Letting the gossamer-fine cloth fall open, Kendall gasped as she saw what it was. A very fine women’s kerchief, obviously antique, with a stylized ‘E’ in one corner. Tears started in her own eyes and she reached out to pull Emily into a hug. The woman had been more of a mother to her than her own and Kendall loved her desperately. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Emily sniffled and pulled away, then held out a small box. “From your father. Your something new.”
Kendall flipped open the lid, revealing glittering diamond studs encircled by tiny emeralds. “Oh, my!”
“If the flitter-gidget had seen them, you’d have never gotten them. That woman’s like a damn crow, going for the shinies. I caught her wearing one of my necklaces the other day.”
Choking out a laugh, Kendall pulled the velvet card from the box and removed the earrings, inserting them into her ears. Then she peeled down the sweetheart peak of the dress and pinned Emily’s cloth inside. When she folded it back, it rested right above her heart.
A few tears slipped down Emily’s cheeks. “I couldn’t love you any more than if I had actually given birth to you. You’ve turned into a remarkable woman.”
Kendall fought not to break into tears. “Why couldn’t you have been my mother, damn it?”
They laughed together and hugged, then Emily helped her repair her makeup and left to check on the details out front.
Kendall paced, too restless to sit down in the expensive dress. Her father came to get her a few minutes later, looking distinguished in his suit. He teared up when he saw her too.
“Beautiful. Just simply beautiful.”
Proudly, he offered his arm to escort her through the house and into the wide open great-room. The furniture had been moved away from the massive stone fireplace and turned into an altar where she would exchange her vows. Every chair in the room was filled, and every person rose when she stepped in.
Grif stood at the fireplace, waiting expectantly. He wore a suit every day when he stood guard at her back, and he looked phenomenal, but the Marine Dress Blues put him into a completely different class. She would never have expected to see him in uniform, and it suddenly gave her a greater appreciation for everything he had sacrificed before he came to work for her father. Grif, Duncan and Calvert were all dressed in uniform, medals gleaming from their chests. He hadn’t said anything about wearing his uniform to get married, but he must have grabbed it when he went home for his paperwork.
Lilly and Emily stood opposite from the men, looking just as stunning in their own way, waiting for her.
As the wedding march played on the speakers and she walked down the aisle on her father’s arm, Kendall did her very best to breathe deeply and not burst into tears. Emotion cinched bands around her chest. When she was a little girl, she’d dreamt of having a normal life where she could go to a normal school, and just be like everyone else. Have a regular family, with a mother and father that loved each other and lived in the same house.
Now, she stood on the edge of her own potential happiness. Terrified, yet exhilarated at the same time.
Grif looked a little pale. He’d shaved recently and his square jaw was clenched. His springy hair had been moussed and combed into shape. His white gloved left hand clasped his gloved right, but the thumb on his left was sweeping back and forth with nervousness. It did her heart good that he appeared just as nervous.
Kendall tried to imprint every single detail into her mind, like the feel of Grif’s hand holding hers, and the faint scent of roses from arrangements around the room. His eyes held hers the entire time the officiant spoke and he repeated every word flawlessly. When it came time to exchange rings, she was stunned when Duncan handed him a platinum band with inlaid diamonds and a substantial solitaire in the center. She’d been prepared to wear something more plain, but she fell in love with it upon sight. It glistened in the light as he slipped it onto her quivering finger.
Lilly handed over the band Kendall had chosen for Grif. Platinum as well, but with a darker central band, centered with three understated diamonds. She had a feeling he wouldn’t want anything flashier.
As she slipped it on his hand, her eyes lifted to his, and the banked emotion in his expression made her tear up.
“By the power vested in me by the state of Colorado, you may kiss your bride.”
Grif covered her mouth with his own and Kendall felt a tear slip down her cheek. He kissed her like she meant something to him. She took that feeling and wrapped it in her heart.
They celebrated for the rest of the night. As they ate the veal chops and grilled asparagus, Emily appeared with an elaborately decorated wedding cake, complete with tiny bride and a uniformed groom on top. Kendall looked up at her in surprise.
The older woman shrugged. “I always wanted to try to make a wedding cake. I think I did a damn fine job.”
Kendall’s weepy eyes flooded again at the kind gesture and she stood to hug her. “You are an incredible woman.”
Hunter wandered over at one point while they were mingling and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
“You look gorgeous, Kendall. I can’t believe you pulled all this off without anybody knowing.”
Kendall shifted under his sharp gaze.
“Well, we wanted to keep it quiet for a while because we weren’t sure where the relationship was going.”
“Well, I’m very happy for you.”
A hand settled on her waist and she knew without looking that it was Grif. His touch had become very familiar to her.
Hunter offered to shake hands and there was an awkward pause. Grif reached out his prosthetic and shook, then pulled back. Hunter frowned as if he’d been presented with a dilemma. “Is that a…”
Grif turned her away with an, “If you’ll excuse us.”
“That was very rude,” she whispered.
“I don’t care. He’s been gunning for your spot for a while. Don’t give him any ammunition.”
Kendall looked at him sharply. “You think I don’t know that? He’s always tried to be better than me. If his father wasn’t my father’s best friend, I’d have plowed Hunter under the ground a long time ago.”
Grif grinned down at her in appreciation. “Good. I’m glad you realized he was your competition.”
She fought not to roll her eyes. “Not really. He can’t do anything without his father’s approval. He is a true trust fund baby. And I think most everybody knows that.”
Her new husband chuckled and squeezed her to his side. “Stay the smart cookie you are.”
She returned the squeeze, appreciating the words as much as the action.
“Is Jamison a family name?”
Grif’s face darkened with anger and his lips twisted. “You could say that. It’s my mother’s favorite liquor. She loved it so much she named her son after it.”
Kendall cringed. “I’m sorry I asked. I didn’t know.”
She squeezed him the way he had her just a few seconds before.
“It’s okay. There was no way you could have known. No big deal.”
She realized it was a big deal, though, because it took him a while to shake it off.
Other than that one aberration, Kendall had a wonderful afternoon. And the guests appeared to as well. The only minor issue, other than the handshaking incident, was the apparent chumminess between Deedra and Hunter. Since he had perfected the art of charm and she the reception, the two of them seemed to get along fabulously.
“I think there’s something going on with those two.”
She looked at Grif sharply, then glanced back at the two standing off in the corner. The way they moved definitely intimated at some kind of history. “Hm, I kind of think you’re right.”
But something made Hunter shift away from Deedra, frowning. He shook his head but watched her as she left the room. Kendall glanced around to see if anybody else had seen the little interaction, but she and Grif seemed to have been the only ones. When she looked back at Hunter, he was just disappearin
g through the doorway Deedra had gone through.
“Looks like a tryst in the works.”
Kendall clamped her jaw in anger, tempted to go after the two of them. How dare they do that at her wedding?
“Don’t let it ruin your day,” Grif murmured into her ear.
Kendall took a deep breath just as Hunter walked back into the room.
“Hm. Nothing happened apparently.”
Kendall tried to watch for Deedra to return but she got lost in other things. Grif was right. She had better things to think about than that crazy woman.
The afternoon wore on and guests started to leave. She and Grif weren’t going on a honeymoon, so they headed down the mountain to her condo. Lilly and Duncan were going to stay at her father’s house to give them privacy for the night.
Kendall felt strangely elated. A week ago she never would have imagined how her life would change.
She looked at Grif. His expression seemed relaxed. He didn’t appear to regret anything about the day, which also made her unaccountably happy. She didn’t want to be responsible for making his life hard.
Ortiz grinned and folded away a knife when they got off the elevator. “You two look like a cake topper. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, Mr. Ortiz. Mr. Calvert is bringing some cake down for you.”
Ortiz grinned at her. “I’m sure it will be delicious.”
He opened the door for them and they stepped through. Grif closed the door behind them with a frown on his face.
“What?” she asked.
He shrugged and played with the car keys in his pocket.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t carry you over the threshold.”
Kendall’s mouth dropped open. Not what she’d expected to hear.
“It’s no big deal. Don’t worry about it.”
But he shifted on his feet. “Even though it was kind of last minute, I wanted your wedding day to be as complete as possible. Carrying you over the threshold would have been part of that, but I can’t bear weight like that on my forearm. I thought about putting you over my shoulder but then I worried about the baby.”
The indecision on his face was very out of character, but made her more sure that she’d done the right thing. Grafton Parks was a genuinely good man.
Stepping close, she smoothed her hand down the suit jacket of the uniform, then over the medals on his left chest. “I’m not worried about that part of it. I appreciate the thought, though, truly. And I appreciate this.” She held up her left hand. “I never expected it.”
His lips spread in a smile. “Good. You weren’t supposed to. Lilly gave me suggestions on what you liked.”
Kendall leaned up for a kiss. “You did perfectly. I was very touched.”
Grif looked at his feet and cleared his throat, nodding slightly. Then he held his own hand up. “I didn’t expect this either. I’m not into jewelry, really, but I like this. Very understated.”
She smiled, glad she’d been able to pull it off without his input.
“I think we both did really well. The wedding was beautiful. I know it was a bit of a headache, but I truly appreciate you going along with the show.”
Shrugging, he ran his finger over the neckline of her dress. “Well, it was for a good cause. And a few hours in my Blues isn’t going to kill me.”
Kendall was unfamiliar with the term, but she assumed it meant his dress uniform. “Do you miss it? The Marines?”
“Every single day. It’s a hard family to leave. Still be there today if it weren’t for…” He held up his prosthetic.
The thought of his going back to that environment sent fear flowing through her. “Well, I’m glad you don’t have to risk your life like that any more.” She glanced toward the bedroom. “This is kind of strange to ask, but are you going to stay here tonight? I would completely understand if you didn’t want to,” she rushed to add.
Grif seemed to be weighing her words. “I’d like to stay, if you’d have me.”
Kendall nodded, almost shyly, and turned for the bedroom.
Chapter 7
Grif realized why she’d asked a few seconds later. He started to unbutton his uniform but realized either he would have to leave or she would. He only wore a T-shirt beneath the outer jacket.
Or he could just bare it all and get it over with.
Tiredness beat at him. It had been a stressful day. He didn’t know if he was up to an even more stressful night.
“Uh, Grif?”
Shit. She had to be wondering why he’d stood there so long.
“Yeah,” he sighed.
“Do you think you can unbutton me?”
He jerked into motion. “Sure. I can try.”
She turned her elegant back to him, and when he saw the row of little tiny buttons, he started to sweat. There was no way. The fingers on the prosthetic couldn’t even pinch that tiny.
Left handed, fumbling, slower than fuck, he managed to get one button through the tiny satin loop holding it.
“This may take a while. My right hand is useless for stuff like this.”
“I’m sorry. I’d have had Lilly help me undress if I had known it would be an issue.”
“It’s just impossible for the prosthetic to squeeze this small. And I don’t have the dexterity for it even if it could.”
“Ah, okay,” she murmured. “I didn’t really realize that the hand could make movements like that.”
It was a subtle probe. Grif found that he didn’t mind talking about it as much because her back was to him, waiting patiently for him to move. He started on button number two of fifty. “It can make several movements as long as they’re not intricate.”
“So,” her voice was very soft, “how do you make it move?”
He stopped fiddling with the buttons, realizing that there would be no better time than now to explain it all to her. “If you turn around I’ll show you.”
Coughing to clear his throat, he took a heavy breath, his heart pounding. Revealing himself to new people was never easy. Hell, he hadn’t revealed himself to a woman that wasn’t a medical professional ever. Any romantic liaisons he had the shirt stayed on. Period.
Kendall was different. Besides being drawn to her more completely than any other woman, she had now become his wife. She deserved to know what she’d gotten herself into.
The medals on the left breast of the jacket jingled softly as he let it fall from his arms. Without looking at her face, feeling more naked than ever before, he draped the jacket over a nearby chair.
She hadn’t said anything. When he looked at her face, he only saw curiosity in her clear green eyes. She reached out to touch him and he raised his arm to her. “Explain to me about this. Does it hurt?”
Her gaze met his and he shook his head. “Not really. Not anymore.”
“So, how did you lose your hand in the first place?”
If he’d seen anything in her look hinting at pity or disgust, he’d have clammed up, but she seemed genuine in her need to know.
Sighing, he shook his head in disgust. “I screwed up. I was in an explosive ordinance disposal company in the Marines. EOD. We went in with other Marines and cleared out IEDs and traps. One day a fellow Marine brought in an improvised device that had been disabled. We thought. When he handed it over, there must have been enough charge left in it somewhere that when the wires touched, it detonated. The other Marine was fine, but my hand was obliterated. There was nothing left to save. I had shrapnel in my gut. Lost my sight for a while.”
She cringed. “I’m very sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
Her eyes were soft as he pulled from her grasp to remove the prosthetic, then the soft fitted sock underneath it. As he finally revealed the stump of his forearm to her for the first time, he tried to tell himself it didn’t matter what she thought.
Right.
She shocked him when she snorted softly, then reached out to touch it. A shiver coursed through him as she ran her painted fingernails down t
he sensitive skin, tracing the line of scar at the end. She stepped in close, and wrapped both hands around the end of his arm. “I don’t know why, but I thought it would be gross and scary looking, but it’s not. I didn’t exactly expect it to be bloody, but nasty, malformed. This just looks like your skin was wrapped around the end of the joint. Like a wrapped baseball bat.”
The knot in his gut eased. At least she hadn’t freaked.
“So, how does the prosthetic work?”
As she seemed to go through life, she wanted to learn everything there was to know about his amputation. She asked intelligent questions and didn’t seem pitying or condescending in any way. Actually, she seemed fascinated that the entire hand could be manipulated by the nerve impulses from his brain. He rolled on the sock, then pressed his stub into the socket, sealing it tight. Then he showed her the reverse process, removing it.
“I have to apologize.”
Grif narrowed his eyes at her. “Why?”
Standing there in her wedding dress, looking radiant in spite of the hour and her drooping hair, she lifted her face to his. “Because I wasn’t very nice when my father first hired you. I said some things I shouldn’t have, within your hearing, and I apologize.”
He appreciated her words. “It’s over and done with. Don’t worry about it. It’s not something I haven’t heard before. Turn around and we’ll see if we can get you out of this dress.”
He leered at her and she laughed. Exactly as he wanted.
It took him a long time, but he eventually released enough of the buttons that they could tug the dress up over her head and off. He grabbed a padded hanger from the closet and draped it on, then hung it from the top of the bathroom door. When he looked back, she had unfastened her bra and tossed it across the room, baring her lush, pink-tipped breasts. As he watched she stepped out of her panties to stand before him completely bare.
A bolt of awareness rattled his bones. Kendall Herrington, or was it Parks now, belonged to him, as well as the boy or girl growing in her stomach. Stepping forward, he ran his hand over the smooth expanse of skin, from hipbone to hipbone. “This is going to change.”
Uniform Desires (Make Mine Military Romance) Page 49