Page 56 of A Soldier's Temptation
“Thank you, Mrs. Laramie. It’s good to be home.”
“If you need anything let me know. I’ll bring some cookies over later.”
“Thank you, that’s so sweet. I love your cookies.” She tried to hug the old woman gently so she wouldn’t break the fragile octogenarian or hurt her own ribs. But she wasn’t very successful. She couldn’t believe how much pain her ribs were causing, almost more than her face.
Following Mr. Darcy and John to his apartment, when he opened the door she was greeted with streamers, balloons, and more flowers. He’d decorated the living room for her homecoming, and it brought tears to her eyes. He was a keeper. She’d gotten more than lucky this time and she wasn’t stupid enough to let him get away.
“I can’t believe you did this for me.”
“Baby, I keep telling you that I’ll do anything to make you happy. I’m in love with you.”
Mr. Darcy danced around in a circle wagging his tail as if to let her know he helped. Reaching over she fluffed his fuzzy head and then pulled John’s face toward her so she could give him a thank you kiss.
“Wow. That’s the first timeyoukissed me.”
“It is not.”
“Yes, it is. The other times I kissed you.”
“Well, I guess I’m going to have to remedy that.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” She sat on the couch and pulled him down with her and winced from the sharp pain from the broken ribs.
“Dammit, be careful. Those are going to take a while to heal.”
“I know. But I need to talk to you.”
“Uh oh.”
“No, uh oh. I’ve had a lot of time to think, and you were right about a lot of things.”
John opened his mouth, but she put her finger across his lips to keep him quiet. She knew what was coming and she wanted to get it all out before he interrupted her.
“All the stuff with Paul wasn’t my fault, and I wasn’t stupid, or reckless. I’d been played by a pro.” She stopped and thought for a minute before continuing. “I didn’t want a relationship because Paul was my first long term boyfriend. I thought what he offered was real, but it wasn’t. I see that more clearly now. You’ve shown me what caring is in so many ways and not empty words. Because of you, both Shira and I are alive. And Mr. Darcy loves you and don’t they say animals are the best judge of character. You’ve really grown on me over the last year and I want to see where this takes us.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. “Does this mean what I think it does?”
“Yes. You’ve proven that happily ever after’s can happen, and it doesn’t have to be a knight on a white horse. A Navy SEAL and a fuzzy dog are much better.”
John gently lifted her onto his lap. She gazed into his gorgeous green eyes and sighed. Yup, this was happiness. Then he kissed her so gently his lips were like butterfly wings against hers. It amazed her that it didn’t matter how passionately he kissed her it still curled her toes and sent her heart racing. No, not happiness, it was love.
Epilogue
It wasn’t until two weeks later that Ari was feeling well enough to tackle the mess that used to be her apartment. The crime scene tape had been taken down over a week ago and a new door installed. Until you opened the door, you’d have no idea that there was a disaster area on the other side.
“Holy crap, I’d forgotten just how bad this is,” Ari said with a loud sigh and then she giggled. “You know, I look about as bad as this place.”
“No, you don’t. Your face looks a lot better now.”
“That’s not what the mirror says.”
John rolled his eyes. “Can you believe her, Mr. Darcy?”
The dog looked at each of them as if to say, “You humans talk too much. Get to work.”
“You know, we don’t have to go through everything today. There’s no rush unless you’re sick of staying with me?” John said with a fake pout.
