TANGLED HEARTS

by Hartley, Jennifer

  “Not exactly,” said Kimberly.

  “How did you decide to do it then?” asked Jennifer.

  Kimberly looked at Adam. “We decided it was time,” she said.

  Adam sighed, their mothers didn’t need to know everything that had led up to it, but they also didn’t want to talk about it like it was some well thought out plan. He knew Kimberly wouldn’t want to deal with questions from their mothers right now. How she was still so calm about what she’d done, he wasn’t sure.

  “Mom, Jennifer, look. We did it, but we don’t particularly want to deal with it yet. We turned off our phones for a reason. Can we please talk about this another time?” asked Adam.

  Penelope and Jennifer studied them. Jennifer then seemed to come to a decision.

  “Let’s go, Penelope, we’ll open the wine,” said Jennifer.

  “Lead the way,” said Penelope with a sigh.

  Kimberly bit her lip, trying not to laugh that they were driving their mothers to drink and hugged them both, waving from the door, Adam’s arm around her.

  “They live too close, see what happens when we don’t answer our phones?” said Adam with a chuckle as he closed the door.

  Kimberly laughed, snuggling against his side as they walked back into the living room.

  “Now, you’re getting some rest, and then I’m making us lunch,” said Adam, looking at her.

  “I could do with some sleep,” agreed Kimberly. “Did you sleep last night?” she asked.

  “I could do with some sleep too. It was hard to sleep without you,” said Adam.

  Upstairs, Kimberly lay down on her bed, yawning. Adam quickly cleaned up the tissues from the floor, not wanting her to see it when she woke up and remember the reason for all those tears. He then settled down next to her, and she immediately snuggled against him.

  “Get some sleep,” he said quietly. “I’ll be right here.”

  Kimberly moved even closer, closing her eyes.

  “I love you,” she breathed.

  “I love you,” said Adam, kissing her cheek softly.

  “Proper kiss,” murmured Kimberly, opening her eyes briefly.

  “Aw, and I thought you were half asleep already,” said Adam with a smile.

  He kissed her and Kimberly smiled sleepily, enjoying the moment. She deepened the kiss, her fingers threading through his hair.

  “Sleep,” he said quietly as they parted.

  “Alright,” said Kimberly, and he watched her as she relaxed, her eyelashes fluttering as she settled down to sleep.

  Adam kissed her hair, one hand holding hers as it rested on his chest and the other arm around her, holding her tightly against his body. He let himself relax, falling asleep too.

  Kimberly woke up, blinking for a moment before remembering why she was sleeping before lunch.

  Adam wasn’t beside her, and she sat up quickly, seeing a note on the pillow beside her.

  Making us some lunch – come eat when you wake up.

  I love you. – Adam

  He obviously wasn’t taking any chances that she could wake up and upset herself that he wasn’t there and she stretched, going into the bathroom to splash some water on her face to wake herself up further and taking a moment to look at her reflection. Her eyes weren’t red anymore; she just looked a bit tired. She ran a brush through her hair, then bounded down the stairs, keen for some food and to see Adam.

  Adam was just turning off the stove when Kimberly entered the kitchen and he immediately went to her, hugging her close.

  “Did you sleep well?” he asked, kissing her hair.

  “Yes. Did you sleep?” asked Kimberly.

  “I fell asleep too. I thought I’d make a start on lunch when I woke up. I didn’t want you having to wait too long to eat,” said Adam.

  Kimberly hugged him again, placing a kiss on his cheek.

  “You always look after me so well,” she murmured.

  “I try,” said Adam with a soft smile as he looked down at her.

  “Can I help?” she asked.

  “You just sit and relax, lunch is ready. I’ll just plate it up,” said Adam.

  “Honestly, Adam,” said Kimberly, shaking her head, moving around him and getting out cutlery and plates. “I want to help.”

  “Alright,” said Adam, coming up behind her and dropping a kiss against her shoulder that distracted her so much she nearly dropped the plate she was holding.

  He chuckled lightly as she mock-glared at him.

  “Are we ready for this?” asked Kimberly as she snuggled next to Adam on the couch after lunch, holding her phone.

  He had his phone out too and stroked her hair.

  “Let’s get it over with,” he said.

  Chapter 15

  “You okay?” asked Adam as Kimberly put her phone down, not even close to reading all the messages from their friends and families.

  “I’m fine,” said Kimberly with a smile.

  “I keep waiting for you to freak out or something, but you’re so calm,” said Adam.

  “It’s…a relief…somehow,” said Kimberly. “Not panicking, don’t worry. I am fine, really.”

  “I freaked out more than you did,” joked Adam.

  “Are you mad?” asked Kimberly.

  “No, not at all,” said Adam, kissing her temple and Kimberly burrowed further into his embrace, getting comfortable.

  “Our next interview will be interesting,” she commented wryly.

  “That it will be,” said Adam, kissing her hair. “But we can face it. We’ll be prepared.”

  The next morning – 4am

  Adam sat down beside Kimberly, who was fast asleep and gently touched her shoulder.

  “Kim, wake up,” he said.

  Kimberly stirred briefly but slept on, and he smiled, pushing a lock of hair out of her face and softly kissing her cheek.

  “Wake up, Kim,” he said.

  Kimberly stirred, and Adam leaned down to wake her with a kiss. She woke, kissing him with a sleepy smile.

  “What's going on?” she asked, opening her eyes and seeing him fully dressed.

  “Get up and get dressed,” said Adam with a smile.

  “What? It's 4:00am,” murmured Kimberly, glancing at the clock and tiredly rubbing her eyes.

  “And I've given you a whole half hour to get up and get dressed before we go,” said Adam.

  He smiled at her tired confusion.

  “Come on, please?” he asked, looking at her pleadingly.

  “Damn, puppy dog eyes work every time,” said Kimberly, sitting up and kissing him.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “Don't ask questions I can't answer,” said Adam mysteriously.

  “You're being very mysterious,” observed Kimberly.

  “You trust me?” asked Adam, smiling.

  “With my life,” said Kimberly immediately, smiling back and letting Adam help her up out of bed.

  “You're very cute when you're being mysterious,” she said with a smile, kissing him.

  “Why, thank you,” said Adam with a smile.

  Kimberly quickly got ready to go, and less than half an hour later, the two were leaving the house.

  “Are you going to tell me where we're going?” asked Kimberly hopefully as they got in the car.

  “No,” said Adam, shaking his head.

  “Can you be bribed?” teased Kimberly, kissing him with a smirk.

  “No... just distracted,” teased Adam, pulling her in for another kiss.

  “We'll be late if we're not careful,” he said with a smile as they parted.

  “Oh, well we wouldn't want to be late,” teased Kimberly.

  Adam smiled before turning on the car and heading towards his destination.

  “We're going to the lake?” she asked, turning to look at him.

  “I can't lie to you, so please don't ask questions I can't answer,” said Adam evasively.

  “All right, I’ll behave now and stop asking,” said Kimber
ly.

  She wriggled excitedly in her seat; whatever he had planned, she was looking forward to it. Even if he had woken her at a ridiculous hour for it. Adam could drag her out even earlier than this, and she’d still go. He even had a thermos of coffee in the car for her, and she took a grateful sip.

  Soon they were parking, Kimberly having been right about where they were going. Getting out of the car, Adam got out a bag from the trunk from which he extracted a flashlight to light their path and wrapping an arm around Kimberly, he set off.

  Finding a suitable spot, he removed a blanket from the bag and spread it out. Then he took a seat, pulling Kimberly down with him.

  She grinned, kissing his cheek and settling herself between his legs. He wrapped both arms around her, kissing her shoulder.

  “This is a wonderful surprise so far,” murmured Kimberly.

  “I'm glad you like it,” said Adam.

  “It's so peaceful,” said Kimberly.

  “It's very nice,” he agreed, kissing her hair.

  “Want some coffee?” she offered.

  Adam took the thermos, taking a few sips of coffee and handing it back. Kimberly took another sip, looking out at the lake.

  They lapsed into silence, enjoying the quiet surroundings. The only sound around them was the water lapping gently at the lake’s edge, a few bird calls ringing out.

  “It's almost time for sunrise,” said Adam a short time later.

  The sun started breaking over the horizon, sending hues of orange into the sky and reflecting against the water.

  “It's so beautiful,” said Kimberly, taking in the view.

  “It is, but it's not as beautiful as you,” said Adam, kissing her cheek.

  “You’re biased but sweet,” she said with a smile. “This has been amazing. Thank you. I don't think a day like this could get any more perfect.”

  “But it can,” said Adam seriously.

  He moved so that he was kneeling in front of her, taking both of her hands in his.

  “I love you,” he said.

  “I love you,” said Kimberly, squeezing his hands.

  Adam took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Kimberly looked at him curiously, noting that he seemed suddenly nervous.

  “Kimberly Marcus, will you marry me?” asked Adam, looking nervous.

  Kimberly burst into happy tears, throwing herself into his arms and almost knocking him over as she hugged him tightly.

  “Yes...yes... thousand times yes!” she said tearfully, moving so that she could look into his eyes.

  Adam had already become emotional, and he pulled her into another hug, grinning.

  “I told you the day could get even better,” smiled Adam.

  “You did,” smiled Kimberly.

  “Can I do the honors?” he asked, tracing the outline of her ring.

  Kimberly beamed, happy tears escaping down her cheeks again. She removed the ring from her right hand, handing it to Adam.

  He took her left hand in his, placing the ring onto her ring finger. He looked down at her hand in awe.

  “Wow,” he breathed.

  “Wow,” agreed Kimberly. “I’m not taking this off by the way, not ever. Not when we play, not when we’re in public. This stays on,” she added.

  Adam picked her up, spinning her for a moment, grinning.

  Kimberly laughed as he set her down.

  “I love you!” said Kimberly, kissing him with an intensity that left him breathless. She threaded her fingers through his hair, the other hand on his chest, over his heart.

  She pulled away slightly to move to his neck, kissing her way down and then back up.

  Adam gently traced her lower lip with his tongue before kissing her, not caring in the slightest where they were. He pulled her even closer, his arms tightening around her. Kimberly sighed in pleasure before breaking away for a moment.

  “Is this almost at inappropriate in public level?” she asked softly.

  “There’s no one around,” said Adam, shrugging.

  Kimberly grinned and captured his lips with hers eagerly.

  The End.

  * * *

  Thank you for reading “Tangled Hearts”. I hope you enjoyed this little jewel as much as I took the time to write it. If you loved this story please leave your honest review on Amazon.

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