Page 127 of Casualties of War
Parris held up theWashington Post. “You’re all over it. They’re calling you a war hero.” Her smile was bright. “I think you hatched another few million adoring fans, Adán.”
Adán let his gaze shift from her head to her feet. Midnight blue jacket, gilt buttons,tight skirt, neat pumps and rows and rows of medals. “Wow,” he said. “I’ve never seen you in dress uniform before.” He stepped back.
Parris moved into the room and paused. “Wow…I’ve never seen such a big hotel room before.”
“For now, you’re standing on Vistarian soil,” he said. “The Ambassador is in the bedroom, there.”
Parris leaned around him to glance at the door behind him. “That’s yourroom, then?”
His heart jumped. His thoughts jumbled. Adán held up his hand. “No, you’re distracting me. It’s ‘after’, Parris. Time to talk.”
Parris’ smile faded. “Yes, it is,” she murmured. She dropped the paper on the table beside her, took off her peaked cap and placed it on top. She brushed back her hair. “Before we say anything, I should tell you I’m being sent back to Vistaria.”
He lifteda brow. “You can tell me that?”
“I wasorderedto tell you that. What you told the President last night has caused some interesting ripples.”
“It was your idea I tell him what I told him.” He shifted the cane to his other hand. “That’s a god-awful sentence, but you know what I mean.”
“For perhaps the first time, Idoknow what you mean.” She stepped closer and Adán caught a hint of scent. Itwas subtle and it suited her perfectly. Spicy, exotic. Sharp.
“I don’t know how we work this,” she said. “I haven’t got a single clue and it scares me. Only…I would like to find out if we can.”
He squeezed the cane, to stop himself reaching for her. “It will be challenging,” he admitted. “I just took a call from Ridley Scott. He told me if I didn’t agree to do his movie, he wouldn’t make it.”He grimaced. “The idea of a war hero playing a war hero tickles his funny bone. He’ll even wait until the war is over. I thought I’d walked away from Hollywood. It seems Hollywood has a different idea.”
“Youarea war hero, Adán. Don’t turn your mouth down,” she told him, taking a grip of his sweater. “I ’m never going to be able to hang on your arm the way the wife of a movie star would. Youhave to know that. I can’t do my work with my photo plastered across Google.”
“Then youwillmarry me?” And he held his breath.
Parris blinked. Her lips parted. “You’re asking me to?”
Adán hesitated. “No. I wouldn’t put that sort of pressure on you. I know you too well.”
She shook him with her fists. “Damn it, Iwantyou to!” And she whirled away.
Adán stared at her taut back, putting ittogether. “You want me to…” he breathed. Then he laughed. “Brakes off. Is that it?”
Parris turned to face him, her expression rueful. “I want to have it all, Adán. I want to go out there and be the best damn soldier the world has ever seen. As good as any man. Better, even. If any soldier tries to hold a door open for me, I’ll kick his nuts in. Then I want to come back to you and be…me. I wantyou to be true to you—with your Vistarian honor and your dignity. Iwantyou to save me and pull out my chair and punch jerks in the face when they’re rude to me.”
“You punch better than I do, I suspect,” Adán said.
“I don’twantto punch anyone, not when I’m with you. Only, the lights, and the fame and the cameras…it scares me, Adán. I have to be frank about that.”
Adán edged over to the tableand sat on the edge with a sigh. He massaged his leg, then beckoned her over.
Parris came up to him, so her hip brushed his thigh. Her eyes were big.
He picked up her hand. “Don’t be scared,” he said. “If you want it all, then so do I. I want to be the best damned actor the world has ever seen, not just the best Latino actor. When you come home from a tour, I want to shut all the bullshit outand have it be only you and me. Hollywood couples live in a fishbowl and they can’t withstand the light. I don’t want a public marriage. I want a private relationship. It’s all I’ve ever wanted and I could never see how I could have it and a career, too. I want to try, though. For you, I will spend my life making it work.” He kissed the back of her hand. “Will you marry me, Parris?”
Her smileglowed. “Yes…if we can do the deed between now and tomorrow, six hundred hours.”
Adán got to his feet and picked up the cane. “Let’s go.”
“Now?”
He kissed her. “I love you. I always have.Always. If you want to get married now, we’ll get married now. If you never want to get married, then be my love and live with me always. Either way, I will never stop loving you. You’re in my blood.”
Hereyes sparkled. A tear slid down her cheek. He wiped it away.
“I think I have loved you for a very long time. I just didn’t know how to,” she whispered. “I still don’t.”
He touched her lips again with his. He planned to do a lot of it in the future. There was a lot of ground to catch up. “It’s like helping someone wounded,” he whispered. “You support them until you have to carry them and theytrust you to do it.”
Her smile returned. “Thatis something I know how to do.”
“Thought you would.”
Then, because he couldn’t stop himself, he kissed her again.
