Page 18 of I'll Be There
He grinned up at her, his eyes gleaming. “Oh, sad.”
“I’m serious, Conner. We don’t know...I mean, there’s so much we haven’t discussed. Like—where are we going to live?”
He stilled. “Um, Montana?”
“Oh.” Her voice emerged just a little defeated, and he responded with a painful, confused wince.
Oh?
“I just...I thought...” She so didn’t want to hurt him. “I love Deep Haven. I...I don’t want to leave here.”
“I know, babe.”
She closed her eyes against the sudden burn. “We’re so not ready for this.”
He stared at her, stricken. “What are you talking about?” He took her hands. “Babe, we’re ready. I love you, you love me—”
“And now you sound like a Hallmark movie. It’s not that easy.” She got up, turned her back to him. “I knew what I signed up for when...well, when I fell in love with you.” She ran her hands up her arms, felt his catch her fingers as he edged up behind her. “But after everything, I...I worry about you out there jumping fire. It’s like a poison, infecting every thought. Consuming me.” She wove her fingers through his. “I don’t know how to reconcile my fears with my love for you.”
His husky musk rose, surrounded her, his chest solid against her back. Wow, she loved him. And perhaps that’s what scared her the most. Until she met Conner, she’d been contentedly single.
Now she nearly didn’t recognize herself with her need for him.
He wrapped his arms around her, drew her back against himself. She wound her hands around his forearms, rubbing her thumbs against the sinews, so much corrugated muscle, and watched as the waves broke against the shore, spraying the air in a haze of mist.
He kissed the top of her head. “Me either. I can’t get the...the attack out of my head. It’s like—” He blew out a breath, so much of it containing her exact emotions. “I can’t think about how close I came to losing you.” On the tail of his words, his body tremored, as if fighting to hold in the memory, keep it from leaking out, from destroying all their healing.
She tightened her hold on him, said nothing. Because to break open the seal, to talk about it—well, it simply opened the wounds, gave them power.
Reminded her that she’d never really be whole again.
He smiled, reassuring her. “But I’m fine now. Or I will be in a few days.”
“What if...what if I stayed here this summer while you jump fire, and then—”
“Shh. No, babe. I got this. Trust me.” Then he turned her. Pressed his lips to hers, something powerful, nearly ferocious in his touch, as if to silence her.
And she kissed him back just the same.
Because with everything inside her, she longed to believe him.
CHAPTER THREE
Conner was starting his marriage with lies. And not just the Big One, but the Most Important One as well.
The Big One being her wedding gift, the project he’d been working on for eight months. But now wasn’t the time to rock her world, not with her so-called wedding catastrophes.
As for the Most Important One, well, it wasn’t really a lie—more of an omission.
“You need to tell her, dude.” Pete squatted down next to Conner at the stone circle that formed the Evergreen resort campfire pit and handed him the bundle of kindling. “Liza knows something is up.”
Lizahadbeen acting strange all afternoon, checking her cell phone, even sending him up to the resort with the guys by himself to check in.
Since Pete knew both secrets, Conner took a stab at the most recent.
“Not with her current wedding trauma. Her dress is the wrong color, for one. The flowers aren’t here, and she said something about the reception—”
“Seriously? Were you not listening to the conversation she had with Grace? Apparently, you have too many wedding guests for your reception.” Reuben came up and dropped an armful of logs next to him. “You prom king, you.”
