“I’m sorry.” Blake’s arms circled her waist and he buried his face in her hair. “I’m sure it means a lot to you, but it will take a fortune to fix it.”
“Thank God the folks who built Audrey’s and this house as well put them on a good solid foundation.” She leaned back against his chest. “It’s time to say good-bye to that truck and send her off to that great junkyard in the sky.”
“She will be able to visit with my first wrecked vehicle that looked a whole lot like her. Only I was eighteen and probably drunker than you were last night. Shooter and I thought we were experiencing our very first earthquake.”
“What happened that you got so drunk? And did it really shake the house that hard?”
“Second question first.” He led her back to the sofa, sat down, and pulled her into his lap. “Yes, it did, and I figure from the way that front end is caved in that you hit the gas instead of the brake. If you’d been sober, you would have stiffened up and come out of it with a whiplash at the least, but you were limber as a wet noodle. I did find a couple of bruises up under your arms where you must’ve hit the steering wheel but that’s all.”
She pushed up the sleeves of his robe and sure enough there were two long, skinny strips of purple under each arm as if she’d hugged that steering wheel at time of impact.
He kissed each bruise and pulled the sleeves back down for her. “Other question. My folks called a lawyer and he took care of things. I knew they were right. Hell, I knew I was making a mistake when I was standing there drunk and saying my vows to love, honor, and respect Scarlett.” He wrapped his arms around her even tighter. “But it didn’t make it sting any less for them to treat me like a child so I went out that night and got drunk again. I spent three days in the hospital with a concussion. When I saw my truck after they’d pulled it from around the big pecan tree, I decided I’d never drink that much again.”
“Did you keep that promise to yourself?” she asked.
“Almost all the time. Nowadays, three beers is my limit. If I have a shot of Jack, then two beers is my limit.”
She readjusted her position until she was sitting in his lap, tilted her chin up, moistened her lips, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Me, too. I’m making that promise to myself and sealing it with a kiss from you right here and now.”
Lips met lips in a fiery kiss that erased the argument. Tongues did a mating dance that included forgetting and forgiving, leaving Allie and Blake in a wonderful vacuum with room for only two beating hearts. The heat between them burned away the bad feelings and nothing mattered but the future.
“Wow! Just wow,” he said.
“Was it as good for you as it was for me?” she asked.
He traced the outline of her lips with his forefinger. “Better. So we’ve made our pact that we aren’t getting drunk off our asses ever again. Does that mean we’re going to watch each other’s backs to be sure we keep our word?”
She stood up and moved to the other end of the sofa. There was no way she could keep her mind on a conversation with his warm breath on her body and his arms wrapped securely around her waist.
“I like you, Blake Dawson.” She settled down with her back against the arm and sitting Indian-style, the robe covering her legs. Her heart said that she loved him, but she wasn’t totally sure that there weren’t a few drops of whiskey and tequila left in her blood that might be influencing the major organ in her body.
“I like you, too, Allie Logan,” he said, and smiled.
“Why?”
“You said it first so you have to tell me why you like me first. And I’m leaving my glasses on so I can see you, because your face does not lie.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He stared into her eyes. “Just how far does this ‘like’ business go?”
She inhaled and let it out slowly. “It’s real hard for me to trust anyone, and I have commitment issues after two years with a husband who left me for another woman. He was a lot like Mitch. He manipulated me into giving him what he wanted and made me feel guilty when I didn’t cave in. The only thing I refused to do was quit working, and that was a big thorn in our marriage.”
“Riley abused you?” Blake asked.
“Yes, but I was young, na?ve, and very stupid. I didn’t know that it was abuse. He’d sigh and say that he wished my job at least let me dress like a lady instead of a homeless person. But he had good qualities and we had good times. It wasn’t all bad. I guess that’s why I didn’t see the infidelity when it was right before my face.”
“That’s just wrong,” Blake whispered coldly.
She could feel the last of the ice chipping away from her heart. Was this what it was like to have a best friend, someone that a person could tell anything? “I don’t think my heart was broken but more relieved that I didn’t have to keep having the fight over my working situation. But my pride was in shambles. It was two years before I went out on a date and I figured out real quick that I didn’t believe a nice word the man said. It wasn’t him but me. I didn’t trust men.”