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Chapter Five
Ella’s hands glided through the wet clay on the sculpting wheel in front of her. She tried to let the mesmerizing motion and tactile sensation take over, distract her from the stress that ate at her gut. It was no good, though.
She jumped at every noise, and every time she heard the bell over the door ring, a jolt of fear shot through her. A part of her was convinced—as she walked to the front of the shop wiping her hands on her apron—it was the last thing those artist hands of hers would ever do before being slapped into handcuffs.
All in all, a very long morning.
The bell chimed again, the cheerful sound resonating through the shop a distinct contrast to the dark, heavy dread that filled her. She emerged from the back, fully convinced—as she had been with pretty much every visit that morning—that it was going to be “The Feds” as Gen referred to them.
It wasn’t.
Standing there among the ceramic bowls and flowing dresses and paintings and other pieces of her art, sunlight lighting his form from behind and giving him the illusion of a halo, was Donovan Valentine. God. Words caught in her throat. Not that she would’ve known what to say anyway.
Is this a dream? Because it really feels like a dream.
They stood there that way for a moment, the energy between them electric and heightened. Then, like a ray of sunlight breaking through the clouds, Donovan smiled. “Hello, there, Mrs. Blumenthal.”
Her shoulders relaxed. God, she hadn’t even realized they’d been that clenched until the tension relaxed.
She returned his grin. She’d forgotten what it felt like to stand in the same room with him, to share a smile. It was like having the other half of her brain back. The other half of her soul. Just like she hadn’t recognized the tension in her shoulders until it was gone, she hadn’t fully felt Donovan’s absence until he was back.
“Long time no see,” she said, kicking herself for how timid she sounded. Dammit, she wanted to be a lion. She worked to be a lion! Yet, when push came to shove, what came out was the voice of a rabbit.
Donovan didn’t seem to notice, though. For that she was grateful. He just stepped to her and wrapped her up in a warm hug.
It felt so good to be in his arms again. When they’d been hanging out together all the time, back when they both lived in Valentine Bay, they had an easy and natural rapport. They’d hugged, and wrestled, and she’d punched his arm a lot. She’d leaned against him on the couch when they’d watch movies and he’d slide his arm around her.
She thanked her lucky stars that they slipped right back into the same pattern. His arms around her and the way she melted into them felt every bit as natural to her in that moment as they had fifteen years before. If it had felt awkward and strange, she didn’t think she could’ve handled the pain of that loss.
They pulled apart and he studied her face. “Man, it’s good to see you again. And you’re right, it’s been way too long.”
“Yeah. Five years,” she hissed through her teeth. “That’s kind of ridiculous. I mean, especially if we want to keep our marriage strong.”
He groaned and dropped his head into his hands. “Shit. So you know about that, huh?”
“Oh, yeah. The security squad’s already been around to interrogate me. It was kinda hairy.”
Donovan tensed, and his face hardened to stone. If she’d been a psycho trying to harm a high-ranking government official, she would’ve been scared shitless. He could be very intimidating. But since she was who she was, the expression only served to warm her heart. She recognized it well. It was his “protective” mode. He sensed a threat to her, and he was out to neutralize it. That was second nature to Donovan, and it was one of the main things that sparked her strong-but-secret feelings for him.
She put a hand on his arm to preemptively stem the tide of protective rage that she’d seen flow from him in the past. “Down boy. I survived.”
He took a deep breath and then chuckled. “Damn, that old reflex sure comes back quick, huh? I was ready to fight the son of a bitch.”
“Well, as much as I appreciate the gesture, you could actually leave off the ‘son of a’ part.”
“Huh?”
“It was a woman. And anyway, I’m just glad you’re here now so we can talk about this. I need to figure out what to say to them. She made it really clear that lying’s not an option—a crime, actually. But I obviously don’t want to say anything that would hurt you. So I’m kind of between a rock and a hard place.”
He took her hand. The same kind of casual physical contact that they always shared, and just like every time before, his touch sent sparks rocketing up her arm and straight to her heart. It was maddening—the way that such an inconsequential gesture from him could send her spinning out of control. Body, mind, soul all bursting apart into a million little glittery fragments that wouldn’t settle back into their regular formation again until his skin was no longer touching hers.
“Don’t worry, Ell. We’re gonna get this settled. I’ve got calls into all of the relevant city departments in Las Vegas to see how this happened. You haven’t done anything wrong, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
The warmth in his eyes, the assurance in his tone, and the strength of his hand around hers all combined to put her under his spell. Just like it always had. And, oh God, it felt good to be under that umbrella of his protection again—another thing she hadn’t realized she’d missed quite so painfully until she had it back again.
And until she realized, suddenly, that she was going to have to let it go again. And soon. Because one thing was for sure, big shot Secret Service agent Donovan Valentine was not back on the Oregon coast to stay. He was here for a few days, max, while he untangled the mess. Once they were disconnected from each other legally, they’d be disconnected again physically. He’d be outta here.
Trying to mask the sudden sharp stab of pain that the epiphany drove into her gut, she pasted on a smile and brought up an innocuous topic. “So, are you coming to softball tonight? I know Mila would love it.”
