***
Luke had no idea what was going on with Stella, but he pressed his foot on the gas and took off down the road and away from Rosie’s Bridal Shop as fast as he possibly could. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been involved in rescuing a woman fleeing a bridal shop, but as a Navy SEAL he was ready for anything.Former Navy SEAL, he corrected himself. It was going to take him some time to come to terms with his early retirement. Every time he thought about it, Luke felt as if he’d been run over by a Mack truck.
A quick glance in Stella’s direction showed she was breathing heavily. He tried his best not to let his gaze linger. He didn’t want to ogle her during a crisis. Everything about her behavior indicated that something bad had gone down.Look at the road before you get into a wreck, he cautioned himself. He let out a deep, steadying breath as he focused. This woman did something to his equilibrium. It had been a long time since he’d felt anything quite like this. She was a sucker punch to his gut.
Seconds ticked by without Stella saying a single word. He needed to fill the silence by saying something. Anything. There was nothing worse than this type of quiet when you weren’t alone.
“I don’t mind being your getaway driver, but where am I headed?” he asked. Being in such close confines with Stella was all kinds of wonderful. A sweet floral scent hovered in the air. He had to admit he liked it. It had been a long time since Luke had been this up close and personal with perfume and he’d missed it.
“Anywhere is fine. I don’t care.” As Stella shrugged, dark strands of hair swirled around her shoulders. She really was beautiful with her warm brown skin and striking features. At the moment she looked vulnerable, and he wondered what exactly he’d rescued her from. A hundred different theories were bouncing around in his head. Had he been her getaway driver after she’d robbed Rosie’s salon? The thought made him want to laugh out loud.
“Nice ride by the way,” she mumbled.
“I just bought it,” Luke answered. “It’s been invaluable taking me to all of my old haunts. I’ve been thinking about driving Miles to Old Orchard Beach and staying for a few days.” His nephew didn’t have anything major on his schedule for a few weeks, so Luke thought he might enjoy a short getaway. It would also give Nick a little bit of a break.
“He’d love that, especially the amusement park.”
“I’m not sure which one of us would love it more.” After all these years he was still a big kid at heart. He loved roller coasters and Ferris wheels.
“How about I drive to Main Street or the lake? Or I could drive to Blackberry Beach or the marina,” he suggested. She wasn’t giving him much direction, which made him all the more curious about why she’d fled the store like she’d just robbed a bank. He’d endured his fair share of panic attacks in the past few months. Was that what was going on with Stella?
“I don’t know. My car is still parked in the lot by Rosie’s salon.” She groaned. “Can you just drive me around for a little bit so I don’t run into him…them? If it’s not too much trouble.”
Him? Them?Yep. There was definitely a story brewing here. And he really wanted to know the reason she’d escaped via a window as if her pants were on fire. But he wanted to ask her in a way that didn’t make her feel as if she were under a microscope.
“It’s not any trouble at all.” He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “So are you okay? Do you want to talk about what happened back there?” He still couldn’t believe he’d seen her somersault out of an open window. Had someone been chasing her? With every second that went by he became increasingly concerned. He needed to know if someone had harmed her in any way.
“Let’s just say my past came rearing up to bite me,” she answered in a low voice. “So thanks for the rescue. You were in the right place at the right time. I’m grateful.”
Another quick glance in her direction revealed slumped shoulders and a downcast expression. Seeing her so dejected caused a squeezing sensation in his chest.
“It can’t be that bad. Can it?” Luke didn’t mean to pry, but he figured Stella might benefit from a sounding board. His fellow SEALs had always told him he was a good listener. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her fiddling with her fingers.
Stella let out a deep breath. “It’s my ex. He came into the shop with his wife. He was in the hallway, so he didn’t see me, but when I heard his voice I just panicked. So instead of coming face-to-face with him like a normal person would, I fled the premises.”
Luke sputtered. “Through a window?”
“Yep. It was the only way to avoid seeing Rafe,” Stella acknowledged. “I’d rather pitch myself out a window than look into his beady little eyes.”
Luke turned to look at her. “So you’re running from an ex? Wouldn’t it be better just to deal with the situation head-on?” Luke immediately felt the heat of Stella’s glare in his direction.
“He’s not just any ex. We were engaged.” She spit out the words like they were poison.
A surprised sound slipped past his lips. “Oh. Wow. Engaged.” Curiosity pricked at him, but it wasn’t the time or the place to ask. If Stella wanted to tell him, he’d be all ears.
“It’s only fair to tell you since you’re probably wondering why I’m avoiding him like the devil himself. I was planning to spend the rest of my life with Rafe when he decided two days before the wedding that I wasn’t the one. And to make matters worse, he hightailed it back to his hometown and tracked down his high school sweetheart and marriedhera few weeks later.”
Luke winced. Ouch. Her ex had delivered several crushing blows in rapid succession. It sounded like Stella had dodged a bullet with this Rafe character, but he knew better than to say it out loud. Stella’s nerves were seriously on edge, and he didn’t want to push it by saying something wrong. He steered the truck onto the stretch of road parallel to Blackberry Beach, pulling into one of the main parking lots. Luke brought the vehicle to a stop and put it in park.
He turned toward Stella. It was near impossible for him to imagine anyone treating Stella so poorly. “I’m so sorry he put you through all of that,” he said. He wished he could say more, do more to make the sad expression on her face go away.
Stella let out a brittle laugh. Her eyes looked moist. “Yeah, well it was a really sorry situation. Do you want to know what the icing on the cake is? It’s not just the two of them anymore. They have a baby girl, Luke. And Rafe had the freaking audacity to steal my baby name.”
Chapter Six
Once the words flew out of her mouth, Stella wanted to rein them back in. Why had she just blurted out something so personal to Luke? So far, the only person she’d discussed the baby-name situation with was Lucy, who’d wanted to hunt Rafe down and bloody his nose on her behalf. Stella hadn’t objected on principle, but due to Lucy’s position as head librarian and her engagement to a certain famous actor, it might have landed Lucy on the cover of theNational Enquirer. That type of negative publicity would have been disastrous. Thankfully, Stella had talked her out of it. Ever since they were little, it had been Stella’s job to rein Lucy in. She still wondered if she should have let Lucy do her thing just that one time.
As it was, Luke probably thought she was having a nervous breakdown, which was a distinct possibility under the circumstances. Her face felt warmer than usual and her heart was beating really fast. She was talking a mile a minute and there was nothing cool, calm, or collected about her at the moment. That was unusual for her. Normally she held things together quite well. Her fight-or-flight response to hearing the sound of Rafe’s voice had taken her by surprise. Although she knew she wasn’t over the Rafe situation, she hadn’t expected to react so strongly to his nearness.
