us. Princess hit the beach and went into hyper drive, racing so fast over the sand, her legs looked like they were going in fast forward, blurred together as she streaked through the night. I chased her down, my legs quickly reminding me how much I’d slacked on my workouts after meeting Holly. Something that would have to change if we somehow managed to stay together.
That thought spurred me on harder, and after a few minutes, the object of Princess’s pursuit came into view.
Hunter’s silhouette.
He was digging a sizable hole near a large piece of driftwood but stopped and turned when he caught Princess’s scent. He tripped over his clumsy paws as he raced to meet her halfway. Seconds later, a woman with wild hair, raced into view. I couldn’t see the color of her hair, but I knew just how it looked, remembering how she had looked the first time we’d met, when she’d been chasing Hunter down the same beach. I burst out laughing at the memory and sheer relief over having caught up to her before it was too late.
“Jack?” She called, stopping abruptly ten feet away. “What—are you—doing?” She panted. “Oh, God, did Aaron call you?”
I ignored her question and ran to cross the space between us, gathering her into my arms as soon as I reached her. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” her reply came out quiet, muffled by the fabric of my shirt, but the effects of her words were powerful.
There would be a much longer conversation ahead, but in those four words, she told me all I needed to know.
20
Holly
The night I was by no means prepared for had arrived. In the morning, Jack would be making the drive back up the coast to rejoin his squadron and within days, he’d be on an aircraft carrier bound for some WestPac as he called it.
We’d managed to go the entire day without talking about it, spending most of the morning lounging in bed, and only when the dogs begged did we get out of the house for a few hours to walk the beach. We found a whole sand dollar on the way back, and Jack had given it to me as a gift, telling me it was lucky.
He was downstairs, preparing dinner, and I was up in the bedroom, under strict orders not to come down until he called for me. I needed all the time I could get to get ready. I’d already cried enough to wreck my first round of make-up. I had just finished reapplying my final coat of mascara when there was a soft knock on the door. I jumped up from where I’d been sitting at the vanity in the attached bathroom and smoothed my hands down the sleek lines of the skintight black dress, silently thanking Rachel for insisting I pack it.
It was going to come in handy after all.
I smiled and spun to get one last look at myself before pulling the door open and stepping into the bedroom.
Jack’s jaw dropped open and I giggled. “Hey there, fly boy.”
“Holly—I—you—wow.”
“You cleaned up pretty nicely yourself,” I said, raking my eyes down his body. He’d selected a pair of black slacks and a black, button up shirt, with the sleeves cuffed to his elbows, revealing his muscular forearms. I’d been staring at his naked body for the past two days straight, but there was also something sexy about the way he wore clothing. Although, as I watched his gaze drop to my body, my fingers started to yearn to get stripped down together.
“Is dinner ready?”
“Just missing you,” he answered, extending a hand. I took it and he pulled me in close.
I giggled against his chest as his hands roamed freely over my body. “If you keep that up, dinner is gonna be wrecked by the time we get to it.”
“I’m really okay with that,” he growled into my ear before nipping at my earlobe, teasing the tender flesh between his teeth.
I wanted to dissolve into him, to let him take me any way he wanted, but I also knew there were things that needed to be said before we gave ourselves over to the passion of the night. I placed my hands on his chest and backed up a half step. I smiled up at him and shook my head playfully. “You’re impossible.”
