Worth the Fall(43)
He hung up before she even had a chance to reply.
What? Wait! He’d call her tomorrow?
No! her heart screamed. You said this would be over! You said there’d be no risk!
There wasn’t. There wouldn’t be.
By eight o’clock the kids were in bed and she was on her third load of laundry. She stretched to reach the bottom of the washer, not easy with a pregnant belly. Her cell rang again and her heart knocked out an irregular beat at the thought it could be Matt. Just like Pavlov’s dog. Stupid.
“Hello?”
“Would it kill you to pick up the phone and call me?”
Shoot. “Sorry, Ang, I’m a bad friend.” Calling people, reaching out, did not come naturally.
“Why do you sound out of breath?”
Uh, because I thought you might be someone else? “I’m not.”
“Hmm.” Angie sounded skeptical. “Are you feeling okay? How was the trip?”
“I’m fine and the trip was good. Three movies and we were home.”
“Thank God for DVD players. Joe and I would never go anywhere without that. How our parents ever took us on vacation is beyond me. My dad with his swiping hand.” Angie laughed, then must have noticed the silence on Abby’s end. “Shoot. Sorry, girl.”
Angie didn’t know the details, but she knew Abby had lost her parents and been in the system. “Don’t worry about it. I know what you mean.”
“So, how was your goodbye with the hottie? You two exchange numbers? Please tell me you hooked up.”
Angie didn’t wait for her to answer. “What am I thinking? Of course you didn’t hook up, but I’m sure he’ll call. Just give him a few days.” Angie waited for a response. “Abby?”
She wasn’t about to tell Angie about the kiss, but she couldn’t lie completely. “Actually he already did. Call, that is.”
“Ha! I knew it. I knew he had the look.”
Abby envisioned the look her friend was referring to: the intense brown-eyed look of desire right before he’d kissed her.
“Tell me how right I was. I’ve had a shitty day with jelly and gum in the hair, and there’s a Tonka truck in the toilet that will remain there until Joe gets off third shift.”
“Sorry I can’t make your day. We were friends. He was just making sure I got home okay.” Responsibility over. “He’s a nice guy. Of course he’d call. Even if he wanted to…whatever, which I don’t…he can’t. He’s got important soldier stuff to get back to.”
“Abby, soldiers do have famil—”
“Stop.” Abby refused to give the idea a chance to take root. “Don’t even say it. I’m not getting involved with him. Or anyone.”
“I think you already are.”
“Angie, please. You know I’m not and you know I can’t.”
“Because you’re afraid to get close to people?”
“No, because I’m happy with my life the way it is.” Because being alone greatly reduced the risk of being left.
Angie huffed. “Well, someday that strategy might cause you to lose something really great. And I still say you already are.”
There were screams in the background and Angie said a quick goodbye before Abby could say Am not.
—
Matt’s foul mood had worsened with every mile he’d put between himself and the beach. Between himself and Abby.
Go home. Get some perspective. That’d been his plan until his lips had touched hers and all rational thought had fled. Her taste, her soft mouth, her body beneath his hands, had been hotter than any reality he’d ever known. Slender arms tight around his neck. Her fingers digging into his shoulders. Hot little body pressed against his. Mind-blowing.
Your mind was blown before the kiss. True enough. He’d been blown since the second he’d met her.
Matt eased off the gas as he exited the interstate and turned toward the Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek.
A thick forest bordered both sides of the service road he’d driven so often he could practically do so with his eyes closed. His mind wandered from the pavement in front of him. A glance at the dashboard clock told him it’d been fifteen hours since he’d seen her, touched her. He’d spent three hours trying to rationalize calling her, and now he questioned the wisdom of it. He’d told himself hearing her voice would ease him, allow him to focus on what was important.
What was important. That’s where he hit a fork.
He smiled, picturing her all flustered and surprised on the other end of his call. He wanted to see that in person. God, she felt so far away. Was far away.
But Teddy was dead. The familiar pain that had lessened in the past days flooded back. And then he’d gone and said he’d call her tomorrow. Royally stupid. He needed to let it go. He needed to take a step back, steer himself around the fog she created. He needed to think. But the farther he got from her the more his stomach cramped and the thicker the fog became.