Chapter 9

Nine

A llison stared into her steaming coffee mug at the little mocha-colored heart shaped there by the barista and tried not to cry. Right now, Lincoln's unit was getting ready to deploy, and he'd be gone for months. A year maybe.

Or he may never return to her.

She bit her lip and fought off that thought before it could make her despair any worse.

Jessy rested her hand atop Allison's. Her friend looked worried for her. "It's going to be all right, Allison. This is how all Army wives feel."

"I'm not an Army wife."

"Not yet, but you will be. Lincoln's in love with you, and you clearly love him enough to wait for him. I have eyes, woman. I see. Hell, the aliens from two galaxies over can see what I see."

She nodded knowing her friend was trying to make her laugh but all she managed was a soft smile. She used her coffee stirrer to zig-zag through the heart in her coffee, breaking it into pieces. "I don't know how I'll live without him. We just met and now he's being taken away from me."

Jessy patted her hand again, her eyes mirroring the sadness Allison felt. She turned her hand upward and squeezed her friend's. "You're such an empathetic friend. Thank you for agreeing to have coffee with me."

"Of course, and the Rise and Grind beats Walker's. I'm glad you suggested it." Jessy took a sip of her caramel macchiato, and Allison tried her cappuccino. The warmth and sweetness improved her mood slightly, and her tears receded for the moment. She'd cried what felt like floods already—enough to fill up Willow's Pond.

"You'll just have to keep busy. Find a hobby. Maybe start running with me?" Jessy asked hopefully.

"Sure, I'd like that." With a plan under her belt, she did feel better.

The door opened and closed, the bell giving a little jangle. She didn't look up until a shadow fell over their table.

She blinked at the big, tall, firm body of Ford. He wore fatigues and seemed to be surprised to see her here, just as she was surprised to see him.

"Ford, hey."

"Hey, Allison. Care if I take a seat with you ladies?"

She didn't want him to believe she was being anything but friendly, but she nodded. He took a chair from the next table and spun it backward to straddle it.

"I thought I should say I'm sorry for what happened that day at Walker's. I know it made you uncomfortable, and it wasn't your fault at all."

"I'm sorry if you thought I was leading you on, Ford. You're a good guy, but..." She chewed her lip.

A hint of a smile appeared at the corners of his hard mouth. "But you're in love with Lincoln." He nodded. "I get it. Sometimes life is funny—we know the course we're set on even before we've had time to examine it closer."

She nodded, knowing his words were spot-on.

"Some good came from his love triangle we started with," Ford said.

"What's that?" She searched his gaze.

"Lincoln and I fixed our problems."

She smiled, unable to stop the happiness about that from spreading through her heart. "I'm so glad. And just in time to go to Afghanistan."

He blinked. She saw right away that something was wrong. Jessy saw it too, and she set her cup down a bit too hard.

"What is it, Ford?" Allison asked, covering his hand with her own.

"Lincoln hasn't told you yet?"

Allison felt like puking. "Told me what?" she cried.

"Our operation's been pushed back."

"What?" she breathed, unable to ingest what he was saying.

"We aren't going to Afghanistan this week. They're telling us six months, as originally planned."

She shot to her feet. She had to move, walk, run, fly to find Lincoln.

"How long have you known?" she asked Ford.

"A few hours. I thought Lincoln would have come to find you straightaway."

She shook her head and found all of her was shaking as well. "He hasn't. Where will I find him, Ford?"

He laughed, a sideways grin plastered on his face. "Man, you're as tough as my sergeant."

She took him by the shoulders and shook him. "Tell me!"

Jessy giggled at Allison losing control.

"My guess is in front of the hospital. We were just cut loose for the day, and he'd come looking for you, wouldn't he?"

Before the words were out of his mouth, she was running for the door. She pushed out into the warm air and hit the sidewalk at a dead run. The blocks between the hospital and the coffee shop were too long and too plentiful, but in what felt like a minute or two later, she spotted Lincoln strolling toward the building.

"Lincoln!" Her scream carried to him on the air currents, and he turned at the sound of his voice.

Her big, strong soldier, staring at her as if he could eat her up. She shot forward as he ran to her. When they collided in an embrace and a long, deep, passionate kiss, she never wanted this moment to end.

"I'm not going?—"

"I know. Ford said?—"

"Staying here and marrying you?—"

"A thousand times yes!" She broke the kiss and their disjointed banter to look into his eyes.

He swept down on one knee and took her hands in his. She shivered with emotions coursing through her—he was really going to do this, propose right here on the street in front of the place where they'd met.

"Allison," he said in his deep tone, "I've loved you since the moment I set eyes on you, and that has only grown the past few weeks. I know it's soon, but I know it's right. Will you be my wife?"

Though she'd said yes already, the heaviness of the situation struck her, and tears overflowed. She squeezed his fingers and choked, "Yes, I'll marry you, Lincoln."

A few catcalls and whoops from passersby, which they ignored as they hurled themselves together. When they finally broke apart, Lincoln stared at her with a grin as big as the whole state of North Carolina.

"It's a good thing you said yes, because it will make it easier for us when we go to the bank."

"To the bank?" she echoed, confused.

He kissed the place between her brows where they must be furrowed. "To ask for a loan."

Her brows pinched. "A loan for what, Lincoln?"

"To buy the house on Willow's Pond. My buddy's getting stationed in Texas, and they have to sell fast. How do you feel about living on Willow's Pond, baby?"

Her mouth fell open and probably hit her chest. "Oh my God, Lincoln, are you serious?" She jumped into his arms, and he swung her around and around.

"Dreams do come true," she said when he set her down.

He cupped her face. "For us, they do and I'll do everything in my power to make sure it stays that way. I love you, Allison."

She dipper her fingers into his hair. "I love you, Lincoln. Thank you for pushing me to go out with you."

He laughed and lowered his mouth to hers, claiming her mouth in a hot feverish kiss. "I figured I was in good hands. If you broke my legs for being too forward, you'd have to set them and tend to me. I win either way."

She playfully slapped him, and he caressed her ass cheek, where he'd last spanked her. Need rose up between them, and they agreed they needed to get off the street before they tore each other's clothes off.

Hand-in-hand they walked back to her apartment, where they spent hours celebrating wrapped around one another and long after the sun dipped over the Carolina horizon.

Thank you for reading Claimed by Her Soldier!

Turn the page for Belonging to Her Soldier—a forbidden love story.