“And that top. We have a lot more making up to do.”
“Yes, in a minute. I've missed my topless cuddles.”
He’d dumped my bag on a blue velvet wing-backed chair by the door. Whoever had decorated the condo had done a hell of a job. It was beautiful. But I’d check it out later. Right now I had something important to do.
“I bought you a present today, after we talked at the studio.”
“Did you now?”
I nodded, searching my bag for the treasure. Bingo. The fancy little box was right where I’d left it. With it hidden in my hand I walked back to him, a wide smile on my face. “Yes, I did.”
“What have you got in your hand?” He climbed off the bed. Unlike me, he stripped off his jeans. My husband stood before me naked and perfectly disheveled. He looked at me like I was everything. As long as I lived, I knew I wouldn’t want anyone else.
“Evelyn?”
For some reason I felt suddenly shy, awkward. Any money, the tips of my ears glowed bright pink.
“Give me your left hand.” I reached for his hand and he gave it to me. Carefully I slid on the thick platinum band I’d blown my savings on that afternoon, working it past his big knuckle. Perfect. I’d walk all winter and freeze my ass off, happily. David meant more to me than replacing my crappy old car. Given the money I now owed my parents, the timing wasn’t brilliant. But this was more important.
Except the ring covered half of the second last E from his Live Free tattoo. Shit, I hadn’t thought of that. He probably wasn’t going to want to wear it.
“Thank you.”
My gaze darted to his face, trying to judge his sincerity. “You like it?”
“I fucking love it.”
“Really? Because I forgot about your ink, but—”
He shut me up by kissing me. I kind of liked his new habit of doing that. His tongue stroked into my mouth and my eyes slid shut, every worry forgotten. He kissed me until not a single doubt remained as to how taken with his ring he was. Fingers fussed with the buttons on my top, slipping it off my shoulders. Next the band on my bra loosened.
“I love my ring,” he said, his lips traveling over my jaw and down my neck. My bra straps slid down my arms and my breasts were free. Next he started in on my skirt, wrestling with the zip and pushing it down over my hips. He didn’t stop until I was every bit as bare as him. “I’m never taking it off.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“I do. And I need to get you naked right now and show you how much I like it. But then I’ll give you back your ring. I promise.”
“No rush,” I murmured, arching my neck to give him better access. “We’ve got forever.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
We’d planned to meet Amanda, Jo, and a few other friends at one of the local bars the next night. My insides were in a permanent state of upheaval. Excited and nervous and a hundred other emotions I couldn’t begin to process. But not doubtful. Never that. I’d talked to Ruby about continuing on with the extra shifts at the café and she’d been delighted. It turned out her distraction the previous day had been on account of her finding out she was pregnant. My dropping out of college couldn’t come at a better time as far as she was concerned. Eventually I’d go back to school. I liked the idea of teaching, maybe. I don’t know. There was time.
The bar was one of the smaller ones, not far from our new home. A four-piece rock band on the small corner stage played grunge classics interspersed with a few new songs. Jo waved us over to a table out of the way. Meeting David was obviously big for her. Puppies jumped less.
“David. It’s so great,” she said, over and over. That was about it. If she started to hump his leg I was stepping in.
Amanda, on the other hand, needed to turn that frown upside down. At least, unlike my parents’, her protest was silent. I appreciated her concern, but she’d just have to get used to David being around.
David ordered drinks for us and settled into a seat pulled up beside me. The music was really too loud for conversation. Soon afterward, Nate and Lauren arrived. A fragile peace had emerged between my brother and my husband, for which I was profoundly grateful.
David shuffled closer. “I wanna ask you something.”
“What?”
He slipped a hand around my waist, drawing me closer. I did the job better by simply planting myself in his lap. With a warm smile, his arms wound around me, holding me tight. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I said. “What did you want to ask me?”
“I was wondering … would you like to hear one of the songs I wrote for you?”
“Really? I’d love to.”
“Excellent,” he said, his hand smoothing over the back of my simple black dress. Worn because it was his favorite color, of course. Also, I’d strongly suspected the v-neck would appeal to him. Tonight, I was all about pleasing my husband. There’d no doubt be times in the future when we needed to kick each other’s asses, but not tonight. We were here to celebrate.
Lauren led Nate out onto the dance floor and Amanda and Jo followed, abandoning us to our private talk. I honest-to-God had the best brother and friends in the whole wide world. All of them had taken the news of the plan going boom with calm faces. They had hugged me and not one word of doubt over my sudden change in direction had been voiced. When Lauren recounted her version of how David stood beside me at dinner, I’d even caught Amanda giving him a nod of approval. It gave me great hope.
I’d even called my mother earlier. The conversation had been brief but I was glad I had. We were still family.
David had eventually given me my ring back the night before. Turned out his list of things to do to me was long. He fed me ice cream in bed for breakfast while the sun rose. Best night ever.
It felt right having the ring back on my hand. The weight and fit of it were perfect. As promised, his own had stayed put. He’d been proudly showing it to his brother when I’d stumbled out in search of coffee at midday. Once I’d been caffeinated, David and Jimmy had moved me into the condo. Mal and Ben had been busy at the studio. Nate and Lauren had helped move me too once David and Jimmy finished signing everything Divers-related she could find. Despite her protestations that she’d miss me, I think she was also looking forward to having the apartment for her and Nate alone. They were good together.
“I’ve got something else I want to ask you, too,” he said.