by Sherri Hayes
Gabby chuckled as she removed her coat and hung it up in the hall closet. It didn’t seem as though their daughter would have any trouble adjusting to her father being there all the time.
That night after putting Taylor to bed, Gabby tidied up the house while Jax loaded the dishwasher. In some ways, it was as if no time had passed and they’d picked up where they’d left off three years ago. Could it really be that simple?
“I stopped by my apartment earlier and picked up enough clothes to last me till Saturday,” Jax said as he wiped off the counter.
She straightened the rug by the front door and joined him in the kitchen. “Do you think your mom would want to watch Taylor Saturday while we get you moved?”
He stopped what he was doing and focused on her. “Are you ready for that?”
“I asked you to move in, didn’t I?”
“Yes. But if you’d rather me keep the apartment for a while, I can. There’s no rush.” He made sure he was looking her in the eye when he said, “I’m not going anywhere.”
For the first time, she didn’t have that voice in the back of her head pinging her with doubts. “I know. And, yes, I’m ready. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have asked you in the first place. Taylor needs stability. It would be confusing for her if you moved in one day and then moved out the next.”
Jax hung the dish towel on the front of the oven and came to stand in front of her. The look in his eyes was full of love—a love that her heart echoed. He took both her hands and began walking backward, toward the bedroom.
“Where’re we going?” she asked.
“To bed.”
“We should turn off the lights, then.”
He looked around and nodded. “You’re right.”
As swiftly as he could, he ran to every light and switched it off before returning to her. But this time, he picked her up and swung her around. “Now, where were we?”
Gabby giggled. “I do believe you said we were heading to bed.”
“Ah. Yes. Bed.” With that, he swung her up into his arms and carried her down the hall toward their bedroom. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. She didn’t want to wake Taylor.
***
Bright and early Saturday morning, they dropped Taylor off at Jax’s parents’ house and drove to his apartment to pack things up. He’d already started loading the boxes during his trips home over the last two days, so there wasn’t all that much to pack. It didn’t take more than a few hours to gather up his belongings and load them into his vehicle.
They headed back to her house—what would now be their house—and carried the boxes inside. As they were sorting through his things and putting them away, Gabby noticed he had very few books, a huge contrast to when he’d left. Jax used to have an extensive science fiction collection. She broke down the box she’d been working on, the last one apart from the one Jax was unpacking, and asked, “What happened to all your books?”
He looked up at her for a brief moment and then went back to what he was doing. “I gave most of them to a community center.”
“Why would you do that?” He’d loved his books. She couldn’t understand why he’d given them away.
“I was in a rehab facility for a while after my surgery. It didn’t make sense to keep them when I didn’t really have a place for them. I kept five of my favorites. The rest I gave away.” There was sadness in his voice and she didn’t know if it was because of the books he’d given up or because recalling that time in his life caused him as much pain as it did her.
Not wanting to go there again, even though that’s exactly where her mind went, she turned her attention to his clothes that they’d draped over the bed. Going to her closet, she moved everything to one side, creating room. “Do you think this will be enough space for you?”
Jax walked over to where she stood. He put his arms around her waist, pulling her back against him. “I don’t have all that much to hang up, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
She nodded as the heat from his body already had her girl parts standing at attention.
“Why don’t we take a break and go grab some lunch? All this work has made me hungry.”
Twisting around so she could face him, Gabby stood on her tiptoes to give him a soft yet lingering kiss on the lips. “I’ve worked up quite an appetite as well.”
By the tone of her voice it was obvious she wasn’t talking about food. Jax closed his eyes and groaned. “You’re killing me.”
“What? Not in the mood?” She stared up at him with a mischievous look on her face.
He opened his eyes again and backed her against the nearest wall. Pressing their lower bodies together, she could feel every inch of him against her belly. “I think you’ll agree that’s not an issue.”
She reached for the button on his jeans.
His hand covered hers, halting her movements. “Tell me what you were thinking about before.”
Gabby knew what he was referring to and it wasn’t how much she wanted him. As much as she didn’t want to talk about it, she knew if they had any hope of making this relationship work long term they couldn’t keep secrets. That was what had gotten them in trouble the last time. His secrets. But that didn’t matter at this point. She’d agreed to move forward. “I hadn’t thought about what it was like for you when you left.”
Her voice cracked on the last syllable.
Jax ran his hand up the side of her arm and back down again. She knew it was meant to be comforting, but all it did was stoke the fire that was already stirring in her belly. “I don’t want you to hurt for me. I’ve caused you enough pain already.”
Placing a hand on his chest, she held his gaze. “If we’re going to move past this, then we’re going to have to forgive each other. And you’re going to have to forgive yourself. Otherwise, this isn’t going to work.”
He covered her hand with his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “When did you become so wise?”
“Hmm.” Gabby looked up at the ceiling as though she were contemplating something profound. “I don’t know.” She looked him in the eye again, the heaviness of the previous moment’s mood gone. “It just sort of happened.”
Then he was tickling her. She gasped for air as she tried to get out of his reach.
He pinned her against the wall with his body and captured her mouth with his own. A sigh escaped her throat as any thought about trying to get away fled from her mind. She sank into the kiss, letting her tongue mingle with his as he cupped her ass and lifted both her legs to encircle his waist.
The next thing she knew, they were moving. Seconds later, she fell onto the mattress.
They were both breathing hard as he peered down at her, his eyes less troubled than she’d seen them since he’d been back. “I love you.”
Her chest clenched. She would never get tired of hearing him say that. Especially since she thought she’d never hear it again.
Gabby reached for him, pulling him down until his lips were a breath away from hers. She looked at his mouth and then in his eyes. “We have to make this work.”
His elbows were braced on either side of her head as he held his position with their lips so close yet not quite touching. “We will. We’ll make sure of it.”
There was no doubt he believed every word he was saying, and for maybe the first time, she believed it, too. The future wasn’t so scary. Not if they were in it together.
“I think we should get married.”
He froze above her.
It took a full thirty breaths for him to respond. She knew because she’d counted. Counted and waited with growing anxiety to see how he’d react. He’d said he wanted to marry her in the future, but maybe he’d meant far into the future. Maybe—
“I thought you said you wanted to wait a while . . . have us try living together again first.”
She lifted one shoulder, or at least tried to given their position. It was kind of hard to shrug when they were pressed together from chest to hip. “I changed my mind.”
Jax was quiet, his brow furrowed. She knew he was thinking. What if he said no?
“When?”
“What?” She’d been so focused on what was going on inside her own head that his question threw her off.
He didn’t seem the least bit fazed by her question. “When do you want to get married?”
“Um. I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it.” She didn’t want anything fancy. Something small with their friends and family would be perfect in her opinion. “What about Christmas Eve?”
“As in next week Christmas Eve?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She paused. “Unless you think it’s too soon.”
A slow smile spread across Jax’s face. “Not at all. I’d marry you tomorrow. Today, even. I just always thought you’d want a big wedding. The dress. The cake.”
Gabby shook her head. “I don’t want any of that. All I want is you, our daughter, our family and a few friends.”
His fingers played with the hair near her temples. “I think that sounds perfect.”
“So I guess that means we’re engaged.” She went to pull him closer to seal their engagement with a kiss, but he began to move away. “Where—”
“Hold on. I need to get something.” He went over to the backpack he had sitting in the corner—the one he’d been ferrying his clothes back and forth in for the last two days—and began rummaging through it.
She propped herself up on her elbows so she could see what he was doing.
“Got it,” he said and returned to the bed.
Instead of climbing back onto the mattress with her, he stood off to the side and reached to help her sit up. It was then she saw he had a small box in his hand and realization dawned.
With her sitting on the edge of the bed, Jax took her left hand and knelt down on one knee. “Gabrielle Lewis, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Gabby couldn’t contain her smile. She should have known Jax would want to propose to her properly. “Yes.”
Jax opened the box, revealing a simple ring with three diamonds. He beamed as he slipped it onto her ring finger.
“It’s beautiful.”
He threaded his fingers through her hair at the back of her neck and brought her in for a kiss.
She went willingly, the feel of the ring on her finger at the forefront of her mind. And as his lips shifted to her neck, all the implications of what they’d talked about started to form even as her body was becoming more and more aroused. “We’ll need to find a place to have the wedding.”
Grabbing the hem of Gabby’s sweater, he began inching it up her torso and over her head. “Uh-huh.”
“Maybe we could have it at your parents’ house. Or if they’d rather not, we could have it here.”
He released the clasp of her bra and nudged the straps off her shoulders.
“I wonder if we will be able to find a minister at such short notice.”
“Gabby?”
She looked down at him. His eyes were dancing with amusement.
He cupped one of her breasts and began to massage it, sending a jolt of electricity to her core. “Can we talk about this later?”
“Sorry. All these things started popping into my head.”
Jax stood. “And we’ll figure it all out. I promise.” He lifted her and tossed her farther back onto the bed. “Right now I’d really like to make love to my beautiful fiancée.”
Before she could think of anything else to say, he’d joined her on the bed, his mouth latching on to one of her nipples and his hand snaking its way into her jeans to stroke her. Later suddenly sounded like a very good idea.
Epilogue
Jax stood in front of the large fireplace at his parents’ house, listening to his dad and Alexander talk about some new drug that was on the market. He was only half paying attention as their family and friends filled up his parents’ living room. They’d borrowed some chairs and set them up in the living room for people to sit on during the small ceremony, and almost all of them were full.
His dad had built a fire earlier that morning to warm the room. It was a good thing, too, since every time the front door was opened cold air wafted in from outside and crept into the living room. Not that Jax needed the extra heat. He was sweating under his suit and it had nothing to do with the temperature in the room. He was nervous, plain and simple. Not about marrying Gabby—he couldn’t wait for that—it was more that he wanted this day to be perfect for her and was afraid this rushed wedding wasn’t going to live up to her expectations.
He had no rational reason to think that, however. Gabby had insisted a small wedding was exactly what she wanted. She didn’t want to wait the year or so it would take to pull off something more extravagant. In her mind, they’d wasted enough time and, in that respect, he couldn’t disagree with her. They had wasted too much time and it was entirely his fault.
Pushing the self-loathing aside, he focused on the present. Gabby had been right when she said they both needed to forgive each other and themselves. Living in the past didn’t solve anything and would only hinder their future.
Thanks to both of their mothers, they’d somehow managed to put together a wedding in a little over a week. They’d both fully embraced Jax and Gabby’s engagement and jumped in with both feet to help however they could. He still wasn’t sure how they’d done it. All the talk of cakes and decorations and seating had made his head spin.
His gaze fell on the Christmas tree a few feet away. Usually his parents’ Christmas tree was decorated with various ornaments from his childhood. But since this was a special occasion, his mom had insisted the tree needed to look the part. It was covered in a mixture of silver, gold, red, and white and looked as if it had come right out of a magazine.
A flash of red caught his attention and he zeroed in on it. The sound of female laughter filtered in from the hall a moment before Grace moved into his line of sight.
The only family member who’d been a bit skeptical was Grace. When they’d told Gabby’s mother, Caroline, she’d just smiled and said she knew it would all work out eventually. Grace, however, had looked at them both as if they’d lost their minds. He knew it was out of fear he’d break her sister’s heart again, and to be honest, he couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t as if he didn’t deserve her skepticism.
In an effort to mend fences, Jax, Gabby, Grace, and Alexander, whom Jax was still trying to get to know, all went out to dinner two nights ago to clear the air. He wasn’t sure everything was peachy keen now, but at least he was confident Grace knew his intentions when it came to Gabby and Taylor were honorable.
Grace strolled into the living room holding Taylor’s hand. His daughter looked adorable in her fancy dress—the perfect little flower girl. He only hoped her dress made it through the ceremony without her getting something on it, a rather large accomplishment for a three-year-old.
“Gabby’s still getting ready and Taylor was getting restless. I told her we’d come see what her daddy was doing.”
Without comment, Jax lifted her into his arms and settled her onto his hip. “Have you been helping Mommy get ready?”
Taylor nodded and proceeded to launch into all the ways she’d been helping her mother.
“I should probably get back to Gabby,” Grace said. “When I left they were putting the finishing touches on her hair.”
Alexander extended his hand to Grace and she took it. He pulled her close to him and whispered something in her ear. Jax didn’t hear what was said, but whatever it was had Grace blushing. She nodded and walked away.
He didn’t get to think about it for too long before Wes, one of his cousins, headed toward him. Jax smiled as he neared. He lowered Taylor to the ground and then embraced his cousin. “It’s good to see you.”
“Same here. It’s been years.” Three years to be more precise. When Jax had left he’d cut himself off from everyone except his parents.
He felt a tug on his pant leg and looked down. Taylor was staring u
p at him. “I’m gonna go help Mommy.”
Jax nodded and she was off.
Wes chuckled. “She’s growing up.”
“Yeah.”
Wes started talking about sports, always a popular subject with him. Football, basketball, hockey . . . it didn’t matter. He could talk for hours and still not get tired. A half hour later, he was still standing there talking sports. He and Wes had been joined by another one of his cousins and three of his uncles. Jax wasn’t a big sports fan himself, but the conversation had helped get his mind off his nerves.
His father came up beside him and clapped him on the back. “Sorry to interrupt, gentlemen, but I believe we’re about ready to get this show on the road.”
As soon as the words were out of his dad’s mouth, all the anxiety returned.
Soft music began playing, signaling to everyone it was time to take their seats.
His dad moved to stand beside him, taking his position as Jax’s best man. “Nervous?”
Jax glanced over at his father. “Is it obvious?”
Nate Brooks chuckled. “Only to those of us who’ve been in your shoes. You’ll be fine as soon as you lay eyes on her.”
Nodding, Jax took a deep breath and tried to let the music soothe him.
Several minutes passed and the song changed before he saw that flash of red again. Grace came into view, Taylor once again at her side. Bending down, Grace whispered something in his daughter’s ear.
What followed had everyone cracking up. Taylor took the little basket full of rose petals she was carrying, walked about halfway down the makeshift aisle, and dumped the entire thing onto the floor. She ran back to Grace and, loud enough for the whole room to hear, asked “Did I do it right?”
Grace bit the inside of her cheek, trying not to laugh. “You did great.”
She took his daughter’s hand and they both made their way down the aisle to stand on the other side of the minister.
Again, they waited. Eventually the song changed, and then he saw her. All the air rushed out of his lungs as he took her in. She wore a long white dress with long sleeves and her hair was pinned up, exposing her neck. His heart pounded as she walked toward him, arm in arm with her mother.