Unbreak My Heart (44 page)

B-Dub:
U r miknag me hard.

Miknag? What was that? Then I realized he’d transposed the letters. He was so anxious that he wasn’t taking an eternity to type out a text.

Me:
I have to get ready. See you soon.

B-Dub:
Can’t wait. Luv u

So sweet, that man of mine.

Darkness had fallen and I stared out at the city lights. Strange to think Boone lived here. He’d never mentioned loving it or hating it. Accepting it was more his way.

Had he ever driven by the military family housing and imagined coming home to a wife and maybe a kid or two? If we hadn’t reconnected, would he have settled for someone else? That seemed plausible. Certainly more plausible than us ending up together. Then again, he’d come after me. The harder question was: would I have ever gone after him? When the word “no” echoed through my head, my heart and my stomach clenched with outrage. Now I couldn’t imagine a life without him. But I could’ve easily gone the other way, ignoring Boone’s attempts to start over. Thank heaven for the man’s tenacity. Thank heaven for his faith in us—in this.

Four solid raps sounded on the door.

I raced over and flung open the door without checking the peephole first. “I thought…”

My brain stopped. My heart did too. I had the vague sensation I’d abandoned that whole breathing thing when I got my first look at him.

Boone was one hundred percent polished, from the tips of his shiny shoes to his belt buckle to the brim of his hat. Talk about heart stopping to see Boone West in that uniform.

I flashed back to the anguish in his eyes the night he’d told me he needed to leave Wyoming. He had to make it on his own. I hadn’t doubted he could do it, even when I’d hated the decision he’d made. But it had been the best possible option for him.

“Sierra?”

My eyes met his. Such pride there. Such love.

“Look at you,” I managed. “You’re so…” I wished I’d had the foresight to grab a tissue. But the tears started regardless.

Boone followed me in. “What’s wrong?”

I shook my head and kept walking backward.

“Sierra. Stop.” He latched onto my upper arms. “What is going on?”

“I’m so proud of you. It just hit me, seeing you in uniform like you were born to wear it. And it makes me so ashamed that I was so selfish that I didn’t want you to have this.”

“Baby—”

“No, let me finish. I would’ve happily sabotaged your entire life and all your plans in order to make you mine. You were so much stronger than I’ve ever given you credit for. Maybe that sounds stupid, but I couldn’t have made that choice. You did. For both of us.” I sniffled. “So, I’m just…crazy in love with you, okay? Crazy in love and crazy proud that I get to be part of your life.”

Boone studied me with an intensity that made me tremble. He didn’t touch me, he didn’t kiss me. Every inch of him, except his eyes, had gone still.

“Never has anything that anyone ever said to me meant as much as this.”

I thought I was done crying.

I thought wrong.

But he caught the next tear, and the one after that, and the one after that, on his own cheeks as he kissed me.

I was utterly lost in him.

When he finally relinquished my mouth, he smiled. “That leaves us no time for a quickie.”

“You can make it up to me later.”

His lips grazed my bare shoulder and collarbone. “You look fantastic, by the way.”

“Thank you.” I’d chosen a red dress, simple in cut and design. I’d splurged on shoes, with distinctive red soles the exact same color as the dress. I’d debated on wearing my hair up, but I’d opted to leave it down because I loved how Boone swept my hair away so he could kiss my neck. I needed that familiarity.

“You ready?”

“I have to check my makeup.” With my luck I’d have black streaks running down to my chin. I crossed to the small vanity and leaned closer. Not too bad. The waterproof mascara lived up to the name. I blotted under my eyes, added concealer, touched up my eyeliner and dusted powder across to seal it. Boone had done a number on my lipstick.

He moved in behind me.

I smiled. Which made it hard to put on my lipstick.

“I almost stopped and bought you flowers. But it seemed more important to get here, than to get here with a flower you probably wouldn’t wear.”

So freakin’ sweet.

Keeping those dark eyes on mine in the mirror, he gathered a handful of my hair and delicately wrapped it around his palm. Then he pulled down hard, exposing the side of my throat. He dragged his lips up and stopped at my ear, sending chills through me. “When we get back? You won’t know what hit you. I’m going to fuck you like it’s my right. Because it
is
mine.
Just
mine.” His breath fluttered across my damp skin. “All night, Sierra.”

And…not so sweet.

The ballroom sparkled
as if we’d stepped into a fairy-tale castle.

Crystal chandeliers, enormous arrangements of fresh flowers. Tuxedoed waiters served champagne and beautifully crafted finger foods. The lighting was superb: dim enough to be intimate, bright enough that you weren’t banging into tables in the dark.

Boone kept his hand in the small of my back. With any other guy it could be seen as gentlemanly behavior. With Boone, his continual touch was proof of ownership. If I could’ve dragged him off to a coat closet so he could fuck me fast and hard as a private testimonial, I would’ve done it without shame.

Warm lips touched my ear. “Care to share the dirty thought you just had?”

“How did you know?”

“Wouldn’t it be worse if I didn’t recognize it?”

“Point to Sergeant West.” I tipped my head back to look at him. “This is some fancy gig.”

“I had no idea it would be like this.”

I frowned. “Haven’t you been to a bunch of these?”

“One. I didn’t bring a date. I had no idea that was expected. So I hid by the shrimp cocktail and stuffed my face until I could escape.”

That image wrecked me. I discreetly drilled him in the stomach with my index finger. “That breaks my fucking heart. Stop trying to make me cry, douche.”

He laughed.

A couple joined us.

The man offered his hand. “At ease, West. Good to see you.”

I half-expected Boone to salute. He shook the hand. “Happy to have been invited.” That “she’s mine” hand on my back urged me forward. “Colonel Livingston, this is my girlfriend, Sierra McKay. Sierra, this is our commanding officer.”

I had a momentary bout of nerves and fought the urge to curtsey and greet him in a fake British accent. “So happy to meet you.”

Colonel Livingston offered his hand. “Very pleased to make your acquaintance. This is my wife, Bridget.”

Bridget deigned a brittle smile and a limp handshake. “Yes, lovely to meet you.”

I murmured something back. At least no one here had gone the kiss-kiss on each cheek route.

“Have you settled into Phoenix?”

“Day by day, sir. Things are done differently, but I’ll adapt.”

“You always do.” The colonel studied me. “And where are you from?”

“Phoenix.” I tacked on, “Sir.”

“Ah. That’s where you two met?”

“Sierra and I lived in the same small town in Wyoming. We recently reconnected in Phoenix.”

Bridget paid no attention to the conversation. She appeared to be scanning the crowd for a more powerful—or at least more interesting—couple to speak with. She touched her husband’s arm. “I see the Winchells have arrived. We should say hello.”

“Of course. Enjoy the party,” the colonel said.

“We will, sir. You also.”

Boone didn’t breathe again until the man disappeared into the crowd. No one else would’ve noticed it but I did.

“He seemed friendly.”

“He is. Good man and great leader.”

“He’s your big boss? Or the semi-in-charge?”

“Big boss. Come on, I need a drink.”

I’d been sipping the free champagne but Boone ordered a beer.

“So where are we sitting and all that jazz?”

“Assigned table numbers. At least I hope we sit with the guys from my unit.”

We wandered through the room; Boone stopped to speak with a lot of people whose names I didn’t catch. We ran into his group, four guys and their dates, in the far back corner.

“West, my man, why are you here?”

I saw Boone stiffen as if he feared the guy might do the half-hug, chest bump, back slap bro hug. He shifted slightly, using me as a buffer. “I’m here to contribute to the destruction of more trees in the name of a metric shit ton of paperwork.”

They all laughed. My man personified charm.

“How are things in First?”

“Same old, same old.” The stealth hugger cocked his head and smiled at me. “Sweetheart, whatchu doin’ with him? The man is boring. Work, work, work, all the damn time. Gets off on making us all look like slackers.”

“You
are
slackers.”

“Wasn’t talking to you, Sarge. I was asking your very beautiful date.”

“Sierra, this rude gearhead is DT Sharp. DT, this is my girlfriend, Sierra.”

“Girlfriend?” He whistled. “Man, you are coming up in the world.” DT smiled at me. “Good to meet you. To say I’m shocked to meet you is an understatement.”

“And why is that, Mr. Sharp?”

“Like I said. The man is all work. His off hours tend to be about…short pursuits.”

Boone stiffened behind me.

Then all eyes were on me to see how I’d react. “Really? I beg to differ. Boone is very specific in his long term goals.”

He kissed my temple.

“Besides, short is never a word I’d use to describe any part of him.”

Everyone laughed. Then the insults flew and that loosened the tension.

But military speak confused me, so I let my gaze wander. Even with all the men in uniform, none of them looked as good as Boone. He carried himself with confidence and I loved seeing it since I knew it hadn’t always been there.

“I need a drink of water,” I said to him. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No, stay. I won’t get lost.”

At the hospitality table, I filled a crystal glass with ice water. Disappointing not to find snacks there, since the waitstaff had stopped circling with tidbits and I was starving.

“So you’re Boone’s
girlfriend
.”

I slowly faced the woman with the sneering tone. “Yes, I am. Who are you?”

“Janell. I’m here with Cody. These guys don’t bother introducing their dates.”

But mine did. “Cody works with Boone?”

“Only in the broadest sense. It’s a little freaky to see them all in dress uniforms. Usually they resemble bums when we’re hanging out at Spike’s.”

The old “I know them, I’m part of the group” tactic to make me feel like an outsider. Hah. Too late. I already felt as if I’d stepped onto a movie set and it appeared I’d found the villain. “Boone hasn’t mentioned Spike’s.”

“That’s weird. That’s where I met him. At least a couple of years ago.”

Nice follow up with the “neener neener I’ve known him longer” shot. I said nothing.

So she kept on. “DT said they were all at Spike’s earlier in the week. Boone went along but he didn’t say
anything
about a girlfriend, which was why DT was so surprised tonight.”

“Oh, right. When Boone called me Monday night he did mention he’d gone out for a beer with the guys. He didn’t specifically say DT was there, so I don’t know what they talked about.”

“Did Boone mention Katherine being there too? She’s been pretty close to him.”

Why didn’t she just hand me a list of the chicks Boone fucked? But now I was curious about her end game so I’d play…dumb at first. “I just met DT. We didn’t talk long enough for him to say anything about a Katherine, so I don’t know how close they are.”

“I didn’t mean DT and Katherine were close, I meant Katherine and Boone were close.”

“Ah.” I nodded. “I wouldn’t know that either because Boone doesn’t talk about his work in Fort Hood or who he works with.” I waited for steam to come out of her ears.

“You’re not the brightest bulb, are you?” she sneered.

“I’m perfectly bright. Here’s a thought. Since you want me to know that you fucked Boone and your friend Katherine fucked him too, just say it outright instead of adding in all of the bullshit and expecting me to dig through it.”

“Me and Katherine weren’t the only ones,” she retorted.

“Again, what is the point of this? To make me jealous? To make me mad? To get me to pick a fight with Boone about his past that has nothing to do with me?”

“Why don’t you just admit you’re not Boone’s girlfriend? That you’re just some random chick he brought as his date to save face.”

“Why would he need to save face?”

Her eyes lit with triumph. “Because before he left for godforsaken Wyoming or wherever, he was complaining about having to attend this party, because he’d been told by the colonel he couldn’t skip it. He said he’d just pick some random chick off the street as his date. I’m betting that’s you.”

I smiled with complete condescension. “If I’m a random chick, you think you still have a shot at him? Really? With all that you’ve told me about how very many women he’s…
close
to?”