Guardian (30 page)

Sophie shrugged. “Tough day at work.”

Laughter felt so good. Another gift from David.

The elevator doors slid open.

Walking down the corridor, she reminded herself these days of fear were coming to a close. She was getting out of the air force, and David would be safer once he took the Pentagon job.

Knocking with two knuckles, she pushed open his door, familiar voices swelling out. David’s friends from work—Smooth and Vapor. Her eyes skimmed them and went to David, pale but sitting up. His eyes held hers, and he extended a hand. She linked fingers without hesitation.

The duo exchanged looks and backed toward the door.

Smooth cleared his throat. “I think that’s our cue to leave.”

Vapor patted David’s uninjured shoulder. “Congratulations, Commander.”

The door swished closed after them.

Commander?

She pushed the question aside for the moment and just took in the sight of him, blessedly alive. She secured her hold on his hand. “I want to touch you, but I don’t know where you’re hurt.”

“Anywhere on the right side’s good.” He tugged her closer.

She hovered by his bedside, all the things she’d wanted to say jumbling up in her mind. Because she was tired. Not because she was scared at this first test to her resolution to be strong, to make this relationship work.

“Commander?” The word fell out of her mouth. “As in commander of the test squadron?”

David watched her warily. “Interim commander. The new guy was already not working out, and now with this gun turret catastrophe on his watch…Yeah, the rumor is I’m being offered the position. For now.”

Her blood rushed from her face straight to her toes. “Congratulations.”

And she meant it. Truly.

What she had with David was special, not just their time with the kids, not only making love but laughing over a bowl of ice cream. They’d enjoyed challenging each other, bringing out the best in each other.

One enduring fact shone through. She loved Major David Berg, crusader, father, man. And nothing scared her more than not having him by her side for the rest of her life.

*    *    *

David held on to Sophie’s hand and waited for her to say something, anything, to give him some sense of where they would go from here. His chest burned like hell, not to mention his arm flaming all the way down to his wrist, but he wasn’t taking anything for granted until he had this out with her, until he figured out how to make sure she stayed by his side.

Forever.

Then Sophie smiled, that amazing one that never ceased to knot his stomach. Only this time, her look held a new element. Steely determination had replaced the glimmer of vulnerability.

He hoped that smile meant they were on the same side, because she looked ready to down a mountain lion.

Hope eased the sting in his side. “When I was lying on the floor in your office, I think I remember you saying a lot of things to me.”

Her smile faltered, pain flashing through her eyes. “I did.”

“Things like how much you love me.”

“I do,” she said simply, firmly.

Even knowing he didn’t deserve it, he took it, every bit of love she would offer. David looked at Sophie and let his own wave of love fill him, no more fighting it. He would be the man she needed, the husband she deserved, and that was one tall order because she was one hell of a woman.

He had expected Sophie to do all the changing, accommodating. How could he demand she give to him what he wasn’t willing to give in return? Such a premise didn’t say much for his love. He intended to fix that.

David reached for her other hand, flinching at the tug to his stitches. Just as she had done with his hand at the condo, he wove his fingers with hers. He rested her palm over his heart and held it in place with his. “Good. Because I love you, too.”

Her hand trembled, as did her smile. “I thought you might.” She splayed her fingers over the place where his heart picked up speed at her touch. The machine hooked up to him beeped faster. “What are we going to do about it?”

“That’s up to you, Sophie.” Whatever it took, he would make sure she felt safe.

“No, that’s where you’re wrong, David.” Her smile steadied. “This is something we figure out together.”

Together. He loved the sound of that word. He loved
her
. “I swear I didn’t know I was even in line for this job. I thought the Pentagon gig was a done deal.” The mere mention of giving up that Pentagon test job and staying in the more dangerous test squadron made her wince. He’d been wrong to expect her to magically get over her past. “You’ve got to know I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“I know. If anything, you’re honest to a fault.” Sighing, she stroked a soothing hand over his hair. “Okay, I can give it a try, but I won’t promise not to worry. I fell in love with the man you are, and you’re stuck with me just as I am.”

He’d told himself it didn’t matter which she chose, but hearing her acceptance offered him a peace he’d never expected to find. Years of resentments rolled from his shoulders.

“You aren’t listening to me, Sophie. I didn’t expect the commander job. I didn’t apply for it. I’m not going to take it.”

“But you want it.”

She knew him too well. He knew her as well and didn’t want to hurt her again. “No lies. Yeah, I want it.”

Her hand flinched under his, but her gaze never wavered. “Then take it.”

Staring at the magnificent woman in front of him, he wasn’t even tempted by the job. Her voice offering forever tipped the scales in their favor. “Do you remember what I said back at the condo when we were looking at family pictures?”

“About what?”

He thought of how beautiful she’d looked that night, all tousled from making love. Seeing her now, rumpled, scraped, and disheveled, she was equally as incredible. “I said I couldn’t think of any thrill greater than watching my daughter get married. Remember?”

She nodded, her eyes moist with tears. “I think that was one of the things I may have yelled at you on the floor in my office.”

“Well, I can think of one thing that rivals walking my daughter down the aisle. Watching you walk down the aisle toward me.” He swiped away her spilling tears and vowed to make that dream come true. “Yeah, I want the job, but I want you more.”

She lowered the bed rail and sat beside him. Her hip fit against his right side as if she’d been made for him. “I’m telling you that you can have both.”

While he would have given anything to hear those words from her even a few hours earlier, he was glad for their delay. He might have stupidly taken her up on the offer and thrown away their chance at forever. Sophie deserved better from him.

“Sophie, thank you. Just hearing you say it…” He gripped her hand. “Thank you. But I’m not accepting it. You seemed to think the Pentagon job would be a workable compromise. So let’s give it a try and see how it goes. If you can handle my staying in the air force, I’ll do all I can to make it easier for you.” Even breathing hurt, but he had to be certain she understood. “I promise you I won’t do anything to risk what we have together.”

“I know.” She cupped his face with her hands, her hold firm. “Just as you are, I want you, Major Berg. Days in
the park, pink kangaroos, bowls of ice cream, and our children.”

He wanted to climb out of the hospital bed, drive her home, start on more children, sleep, then gather the two children they already had. They might very well have a minivan in their future after all.

“Sophie, when you cuddled that pink eyesore, I knew I didn’t stand a chance.” He slid a strand of her hair behind her ear and looked forward to repeating the action for years. “You aren’t a golden elephant kind of lady. Why the big house? The whole image just doesn’t fit the woman I’ve come to know.”

Her eyes deepened to a melancholy brown, those dew-kissed daisies returning for a flash. “A child should feel safe—Ricky Vasquez, Brice, Haley Rose. I know what it’s like to be young and scared. I thought if I kept the house and all the other trappings Lowell saddled me with, somehow I would be giving Brice security.” She smiled, her whole body radiating peace. “Silly, huh? All I really need is to know you’ll always love me.”

What had he done to deserve her? The day she’d chewed him up in court had been the luckiest day of his life.

“You’re making this too easy.” He kissed her wrist. “I’m supposed to do something tough to win you.”

“
Uhm
, hello? You took two bullets for me today.” Her pulse raced under his mouth. “And what you’re offering me now, to compromise, that isn’t easy for everyone.” Her eyes sparkled with a velvety chocolate look, no ghosts clouding them. “So, did I hear a proposal in there somewhere?”

“If you have to ask, then I didn’t do it right.” Using
his good arm, David pushed himself upright the rest of the way. He stared into the warm brown eyes that would greet him every morning for the rest of his life. “Sophie, will you marry me? Not because you’re a good mother or because you turn me inside out with those sexy curves, but because I love you.”

“David, I do love you, too.”

“And?”

“Yes, I will marry you. Not because you’re a great father or because you flip my stomach with your slow, sexy smiles, but because I love you.”

Tucking her to his side, he sealed their vows with a kiss and knew the wedding was just a formality for them. Sophie was his. He was hers.

He thumbed the nurse’s call button.

Sophie elbowed up. “Do you need pain medication?”

“Nope, you and I need to pick up our kids and go home.”

TWO YEARS LATER

Sophie dropped her legal pad on the deck and clutched her knees as close to her as her second-trimester stomach would allow. Maternal pride filled her as she watched Brice and Haley Rose playing touch football with Aunt Madison and her fiancé Caleb. They’d come in from Nevada this week for Sophie’s baby shower.

Haley Rose squealed as she jumped to catch the ball, stumbling back into the fence. Their yard here in a suburb outside D.C. wasn’t as large as her Vegas place, and it wasn’t waterfront.

But it was theirs. Paid for. Full of love that offered more security for their whole family than any fancy address.

Sophie stretched her legs the length of the deck recliner. The sun warmed her skin below the hem of her shorts. David’s appreciative gaze warmed her more.

A year and a half of marriage hadn’t dimmed their
passion—not even pregnancy had slowed them down. The longing, as well as their love, burned stronger while they worked together to build a future for themselves and their children.

David nodded toward the backyard. “They’re good kids.”

“Yes, they are.”

She’d worried they might be jealous when she and David had announced her pregnancy. Instead, the baby seemed to give Haley Rose and Brice a blood kinship, cementing their relationship as brother and sister along with David and Sophie’s roles as father and mother. Love, laughter, and even the occasional sibling battle blessed them with the richness of a normal life. Hunter’s father had even eased up on his rules about visiting with his son, and they’d enjoyed some time with him, too.

Sophie inhaled the fresh breeze and watched the children tumble on the lawn. The child within her rolled as well. She rested a hand on her stomach.

David checked the ice-cream churn beside her, stirring. The scar on his arm peeked out from under the sleeve of his T-shirt.

Memories of his being shot still woke her at night, but she’d learned not to dwell on possible scenarios. Life carried risks for everyone. The Pentagon job gave them both a breather from deployments and the high-pressure test world. She knew he would go back to the squadron, all of his friends from the unit found their way back there eventually. But the past year had given her the chance to firm up her balance.

No one had been more surprised than her when she’d decided to stay in the air force. As she’d helped sort through the contract mess left behind by Vaughn and
Nelson, she’d realized she couldn’t leave. She was called to serve in uniform, just like her dad.

She’d been so damn proud and happy the day Ricky Vasquez had received a hefty settlement from the company that had made the malfunctioning part. It wouldn’t give him back what he’d lost, or change the past, but at least they had answers, closure.

Scooping ice cream into a bowl, David offered her a taste. “Give this a try.”

Sophie swung her legs to the side and leaned forward. She closed her mouth around the spoon, sighing as the raspberry taste slid over her tongue. The baby leapt in response.

David caressed a hand over her stomach. “How do you feel?”

“Happy.” She brushed her knuckles over the fresh sprinkling of silver at his temples.

The wind suit whistling sound preceded Nanny as she bustled onto the redwood patio. “Oh, that looks delicious. I could take care of passing out ice cream to the kids, Madison, and her fella, give you both a rest from entertaining. You two look like you could use a little, uh,
nap.
”

David arched his arms and gave an exaggerated yawn. His eyes glittered with almost as much mischief as Nanny’s. “Perfect. I’ll just put the rest of the ice cream away.” He leaned close to Sophie’s ear. “Hurry, Counselor.”