Rescue My Heart Read online

  “You made a blanket decision about us without me. That’s what hurt me.”

  “Yes, I did that,” he agreed. And he’d do the same thing again. “Come on, Holly, you know that back then a life with me was a guaranteed life of hurt.” He’d done her a favor by breaking things off before heading into the military. He’d always looked back on it just like that, telling himself she’d be happier without him.

  Which meant that he had no right to feel anything for her now. He’d had his chance, and he’d made the choice to walk away. He’d refused to alter his life to fit her into it. He hadn’t been willing to add the complication. He wanted things as simple as possible.

  Holly was a lot of things, but simple wasn’t one of them. Then or now.

  “So what was last night, then?” she asked.

  Well, hell.

  “You don’t even know, do you,” she said in disbelief.

  No, he didn’t. He didn’t have a clue.

  “Really?” she said when he remained silent. “You’re going to go with the whole Dark, Tortured, Silent persona? Fine. That’s fine, Adam. Stick with what you’re good at. Because you are good at that. You’re the master at that. Sucking people in with your quiet, sexy charm, allowing them to think that they’re special to you, that you’re letting them in, all the while you’re keeping them at arm’s length and not letting them in at all.”

  He rubbed his jaw and studied her, wondering if she was always so damn prickly in the mornings. Another question that would be better kept to himself. He knew better than to get dragged into a fight with her on a mountaintop with a possible storm coming and her father missing and her emotions so high. Maybe he could tease her to break the mood. “Last night,” he said. “When we—”

  She closed her eyes. “Yeah, what about it?”

  “You came, right?”

  “Oh my God.” Her eyes flew open and she gave him a narrow-eyed look. “You think I faked the orgasm?”

  “Three orgasms,” he pointed out, giving himself away. He’d known she’d come. He’d known exactly when and for how long, and he’d be reliving the moments for a long time to come.

  Realizing he was pulling her leg, she blushed. “I wouldn’t fake.”

  “Good to know,” he said. “But you seem pretty cranky for someone who got some, so…”

  “Okay,” she said, backing away. “Fun as this awkward morning-after is, I’m going to…” She gestured to the woods.

  “Wait.” He pulled a small canister of pepper spray from his backpack. “Take this with you.”

  “For all the rapists that hang out here?”

  “For the bears and other curious four-legged predators.”

  Nodding, she clutched the canister, turned on her heels, and headed toward the woods.

  “Don’t go far,” he said to her stiff spine. “It’s easy to get turned around—”

  “Contrary to my latest stupidest decision—which was sleeping with you by the way,” she clarified helpfully, “I’m not a complete moron.”

  “I meant because of the snow. We only got a few inches, but it’s deceiving.” He shoved the first-aid kit into his pack. “I’ll come with—”

  “Follow me and die.”

  He went still. “Okay, but just remember, everything looks the same right now with the low light—”

  She waved a dismissive hand and kept going, vanishing into the woods.

  “Milo,” Adam said, watching the spot where she’d vanished.

  The dog bounded over.

  “Seek,” he said, and pointed.

  Milo went trotting after Holly. If she wouldn’t listen to reason, then she could have a babysitter while finding herself a tree.

  But a few seconds later he heard her say “no,” quite clearly, obviously to the dog. She must have also given him the stern finger point, because a chastened Milo came slinking out of the woods.

  “It’s okay,” Adam told him. “Good job.” He took a moment to call Dell and check in.

  “Long night?” Dell asked casually.

  “Don’t start.”

  “I’m going to assume that since you’re still breathing, Holly didn’t kill you. You two find some…common ground?”

  “I’m calling for my messages, Dell.”

  “Look, just say yay or nay cuz Jade keeps texting me, wanting to know if I’ve heard from you yet.”

  “Well, now you can tell her you’ve heard from me.”

  “So, are you confirming or denying?” Dell pressed.

  “Jesus.”

  “Hey,” Dell said. “It’s not for me. It’s for Jade. She’s convinced you’re still into the guilt thing.” He paused. “You’re not, right? You’re…okay?”

  Adam resisted the urge to bash his head against the tree. “Should I assume there’s nothing critical?”

  “Depends on your definition of critical. Reno kicked me in the ass a little while ago. That horse has no manners.”

  “Tell him I owe him a whole apple,” Adam said, and disconnected. He called Brady next, who told him that Donald still hadn’t shown up or reported in.

  “Not good,” Adam said, because he knew what this meant—a trip to the fucking caves. Yay.

  “You okay out there?” Brady asked, as always able to pick up on Adam’s stress.

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “I don’t know. You tell me.”

  Adam paused. “Fucking Dell,” he said, and Brady laughed softly.

  “Yeah, I’m right here next to him,” Brady said. “So it’s true, then. You and Holly.”

  “Dell doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

  “So it’s not true.”

  Adam drew in a deep breath, visions of last night haunting him. Holly beneath him, arms and legs wrapped so tight around him that he couldn’t tell where he ended and she began…

  At the long pause, Brady laughed again. “Good luck. And trust me, you’ll need it.”

  Adam paused. “Did you need luck? With Lilah?” The question shocked him. If he could have taken it back, he would have, in a heartbeat.

  There was a beat of silence that told him that Brady was shocked by the unexpected reveal of vulnerability as well, and if he laughed, Adam was going to have to kill him.

  But Brady didn’t laugh. “Hell, man,” he finally said. “I needed a lot more than luck. I needed divine intervention to land that woman, and I still almost screwed it up.”

  Brady was just about the toughest son of a bitch Adam had ever known. And yet somehow he’d managed to land the sweetest woman on the face of the earth. They’d gotten married last month, a beautiful, emotional ceremony with a reception that had the entire town partying all night long. Still, Adam never got over his surprise while watching them together. Lilah would needle Brady, get on his case about something, anything. Food, work, his overprotectiveness…She’d keep after him until he’d start to get pissed, and then she’d go toe-to-toe with him. The kitten up against the lion. Adam had never seen anyone do that to Brady before, but Lilah had no fear of Brady. She’d throw her arms around the guy’s neck and kiss him, and he’d grin down at her like a teenager. Even now, to this day, when Adam was with Brady when his cell phone rang with Lilah’s ringtone, Brady would get that same big-ass grin on his face.

  “Don’t screw it up,” Brady said.

  With nothing else to say, Adam disconnected. He spent a few minutes packing everything up, with the exception of the two granola bars, apples, and water he’d taken out for their breakfast.

  Still no Holly.

  He paced the clearing, stopping every few seconds to peer into the woods where she’d vanished. “Holly.”

  Nothing.

  Dammit. “I’m coming in, Holly.” He did not want to surprise her. He’d armed her, for one thing. And getting Maced sucked. Besides that, he understood wanting privacy for whatever complicated morning routine a woman might try to go through out here. But if she was out there sulking, trying to punish him, then that was another thing al