And Never Let Her Down: A Town of Destiny Novel Read online

  “Oh, I like a good joke. And your brother was always pranking us in the barracks. What’d you have in mind?”

  She smirked and cocked her brow.

  Chapter Three

  She waited in her room to begin the joke because he insisted on not having to walk downstairs again. Already in her pants pajamas and fluffy blue robe, hair swept up in a messy bun, she chewed her nails. She hoped he didn’t chicken out.

  A knock at the door gave her relief. “Come in, Hayden.”

  “You decent?”

  She laughed. “I’m as decent as I can be.”

  He pushed the door open, wearing her brother’s green robe, knowing what lay beneath…skivvies. “Ready to pull a fast one?”

  “The question is are you ready? I’ve been waiting for the day to get back at him.”

  He walked over and sat next to her, his weight sinking them lower. “Oh, yeah. I’m ready to get back at him myself. So many military pranks you’d never understand, but it’s high time for a little revenge.” Looking around her room, he said, “I thought your room would be more…feminine. No time to decorate?”

  “Hey, it works for me. Sure, I’d love a canopy bed covered in fancy tulle, but I can only write about romance, not live it. You know?”

  “It’s a shame. You deserve better.” His eyes locked with hers before glancing at her iPad. “Make the call.”

  She cleared her throat. “Right.” She dialed her brother’s number and waited before his handsome, smiling face filled the screen. “Hey, bro! I have some news for you.”

  “I already heard, Aubs. Hayden said everything turned out great and you guys are becoming fast friends. See, I told you so. Should listen to me more.” He smirked.

  “Yes, you did. But guess what? We’re more than friends. We’re…getting married! Can you believe it?”

  Danny’s eyes bugged out. “What?”

  She glanced at Hayden whose face was just as red. Poor guy. Had no clue.

  Her brother’s words seethed between his lips. “Put him on now.”

  She knew that tone. He was pissed. She wanted to burst into laughter. “Sure, but be nice, Danny. This is your new soon-to-be brother-in-law.” She flashed the iPad at Hayden’s shocked face.

  Hayden forced a wide smile, giving a little chuckle. “Hey, Danny.”

  “What…the…hell…are…you…doing?”

  “I…uh.”

  She grabbed the iPad back. “Thanks to your great idea, it’s worked out even better than I ever imagined. He’s my own little cowboy, Danny…lassoed my heart right away. You really did good this time.”

  “You better be joking, Aubrey. Or I’m coming home now and whooping your ass.”

  “My married ass. I don’t think my husband will allow that…will you, Hayden?”

  He took the iPad, stifling his laughter. “You were right about your sister. She’s a real catch. Everything a man could want and more. I wish I could shake your hand.”

  Aubrey fell to her bed, muffling her laughter behind a pillow. She then yelled out, “We fell in love right on the spot, Danny!”

  “You only met today!”

  “When you know, you know. I just knew he was the one for me. Going to city hall tomorrow.” She sat up and smashed her head next to Hayden’s, kissing his cheek. “I want to thank you, my older, wise, protector of a brother. This is all thanks to you.”

  He smirked. “Then I want to see you kiss. If it’s real, you’ll have no problem doing that. And if I know you, Aubrey O’Dell, you won’t kiss someone until you care for them, have real feelings for them. So, go ahead. Prove me wrong.” Danny sat back, folding his arms over his chest with a smug look.

  She froze. “Um…”

  He squeezed her leg and whispered behind the screen. “Let’s just tell him and end this.”

  She returned her brother’s smugness back. “Fine.” Turning his face toward her, she drew his lips to hers and closed her eyes.

  “No,” he whispered before turning the Skype off.

  Her eyes popped open and glanced at the iPad. “What are you doing?”

  “It’s not right, Aubrey. You’re doing this just to keep the joke going. I’m not built like that. When I kiss a woman, it’ll be because she wants to be kissed, not for revenge.” He took her hands into his.

  She blinked hard before nodding. “I understand. I’m sorry. You’re right. It was foolish of me, and I wouldn’t want it to be like that, either. I’ll e-mail him in a little while and let him in on it.” She grinned. “Just want to make him suffer for a bit.” She placed the iPad on her nightstand.

  “Shoot, I didn’t mean to hurt you, Aubrey. I just didn’t want you to think you needed to worry about having me in your home…sleeping here.” He held her hands in his. “You can trust me. Plus, if your brother saw me kiss you, he’d find a way out here so fast. I promised I’d be a gentleman and help you.”

  Why that bothered her, she had no idea. She didn’t want anything with him or anyone. She caused all this. He was just a victim of her evil plan to get back at her brother. But dammit it stung. She smiled back. “It’s fine. I’d never worry about you crossing the line, Hayden. Get some sleep.”

  “Anything else you need?” He pulled her casted foot up onto his lap to inspect it better. “It’s still swollen and greenish. Does it hurt?”

  The sight of her foot in his hand gave her a mixture of feelings—shy, embarrassed, and a melting of her insides. She was grateful for her toes being painted a pretty red. “A little. I take ibuprofen to help, sometimes Tylenol PM at night.

  “I like the color.” He smiled.

  She wiggled her toes. “Thanks. Can I have my foot back? I’m not used to someone analyzing it except for the doctor.”

  He chuckled. “Awe, are you bashful? Funny, but I’d never think that from someone who threw their crutch at my head.”

  Laughing, she said, “Sorry about that, but you didn’t hear me.” She noticed his robe fall open and the tight cotton shirt contouring his bulging chest. He was not her usual type, mostly went for stringy guys with glasses. She licked her dry lips.

  As he stared, she again felt self-conscious of him holding her foot. He rubbed it gently above the cast, near her wiggling toes. “Your good foot has to be sore and tired. I give a mean foot massage. I’ll start with the broken one. Lie back and relax.”

  Slowly, she leaned against her pillows and smiled. “Known as the foot massager, huh?” She closed her eyes, feeling his fingers work the parts that didn’t hurt. She sat up in pain at one point. “Ow!”

  “Sorry, sorry. Won’t touch that part again.”

  She resumed her position and watched as he pulled her other foot up. A month ago, she’d fight anyone who’d try to touch her feet. What was she thinking? A day ago would have been long enough. This was not her usual.

  “Need me to get anything for you before I go?” he asked, as he kneaded her soles.

  Her eyes drifted open, shaking her head. “Like your room?”

  He laughed. “Excuse me?”

  “Do you like your room?”

  “Oh, I was confused for a second. I do. Very cozy. And I do love the ranch picture. I’ll have to show you some pictures from home on my phone tomorrow.”

  “You really live on a ranch?”

  “My family does. I’ll need to get my own place when I head back home. Probably get some land and build.”

  She slid her feet away and tucked them under the blankets after he stood to give her space. “Thank you again for my foot rub. I’m not used to that kind of attention.”

  “Didn’t you live with someone before?”

  She nodded. “Yeah…again, not used to it.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Sounds like a…well, I’m not gonna put him down ‘cause I haven’t met him, but I already don’t like him.”

  Shrugging, she grabbed the glass of water on her table and sipped. “It’s fine. I wrote him as a villain in my book, except he’s a lawyer and not an editor this time.
”

  He roared with deep laughter. “Perfect way to get revenge. Love it.” He walked to the door and turned back. “Don’t forget to e-mail your brother. I’m sure my phone is blowing up from him.”

  “I will.” She grabbed her phone off the table. “Right now.”

  He opened the door and paused before he looked at her once more. “And thanks for the almost kiss. If I didn’t make a promise, who knows what might have happened.” He winked and closed the door.

  She stared at the door and smiled before turning her attention to her phone to make the dreaded e-mail confession.

  ***

  In his room, Hayden couldn’t get the cheesy smile off his face. He normally was cool in those type of situations, but she really threw him off. Shaking his robe off and tossing it to the green lounge in the corner, he pulled the blankets down and climbed into the softness.

  Against the pillows and headboard, he opened his phone to text home and let them know how it was going. His mom loved hearing from him, especially about Aubrey. Always asking him to bring her home since they loved Danny.

  After catching up with family and friends, he dared to open his e-mail and see the flaming words from Gunnery Sergeant Daniel O’Dell. Boy, was he mad. He couldn’t help but laugh, knowing she’d be clearing it all up. He decided to wait to respond until he knew it was safe.

  He cupped his hands behind his head and remembered the first time he heard about Aubrey. Danny was so protective of her that he threatened anyone who looked at her pictures that they’d lose their eyes. He didn’t want her to date anyone in the military for some reason. Probably because of how he knew those guys could be. Danny was one of them.

  Danny knew how lonely they could be and didn’t want her to get mixed up in the crossfire of loneliness and desire—two deadly combos from a military man. They could be sweet-talkers.

  But Danny sure trusted him. He had good reason. He owed Danny a lot. He’d do anything for him. And if it meant helping out with his baby sister, he’d do it. Not that she wasn’t easy to be with. And she certainly wasn’t hard to look at.

  He cleared his throat, fighting any invasive thoughts. Danny would kill him. He already told him to only see her as a sister. A sister. Right. With those apple green eyes and pert little nose, sweet dimple on the right cheek he’d like to dip his tongue into, and a beauty mark near the corner of her pink lips he’d like to taste. That infectious laughter that echoed through the house.

  Nope. Not thinking of her as anything more than a sister.

  He adjusted his Long Johns and forced thoughts away, picturing her in that bed without even a headboard.

  The smell of her pumpkin-spiced skin wafted up to him as he rubbed her soft feet. So different from Clarissa, who was blonde, tall, and snobby. Didn’t miss that at all.

  He had deleted all pictures of her when he was on the plane heading out to be a brother-for-hire. And what he’d said about Aubrey, even in jest, to Danny was true. She was everything a man could want and more, but she wasn’t his to want. He knew what his job entailed, and then when it was complete, he’d go back home.

  His plan was to stay as long as she needed him, even if she fought him. He took this job very seriously, although he wasn’t being paid—not monetarily, but with his life. It was all worth it. His brotherhood with Danny meant the world to him. He cringed when he saw Danny’s face, knowing how angry he probably was at him.

  But she didn’t know what her brother’s friendship meant to him. If she did, she’d never have done that. Wasn’t in her to hurt someone but to make them laugh.

  A low melody floated through the rooms. He closed his eyes to focus more of what it was and realized it was music. Oldies music coming from her room. He could hear the shooby-doo-wop and laughed, but then realized it was a sad song. A song his parents used to play at Christmas parties and slow dance to when he was a kid, long after everyone went home, imbued with wine, his beautiful mother with her big Texan hair, and remembering their young love.

  In the Still of the Night droned on and his smile faded. He never realized it before, but Aubrey was just as lonely as a soldier in war. Her jokes protected her and made life bearable. But why? What was she protecting?

  He did notice she kept holding a pillow in front of her chest like she was shy and didn’t want him to see her as a woman. Fat chance of that. She was all woman inside and out. Never wanted her to feel uncomfortable with him around, he planned on going back to the hotel tomorrow. Didn’t want to intrude, although this was nice.

  With plans to get up in the morning and get rid of that snow and do some grocery shopping for her, he needed to get to sleep.

  Ugh. That snow. How he hated it. Didn’t know how anyone would want to be around it. The Texan sun made even the saddest days seem…bright. He chuckled at his own stupid humor. At barely forty, he needed to settle down, find a Texan girl with similar qualities as Aubrey, similar looks, similar heart.

  When he had first left for the Marines, he was dating Sabrina Wilcox, the most popular girl in high school. She ended it when she saw how hard it was for long distance. He’d then get letters from other home girls, flirting back and forth, sending pictures before there were smart phones and Skype. But nothing ever came out of it.

  And with Clarissa, he just never desired to propose to her. He knew she had hopes of getting a ring after he retired, so he ended it. He knew she’d find someone else fast, even though she said through tears she’d never love anyone else. He just didn’t feel the same. It wouldn’t have been fair.

  Yeah…he’d have to find the perfect woman when he returned home. And they had a lot to live up to.

  His e-mail dinged and grinned when he saw Danny’s name. In it, he said, “You are one lucky bastard, Gunnery Sergeant. Holding my sides from laughing so hard that I forgot to kill you. I repeat. One. Lucky. Bastard.”

  He chuckled and shut his phone off, letting the lighthearted threatening words seep into his brain. Words that’d have to sustain him throughout this painful journey of separating duty of honor and anything else.

  Chapter Four

  The sun peeked through the filmy curtains along with the blast of a snow blower rumbling in her front yard. She grabbed her crutches and hopped to the window. And there he was—her knight in shining snow.

  Impressed with how much he already had plowed, she shimmied into black yoga pants and top, tied her hair into a ponytail, and bounded down the stairs after throwing her crutches to the bottom landing. Holding onto the railing, she hopped on each step until she jumped to the last one, out of breath.

  Wanting to have hot coffee ready for him, she hobbled to the kitchen but saw he already had made some. She smiled and poured the steaming goodness into her thermos with the word Writer on it, and clambered to the window to watch her handsome cowboy—not that he was hers.

  Happy he wore his knitted cap and scarf around his face, she drank and admired his work. He seemed to have this down as he pushed against the mountain of snow. She could now see the walkway and porch.

  After she had e-mailed Danny, he replied with a “Don’t ever do that to me again,” warning. But then he added, “Good one. I’ll never beat that.” She told him how Hayden had no idea what her joke would be, only that there’d be one. He said he’d deal with him later. Poor guy.

  When she heard silence, she grabbed a mug and filled it to have ready for his frozen skin. The door opened and then stomping of his boots on the doormat. “Cold, huh?”

  He walked into the kitchen with a red face that made her want to laugh, but she held it in. “It is freezing out there. How can you take it? Year after year after year of this? No way.” He took the offered steaming mug and drank, closing his eyes to allow the warmth to give him feeling again.

  “Sorry. This must be so hard to get used to. I honestly could have a neighbor do this. You have nothing to prove to Danny.”

  “I’m not trying to prove anything to Danny.” His eyes locked with hers over the rim of his mug.r />
  She took a drink and smiled. “You’re not built for this.”

  He folded his hands around the mug, staring into the blackness of it. “I’ve nearly had my head blown off by a sniper, walked on loaded minefields, was almost captured by enemy forces after being injured…”

  “I got it, I got it. This is nothing. It scares me to think my brother’s out there fighting a war that you just left. Terrifies me.”

  He stepped closer and set his mug on the counter before taking her hands. “He’s fine. He’s the strongest, resilient, smartest sergeant I know. You have no worries, Aubrey.” He stared into her eyes, wanting her to believe him.

  “Your hands are ice. Let me warm them.” She rubbed them between hers like two firewood sticks, feeling his eyes burn through her. She brought them to her mouth and blew hot air on them.

  “That’s nice. Thank you.” He then pulled them away and plastered them against her warm neck, making her scream. “Sorry…best way to steal warmth.” He laughed along with her.

  She twisted and tried to get away, laughing and screeching against his cold hands but wanting them to stay there. He stopped moving behind her, his hands still in place. Her head fell back on his face. His hands stilled, and their breaths synced—the only sound in the room. A delicious sensation filtered through her by just the touch of his hands on the back of her neck. The beat of her heart pounded.

  His forehead lay against the back of her head, taking in the moment before he pulled away and picked up his mug, smirking.

  Her voice became serious. “I’m gonna get you back, you know.” Trying to catch her breath, she placed her mug in the soapy water of the sink.

  In a thick voice, he said, “I have no doubt.”

  She pivoted to him and smiled. “What are your plans for today?”

  “Now that I’m done with that snow beast, I can grocery shop for you if you make me a list? Whatever you need. What are your plans?” He washed his mug and met her gaze, deliberately bumping into her hip.

  Laughing, she bumped back. “I was going to try to write. You really want to shop? Now that the walk is plowed, I can call and have groceries delivered. I’ve done that before. It’s still snowing pretty hard.” She glanced at the window and back at him, taking his mug and drying it.