Taking Heart (16 page)

E
VERYONE TURNED TO
look into the trees opposite the corner of the building where the picture would have been taken from. Julia didn't bother to look. She knew Evan would be gone already. He wasn't there. He wouldn't stay around. He was simply reminding her of what he could have easily done. Dylan was still standing because Evan had been merciful, for now. He wanted her to know the time would come when he chose to kill Dylan, but until it did, he was just watching, toying with them.

Julia's knees buckled and she slid toward the ground. Gracie shoved her nose into Julia's waist as Tango whimpered from her other side.

“Whoa.” Dylan reached out and grasped her, holding her up. “Come on, let's get inside.” He guided her into the kitchen in the kennel while Bailey and Chase followed. He slid Julia into a chair and searched the cupboards for a cup.

He finally set a disposable cup of water in front of her on the table as she rested her forehead in the heel of her palm. “This isn't going to work. You have to leave, Dylan.”

“I already told you, I'm not going anywhere.” Reaching out, he caressed the inside of her arm. “I'm fine. It was nothing more than a scare tactic.”

“Well, it worked, because I'm scared.” She shook her head. “Dylan, that is a picture of you through the sight of a gun. He could have shot you, and we had no idea he was here.”

“It's not a gun sight,” Chase spoke up. “It's through a monocular, probably military surplus.”

Julia looked up at him. “That looks like a gun sight to me.”

“He's right,” Dylan said. “See the crosshairs, here? A sniper rifle would be far more precise and have more defined crosshairs.”

“He knew you wouldn't know that and wanted you to think he could kill Dylan anytime he wanted. He's trying to get you to react in fear. He probably wants to get you to chase Dylan off so he can do whatever he wants.” Chase sounded more excited than she'd like him to.

“You do realize this isn't a game, right Chase? This is my life.”

He frowned. “I know that.”

“I don't think that's what Chase meant, Julia.” Bailey jumped in while Dylan shot Chase a warning glance, silencing him.

“I think this just means he was right about the way Evan would react,” Dylan supplied. “Our being here is flushing him out, forcing him to do things without thinking them through.” He tapped the phone. “This was a stupid mistake on his part and means he's shooting from the hip and not making careful plans any longer.”

Dylan reached for her hand, wrapping it in both of his. “Chase and I are taking shifts staying up. Evan's going to make a move, and when he does, we're going to be there to stop him. He's not going to hurt you.”

She looked at him, unable to stop the tears from filling her eyes. “It's not me I'm worried about.”

He smiled at her. “He's not going to hurt me either.” His eyes took on a ferocity she hadn't seen before. “He's not getting any closer to you or this ranch than that picture unless he wants to die. If he so much as lays a hand on you, I will kill him.”

“I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that,” Chase said. “Remember? Deputy sheriff right here.”

“Yeah?” Dylan didn't flinch. “Well, special ops trumps deputy on this ranch.”

“S
O,
B
AILEY TELLS
me things are looking serious with you and Mr. Military Man?” Jessie winked at Julia as she slid a coffee mug onto her kitchen table. Dylan, Nathan, Justin, Chase, and Gage had all headed into Nathan's newly christened home theater to watch a preseason football game. Julia had missed visiting her sister, but Jessie had been swamped with a weeklong camp of troubled teens and their family members. It was a magical combination that paired previously abused horses with the teens and worked wonders for the hardened kids to soften their hearts and open them up.

Julia felt the blush creep over her neck and knew Jessie would pick up on it if she didn't change the subject quickly. “How did camp go?”

“Great!” Jessie's face lit up. “But don't try to change the subject on me.”

Damn
, she thought. “I don't know that it's serious.”

“Julia, you haven't dated a man in almost four years. For you to be interested at all, he must be pretty special.” She tucked a dark curl behind her ear and reached for Julia's hand. “I know how hard it must be for you to even trust someone again.”

Julia looked at their hands. “Not as hard as it is to trust myself again.”

“Why? You didn't do anything wrong.”

“I should've seen through Evan. He didn't change overnight, I just didn't see it. I let myself get so blinded by what I hoped was there that I didn't listen to my gut. Misty knew. I should have trusted her instincts.”

“Julia,” Jessie began softly.

“I fell for a stranger, and look what happened.” Tears blurred her vision and she swiped at her eyes. She hadn't cried this much in years. “I can't let myself do that again. I don't even want to think about what could happen this time.”

“Julia, Evan is sick. He's just damn good at pretending he isn't. You're not the first person he's fooled, or the last. Otherwise, they never would have allowed him out on parole.” She squeezed her sister's hand. “Dylan isn't Evan. Roscoe wouldn't have accepted him the way he has. If you can't trust yourself, trust Roscoe and Tango. They both adore him.”

Tango looked up from his place at her side at the mention of his name. She wanted to believe Jessie, but as much as she wanted to, there was a part of her holding back. Not from Dylan. Her heart was completely his. It was her mind that still needed to be convinced. It wasn't fair to him.

As if conjured by their discussion, Dylan appeared in the doorway with Roscoe at his side. “I'm supposed to bring beer back for everyone.”

“You guys have already gone through the stock in the refrigerator?” Jessie rose and grabbed a new case in the pantry. “We don't usually keep it here when we have kids around, so they aren't cold,” she warned as she passed it to him.

Dylan set the case on the floor and moved toward Julia, stepping around Tango and leaning close for a kiss. Her heartbeat immediately sped up, and Julia wondered which fluttered faster, the butterflies in her stomach or her heart. She'd expected a quick brush of his lips before he headed back with the other guys, but his fingers brushed behind her ear, touching the shell softly before he took possession of her lips. It was hardly the chaste kiss she expected, and once his mouth connected with hers, she almost forgot her sister was in the room.

“You need some help, Dylan? They just went to halftime and . . . Again?” Gage complained as he walked into the kitchen. “This is getting old,” he muttered to Jessie.

Dylan pulled away from Julia, his eyes heated with desire. “We'll finish this when we don't have so many eyes on us,” he whispered quietly.

Julia felt her blood turn into lava in her veins. “Don't make promises you can't keep.” She smiled against his lips. “We always have eyes at the house.”

“Hmm, I accept your challenge.” He winked at her as he stood and reached for the case of beer. “And you, little brother, need to find a woman of your own and shut up.”

Jessie laughed as the pair walked out. “I think I like him. A lot.”

Julia nodded. “Me, too. That's the problem.”

A
S MUCH AS
Julia loved visiting with her sister, she couldn't help but think about Dylan and his promise as they drove back to her house. They were like two teenagers, unable to keep their hands off of one another as soon as the others left the room. As amazing as the physical side of their relationship was, and it was nothing less than earth-shattering, it was the emotional connection she valued most. Dylan reached over Roscoe, curled up between them, and took her hand in his, letting his thumb brush over the pulse racing at her wrist. Tango stuck his head through the open back window of the truck and rested it on Julia's left shoulder.

Dylan shook his head. “He is a whole different level of jealous.”

She reached up with her right hand to pat Tango's head. “He just knows my moods.”

“And he interprets me holding your hand as fear?”

She arched her brow playfully. “I'm sure he can tell when I'm anxious, or angry,” she suggested. “Or excited.”

“Ah.” She could see the grin spread over his lips in the fading sunset. “And I suppose he must be picking up on some
anxiety
now?”

“Not exactly.”

“Anger?”

“Keep trying.” This playful mood was a side of him she'd barely glimpsed, and she found it irresistible.

“That only leaves me one other option,” he pointed out.

“Um, maybe. I think there's an entire gambit of emotions I could be having,” she teased.

Dylan pulled to a stop in front of the house, and she let Tango out of the back of the truck. “Wait here,” he instructed as he opened the front door and disappeared inside.

Julia watched him go into her house, tired of the added precautions, and just plain sick of the extra watchfulness. She wanted to be able to walk into the house with Dylan, to make love whenever and wherever they wanted to. To fall asleep with him and not wonder what time he was getting up for his watch. When he appeared in the doorway and crooked a finger at her, giving her that cocky grin, she returned it with one of her own and jutted her hip to one side.

“You think that's all it takes? I've got news for you.”

She never finished what she'd been about to say because he jogged down the steps and scooped her into his arms. “I texted Chase and Gage and told them to find somewhere else to go for a while. I want you all to myself.”

“You did not!” She widened her eyes. “Dylan, they'll know—”

“You think they didn't already?” He laughed. “I hate to tell you, but it's pretty obvious by the way you look at me with those big brown eyes.”

She knew she couldn't deny it, but she wasn't about to let him off that easily. “Yeah, well, those hungry eyes you shoot my way tell quite a story, too.”

“Speaking of being hungry,” Dylan began, setting her feet on the floor and winding his arms around her waist, letting her back curve against the front of him as he walked her down the hall toward her room. “I'm feeling pretty famished right now.”

She ran a hand over his forearm and smiled innocently as he brushed her hair from her shoulder. “You are? Maybe we should take this to the kitchen and I could fix you something to eat.”

Dylan dipped his head, pressing his lips to the side of her neck, making her shiver as desire heated her body. His hands slid over stomach, slipping below the hem of her shirt, and she wondered if he could feel the butterflies inside. They'd barely reached the room and kicked off their shoes when he lifted the shirt over her head, tossing it aside as his lips pressed soft kisses over her shoulder. Her fingers dug into his arms as she tried to hold herself up when her legs wanted to give way. Dylan moved his hand to cup her breast, his thumb brushing over the exposed curve of flesh at the top of her bra.

She spun in his arms, unable to keep from touching him, and stood on her toes, pulling his head toward her. Dylan was more than willing to comply, taking her lips hostage, his tongue sweeping into her mouth. Julia unbuttoned his shirt, desperate to feel his flesh under her hands, and inhaled the scent of him as they shared a breath.

“Dylan,” she whispered as his lips trailed over her collarbone. Her hands fell to the waistband of his pants and fumbled with the button. He unbuttoned them for her, letting them fall to the ground, and stood shamelessly before her in nothing but his boxer briefs.

Julia was sure she would never tire of looking at him. Every part of him was hard muscle, ridges and valleys, hollows and crevices beckoning her eyes. And her hands. Dylan closed his eyes as her fingers traced the lines of his tattoo over his chest. “Did you have this before?”

“The part over my chest. The rest was added after I got back.” She looked at the extension of the tattoo over his neck and arm and saw the scars beneath the colored ink. “I couldn't stand to look at the scars. They were just a reminder of how I failed.”

Julia wondered how she hadn't noticed the scars before. Her eyes misted as she realized the agony he'd endured with his injuries. Her fingers ran over the marred flesh, and she pressed her lips against the scar on his arm. Dylan winced, tensing, but didn't move away from her. “Dylan, you didn't fail. What you went through was horrible, but every bit of it was what brought you here.”

He buried his hands into her hair, tipping her chin up so she was looking at him. “If you would have asked me a month ago, I would have changed it all. Now?” He shook his head.

Julia knew the bittersweet pain he was going through. A part of her was dying to go back and change what happened with Evan. In hindsight, she would never have allowed him on the ranch, would have kept more distance between them. She would have watched Misty's reactions to him closer. But her past had brought her to this point in her life, where she was able to train service dogs with more depth than she'd ever thought possible. Her own battle with PTSD helped her understand and help others, and that was an experience that had given her far more than it had ever taken. Without it, she never would have met Dylan, never have learned to trust again, or to love again. The cost to reach this place was steep and painful.

“I know.” She held a hand to his cheek, looking into his eyes, seeing the grief he still felt for his friends. “I know.” Her voice caught. There was nothing else to say.

Julia unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them over her hips before stepping back into Dylan's arms. There were no words that would take away the sting of what they had lost. But she could show him there was a reason they were spared, a future that could be had, if they were brave enough to grasp it. What had only moments before been teasing kisses with smiles and laughter turned into something far more sacred, their heated mouths pressed together and reminding one another of the frailty of life.