“It ain’t rape when I know you want it, baby.” Ralph laughed, cupping the crotch of her jeans in his hand and rubbing hard.
“Stop it!” She struggled in his grip, but he was leaning against her, too heavy.
“Don’t. I said no!” She actually managed to break free for a moment when his hand moved to his jeans, reaching in to free his cock, and she ran straight to the phone, but didn’t quite make it. He tackled her on the sofa, knocking the wind out of her with his weight.
“Hold fucking still!” he grunted, working the button her jeans. “I know you like it rough, but jeez…”
“I’m not playing!” Lindsey struggled, and realized, she always struggled, didn’t she? She always said no, didn’t she? Why would he think she meant it this time? “I don’t want to do this!”
The knock the door made them both startle, and Ralph didn’t think fast enough.
His hand came down over her mouth just after she screamed out, “Come in!” Nate’s big frame filled the doorway, his eyes taking in the scene. “Need some help, Linds?”
Ralph stood quickly, buckling his pants, grinning. “We were just having a little fun. Sorry man, I didn’t know she was with you.”
Nate opened his mouth to say something, but Lindsey cut him off, “He was just leaving.” She pointed to the door, noticing the tremble in her hand. “Right, Ralph?”
“Right, right.” He edged toward the door, his eyes on the big guy standing there.
“Let him go, Nate,” Lindsey insisted.
“Are you sure?” Nate frowned, looking between them. She nodded, and he stepped aside. She’d never seen anyone move quite as quickly as Ralph skittered by him and she heard him clattering down the stairs.
“Are you okay?” Nate shut the door and came to sit beside her. “Can I do anything?”
She looked up from where she had her head resting in her hands and gave him a weak smile. “I could use a hug.”
He held out his arms, and she went to them for nothing but comfort, and he gave it to her. Tears stung her eyes but she willing them not to fall. “I want Zach.”
“I know.” He sighed. “I’m sorry.”
Argyle barked from his cage, woken by the commotion, and Lindsey stood to go get him. “Let’s go for some ice cream.”
“You still up for that?” Nate asked, watching her take the puppy out and nuzzle him. He was getting big already.
“Yeah.” She kissed Argyle on the nose and bent to pick up his leash from the coffee table and hook him up. “I could use a little sweetness right about now.”
“I’m coming home.”
The words she’d been waiting to hear. She couldn’t even speak at first, struggling with the closure in her throat, the happy tears. “When?”
“Two weeks.”
“Oh thank god.” She sat down on the sofa and Argyle jumped into her lap, barking at the phone like he wanted to talk, too. “I’ve missed you so much.” She couldn’t believe it was over. Summer session had ended, and fall was starting again in just a few weeks. It felt like he’d been gone forever, and she felt just like a puppy, her whole body waggling in excitement at the thought of his homecoming.
“I’ll meet you at the airport,” she insisted, grabbing a pad and pen. “What flight?” He told her and she wrote it carefully in big, fat letters, drawing a heart around the magical number.
“I can’t talk long,” he told her. “We’re stateside now, though, so I can call you.” Phone calls! Two weeks of phone calls, and then he’d be home.
“Speaking of phone calls…” She swallowed hard, thinking, why are you doing this? But she had to know. Part of her had to know.
“Let me guess, your mother called?”
She frowned. “Well yeah, like every week, but that isn’t what I was going to say.”
“Are you ready yet?”
She blinked at the receiver. “I… I don’t know.” She’d been very good at avoiding them. The erase button on the machine got a lot of use. She never really even listened to the messages anymore, to what her mother was actually saying.
“So who else called that was so important?” he asked, changing the subject. She could hear him smiling, pictured it, and it filled her with a bright soft of job. “Was it the IRS?”
“No,” she snorted. Then it was quiet again, and she hesitated. Did she really want to know? Did she? “I was wondering… who’s Alicia?” The silence stretched, and then he laughed. The sound made her feel both elated and ashamed for asking all at once. “Let me guess—you think she’s some ex-girlfriend of mine?”
“Well…” Lindsey frowned, indignant. “It’s not an illogical conclusion.”
“She’s my sister.”
Her relief was worth the embarrassment. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”
“Yep.” He chuckled. “Just the one. Were you jealous?”
“Shut up,” she said, sticking her tongue out at the phone. “You’d be jealous, too.”
“I am, baby.” He sighed. “But you’re mine now, and that’s all that matters.”
“I know.” She smiled happily, leaning back on the sofa and letting Argyle curl up beside her. That one night with Ralph had proved it to her, if nothing else had. She didn’t want anyone else but Zach, not anymore. But she wouldn’t tell him about what had happened, she decided. She’d already sworn Nate to secrecy-he hadn’t been happy about it, but they’d become close enough as friends to reluctantly agree that it was her choice-and she didn’t want to hurt Zach anymore. He didn’t need to know about brief trip back in time, her flirting with disaster one last time.
What mattered was that she was sure now. She wouldn’t ever be the girl she’d been before.
“So, now that we have that drama cleared up, are you going to call your mother?” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you ever give up?”
“I wouldn’t have you if I did.”
She smiled, knowing already that it was going to be the longest and shortest five minutes of her life, her phone call with him, and it was. When she hung up, she sat with the cordless in her hand for a long time, just staring at it and thinking while Argyle slept next to her on the couch.
Finally, she began to dial the number of the place she used to call home.
EPILOGUE
“I’ve got a surprise for you,” he whispered in her ear. She’d held onto him so long standing there with his duffle at their feet that already her arms ached but she didn’t want to let him go. Passengers jostled around them, calling to one another, many in a hurry to catch another flight, but they were both oblivious.
“Oh my god.”
She looked around in panic as Zach got down on one knee in the middle of the airport, taking a small, black velvet covered box out of his pocket.
He grinned. “You said that last time.”
“What are you doing?” she hissed, trying to pull him up as passengers continued to file around them.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” He opened the box, his eyes on hers, looking for a reaction. “It’s called a proposal.”
“Zach…” Her eyes filled with tears and she wiped at them as they fell.
“Will you marry me?” The hand that held the box shook. “For real this time?”
“It was always real,” she whispered, fingering the lid to the box, not quite ready to touch the actual ring. “I was afraid to believe it, but it always was.” He smiled, holding the box up higher, an offering. “Will you?” The ring was beautiful, huge and, as she squealed and said, “Yes!” a perfect fit as he slid it on. He stood to take her in his arms, their kiss sealing the deal, and she gasped when they parted, whispering in his ear, “I have a surprise for you, too.”