Need You for Always (Heroes of St. Helena)(3)

Then again, Dax Baudouin was one hell of a transgression to have, but she had known that the second she’d agreed to go back to his hotel room. He had been her first and only one-night stand, a no-panties-allowed kind of affair that had blown her mind. It had blown some other parts too, but she didn’t want to think about that here. Not with her goal of a gourmet food truck just in arm’s reach.

“Dax,” she said, forcing what she hoped was a professional and unaffected smile. He smiled back. It started as an amused twinkle in his eyes, then spread to his face and—

She was toast.

That was all it took: a single flash of those perfect teeth and her body started humming. There was no other word for what happened to her whenever he so much as shot a dimple her way. It was as if he jump-started her entire body—brought it to life.

His gaze took a long trip down her body and back up, the corners of that smile turning up farther, and Emerson could practically hear the gears turning in his head, trying to come up with the perfect smart-ass remark about her attire.

“Now back to those rules,” he said, inspecting the different-colored leis.

“Yeah, no.”

He laughed softly. “No? To getting laid or the drink?”

“No to both the lei and the drink.” To be as clear as possible, she added, “And no, you can’t mow my grass, put a lime in my coconut, or any other unoriginal comment you were going to say.”

“I’m very original.” He leaned forward, resting his hands on the table, which did amazing things to his biceps. “Creative, even.”

Didn’t she know it. “Why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be off in some war-torn country defending mankind from the supervillains of the world?”

“I’ve had four tours of the most recent foreign war, which automatically puts me on the list.” He leaned in. “I get a plus one, if you’re interested.”

“I’m good.” She crossed her arms and that made his grin grow.

“As for defending mankind from supervillains? Someone else is handling that today,” he said as though it would be just another day at the office. Emerson snorted.

As an army Ranger, Dax was a weapon of mass destruction in a sea of already lethal weapons, handpicked and trained by Uncle Sam to fight the battles that very few soldiers were equipped to fight. He’d been to some terrible places, seen the worst parts of human nature, yet he kept going back, his need to serve stronger than his fear of death. On the rare occasion when he wasn’t on supersecret missions or hiding out in caves, he lived in San Diego, a good nine hours south of St. Helena, which was why she’d agreed to the one-night stand to begin with.

And okay, she’d just watched one of her best friends, Shay, marry Dax’s older brother Jonah in an incredibly romantic ceremony overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, and all the talk of forever and partnership and a kissy-boo future had gotten to her. Not that she wanted a kissy-boo future, but sometimes she thought about what it would be like to not have to fight every battle alone.

Then she’d seen Dax at the bar looking bigger than life in his dress blues—as out of place in all of that happiness as she was—and before she knew what was happening they were . . . bonding. Over Jack and Johnnie Walker.

In a momentary lapse in judgment, she’d found herself in his room, her bridesmaid dress around her waist like a Hula Hoop, staring down her one secret fantasy, who had offered her something she’d desperately needed.

Escape.

One night to forget about everything, be selfish, and lose herself without the fear of losing herself, because she wasn’t looking for forever. Good thing, since Dax was not a forever kind of guy.

“If I give you a lei, will you go away?” she asked.

“Is that your way of saying you don’t want to talk about the wedding?”

“First rule about one-night stands,” she said as though she were a foremost expert on the subject. “What happens between the wedding party, stays between the wedding party. No postexpectations, no postconversations, and no ties.”

“Actually, first rule of one-night stands, Emi, is that they last all night. You cut out before dawn.” He lowered his voice. “And to be clear, you liked my tie.”

She had. A whole lot. Almost as much as she’d liked him. Which was why she’d cut out. Somehow, if she was the one to walk, it felt like she was still in control of her emotions—in control of her life.

“I had things to do.”

“At three in the morning?”

“What did you expect?” She laughed. “To cuddle and hold hands while swapping embarrassing childhood secrets and life goals? And it isn’t like you called me the next day anyway.”

He grinned. Big and wide, and he slipped something out of his pocket. A phone.

He gave a few confident swipes of his finger, and a second later, hers rang. She leveled him with her most lethal glare. When it kept ringing, she crossed her arms, so not going to play this game.

Dax stood there, patient and unfazed, as though he was confident she’d answer as it rang and rang until it went to voice mail. Emerson could hear the muffled message she’d recorded and threw her hands in the air. “Oh for God’s sake, hang up the—”

He held up a silencing finger. Beep.

Emerson had a finger of her own to hold up, but since she was working, she refrained.