by J. M. Madden
“Well, I’ll be darned…”
Inside the pretty pink wrapping paper was a fairly comprehensive looking micro tool set. Roger popped open the lid. “You know, this is the size I use on one of the adjustments on my elbow joint.”
Though it was covered with the jacket, he indicated the inside of his right elbow.
“This is a surprisingly appropriate gift.” Leaning forward, he coaxed her in for a kiss. Cass met him halfway. She was more than happy to, actually. “Thank you for my gift, baby. I love it. I know you put a lot of time into picking it out and wrapping it just right.”
They laughed together at the ridiculousness of the statement. He nodded his head at the brightly wrapped package at her feet.
“Your turn.”
Cass lifted the gift and began to peel the paper, trying not to tear it.
“Are you actually going to use that paper again?”
She paused and looked at what she was doing, shook her head and began to tear the paper haphazardly. It was a tube, with no indication of what was inside. The end of the tube popped off easily and she began pulling out tissue paper.
And more tissue paper. And more.
“What the hell?” she muttered.
Finally, a small, hard, wrapped box fell into her hand when she upended the tube and gave it a good shake. It was wrapped in the same silver paper. Cass stared at it for several long seconds before she started unwrapping again. This time she revealed a small chocolate box that said Kentucky Bourbon Balls across the top. She gave Roger a critical look.
“If you spent that much money for chocolate I’m going to march right back in there and get your money back.”
Roger was grinning, though, as if he knew what was in the package. Cass opened the box and pulled out another wad of tissue paper. She began unraveling it. Finally, a shining gold ring was revealed. Cass gasped as the stone caught the light. It looked like a real diamond. And the gold looked real, too.
Beside her, Roger snorted.
“Well, if that isn’t a message I don’t know what is,” he murmured.
Cass began to shake as he took the ring from her trembling fingers. Her gaze lifted to his in spite of the fear in her heart.
There was a calm smile on his incredibly handsome face. He took her left hand in his own. “Cassandra Jones, I’ve had an unbelievable night and day with you. Going on a blind date with you was the best thing I’ve done in a very, very long time. Would you consider this ring a promise to invest in exploring this relationship further? We’ll call it a pre-engagement ring.”
Cass sniffed, trying not to bawl in front of him, but it was hard. He slipped the ring onto her left ring finger and she gasped. It fit as if it had been made for her.
A tear rolled down her cheek to drop onto their clasped hands. Tugging her toward him, Roger kissed away her tears. Then he kissed her lips.
Cass couldn’t breathe. There were so many emotions raging in her body. She had no idea what to say or do. She couldn’t even get a full breath.
“If you don’t at least nod or say yes,” Roger said, voice deep, “you’re going to break my heart.”
Then she could hear the anxiety in his own trembling voice. This wasn’t easy for him either.
“Yes,” she told him firmly, taking in a huge gulp of air. She needed to tell him what she felt. “You scare the bejeezus out of me but I definitely want to explore this thing between us. You have made me feel more in the past twenty-four hours than I’ve felt in the past four years. No, let me change that. You’ve made me feel more in the past twenty-four hours than I ever have in my life. I want to live like this with you, discovering everything about you, loving you.”
His eyes gleamed with moisture and she blinked to clear her vision. She couldn’t imagine anyone being this emotional over her. The girl with nothing.
Roger leaned in and rested his wet cheek against her own, then he kissed her. He tasted spectacular, even more so now that she knew this was her man.
Damn that sounded so strange. That plastic mistletoe mischief had actually worked…
Epilogue
Roger looked at what he held in his hand and felt an elemental shift in the very core of his being. Cassandra was more woman than he’d ever met before, and he was fascinated bc everything she did. They’d been together for days now, every spare hour they could get together, but he had no desire to leave. Ever.
That was a very strange feeling for him. Normally, after a few hours, he needed to escape whatever company he was with. Even his buddies from work could wear on his nerves eventually, but not Cassandra. Every expression on her face, every movement of her body, every word out of her mouth was fascinating and precious to him.
And now he was counting down minutes until she called. He had to work later tonight, but he would spend the evening hours with her.
Excitement burrowed through him. She was late calling, and he was anxious as hell to get over there to be with her.
Moving around the apartment, he picked up a few clothes, tossing them into the laundry basket. There were a few dishes he loaded into the washer. All busywork he’d put off while he’d been absorbed in her.
When the text lit up his phone that she was leaving work, he gathered his things and walked out the door.
He would be starting the rest of his life tonight.
Cass looked out the window, wondering if she had time to hop into the shower before Roger got there for dinner. An unexpected snafu at work had derailed her regular escape time, and she hoped he was okay with eating quickie spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. They hadn’t talked about Italian food yet.
Seems like they’d talked about everything else but that.
This week had been joyous to her, and terrifying. So far, Roger had been everything she’d hoped for and more. She looked down at the ring on her finger, still shocked to see it there. He hadn’t shown any regret at giving her the promise ring. In fact, he’d started running his thumb over it as often as possible, as if to remind himself that it was real as well.
Cass didn’t know if the ring was actually worth anything—hell, it could be glass for all she knew—but she didn’t care. The sentimental value was more important than anything. Other than the pictures of her brother, the ring had become the thing she prized most in her life.
No, that wasn’t right. The ring was a prized possession but Roger had become the most important thing in her life.
Inwardly, she cringed, but that was how it felt in her bones. He belonged with her. Period. If this was some kind of psychotic break or schizophrenic episode, she hoped they never found a cure. Because her crazy and Roger’s crazy fit perfectly.
Pouring a little salt into the pot of boiling water, she got everything ready to cook when Roger walked in the door. The bread was warming in the oven and the noodles were on the counter, ready to be dropped into the water. The salad was made and ready to go.
She looked up at the clock. Almost six-thirty. Roger had to leave for the graveyard shift at LNF at ten-thirty. They would have four hours together tonight but he was off the next day.
It freaked her out how easy it had been to fall into a schedule this week. As soon as she left work, Roger came over for dinner and cuddling before he had to leave for work. Then, in the mornings, he would bring her coffee from McDonalds before he headed to his own apartment to sleep.
They’d seen each other every day since Christmas, and it wasn’t enough.
Roger seemed to feel the same way. They’d started texting each other, and some of the conversations were obnoxiously sweet. A couple of times, Cass had looked down at the phone in her hand and shaken her head at what she’d written. It didn’t make sense. It was so out of character for her.
But it made her happy. And it felt right.
She’d also had to upgrade the small text message plan for her cell phone.
Brenda was over the moon that her matchmaking had worked, and tended to gloat when she caught Cass mooning over something Roger d
id or said. Cass let her, because she was thankful. It would probably get irritating eventually, but for now she’d let Brenda have her glory.
Tomorrow night she and Roger had plans to meet the guys and their significant others at the Frog Dog. She was being reintroduced to the group as Roger’s significant other. Her stomach bottomed out at the thought. Even though she’d met them before, she hadn’t expected to ever meet them again.
Shit was getting real.
Her quiet life was expanding. Fast.
And though there was some lingering fear in her heart, she would try to be strong, a partner to complement Roger.
What the hell did she do?
There was a tap on her door and she crossed the apartment to answer it. Damn. Would this fluttery feeling in her stomach ever go away?
When she opened the door, she was struck dumb, just looking at him. Roger stood on the other side, of course, heavy coat bundled around him, looking like a damn GQ model. He wore a black skullcap low over his forehead and ears, and his broad mouth was spread in a smile. As soon as he saw her he pulled her in for a hello kiss. Cass reached up to cup his neck, finally able to breathe now that she was in his arms.
When they were apart, anxiety plagued her. In her mind, nothing was as good as she thought. They weren’t in love, and they weren’t so drawn to each other that they couldn’t be apart. Surely she hadn’t allowed herself to become one of those simpering women that doted on their men…
Then he walked into her line of sight and all of the poles aligned again. Those feelings that she scoffed at during the light of day rebounded back, and she was so in love with him that she couldn’t breathe. And he was, too.
Even now as he cupped her cheek and ran his hand down her body, she could feel the need in him.
“I missed you, baby.”
Cass shivered at his words. “I missed you, too.”
He pulled her in against him. She gave a little cry as he lifted her up to move her inside the jamb, then he kicked the door shut behind them.
“I’ve been thinking about you all day and I woke up hard and aching, and craving you.”
Arousal curled through her lower body and it was all she could do to keep her feet. Just those few words totally annihilated what she’d planned for the night. But that was okay. Reaching up, she began to unbutton her blouse, but he stayed her hand.
“Not yet, baby. I want to talk to you for a minute.”
He tugged her to the couch and sat her down into the cushion, then he angled toward her. Cass tried not to be worried, but something about his tone seemed awfully serious.
“What’s wrong?”
Roger cleared his throat and glanced out over the room, as if he needed time avoiding her scrutiny. “You know I love you,” he started.
The bottom fell out of her stomach. Dread grabbed her heart with sharp fingers and her breath stalled in her lungs.
No, please no… she would never recover from him leaving her.
“It’s about us getting together this weekend with the guys.”
Ok, maybe this wasn’t what she thought.
“I don’t have to go,” she told him quickly, praying that that was what the issue was.
He shook his head, pocketing the skull cap. “No, it’s not that.”
Distracted, he stood up to take his coat off, then dropped cap and coat to the adjoining chair, but he didn’t sit down again. Instead, turning to her, he knelt down on one knee in front of her.
“Cassandra, my love, I felt cheated when that ring fell out of that tissue paper. I’ve been replaying it in my mind and I don’t want us,” he made a motion with his prosthetic hand, “to be connected because of chance. I want us to be together because we have to be, we need to be, and because we can’t imagine not being together. I know I can’t. You’ve become as important to me as my right arm, so to speak.” He grinned at her, white teeth flashing. “I can’t imagine walking through life without you by my side. So, this weekend when I take you to Frog Dog, I don’t want to introduce you as my girlfriend…”
He paused, his gaze connecting with hers.
“I want to introduce you as my beautiful fiancée.”
With his good hand he reached into his pant pocket and withdrew a box. Flipping the lid open, he presented it to her.
Black spots swirled in her vision when she looked down at the gleaming ring sitting in a blue velvet cushion.
No way. He didn’t…
Oh, yes, he did.
Cass couldn’t control her quaking hands or her tearing eyes. Luckily, Roger was handy for stuff like that. He reached out and gripped her left wrist with his prosthetic, drawing the arm closer to him. With the other hand, he slipped the gleaming white platinum ring with the huge diamond onto her finger, right next to the other one.
Cass was speechless, and so in love. There were no words to describe the depth of her love for the man in front of her, or the rightness of it. She’d never seen a relationship like it before in her life, so it had caught her totally off guard.
As he fit the ring to her finger, she folded her hand over his. “I,” she had to pause to clear her tight throat, “I would be so incredibly proud and humble to be introduced as your fiancée. Roger, you are every dream I never knew I could have.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks, but she blamed it on Roger. The man stirred her emotions like she’d never known and could make her cry at the drop of a hat. She had no defense against him, and she didn’t want one.
He laughed deeply and wrapped her in his arms. They leaned back against the couch and he kissed her like he was a parched man.
Cass felt the same desperate need to be as close to him as possible.
Roger peppered kisses across her cheeks and down her neck. “I want you to move in with me. I know it’s sudden, but I want to be with you every single moment I can.”
That didn’t sound bad at all to Cass. “Okay. I’ll start packing tomorrow.”
He pulled back to grin down at her. “Really? Just like that?”
She nodded once. “Yes. Just like that. You are my life now, Roger Stottsberry. I go where you go.”
“I love you more than anything, Cassandra. I will give you a good life. I’ll make you happy,” he promised.
She shook her head at him. “You already have, you wonderful man. I could die tomorrow and I would have lived a life I’d never begun to hope for. Thank you.”
Roger undressed her then and there, leaving her wearing only the rings. They glinted in the light as she cupped his cheek, and he could feel the love radiating from her. Hell, he could see the love radiating from her in every touch of her hands.
The woman had bowled him over with her spirit and tenacity and acceptance.
He would live his life making hers the very best he possibly could.
Gabe
Chapter One
Two Days After Christmas
As he left the Lost and Found office, Gabe wracked his brain, trying to puzzle out what he could get Julie. It was kind of difficult to come up with just the right thing. They were at a place in their lives where if they wanted or needed something, they could just go out and buy it. Maybe he could get her some fabric for the quilting she'd taken up recently. No, he wouldn’t have any idea of what kind to get her or what color or anything.
The creative direction had some potential, though. Maybe he would go to a craft store and wander around. Perhaps inspiration would strike.
Actually implementing the plan, though, was a little harder to do. When he parked his truck in the Jo-Ann’s Fabrics store parking lot, he was suddenly overcome with a sense of dread. The lot wasn't full, by any means, but something held him immobile. Then Gabe remembered Duncan's words about finding direction when he got stressed. He could do this. He had direction. Julie. Julie deserved a great Christmas and he was going to make it happen.
He slipped out of the truck and headed toward the door, determination strengthening his steps. The pain in his right leg from the gunsho
t wound disappeared and he forgot about his worries as he focused on Julie. She was the most important part of his day, his life, his world, and he needed to honor her somehow.
That was all well and good until he walked into the huge store. Colors, smells, and bright lights bombarded his senses and he had to pause inside the automatic doors. Then, conscious of people coming in behind him, he stepped to the side of the door. Even with the sunglasses still shading his eyes, he felt under attack. Sensory overload was a very real thing. Moving instinctively, he headed toward a less populated area of the store and started wandering the aisles.
Gabe considered himself a worldly man, but he saw so many items in this store that he had no idea what they were for or how anyone would use them, that he almost felt like his brain would explode. Julie loved going shopping at Jo-Ann’s, he knew that, he'd seen the bags in the recycling tub. But what she bought here was a complete mystery to him— hmph, some investigator he was.
"Can I help you?"
Gabe looked down at the little woman that had appeared at his side and cursed to himself. What a great SEAL he was, being snuck up on by a little grandma type. His only excuse was that he was too wrapped up in being overwhelmed. "I, uh, don't know. I'm looking for a Christmas present, but I'm not sure what I should get."
The woman, Kate her name tag read, nodded as if she'd heard the words before and pushed her glasses up on her nose. "Is this for your wife or girlfriend?"
He almost said wife, then wondered why he didn't. "Wife."
"You're in the flower arranging section. Is that what she likes to do?"
He glanced around at the strange green foam pieces and spools of wire. So that’s what this stuff was for. "No. She likes to quilt."