Page 24 of Taking Charge (Lone Star Burn 4)
Andrew and his men had headed down an alley, and David had suggested to his team leader that they join them as backup. His gut had told him Andrew needed him, but the officer in charge of the supply delivery told him to follow orders and focus on the purpose of their trip to town. Moments later, all hell had broken loose. Shots were fired, and a wounded marine came out of the alley yelling that it was an ambush.
RPGs and small weapons fire rained down from the rooftops. As they were returning fire and running for cover, David had made his way toward the alley. With their backs to the wall, his buddy Andrew and his men were cut off.
David remembered thinking, Shit, we are all going to die bringing supplies for these ungrateful bastards. The whole town should be bombed out of existence.
It was then that David had seen a man waving to him to come inside. David had shaken his head. He needed to find a way to get Andrew out.
The man continued to wave frantically to David. He was someone David had given supplies to in the past, but there was no reason to trust him, nothing beyond a look in his eye that said he wanted to help. He led David through his house and the home that adjoined his until they were behind where Andrew was. It was too late to save Andrew, but David and his men carried his body out of the line of fire.
David was one of several men heralded as heroes that day, but he regretted not following his instincts. Andrew might still be with them if he had. Eventually, the town was secured, and the next supply trip went without incident. David never again saw the man who had helped him, but in his mind, he was the hero.
After one tour, David left the Marines, but the lessons he learned there remained very much a part of him. No one gets left behind. Ever.
He’d let himself be persuaded to ignore his gut instinct a second time, years later. Kimberly Staten’s death hung as heavily on David’s conscience as Andrew’s death had. He’d known the horse she’d chosen was dangerous, but when he told her rich father as much, he’d been fired. No one blamed David for the horse trampling her to death, yet he couldn’t help but think he should have fought harder to protect her.
But Kimberly’s father had told him to leave, and he had.
Not a day went by that he didn’t regret that decision, and it had given him a stubborn streak when it came to doing what he felt was right.
Lucy needed him, and he wasn’t going anywhere.
Chapter Ten
Lucy was peeling potatoes while Sarah chopped vegetables for dinner. There was a comfort in the mundane act that helped calm Lucy. “So what was it like to hit the New York Times?” Lucy asked.
Sarah smiled brightly. “Unbelievable. Crazy. Wonderful. I never dared to dream that big. When I think about how close I came to giving up on writing, it’s scary. I have so many stories in my head that are dying to be shared. I can’t imagine doing anything else. When my first book started selling well, my parents thought Tony and I would want to move to New York to be closer to publishers. They don’t get it. My writing freed me. I’m exactly where I want to be.”
“I’m happy for you, Sarah. You deserve to be happy.”
Sarah put down her knife and gathered the vegetable bits into a bowl. “So do you. You can tell me it’s none of my business, but what happened in the car? One minute you and David looked like lovebirds. Then a moment later you were angry. Was it because of the riding lessons? They weren’t his idea. He only went along with them because I begged him to.”
Lucy put her own knife down, turned her back to the counter, and covered her face with her hands briefly. Sarah had asked her to share instead of hide from her. It wasn’t easy, but Lucy lowered her hands and met her friend’s eyes across the kitchen island. “I was jealous, I guess. Then scared when I pictured him with all those other women. How could he want me when he could have his pick of women? I don’t want to blame Ted for anything, because everything I did with him was my choice, but I trusted a man who ended up being nothing like I thought he was. I want to believe David is different. I want to believe this time my instincts are right, but all it takes is the smallest hint that I could be wrong to send me into a full panic.”
Sarah walked around the kitchen island and then rested against it beside her friend. “David is one of the nicest men I know.”
“Then he deserves someone who knows what they want.”
Sarah shook her head and made an impatient sound. “Do you want to be with someone or do you want to go back to living on your ranch alone? Because I can’t figure you out. This isn’t about who David could get or what David deserves. This is you letting your fear rule you. I grew up in a house where everyone was too afraid to say how they felt. They were afraid to talk about my brother’s death, afraid to face their guilt. Fear like that is a disease. It festers and grows. If you’re holding out for David to prove to you that you can trust him, you might as well end it now. He’ll never be able to, because the problem is in you, not in him.”
Lucy tried to blink back her tears, but one escaped anyway and rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away impatiently. “I don’t know how to be like you, Sarah. I don’t know how to simply put my fear aside.”
Sarah laid a sympathetic hand on Lucy’s forearm. “You take it one day at a time. You tell yourself—I will not be afraid today. Not here. Not in this moment. You don’t worry about all the tomorrows and everything that might come with them. You make your stand right here and now. I know you have it in you, Lucy. I’ve seen it.”
“And if we’re wrong about David?”
Sarah put her arm around Lucy. “You will still not be alone. You’ll always have me. Hos before bros.” She made a face. “I’ve never really liked that saying. I don’t usually call myself a whore, but it’s hard to find something that rhymes like that. Girlfriends before dead ends? You’d think that because I’m a writer, I could come up with something better—but it’s not easy.”
Lucy hugged Sarah back. Nothing had really changed, but she felt a hundred times lighter than she had a moment before. That’s what good friends do—they leave you feeling better than they found you. “Chicks before dicks?”
Sarah laughed. “That’s worse.”
Lucy turned and picked up a potato. “Fries before guys?”
“I’ve created a monster.”
“Would you mind if I steal this idea for my blog? I’ll ask if anyone can come up with something better. It might make a fun contest.”
Lightening the mood, Sarah returned to dicing vegetables. “I didn’t realize you have a blog now. What do you write about?”
Lucy’s cheeks flushed. “I just started the blog, but it’s doing better than I thought it would. I asked myself what would get me to try a new product. People tend to buy things they feel a personal connection to. My stories give them that connection.”
“I need to read this blog.”
“Oh no. It’s anonymous so I can be very honest about my experiences with the products,” Lucy said.
Sarah waved the knife in the air. “I won’t tell anyone it’s you. Come on, I write sex scenes. Nothing you put in your blog will shock me.”
Lucy brought her latest post up on her phone and handed it to Sarah. Sarah leaned over, holding the phone in one hand, and immediately started reading.
“Oh, wow.” She scrolled up, and spent the next few minutes skimming Lucy’s other posts. “Oh my God.” Finally, she put the phone down. Her eyes were round with surprise. “You really are selling sex toys.”
“I told you.”
Sarah glanced back down at the phone with a blush. “I pictured—well, nothing like this. So, let me get this straight, you strap something to your hand that you use on yourself while you’re reading and getting video phone calls, too? Do you have to answer the call? Seems like there is a lot going on there.”
Leave it to Sarah to look beyond the potential embarrassing aspects of the exchange and give the content serious consideration. Now that Sarah brought it up, the complexity of multitasking while trying to orgasm had been a little frustrating, but Lucy ha
d thought it was just her. “What would you suggest?”
Sarah reread the post calmly as if it weren’t an intimate retelling of Lucy’s encounter with the toy. “You definitely want an option of text to speech, and it has to be with a sexy voice. Also, I hope the app allows you to not receive phone calls. I’m imagining what a mood killer it would be for Tony if we’re using this and hot guys start calling me.”
“This is perfect, Sarah. Why didn’t I think of any of this?”
“Because you’re looking at these toys like a single woman. You test-drove everything alone. To increase your customer base, you should write about how couples interact with them.” She smiled. “I’m sure David would love to help you. You should ask him.”
Lucy had been typing furiously, but stopped as Sarah’s suggestion sunk in. “I could never do that.”
“Why not? What a great way to find out if you’re compatible.”
Lucy swallowed hard. “What would I say? ‘Uh, David, yes, I do want to sleep with you, and would you mind if we also try out a few sex toys while we’re at it?’”
Just then David entered the doorway of the kitchen, cleared his throat, and asked, “Sarah, could Lucy and I have a moment alone?”
“Absolutely,” Sarah said with a huge grin as she fled the kitchen.
Lucy swayed and gripped the counter behind her, imagining how unsexy fainting would be. She braced herself for a conversation she didn’t feel ready to have and raised her eyes to David’s.
He walked toward her slowly, with that easy confidence of his. He stopped just in front of her, so close, Lucy’s body warmed for his. It was impossible to look away, and Lucy’s heart beat wildly as she waited for him to say something.
