Page 21 of Rescued By Midnight

Giving her a break, I accept my credit card and grab her hand. “I put everything on the counter over here, but I want you to try on some shoes. Something for everyday, something a little dressier, and a pair of running shoes.”

She pauses, forcing me to stop walking.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Oh. I, um, I’m not a runner anymore?” She shrugs.

I’m an ass. She was kidnapped while she was on a run. The thing is, running was her stress relief, and it was what got her through the worst of her grief after her parents died.

The shiny black running pants are soft in my hands. Maybe, eventually, she’ll want to run again.

“You might want to do other exercise,” I finally say. “How about we get these things, but no pressure to wear them, obviously. We’ll just have them in case you want them. Cody and I have a home gym, and a bigger one at the office. You can use either of those, anytime. Or we could sign you up for the gym down the street from our apartment building if you’d rather go there.”

She eyes all the clothes piled on the counter. “I feel bad that you’re spending all this money.”

“And I feel good that I’m spending all this money.” I knock gently into her shoulder, grinning.

“Well, maybe we should get you a few things, too.” She reaches behind me for a faux-fur coat and starts draping it over my shoulders.

I let her do it, and laugh when she finds a lady’s fascinator hat to hold up above my head, like she’s evaluating the look.

“Well?” I ask. “Am I presentable? Can I be introduced to a king and queen?”

“I think you are the queen.” She starts to laugh and covers her mouth.

I grab her hand back. I don’t want her to hide her face—I want to see every brilliant smile. Her laughter fades as she blinks up at me. Her gaze jumps down to my mouth, then back to my eyes.

Does she want to kiss me as badly as I want to kiss her?

I’m still holding her hand. Her fingers are soft. I rub her knuckles with one of mine. I could touch her for days.

Something flickers in her blue eyes, an uncertainty. She’s pulling away.

I let go of her hand.

ALICE - THEN

Every week, I looked forward to group therapy. And it wasn’t because of the emotional release, or the way I could commiserate with other people who lost loved ones. Those would be “pure” reasons to look forward to therapy.

No, my reasoning was completely impure.

It was because of two men. The two hottest men I’d ever met in my life. Cody and Landon. I’d spent far too many hours thinking about them, especially during church services. I would never get to a higher level if I kept my consciousness on such filthy fantasies. But I couldn’t seem to stop.

The elders at Seven Blessed Days were already annoyed that I was attending grief counseling in the rec hall of another church, a lesser church. But Elder Wattle wasn’t available, and I needed to do something to keep my thoughts from descending into utter despair.

Apparently, my brain had two settings. Grief, and lust.

I wondered if Cody or Landon would ever fall for me, and which one I would prefer. Cody seemed more playful and mischievous. Landon, more serious. It seemed unfair that they were two men. Why couldn’t all that goodness be put into one man, and then he could fall in love with me, and I wouldn’t have to choose?

When I walked into the rec hall, they were already sitting, waiting for the meeting to start. Just as Cody waved me over to sit next to him, another lady took the spot. He shot me an apologetic glance and made a funny face.

I made a funny face back. It was amazing how special he could make me feel with something as simple as this. We were in on a private joke, just the two of us.

Inderjit started the meeting with a generic call to gather, listen, and sympathize. He went over some quick orders of business, like the rec hall being closed for painting next week, so we would resume in two weeks. Then he nodded at Landon. “Landon, do you have anything you’d like to share today?”

“I—” Landon cleared his throat. His gray eyes darted in my direction. Was he looking at me? Or was he simply looking around, and his gaze happened to land on me briefly? “Yeah. It’s been a year since we lost Nessa.”

Since we lost Nessa? Who was this we he was talking about? Was Nessa his daughter? Was he married? He and Cody were just friends, they said, but what if they used to be together, and had adopted a daughter?