He had a wall like in the restaurant they’d gone to on their first date. As with the one there, his had colours behind it that slowly melded from one to the next. It calmed the room down but didn’t kill it.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. This is incredible. You get to lie in bed and watch that?”
“Well, took some getting used to so that I didn’t have to get up and pee every hour but I’m attached to it now.”
She gave a soft laugh. “This is a beautiful house, Tuck.”
“You really like it?”
“It’s gorgeous.”
“Good,” he said.
“Okay, I’ve gotten what I need. So, I owe you some time. Where are we going to do this?”
His gaze flashed to the bed and she grunted. He beckoned and she went to his side and peered up at him.
“Bed’s not happening.”
“Night’s still young, babe. I was thinking the den, though.”
She locked her body’s traitorous behaviour in a box and followed his fine ass down the stairs to his kitchen, where he made her a hot cocoa with marshmallows and a coffee for himself then led the way to his den.
“Where are you sitting?” he asked.
“Why?”
“So I can sit opposite you and see your eyes.”
His words warmed her in ways the hot cocoa never could. She took the love seat and put her folder beside her. Tuck did as he’d said, taking the tall leather chair across from her. He moved so much better now but she could still see some stiffness in him.
The light from the fire to his right added a bit of mystery to him. Didn’t take anything away from how good he looked, though, and she knew he would always be important to her.
So why have you been avoiding him?
Stupid brain. Not a question she cared to answer.
“I love you,” he said.
She nearly dropped her drink. It wobbled and almost sloshed over the side as it was. “Wh…what did you say?”
“You heard me, Ariel. I said I love you. I’ve loved you almost since we met. I can’t say it was love immediately but damn near. I’m saying this now, before I explain anything else because if you run out before I’m done, this way you’ll still know how I feel. I won’t have missed another opportunity to tell you how much I love you.”
Damn, she wanted to cry.
Tuck watched her face. He knew she was shocked. She had the look of an animal who was currently deciding between fight and flight. He didn’t move, waiting for her to make up her mind. If she ran now, he would honour his promise to her and leave her alone. He didn’t want to but he would.
“Why would you just blurt something like that out?” she asked, placing her mug beside her on the end table. She picked it up again and slid a coaster beneath it.
“Because I wanted you to know.”
It wasn’t easy staying in his chair but he forced himself to do so.
Once he was sure she had committed to staying, he sipped some coffee and leant forward, resting his arms on his quads.
“I know I made a mistake with the whole Daisy issue. Part of me knew I should tell you but part didn’t want a fight to come from it, so I ignored it. Basically convincing myself you’d never find out. She was with a temp agency, I didn’t think she’d be around long.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“She turned out to be a whizz at this job and I made it permanent. I know, I know. It was stupid and foolish, for which I’m sorry. But believe me, I never slept with her after that first time when you showed up in the apartment. Hell, I’ve not been with any other woman since you and I first had sex.”
“Really?”
“I swear. I’ve only wanted you, Ariel. Since we met. No one else makes my heart race. No one else makes me smile or laugh as you do. No one else makes me feel like a man who can take on anything. You do. Always have.”
“Don’t be crazy. You don’t need me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I do need you. I need you in my life. I want to marry you. Have babies with you.” A grin. “Well, you’ll do the actual having, I just get to get you pregnant.”
She shrank back against the love seat, eyes wide. Was it too much to hope there were tears there?
“I want to raise our children with you and grow old with you at my side. All this”—he waved his hand around—“I built with you in mind, Ariel. All of it.”
“You don’t like my job or some of the men I work with.”
“No man wants to know his woman is in danger. But your job, both of them, is part of what makes you you, Ariel. And I can’t love you without accepting that.”
She wrapped her arms around herself and drew her feet up to rest on the cushion. Tuck wondered if he’d gone too fast. Said too much too soon. She worried her lower lip and he left his seat to crouch before her. The pain in his hip had him flinching but he ignored it.
“You shouldn’t be down there. What about your injuries?”
“I don’t care.”
“Well, I do. Get up.” He didn’t move. “Get up, Tuck.”
“Will you stay there if I sit beside you?”
“Yes, just stop doing that.”
He sat on the cushion and immediately felt better. “Come here.” He pulled her close. “Can you give us another chance?” He kissed the top of her head. “Will you?”
She didn’t answer and he wondered if he’d fucked up too many times for her to let it go.
“You know the first time I saw her in your truck I wanted to hit you. Then it happened a few more times. I waited for you to say something to me about her working with you. That’s the respect I need. I don’t ever want you to feel like you need to clear an employee with me for your business. But if it’s a woman you’ve shared fluids with, I’d like a bit of a heads-up.”
“Does that mean you’re going to give us a chance?”
“I came to a realisation when I got the note from Slater about your accident.” She fell silent.
“What was that?”
“That I was still in love with you, despite having broken up on Thanksgiving.”
His heart jumped for joy but then he registered the totality of her words. “Wait a minute, you still loved me? When did you fall in love with me?”
“A while ago.”
“And you never told me?”
“You didn’t say anything to me either.”
She had a valid point there.
“I said it first now, though.”
“Humph.”
“Stay.” He spoke into her hair. “Move in.”
“Isn’t that kind of fast?”
“The way I see it, we’ve been in love for two years. Why wait longer?”
She rubbed her cheek against his chest. “Why the rush?”
“Because I want to practise getting you pregnant.”
She smacked him in the arm.
“I want you to wear my ring. Carry my name.”
“What about Steve?”
He frowned. “The man has his own wife. He’s not sharing mine.”
“I meant will he be okay if you move out?”
“I’ve been packing for a while now. He’s about to head back to his wife and see if he can’t get her back anyway.”
“So you want me to move in here and what…? Live in sin?”
“I’ll marry you anytime, babe. But we can live that way if you want.”
She released a deep breath.
“What’s wrong, Ariel? Worried about your family?”
“I am now.”
“You told me about them and I’m capable of holding my own.”
“No one holds their own with my mother.”
“I have a mother too, you know.”
“Not like mine.”
“Good, then I can charm her.”
Her laugh was strained. Readjusting her so he could see her face, he put his finger under her chin.
“No family to think about. Nothing but you and me. Are you in, Ariel?”
She studied his face for a while then swallowed her remaining fear. “Absolutely.”
“I love you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you, too, Tuck.”
“You’re calling in to work tomorrow. I want you for the next few days to myself.” He kissed her with all the love and passion he had in him. “I want to be alone with you.”
“Sounds perfect to me,” she whispered as she guided their lips back together.
Also available from Totally Bound Publishing:
In Aeternum: Casanova in Training
Aliyah Burke
Excerpt
Chapter One
Rain ran in rivulets from both his black coat and the brim of his cover. Lieutenant Commander Giovanni Cassano barely moved, even with the loud and angry retorts of gunfire. The noise sounded ominous. Three sets of shots fired by the seven impassive men. He flexed one hand into a fist before relaxing and allowing the smooth glove to straighten.
Through the dreariness, the beginning notes of Taps started to play, weaving in and out of the raindrops with haunting precision. His right hand snapped up in a sharp salute as his shoulders automatically squared even more.
With a deep breath, he fixated on the casket and the two stoic men who had the honour and privilege of folding the flag. Their movements precise and perfected. Each of the thirteen folds corresponded to an important meaning and allowed him to see the wet gloves the men wore. White cotton to his black leather.
First fold was representative of life. He swallowed hard and blinked. Two, three and four took place. The fifth fold, a tribute to the country. Tears burned the corners of his eyes. Six, seven, eight and nine. The tenth fold was a tribute to fathers, for they, too, had given both sons and daughters for the protection of the country since they were first born.
Stiffening his spine, Giovanni clenched his jaw as he watched the remaining three folds to complete the thirteen, so the flag looked like a cocked hat. A reminder of the soldiers who served under George Washington, the sailors and marines who served under Captain John Paul Jones, and all those men and women who followed them in the United States Armed Forces
, preserving the rights, privileges and freedoms enjoyed today. As the two men finished folding, the final poignant note faded from the air. And the salutes ended.
He stood ramrod straight. Only his gaze moved as he tracked the presenter who paused before the slender auburn-haired woman clad in black. Michelle Walker. She sat there under a canopy beside her father to accept the flag.
None of the military members there seemed affected by the steady downpour.
“On behalf of a grateful nation,” the presenter said, offering the folded flag.
Giovanni saw Michelle hesitate. The man with the flag waited, unmoving, until she finally took it. His hand rose into a salute and, when she gave him a nod, he completed it. The rain increased but Giovanni watched Michelle hold the flag to her chest.
Over the pounding of the rain came the unmistakable sound of fighter jets. He lifted his gaze to see the four planes scream overhead, his heart clenched with a mixture of pain and regrets that he wasn’t even close to being ready to face. A lone jet peeled off and his heart did that same thing again. It should have been him up in the one that honoured the fallen man. But no… He had yet to be cleared for flight status.
He ground his jaw and ignored the threatening tears. One by one people filed away, the rain not allowing the mourners any respite. Finally it was him and the two family members. His legs wouldn’t cooperate and he had to force them to move him closer.
Stopping at the middle of the closed casket, he took a deep breath, and snapped a salute. “Goodbye, my friend,” he murmured before lowering his hand and walking off.
Anger ate at his gut. It was never easy to lose a member of the military. However, when it was a fellow pilot and best friend, it became that much harder.
“Giovanni?” a rattled yet distinctly feminine voice reached him. And halted him.
He swallowed before pivoting around to face her.
Damn it!
For a brief second he was seeing him again. Alive and well. Michael Walker. Sidewinder. Best friend.
She moved closer, the folded flag still clasped tightly to her chest. It hurt looking at her. Mike’s twin. A softer, feminine version of Michael, but he was still there in her delicate features.
“Michelle.” He hated how gravelled his voice sounded.
Green eyes watched him steadily. “You were going to leave without a word?”
He put his gaze on their…her father. Martin Walker showed his age. He seemed so tired and worn out. However, in his eyes, there was anger. The siblings had taken after their mother. Giovanni had always teased Mike about being so pretty. Now his body had been so badly burnt and mangled it had had to be a closed-casket ceremony.
“No,” he managed to say as he glanced from father to daughter. “I was going to wait by the car. Allow you final moments.”
Martin shook his hand briefly then nudged Michelle. She lifted one gloved hand to wipe the tears from her eyes. “Take this.” She held the flag out to him.
His heart seized as he glanced at the flag.
Stars uppermost to remind us of our nation’s motto.
“No. I can’t. That is for you.”
Her smile was shaky at best. “Mike would want you to have it.”
Giovanni glanced to Martin, ready to plead his case, only to pause. The look Martin bore told him the flag wouldn’t be going back with them. Martin was in a rage from having just buried his only son. He focused on Michelle and saw the opposite. She loathed to give it up and was only doing so for her father.
Almost as if he hovered outside his body, he saw himself reaching for the flag. Michelle relinquished it to him but didn’t step back. Instead, she lifted his hand, pressed the flag against his chest, and hugged him.
“Keep him safe,” she whispered in his ear.
More of those damn tears threatened. “When you’re ready to take it…” He trailed off.
“Thank you, Giovanni.”
“Michelle!” Martin barked.
She flinched at the tone but squeezed him one more time. A quick peck on the lips and she was gone. They were gone. Moreover, he stood in the raining cemetery, holding the flag given for the loss of his best friend’s life. The thunder rolled, ominous, and the rain picked up even more.