Wyne and Dine (Citizen Soldier Series Book 1) (22 page)

F
riday of Lea’s second
week of work was coming to a close. She usually walked through the lobby of the
museum with a light step, but something was dragging her today. She couldn’t
place it. Had she forgotten to do something? Her mind raced through her to-do
list, appointments, research notes, visit to the archives. Nope. All done.

So what was eating at her gut?

Ben?

Ben was always eating at her gut.
She missed him. Ached for him. Needed him. Picked up her phone every day to
call him, and always put it back down. Nothing worse than a pest. Besides, he
needed to call her. Not just for her sake, but his. He had to take that step.

As she left the museum, she had the
overwhelming urge to call him, but she’d rushed out of the penthouse without
her cell phone this morning. It was probably dead by now, too, since she’d also
forgotten to charge it last night.
Idiot.

The mid November air was chilly but
not cold, and she lifted her face to the sky and let the breeze refresh her.
She already felt better. Smiling, she skipped down the cement steps in the pair
of Gwen’s black, knee-high leather boots she wore with a navy sweater dress,
topped with a black wool overcoat and followed the daily path she took to the
subway two blocks away.

She loved her job. It was
everything she’d always hoped it would be and more. She couldn’t imagine her
life without it.

She also loved Ben. Why couldn’t
she have him, too?
Dammit
. She was trying to give him space, to not go
to the Poconos until Thanksgiving next weekend, but God, she missed him. And
she just couldn’t wait anymore. She was going to get on a bus and go to the
Poconos tonight.

With her mind made up, she upped
her pace, excitement rushing through her veins. And then a thought occurred.
What if this was drill weekend? Not being at Gabe’s, she wasn’t privy to the
scuttlebutt of drill dates, so she had no idea if this was drill weekend or
not.

She’d call Ryder when she got back
to the penthouse.

As Lea crossed to the second block,
her gaze was drawn to a crowd and commotion on the street. An accident. She
hadn’t seen or heard it. Must’ve happened while she was still at work. There
were ambulances, and police cars, and she sent up a silent prayer that whoever
was involved would be okay. Her gut tightened. No one needed to go through what
her family had years ago.

Slowing her steps as she neared to
accommodate the crowd, she tried not to look at the street. She didn’t want to
see, but a movement caught her eye. A familiar stride and set of shoulders. Her
heart rocked hard in her chest.

“Ben?”

He twisted around from where he
stood talking to a policeman and paramedic. Her gaze ran down him then back up,
reassuring herself he was real. Reassuring herself he was unharmed.

“Lea.”

A smile spread across his face and
lit his eyes, and she suddenly felt warm. Blessedly warm.

“Give me a minute, okay?” he asked,
and when she nodded he turned back around to talk to the men.

What was he doing here? He hated
the city. Couldn’t step foot in it. She remembered how he’d tried to get on a
bus one year, to see Brandi play at Carnegie hall, but he’d turned ashen and
shook so bad, he couldn’t step on the platform.

She studied him now, looking for
signs of distress. His stance was sure, authoritative. His color was good. She
could still see a line of tension in his shoulders and jaw, but no panic. The
anxiety that usually overwhelmed him seemed to have taken a back seat at the
moment.

Her heart leapt. He did it. He
overcame his debilitating fear. She was so damn proud of him she wanted to
barrel into his chest and hold on tight, forever.

Instead, she watched as he signed
something, shook a few hands, then twisted around and headed straight for her.
His emerald gaze glinted with a determination that hiccupped her pulse.

She couldn’t believe he was here.
Again, she wanted to go to him, but her legs were shaking too much. And as she
listened to the murmurs of the crowd, she’d pieced together a little of what
had happened.

Ten minutes ago, as she was
inexplicably dragging her feet, a car had swerved to miss a bus and jumped the
curb, hitting two pedestrians. Where she normally walked. A chill raced down
her spine. If she hadn’t been dragging her feet…

And if Ben hadn’t been there,
walking down the block, he wouldn’t have been able to grab the two little boys
and pull them out of harm’s way.

Ben saved them.

Without a word, he pulled her close
and held her tight. God, she missed this. He felt so damn good. His warmth and
strength surrounded her, and she soaked him all in and eventually stopped
shaking. When she finally drew back to ask if he was okay, and why he was here,
he placed a finger on her mouth and graced her with a smile, as a grin tilted
his lips.

“Wait. Not here,” he said, then
took her hand and led her back down the street to the museum, and she wondered
briefly how he knew where it was. She’d never told him. He’d never asked.

By the time they went inside, her
pulse was pounding, palms sweating, and she had to keep talking her knees out
of buckling, again.

He led them to a quiet corner, then
turned to face her. She opened her mouth, but his finger returned to her lips,
and he looked down at her with so much emotion in his eyes, her heart rocked
hard in her chest. Then it was pounding so loud she was surprised he didn’t
hear it.

“I have a few things I’d like to
say first, if you don’t mind.” When she nodded, he grabbed both of her hands
and stared at their fingers for a few seconds. “I’m sorry, Lea. Sorry that I
let you go. I should never,
ever
have done that. It’s not a mistake I’ll
ever make again.”

She squeezed his hands to convey
she heard him. She always heard him. And she didn’t need his words now. Just
him. But she knew he needed to get this out.

He squeezed back. “I’ve been a
fool. Didn’t recognize the signs because I’d cut myself off from emotions so
long ago. Off from everyone but you. I don’t need anyone but you, Lea. You’ve
always been there for me. Letting me teach you how to swing a bat. Having my
back when Gwen left. The towers fell. With Mrs. Dankirk. You always helped
without question. You have always been there for me. You’re my history, Lea.”
He smiled at her. The perfect smile. The one with his whole heart in his gaze,
reaching, connecting with hers, warming her from the inside out. “And I love
you.”

Overwhelmed with happiness, she
finally barreled into the man and held him tight. “I love you too, Ben. I’ve
always loved you.”

He hugged her hard and just stood
there holding her for a few minutes. His heat and acceptance and love all
seeped into her and made her whole.

When he drew back enough to stare
down into her eyes, his gaze held nothing back, so full of emotions her breath
caught again.

“Right here and now, in this
museum, Lea, I want you to know you’ve got your job
and
me. I’ll do
whatever you want, commute to the Poconos, I don’t care as long as you let me
in your life.”

Tears fell down her face as she
nodded. “Thank you. Because I want both, Ben. Very much. And you don’t need to
commute. I will.” Her sister had a killer penthouse, but the thought of staying
with Ben in his cabin sent a thrill through her. “I love your cabin. Especially
that swing…”

He growled as he brushed the tears
from her face. “Me, too.”

“I was trying to wait until
Thanksgiving to see you, but I couldn’t do it. I had to see you and was coming
home tonight.” She drew in a breath then released it. “About what happened out
there…I normally only work until four, Ben. But today, I’d stayed behind. I was
dragging my feet for some reason. If I hadn’t, that car…”

He pulled her in tight, buried his
face in her neck where he breathed in deep. “All the way here I was willing you
to be safe, Lea. I tried your phone, but it went to voicemail.” His whole body
shook.

“It’s at home. I forgot it. I’m so
sorry.” She hugged him tighter.

“I’m just glad you listened to your
intuition. So damn glad.”

“And I’m glad you were okay, and so
proud of you.” She drew back to cup his face. “God, Ben, they said you’d saved
those little boys.”

He nodded, but surprised her when
he didn’t use the incident to complain about the dangers of the city. This was
great progress.

She smiled. “I still can’t believe
you’re here. You came to see me. How did you know where I worked? I don’t think
I’d ever mentioned the name.”

“Gwen. I stopped by Gabe’s on the
way out of town, and she gave me her address and this one,” he said, running
his finger down her cheek as he held her gaze. “I had this feeling about you
and a bus and kids and the museum.” He shuddered. “I had to come. Nothing was
going to stop me. Not even my phobia. For once, I listened to my gut where you
were concerned. I didn’t ignore my feelings. They were full of you, Lea. Full
of you.”

Then he was kissing her, so slow
and tender Lea had never felt more cherished in her life. Ben was real. This
was real. Everything was right. And perfect. And she was so happy she thought
she might burst.

Never in all of history could that
eleven year old girl have imagined, all those years ago, she would actually
have her dream job
and
her dream man.

**♥*
*

Jill is a chocoholic
with a big heart, a flair for baking and confection, and a knack for getting
into predicaments, including the one where she was almost financially ruined by
her ex. Now she’s in a new town with a new business and is determined to stay
away from trouble. Especially, the gorgeous guardsman with the haunted gaze,
brooding expression and miserable attitude.  Her days of helping people were
over.

Too bad her new
business venture puts her in daily contact with the man who melts her heart.

♥

Please turn the page
for a sneak peek at:

Wyne and Chocolate

Citizen Soldier
Series: Book Two/Mason

Available February
2015

**♥**

If the road to riches was paved
with potholes, then judging by the size of the one that just sent Jill Bailey
into a ditch, she was going to be a freakin’ billionaire.

If she didn’t freeze to death
first.

Camouflaged under nine inches of
still-falling snow, the crater big enough to swallow a man whole hadn’t been
visible until she was upon it. Even though the rapidly falling white stuff
filled the hole, and she’d deployed her quick-swerve maneuver, neither had
saved her from wrecking her car against a tree.

Idjit.

Only a moron would ignore warnings
and travel on a closed interstate during a blizzard. Especially if that moron
was desperate. She was both. A moron and desperate. Which made her dangerous.
Yeah, to herself.

“Ouch,” she muttered into the
silent car as she pushed at the deployed airbag to tentatively touch her
throbbing nose, then pulled her hand away to stare at her wet fingers. “Oh,
goodie. Blood.”

Her stomach churned. Nope. She was
not going to be sick. If there was one thing Jill hated more than the sight of
blood, it was being physically sick.

And spiders. She really, really
hated spiders.

Ignoring the pain throbbing her
face, she tried starting the stalled car, but it was no use. Nothing happened.
She was stuck. Turning off the ignition, she kept the lights on in hopes
someone would happen by and see her in the ditch. Maybe if she tapped the
brakes once in awhile too, it could catch attention. Jill glanced to her left,
trying to eye the dark, deserted interstate up the small hill. Maybe she could
flag someone down for help. Yeah, not going to happen. She was the only one foolish
enough to venture out on a night like tonight, completely blowing the New
Year’s resolutions she’d made last week vowing to be smart and fierce in
business and not to let her heart rule her head.

Yeah, blew that one eight days in.

She hissed out a sigh, the rapidly
cooling temperature lending visibility to her disgusted breath.  Shivering, she
turned the key and pushed the button to roll up the window. No sense in filling
the car with snow, and cold air. Judging by the smoke emanating from the hood of
her car, the radiator was now shot. Or was that just snow? She flicked on the
heater. Nothing. Great. It could be a long night. She fished out her phone, but
wasn’t surprised to see there weren’t enough bars to make a call. Not in the
boonies.

Running her gaze ran down the dress
coat covering her wrap-around-dress and the high heeled boots she’d worn to
pitch a new candy line to a major New York confection conglomerate, she sighed
again. Perfect for the meeting. Horrible for being stranded in her car. In the
middle of a blizzard. Apparently, not only was she going to have to wait for an
answer about the candy, she was going to have to wait for help, too. Even
though the last sign she’d passed said she was only five miles from her exit,
there was no way she could walk safely in her outfit.

Fudge.

Okay, her mind reasoned, if she
remained calm, and kept those New Year’s resolutions, she would survive this
mess and live to pay her uncle back. Keeping those resolutions were key. She
couldn’t afford to blow even one if she was to get her life back in order.
Especially that last one.
Don’t let her heart rule her head
. That’s what
had sent her into the downhill spiral that was her life over the past three
years.

But things were finally looking up.
Desperate for finances, she’d added chocolate shaped penises to the lollipop
menu of Confection Connection, her bakery/candy shop, when her friend Lea
Gablonski had asked if she’d create penis pops for a bachelorette party last
September. The lollipops had been so successful, Jill hadn’t been able to keep
up with the demand.

Finally, after accepting a large
order last week, she’d commissioned a new mold from a company in NYC, with more
penises per mold. It had been ready today. With the costumer scheduled to pick
up the pops in two days, Jill had no time to wait for the mold to arrive in the
mail. She needed it today, so she could start creating tonight. The new pattern
would shave a ton of time off her schedule. She was very pleased with them and
the fact she’d had the company increase the size of the pop because…well, size
did matter.

Her bark of laughter quickly turned
into a wince as pain radiated to her temple. Yeah, even the silent winter night
didn’t appreciate her ill humor.

But, if she didn’t laugh, she’d
surely cry. Thanks to her
dratsab
ex-husband. Okay, he was a bastard,
but she hated the word and preferred to say it backward. He was a jerk and a
gambler who mooched off her until he got her fired from the major New York
bakery she loved when he waltzed into her boss’s office and demanded they give
her a raise.

Even now, color flooded her cheeks
at the memory. She welcomed the warmth, but not the accompanying embarrassment
from that mortifying day. That had been her last straw. Jill had packed up what
little she had left, which wasn’t much because most of her things had been sold
so she could eat, pay rent, pay his never-ending gambling debts.

She straightened in her seat. That
was in the past. She was moving forward. Rebuilding her reputation and her
life. She left her old one behind to start anew where she’d been the happiest.
In the Poconos. She had many wonderful childhood memories of visiting her
cousins Evie and Nico Martelli, and helping her uncle out over the summers at
his pizza shop in Pennsylvania.

God bless her uncle. He’d loaned
her the money to hire a good lawyer and get a divorce. Thanks to her ex running
their joint credit cards to the hilt and not paying them, her credit had
tanked. Again, her uncle stepped in and loaned her the money to open Confection
Connection. He said he believed in her and was happy to invest in her future.

Tears blurred her vision, but she
blinked them away. She had vowed to pay her uncle back, and was finally in a
position to start making payments to him. Well, she would be once she fulfilled
this latest order.

Who would’ve guessed chocolate
penises would lead her on a path to financial freedom?

A loud knock reverberated through
the silent car and sent Jill straight up until her head hit the roof.

Pain radiated across her face, again.
“Ouch.”

Unable to make out more than
shadows, she twisted the key and rolled down her window, her heart hammering in
her throat, praying an axe murderer wasn’t on the other side.

“Are you okay?” a familiar voice
asked, and it took her a second to focus on the handsome man in fatigues.

Her mind registered the National
Guard uniform with the name WYNE on his chest, while her body registered just
which of the four gorgeous Wyne brother was outside her door.

Mason. The grumpy one. Serious one.
The one whose mere presence always interrupted her pulse and sent a tingle to
all her neglected good part.

But he was a man, and she was off
men for a bit. For over a year-and-a-half now. So, her body was just going to
have to starve because she was still fasting.

“Jill?” Another face appeared.
Another Wyne brother. The youngest. Keiffer. “Is that you? Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she finally answered, and
pushed at the air bag. “I got in a fight with this and lost.”

“What the hell are you doing out
here?” Mr. Grumpypuss asked, withdrawing a huge knife from his ACUs-Army
Camouflage Uniform. “Turn your head and close your eyes,” he ordered before she
even had a chance to answer his question.

A second later she heard a huge
pop, and felt a burst of air. When she opened her eyes and turned back around,
the airbag was deflated and she could breathe a little easier.

“Well?” Gaze dark and narrowed,
Mason stared down at her in a handsome face creased with aggravation as snow
blew all around him.

“Thank you,” she replied.

Muttering under his breath, he
shoved the knife back into his pocket. “No, I mean why the hell are you out
here? The interstates are closed.”

She glanced at Keiffer who was
wearing a strange expression on his face as he stared at his grouchy brother.
Then he transferred his gaze to her and a slow smile slid across his lips.

Whatever the younger Wyne was
thinking, she knew she didn’t like it. Nor did she appreciate his brother’s
tone.

Lifting her chin she stared right
at the irritated man. “What does it look like? I drove out here so I could hit
a pothole, lose control of my car and ram a tree because I had nothing better
to do than aggravate you.” Her chin lifted higher. “So, are you going to rescue
me, or should I wait for another patrol to go by?”

If they were out on the roads in
uniform, then the National Guard had definitely been activated and she was more
than happy to wait for the next team, even if her chattering teeth balked at
the idea.

And to show she didn’t care for him
or his attitude, Jill pushed the button and rolled the window back up. There.
Let Mr. Grumpypuss deal with that.

A second later, she heard Keiffer’s
laughter disappearing in the distance and she blew out a breath that frosted in
front of her. Okay, so she put one Wyne in his place and made the other
laugh…but she was still stranded. And cold.

…And stuck in the snow with a
broken car, and probably a broken nose. Thank goodness she had been going slow.
Hitting a tree at a high rate of speed usually ended much worse.

The passenger door suddenly swung
open and a very handsome, very pissed off Guardsman folded his large frame into
her car and slammed the door.

“W-what are you doing?” she
stammered like the
idjit
she was.

“I’m waiting with you.”

“Why?” She blinked, and sucked in
more air from a car that suddenly felt very cramped. Damn, the man took up the
front seat while his presence filled the back.

“Because our humvee broke down up
there and we were waiting for another when we spotted your lights,” he replied,
his voice aggravated and gaze cold and intense as he leaned closer. “So, you’re
stuck with me until they arrive. You got a problem with that, sweetheart?”