Page 64 of Love and Other Trials
As he walked off with Sherlock, she wanted to tell herself they would be okay. That her family’s drama wouldn’t end up causing her endless damage too. Instead, she texted her sisters that they’d found Tiffany and were bringing her back.
After she got Tiffany back to her cottage and let herself into the one she shared with Dax, she started when he stood up from his perch at the kitchen table. Sherlock lay at his feet—a sign of fidelity that made her heart clutch.
Dax had her wedding day wig on the table, lying upside down, with a line of three ping-pong balls, obviously a recent purchase. Two beers stood in an improvised ice bucket. He’d lit a candle for either ambience or romance. She wasn’t sure which.
The gesture rolled over her, making her feel way too emotional. It was his way of telling her that while he had his duty to Rob, and she’d given her word to Tiffany, they weren’t on opposite sides.
She didn’t want them to be on the opposite of anything. Not when they were doing so great.
Rushing across the room to him, she felt his arms close around her. They gripped each other tightly, and the abyss she’d sensed, the one she feared, seemed to close at last. “I don’t want this to hurt anything between us either.”
He eased back and cupped her cheek, his green eyes so tender she wondered if the ground beneath her had disappeared and she was free-falling. “We won’t, Ariel. We won’t.”
Then he was kissing her, and she him. He swung her up into his arms and carried her off to bed, where they both showed each other how determined they were to keep what was happening between them good and true and happy.
FOURTEEN
His good morningtext from his best friend wasn’t encouraging.
Rob
You. Me. Beach. Now.
The text had arrived a minute ago. Dax had been checking his phone periodically since he’d woken up, hoping for one from Rob about going on a run so he could talk to him about last night. From the tone of his message, it sounded like Tiffany had talked to him already.
He set his phone back on the side table, his already knotted stomach tightening further, like when he was cinched into his seat belt and shoulder harness before executing a particularly challenging test flight.
Well, it was what it was. No putting it off. Besides, he was eager to put this behind him.
He hadn’t been able to go to sleep after he and Ariel had made love, a rarity for him. Ariel had been out almost immediately. Sometime near four, he’d finally fallen asleep, only to feel her leave the bed when it was still dark outside. Maybe to let Sherlock out? Somewhere in between then and now, she’d come back to bed and fallen back asleep, pressed against him wearing that funny black T-shirt Bubba had given her with the cartoon rooster on it with the words STAY COCKY with giant fire sticks exploding outward.
As a homey gesture—he didn’t know if she’d meant it like that—it was reassuring as hell. They’d taken a few steps further down the path with each other last night. The sex had been raw and electric and deeply emotional. They’d both understood they could lose something precious, and they’d drawn a line in the sand.
He was about to leave the bed when she stirred in her sleep, and he leaned over to soothe her with a gentle caress, feeling the silky warmth of her skin. She smiled, and his heart turned over. God, she’d come to mean so much to him in such a short time. Whatever happened, he was glad he’d come here. He’d met Ariel, and he planned to keep on being with Ariel. Regardless of how things went with Rob.
Dax fitted a pillow beside her when he slid away. He was happy she was getting more shut-eye. She was a cuddler, and while she frowned in her sleep as she touched his pillow replacement, she still curved her body around it and stayed asleep. He kissed her forehead softly and left the bed, heading into the bathroom to dress quickly. He was used to running on little sleep and pressure in the Navy, but even he could see how drawn his features appeared. They were both tuckered out and for good reason. This morning wasn’t going to change any of that.
Sherlock was standing outside his door when he was leaving, his soulful brown eyes almost humanlike with empathy. Last night, the dog had been a comfort while he’d waited for Ariel to leave the bar. Yeah, he needed a dog as special as Sherlock. He reached down and gave him a good rubdown. “You’re a good dog. Do you need to go out again?”
After letting the dog back inside after a brief break, Dax headed to the beach where he and his buddy had met to run that first morning. Usually, the breathtaking view would have filled him with awe—the roll of the waves breaking near the beach, the brilliant sunrise of golds and blues—but not today. He had another view, one he knew didn’t bode well.
Rob stood at the edge of the water, his hands planted on his hips, tension emanating from him.
“Hey!” he called.
Rob swung around and Dax’s mouth flattened further. Rob was wearing one of his favorite T-shirts, the one with his life motto on it:Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about.The young officers feared Rob for it. The brass loved seeing him running in it when they were on base. Dax had always found it funny. Now it only soured his already sick belly. He wondered if it was for him or Rob.
“At least you’re not tardy, Captain,” his friend ground out, his face a rigid mask of control.
“I was hoping you’d text about a run.” He walked until he stood in front of his friend, battling his own emotions. “I wanted to talk to you, but from your text, I think you already knew that.”
Rob inclined his chin. He hadn’t shaved either, and it made him look more intimidating this morning with the dark shadows under his eyes. Not only the outcome of drinking and passing out, Dax thought. “I heard about your adventure last night. Thanks for finding Tiff. She’s really sorry for the trouble she caused.”
Dax could just bet how sorry. “Glad Sherlock found her.”
The already rigid planes of his friend’s face seemed to tighten further. “Yesterday was really hard on her. She couldn’t stop crying when she got back. I don’t know the full details because it’s wedding related, but I heard her mother was a real bitch to her. Like crazy bitch, which Stormy excels at. Maybe Ariel mentioned it.”
He wasn’t going to throw Ariel into this.
