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Thirty-Five
MERRICK
She flung herself into my arms and I spun her around, like one of those sappy commercials you’re always seeing. In an airport, too. So cliché.
It was even more cliché when I dipped and kissed her.
“Welcome to Colorado,” I smiled against her full, beautiful lips.
There was a small crowd around us, and a few of them were clapping. I realized it was less for the romance and more because I’d worn my camos.
“They think you just got back from war, don’t they?” Dakota giggled. “And I’m you’re sweetheart.”
“Youaremy sweetheart,” I told her happily. “But yeah. Probably.”
“Let’s not disappoint them then.”
We kissed a little more, some for them and some for us. By the time we finished the little crowd had dispersed. It gave me time to look her up and down again. To drink in all the little details my mind had been missing, whenever I thought about her.
And just like the others, I thought about hera lot.
“So Aurelius and Jace are back at the house?” she asked.
“Yup.”
“Let’s get my bags, then. I can’t wait to see it!’
We bounced happily through the luggage area, holding hands and interlacing our fingers like a long-time couple. I couldn’t believe it had only been a few weeks. The time apart had felt like forever.
But just seeing her again made it seem like no time had passed at all.
Look at her…
Dakota looked gorgeous all bundled up in her furry parka, her tight jeans accenting every one of those delicious curves I knew so well. I wanted to pull her into the nearest parking lot and give her a proper hello. But it was still very early, and Jace had us on a tight schedule. We had plans for the entire day.
Besides, I didn’t want a quickie in a parking lot — as juicy as that quickie might be. After this much time apart, I needed to welcome her hereproperly.
We all did.
The sun was shining brightly by the time we got outside, but it did little to ward off the bitter chill of the spectacularly blue sky. Luckily I’d left the engine running and the heat on full blast. We’d left the Bronco in Hawaii and traded it for an even bigger truck, this one with a double cab and an extended bed.
“This is ridiculous,” Dakota breathed, climbing into the passenger seat.
“The cold?”
“No, the scenery!” She laughed. “Cold? I’m from Minnesota, remember?”
“Oh, I remember,” I quipped. “Jace wouldn’t stop talking about Minnesota, wherever we were. Middle of the Afghan desert? Minnesota. Jungles of Uganda? More Minnesota.”
“Yeah,” Dakota smiled. “It gets into your blood.”
“It gets cold in Boston too,” I added. “But it’s apparently nothing like where you grew up. Still, it was good to hear him talking about home. It made things better for us. It brought out the same kind of thing for Aurelius and I.”
I pulled out of the airport and onto the highway, pointing the nose of our new truck straight into the mountain-laced horizon. While the heat washed over our cold pink faces, Dakota’s hand found my thigh. She squeezed it affectionately, if not promisingly as well.
“When did you guys decide to build a house out here?”
“Around the same time we decided to form our own security company. There’s lots of opportunity in Denver, especially for ex-military.”
