Page 119 of In the Long Run
‘With you?’She stops in the middle of the chute, probably annoying everyone around us to push up onto her toes and press her lips against mine.Just long enough to make me want more.‘I’m ready for anything.’She grabs my hand and we cross the line together, ready to face whatever this course has to throw at us.
40
2 YEARS LATER
GEN
‘I thought you weren’t getting back until later?’I say when the front door to our cottage opens and Knox steps inside, his uniform rumpled and shadows under his eyes.He’s been out field doing whatever it is the Army does when they go out bush.
I love it when he comes home in cams.The uniform doesthingsto me, I can’t help it.I’ve seen Knox in everything – and my favourite, in nothing – but there’s something about how he wears his cams.Because he’s supposed to look nondescript.Just another person in the same clothes as everyone else.That’s the whole point of a camouflage uniform, right?But my man?He’s always going to stand out in a crowd.
He offers me a small, private smile.The kind that says so many things despite only being a tiny curl of his lips.Like how happy he is to be home.That he’s been thinking about me.And it fills me with joy.I spend a lot of time like this these days.So happy I could burst.Other things that make me inordinately happy about Knox’s uniform?The crown on his rank slide.The blocky stitch of his name tag.The ridiculous bucket hat that makes me picture for a fleeting moment what he might’ve looked like as a little school kid.Or, sometimes, whatourkid might look like.If they’re anything like our niece, Mia, they’ll have the whole family wrapped around their tiny finger.
‘You’re staring again,’ Knox drawls, as he carries his pack into the lounge room.Humour wraps around each of his words, sending a fuzzy feeling through my body.He was only away for two weeks but, God, I missed him.
I push to my feet, setting my laptop on the maple coffee table.‘Can’t a girl admire her boyfriend?’
Knox pulls me close and his arms wrap around my body.Mint clings to his breath from the gum I bet he chewed on the drive home.It mixes with the salty tang on his skin.‘Missed you,’ he murmurs, low and husky, his lips dancing across my neck.
‘Me too.’I slide my hands down his back, squeeze his ass and bury my face in his chest.‘Hungry?’I ask, as he tips my face towards his.
‘Not for food.’Heat lingers in his eyes.‘Just need to grab a shower first.I didn’t stop at the base.Wanted to get home to my girls as quickly as possible.’
His girls.
RIP to my ovaries.Poor things are basically just confetti these days.
He’s talking about little Opera Cake Halliday-Watson, our four-month-old schnauzer.There’s nothing small about her personality though.
‘I see how it is,’ I tease, eager for more of his easy smiles.He’s given me thousands of them over the last two years, but I’ll never get sick of them.‘You missed her more than me, didn’t you?’
Knox’s grin widens and mischief surrounds us like a cocoon.One I fully intend to climb inside and refuse to leave for thirty-six hours and even then, only because I hate missing Croissants and Kilometres.
‘No.’He’s being unconvincing on purpose.For a man who worried about putting down roots, he sure has adapted to his new/old life in Melbourne with an ease that makes me wantbigger …roots.I stifle a giggle at the double meaning, but it must come across as a grimace because Knox frowns.
‘What’s going on in that mind of yours?’Knox asks, pressing our foreheads together.‘You know I’m joking, right?You’ll always be my number-one girl.’
I kiss him deeply, sucking on his bottom lip just long enough to make him groan, teasing us both before pulling back to roll my eyes.He’ll be riled up from being away – God knows I am – but if I can push his buttons a little bit, our reunion will be even more explosive, more fun.And these days, we’re all about fun.
‘I bet you tell her the same thing,’ I say.‘She’s sacked out.We went for a walk earlier.’
‘Even better.’Knox walks backwards, never letting go of me.He doesn’t stop until we’re in the ensuite, the plush carpet of the master bedroom under my feet replaced with the cool tile.‘Because I want all of your attention right now.’
I arch a brow at him.‘Because I’m the pup-obsessed one out of the two of us.’
Knox releases me and folds his arms across his chest.‘How many dog beds have you bought her?’
My mouth twists to the side as I consider my answer, because he’s got me here.What’s wrong with one for each room of the house?Now that my bookkeeping business is in its very solvent era, I can afford these things again.Hell, I was able to put up my share of this cottage’s deposit.
‘A few,’ I concede, trying to smother my smirk.It doesn’t work.
‘And how many does she need?’Knox’s eyes heat.
I don’t need a mirror to know my expression matches his.He nudges the door shut with his foot and starts unbuttoning his shirt.Better figure out what I want to say before I lose the ability to speak.I settle on the thing that I know will make him happiest.
Luckily, it’salsothe thing that makes me the happiest.‘I love you.’
‘And I love you.’
