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Four
DAKOTA
Wife…
The word dropped right out of the clear blue sky. I couldn’t have looked more shocked if it hit me on the top of the head, which I guess it did.
WIFE?
It was another squeeze of the hand by Jace that jolted me back to reality.
“Umm, hi!” I said finally, trying to sound as casual yet cheerful as possible. “So nice to meet you. My name is…”
“Dakota,” the woman interrupted with a grin. She shook my hand vigorously. “C’mon, you don’t think we’ve already heard all about you?”
Dakota. Well that part was easy, I guess. Whatever ‘little white lies’ Jace had been telling, at least the name was right.
“I’m Zach, and she’s Annie,” the husband said, shaking my hand next. He was young and well-built, with close-cropped hair and dark, bushy eyebrows. Another soldier no doubt. “You both need to come over for drinks. You know, once you get settled in.”
“Dakota’s tired I’m sure,” Jace jumped in. “And probably a little jet-lagged.”
“A little,” I smiled.
“I’m going to rest her up for a while, but maybe in the next day or two—”
“Definitelyin the next day or two,” Annie replied. “But yes, okay. So nice to finally get to meet you Dakota!”
Zach grinned, nodding his agreement. “We were starting to think you were just a myth. Like Bigfoot!”
The neighbors turned away, leaving us to awkward looks and heavy luggage. Jace took most of it upon himself, then handed me his key. I unlocked the house and we dragged everything inside, closing the door behind us.
“What in the world—”
“Dakota I’m so sorry!” Jace interjected, his face wrought with apology. “I had no idea they’d even be home, much less come running over the moment we pulled up.”
“Yeah,” I quipped, “well a husbandly head’s up would’ve been nice.”
“I know, I know.”
“Wife, Jace?” I said incredulously. “I’m yourwife?”
As strange as it sounded, the word also sat like a hot little ball in the pit of my stomach. Jace stood there looking down at me, his hard, fit body not even heaving slightly from the exertion of carrying all four of my bags. I still couldn’t believe how incredible he looked.
Wife…
Holy shit, the word seemed more and more exciting every second that ticked by.
“You want coffee,” he asked. “Or something stiffer?”
I grinned my way through the double-entendre. “Both, I think,” I replied. “But coffee for now.”
He led me through an arch and into the kitchen, which was brightly decorated and immaculately-kept. For a bachelor, his house was certainly big. But Jace wasn’t a bachelor anymore. Apparently, the two of us were married.
“Sit down and I’ll tell you everything.”
I pulled up a chair as his giant stainless coffee machine went through a noisy but delicious-smelling cycle. A few minutes later I was cradling an expertly-made latte, foam and everything.
“Wow,” I offered. “This is nice.”
