Page 2 of Falling for the Delta
“Let’s get you upstairs and get your knees cleaned up,” Stella’s neighbor said.
“She’s locked out,” Holly blurted. Stella turned and gave her a shut-up face. In return, Holly widened her eyes and gave her a small headshake.
Both men chuckled once more.
“Come on, Lucy and Ethel, we’ll go to my place then and get you cleaned up.”
“Um, I’m Stella, and she’s Holly,” Stella told the man holding her.
Holly rolled her eyes and turned to the man’s friend. “She’s actually brilliant. I know it’s hard to tell by her cockamamie idea to trespass on your friend’s balcony so she could jump over to hers, but she knows five languages and her IQ is only a few numbers shy of genius. But you know what they say about smart people—many times they lack common sense. And apparently, they don’t get classic TV references either.”
The look in the man’s eyes made her heart rate pick up once more. She felt off-kilter and extremely nervous. He smiled and chuckled, and it was all Holly could do not to throw herself at the man and beg him to be her boyfriend. Some impression that would make.
“I’m Dash,” he said, stepping closer.
“I’m Holly. Holly Culver.” She took the hand he’d extended and her entire body tingled when she felt his warm palm engulf her own.
She vaguely heard Stella’s neighbor introduce himself as Magic, but Holly’s attention was glued to Dash. He hadn’t let go of her hand, and suddenly she felt awkward. Should she pull back? Was this weird? This was definitely weird.
But he didn’t give her a chance to comment, or do anything really, before his friend was striding across the lawn toward the apartment complex.
“Um, I should go make sure she’s all right,” Holly said.
“Magic’s got her,” Dash said. “I give you my word that he won’t hurt her. You live here?”
Holly’s mind was spinning. It didn’t help that Dash still hadn’t let go of her hand. “No. Stella picked me up and we went out for lunch. She was going to drop me off later.”
“I’ll take you home.”
It wasn’t a question, and before Holly could respond, he’d shifted, moving the hand that had been holding hers to the small of her back and propelling her toward the parking lot.
Holly knew she should protest. This was how people got kidnapped and killed. But this was the man she’d been secretly crushing on for weeks. And she knew he was a Delta Force operative. She was ninety-nine-point-nine percent sure he wasn’t going to drive her to some deserted wheat field and rape and murder her.
But she still turned and looked back at Stella and Magic. She caught her friend’s eye and raised a hand up and mimicked talking on a telephone. Call me later, she mouthed.
Stella gave her a thumb’s up behind Magic’s back, then rested her head back on his shoulder.
A deep chuckle sounded from next to her once more, and Holly looked up at Dash.
“If it makes you feel better, you can text her my license plate number. But, Holly, you’re safe with me.”
And just like that, Holly knew she was a goner. His low, earnest voice, along with the sincerity in his gaze, almost had her melting into a pile of goo right there on the sidewalk. It was stupid—she didn’t know this man, but everything within her was telling her he was one of the good guys. That he wouldn’t ever hurt her.
She let him guide her to his car, a black Dodge Dart, and she couldn’t stop smiling as he opened the door for her. Once she was settled, he stood there for a second looking down at her.
“What?” she asked, nervously pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.
“Nothing. It’s just that I can’t believe you’re here. Finally.”
And with that, he shut the door and began to walk around to the driver’s side.
Holly had no idea what that meant, but it had to be good, right? Could he possibly have noticed her too and been interested? No, that couldn’t be what he meant.
But the spark that had been lit when she’d touched his hand the first time flared inside her. She had no idea what was happening, but she took a deep breath and told herself to not do anything embarrassing. If there was even the slightest chance Dash might be interested in her, she didn’t want to do anything to mess that up.
