big. Just family and friends. Maybe a few members of the community who express interest. Do you think you can come? You can stay in the spare bedroom.”
Heart’s Landing wasn’t a place he’d planned to visit during his brief time stateside. But the thought of seeing Amy again, in person, pushed against his reservations. This time, when he returned to his hometown, it would be for her, 100 percent. She was his closest friend now. And if there was anything he could do to help her, he was on board.
“I’m done here around then. So, yeah, I’ll be there,” he said. “You can count on it.”
Five months later
BLOND HAIR TRAILED over his bare chest. She kissed his stomach, moving lower...
“Amy.” Her name was a plea. “Amy.”
“Hey, Rhodes.” The familiar sound of his teammate’s voice silenced his dream. “Better wake up, man, before you embarrass yourself. I don’t know who ‘Amy’ is, but she sure as hell isn’t here.”
Mark opened his eyes, blinking. What the hell? He was on a freaking plane over the ocean, still a helluva long way from Heart’s Landing and the wild, sexy woman in his dream. Amy. Except Amy had never been wild. She was quiet, always holding back. At least in high school. They’d had that in common.
Of course, he’d changed, and she probably had, too. But it didn’t matter if she’d taken up pole dancing now that she was single; she wasn’t for him.
“Yeah, crazy dream, man,” Mark said. “But it’s not what you think.”
Thinking about Amy like that, dreaming about her... Guilt rose up, wrapping around him, adding to the weight on his shoulders.
“Could have fooled me.” His teammate shook his head, picking up his book.
Mark looked out the window. He didn’t need to fool his fellow PJs. Just Amy and everyone else in Heart’s Landing.
* * *
AMY STOOD OUTSIDE the remodeled kennel holding an empty dog food dish and waiting for her cousin. A very hungry Belgian Malinois sat at her feet.
She stole a quick peek through the glass-paned door into the reception area. Three men gathered around the box of doughnuts and coffee she’d set out on the folding table. The food had bought her a five-minute delay, ten tops. But leaving three soldiers waiting was like placing puppies in the living room and expecting them to keep their mouths off the furniture. As soon as the doughnuts disappeared, the guys would become restless. They wouldn’t chew the chair legs, but they’d get into something.
If Eloise didn’t get here soon—
“You are the only person in the whole world I would drop everything for to deliver a ten-pound bag of gluten-free dog food.”
Amy stepped back from the door and turned to her cousin. She was Amy’s mirror image, same blond hair and blue eyes, except Eloise stood four inches shorter, even in her cowboy boots. Amy always felt like a giraffe next to her cousin.
“I got up at three in the morning last Saturday,” Amy said. “Packed five puppies and Jango in my car, and drove over an hour to pick you up when you decided to sneak out on your date after he fell asleep.”
Eloise dropped the bag at Amy’s feet. “We’ll call it even.”
Jango sniffed the food before looking up at them.
“Yes, that’s for you, old man. Easier to digest,” Amy said. “And better for you than puppy chow. You don’t need the extra calories.”
“But you do.” Eloise held out a bag. “Blueberry muffin. I’m guessing you forgot to eat this morning.”
“I was planning to grab a doughnut while I discussed the opening with the guys.”
Eloise stepped around her and stood on her tiptoes to peer through the glass. “Wow. Talk about testosterone overload. I don’t know how you do it. If I was in the same room with them, I wouldn’t be able to form a coherent sentence. I’d be too busy trying to figure out which one would look best without his shirt.”
Mark. Her brain heard the words without his shirt, and she thought of Mark. Those muscles begging to be touched, maybe more...
Amy swept her long bangs behind her ear, trying to erase the thought. Months had passed since she’d seen a half-naked Mark on her computer screen, and still, she couldn’t forget the well-defined lines of his chest and his sculpted abs. Probably because he was the only half-naked man she’d seen in more than a year—the ones on the covers of her romance novels didn’t count—but even if she wanted a hot fling, it wouldn’t be with a man serving his country. Active-duty soldiers spelled heartbreak, and she’d learned that lesson already.
“My bet?” Eloise continued, gesturing to the men on the other side of the window. “Gabe. But T.J.’s a close second.”
“Stop,” Amy said. “They’re my brothers-in-law.”
And Mark was like a pseudo-brother-in-law, too. Except she didn’t think of him that way anymore. He was her friend, first, foremost and always. He was the one who had been there for her, talking to her each week, not only about Darren, but also about life. She spoke freely with him, holding almost nothing back. Almost. There were some things she couldn’t share, especially not through a computer screen.
“Or maybe Luke,” Eloise said. “The way that man talks about his dog, you can tell he loves her to pieces. It’s so easy to trust a man who is crazy about his four-legged friend. And trust, well, that can be key in the bedroom. I bet—”
“Please, I’m begging you,” Amy said. “I’ve known them forever.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that you are about to enter a room full of hotties. Maybe I should stick around and wait until you put them to work, so I can see those hard bodies in action.”
“It’s cold today. Even for March. I think they’ll keep their clothes on while they work. And don’t you have patients to see?”
Her cousin shrugged. “Two cats coming in for teeth cleanings. Both owners are young, single women. I’m sure they’d understand if I told them I had to watch the Benton brothers.”
“Your feline patients might not be so understanding.”
“True.” Eloise moved away from the door. “I don’t think they left you a doughnut. I didn’t even see the box.”
“I need to get in there. If I don’t keep them busy, they’ll get into trouble.” Amy tossed the bag of dog food over her shoulder. “Thanks for driving out here. I couldn’t handle a sick Jango on top of everything else.”
“Anytime. If you need help keeping those boys busy, call me. I know a few ways to keep bachelor soldiers entertained.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Amy said drily.
Eloise pointed at the bag. “And
