Page 86 of The Healing Touch

“I found a place outside the city. It’s off by itself, no neighbors. Gated for security. It needs some work, but I thought you could use that design talent of yours to make it nice. I already thought of all the crowds,Krasivaya. I found something that’ll put you at ease. As soon as you see it and give the okay, we’ll close on it. There’s a small town a few miles away that’s quiet and someplace you can go out freely without fearing crowds. I got you, babe. Don’t worry.”

He found a house just for her? Someplace she’d feel safe and not worry about people bothering her? Tears welled up, and she couldn’t stop them from flowing over.

“Hey, now, what’s this? Why are you crying?”

“Because no one’s ever loved me like you do, Dimitri Kincaid.” She leaned up and kissed him. “No one.”

He smiled his shy smile she loved. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I do you, future Mrs. Kincaid. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you remember that every day for the rest of eternity.”

He kissed her again, and they settled down, their hearts at peace, and drifted off to sleep, safe in each other’s arms.

Chapter Twenty-One

One Year Later

Dimitri flexed his fingers and leaned back in the office chair. The first draft of the first book in his new series was done. Kade and Angel’s story. Lily had already written her and Nikoli’s story. Dimitri read it and he wasn’t ashamed to admit he’d bawled like a baby reading about her on the bathroom floor, hurting so much she couldn’t breathe. His sister-in-law had a way with words that put his own to shame.

But Kade and Angel? That story was up for grabs. He’d sat and talked to them both in depth about the idea of a new security romance series, and they’d been hesitant when he said he wanted to use their story as the first book. Dimitri, being his charming self, eventually persuaded them to his way of thinking. It would be his first contemporary series. He typically wrote paranormal romance. Lily agreed to read it and give him her two cents. She was an assistant to a very well-known literary agent, and she was learning a lot from the woman.

He’d let Kade and Angel read the book once he’d revised it and had it edited. It wasn’t ready to show to anyone but Lily, who was going to act as his beta reader for this series.

But it felt damn good to finally finish a book. Since the spinal cord trauma and the difficulty with his legs, he’d focused on nothing but physical therapy and trying to overcome his depression. Becca helped with that more than anyone else. She’d encouraged him to start writing again shortly after the Charleston signing.

At first, it had been hard, but he kept coming back to the fact his brother forgot he was married. Given why he’d forgotten, Dimitri understood, but still, the idea kept wiggling around in his head and wouldn’t leave him alone. Those ideas were the best ones because they demanded to be written or they’d haunt you day and night.

Writing a non-paranormal book was also strange. He kept finding himself trying to sneak in little paranormal bits and pieces and had to rewrite those parts almost daily. But it was worth the aggravation. He had a feeling this was the best book he’d written to date. He’d let Becca read it. She always told him the God’s honest truth, even when it wasn’t pretty.

Speaking of…

“Becca!”

Not a peep. He stood and stretched, his legs twinging with a deep pain that was slowly getting better. Even after months of physical therapy, he was starting to accept that fact that he’d never be one hundred percent, but he’d get as damn close as he could.

He found her out in the garden mulching her rose bushes for the winter. She was wearing a long-sleeved chocolate blouse, and her jeans were her gardening jeans —old and full of holes. Ollie was stretched out beside her, content to snore away while she worked.

God, she was beautiful. Her blonde hair sparkled in the late afternoon sun, and the earbuds she had in kept her from realizing he was behind her. She trusted Ollie would keep her safe even if someone got past all the security measures he’d put in place.

He pushed off the doorframe and walked over to them. She saw his shoes first and looked up at him. The smile he loved more than his own life graced her lips.

“Hey.” She pulled out one earbud. “You done for the day?”

“Just finished the first draft. Think you can read it for me?”

“Sure, but only if you don’t yell at me like the last time I tried to tell you the book wasn’t ready.”

He winced. She had told him that, but he’d released it anyway. Some fans were forgiving. Others, not so much.

This book would bring him back out on top. It was a gut feeling.

“Promise.”

“Angel called while you were working. She and Kade are coming over for dinner. They even offered to pick up dinner.”

“Please tell me he’s not trying to bring more Thai food. He knows I can’t resist that shit, and I suffer horribly.”

“I swear I made him promise no Thai food.”

See, his woman loved him.

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