The Purple Heart

by Christie Gucker

  I set off downstairs to quickly set the table, and then was off to the kitchen to begin making dinner.

  I started out making the salad, washing the greens and various vegetables. He was suddenly beside me, like he had just materialized there. Startled, I jumped and had to catch my breath. This seemed to make him chuckle.

  He was out of his uniform, and dressed comfortably in gray sweatpants and a black t-shirt. He looked amazing even when he was dressed down. I could see his build underneath the thin material of his shirt, and the sweats were hanging just perfectly to make my mind wander.

  “I hope I didn’t scare you. I’m sure you’re not used to someone sneaking up behind you around here. Can I help?”

  “No worries. I’m pretty skittish sometimes. And no, you’re a guest. I wouldn’t ask you to help. Just sit back and relax. I’ve got it under control.” I continued with my dinner prepping. He reached out and put his hand on my forearm.

  “Please, let me help you. You’re letting me stay with you, so the least I can do is pitch in. I can wield a mean broom,” he offered. His voice was so calm and relaxing. It was like listening to an angel.

  “How are you with knives?” I asked, hoping for him to take over the task of salad duty, so I could start preparing sauce for the spaghetti. I hated chopping vegetables.

  “I’m an expert, Ma’am. Trained in all forms of weaponry.”

  “I’m not sure if that makes me feel scared or safe.” I giggled.

  He smiled and reached for my knife. His hand brushed mine, and I felt a quick flutter in my stomach. I looked up at him from under my eyelashes. Now I was flirting. I took a step back from him so he didn’t think I was some kind of freak, inviting soldiers to stay with me so I could flirt and then have my way with them. In this instance, I wouldn’t have minded, though.

  He smirked, began chopping carrots and slicing the tomatoes. We cooked the entire meal together. He seemed to be at home in the kitchen, like I was. I loved to cook, and was excited to have, not only someone to cook for, but someone to cook with.

  We dined on our homemade Italian meal with glasses of Merlot, and had the most amazing conversation. I told him about my parents and my childhood. He never mentioned his family so I didn’t press him. We talked about the war a lot. We had both experienced it, and it brought us even closer together. We shared something that he couldn’t with most other people. It was one of the reasons why I was so good at my job.

  When dinner was finished, he thanked me for a home-cooked meal, offering me a bit too much praise, which made me blush again, and then we proceeded to clear the table together.

  I grabbed our glasses and an unopened bottle of wine, and we moved over to the couch in my family room. I was really enjoying having company. This might actually turn out to be beneficial for both of us.

  I thought it might be a good time to work with him, now that he seemed to be much more at ease. He was still work, no matter how much I was enjoying spending time with him.

  “So, can you tell me more about what happened?”

  “You mean, why I’m not still over there?”

  I nodded. He immediately tensed up and sat straight back against the couch. He looked like a mannequin.

  “Not yet. I’m not ready to talk to you about that. Is that okay?”

  “It most certainly is. This is on your timeframe. So when you feel more comfortable.” I smiled and placed my hand on his to let him know I meant it. We had plenty of time to talk, so I certainly didn’t need to rush him. I didn’t want to. I needed to take things slowly with him. I wanted him to trust me.

  Before I even realized it was happening, we had begun gravitating toward each other on the couch. I’m not sure if it was the wine or the company. It was probably a little bit of both.

  He became quiet, and just looked into my eyes. I just couldn’t look away. I was lost there. The pull towards him was unstoppable and I felt myself start to lean in his direction. He gravitated back. My breathing became shallow as we inched closer and closer. Soon, we were so close that I could feel his breath on me, and smell the sweet scent of him. I took in a deep breath with the hopes of being able to taste him. He reached up and cupped my cheek.

  “You’re quite beautiful, you know.” I had no words; I couldn’t speak and just waited, hoping he would lean in and kiss me first; and he did. His soft lips pressed against mine, and I felt the familiar humming that happened every time we touched, along with the now fluttering stomach I had recently acquired. I stayed perfectly still; afraid to let myself go. He pulled back and looked at me.

  “I’m not going to break, you know. You can kiss me back, if you want to, of course. I can’t remember the last time I actually kissed someone. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be so forward and don’t even know if you’re already spoken for. Hope I’m not overstepping any boundaries.”

  That was all I needed to hear. I reached up, twisted my fingers into his hair, and pulled his face slowly back to mine without ever breaking eye contact. I kissed him deeply, darting my tongue between his lips. He responded in kind and our tongues began to swirl together. I felt light-headed, but at the same time, I felt completely comfortable. I loved when a man kissed the same way I did. We were completely in sync.

  We became lost in our kiss, his hands encircling the back of my neck, holding my face to his; holding us in our kiss. I was in heaven. I moved closer to him so our bodies were touching more. It felt like we had been together for years instead of just having met. We spent some time locked in this embrace, the rest of the world forgotten.

  I couldn’t believe I was letting this happen, but I had no strength to do anything about it. I wanted it. I wanted him, all of him. I hoped I could find the restraint to stop, since there was just something about this man that made all my defenses and common sense dissolve. Was there truly such a thing as love at first sight? I was teetering on the edge of falling.

  Our kisses became deeper, more passionate, and I felt him start to lean me to a more horizontal position. I didn’t resist and allowed him to shift me so I was flat on my back. He crawled on top of me and we started to become more aggressive. He began to grind his hips into mine, so my hips responded in kind. I wanted to rip his clothing off, and let him take me, but instead I stopped him. I couldn’t believe I did, because I honestly did not want to. This entire scenario was so unlike me. I wasn’t really a one-night-stand kind of girl.

  “Hey, can we just slow down a bit? I’m going to get carried away here, and I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I certainly didn’t invite you to stay with me here just for this.” I motioned the space between us.

  “Sydney, there’s no way I could think badly about you. I just know I feel something, and it’s a very strong feeling. I’ve never felt anything like this before. Never, not with anyone. I’ll do whatever you want me to; I completely understand. But from the moment you walked down that hallway, I just knew this was different; that you were different. I just felt immediately connected to you, like meeting up with an old friend. Does that even make any sense? I don’t really want to stop what’s happening between us. But we can stop this wonderful foreplay, or maybe just slow down a bit for now,” he said openly yet softly into my ear, followed by a sweet kiss on my cheek.

  I kissed him while pushing him back slightly, my lips still attached to his. All I was doing now was changing our position back to an upright one. He moved with me, letting me control the situation. He was being a gentleman, even though I was not quite being a lady.

  “Would you like to maybe watch TV for while or something? Cards?”

  He laughed quietly, and then said, “I was actually really enjoying our most recent activity. Look, I’ve had a really long day, maybe it would be best if I went up to get some rest.”

  “Oh my God, of course. Damn it. I’m being so rude. I didn’t even think about the fact that you just flew in today. You must be absolutely exhausted. I am so sorry.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry about. You�
��ve been more than wonderful and accommodating to me. This is the most comfortable I’ve felt anywhere in a long time. Really. Thank you for that.”

  “Well, I guess we should head up to bed then. I mean, to get some sleep … in separate rooms,” I smiled sheepishly at him. He laughed, ran his hand through his messy hair and then down over his face. He was obviously as worked up as I was, and doing his best to squelch any desire or further action.

  “Well, all those things sound great to me.” He stood up and offered his hand to help me up from the couch. Chivalry. Love it.

  We moved up the stairs, and he stopped in front of my door to drop me off.

  “So, this is a strange place for a good night kiss, especially since we just met today, along with the make-out session downstairs, but here goes.” He leaned in and kissed me deeply. I melted into my door, which of course was not shut all the way, and I tumbled backward into my room and away from his lips. He looked a bit shocked, and just stood there like someone had just erased me out of his arms.

  “Apparently, fate has a different ending for tonight in mind, so I’ll just take that as my cue, and wave from here before I hurt myself.” I giggled. I wasn’t embarrassed at all; everything felt so natural with him. Normally I would have been mortified to fall into a room during a kiss with someone I just met. Except I never kissed men I had just met … until Aiden. The whole day had just been so surreal.

  I lay in bed, thinking about him lying in bed, only a room and a half away from mine. I wondered what he was wearing to sleep. In my mind, he was naked, with just the sheet covering him to his waist. I wondered if he was thinking about me. I couldn’t wait to tell Cheryl all about him in the morning. Wait, I didn’t have to go to work, as I had no other active cases right now. I’d call Cheryl to meet me for lunch.

  * * *

  When morning came, I was woken by a soft tapping on a door. Aiden must have been checking to see if I was in the bathroom. I looked at the clock. It was only six o’clock. I rolled over to catch a few more minutes of sleep, but found I had butterflies in my stomach at the thought of seeing him.

  I literally jumped out of bed to get ready. I didn’t hear anything in the bathroom, but I gave it a few soft raps to be sure he wasn’t still using it. After no reply, I opened the door so I could take a quick shower and get myself in a more presentable form.

  I headed downstairs and could already smell coffee brewing. It smelled heavenly, and I found it completely comforting, because I knew I would have company this morning. I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten breakfast with someone. I found Aiden in the kitchen, reading the morning paper, which he had retrieved from the front porch.

  “Good morning. You’re still on military time I see.” I smiled, and grabbed two mugs from the cabinet.

  “Good morning back. I hope you don’t mind. I thought you might like coffee. Did I wake you?”

  “It’s fine, really, I’m not a late sleeper, so no worries,” I said, as I casually reached into the fridge for cream, and bread and butter to make toast.

  “So I guess you’ll need to go to work today?” He sounded a bit disheartened as he said it.

  “Actually, no. You’re my only case right now. I’m all yours … for the day,” I cleared my throat to cover up my faux pas. “Except maybe for a quick lunch with friends. Do you think you can keep yourself busy while I’m gone?”

  “I’m sure I can keep myself amused. I would love to catch up on some TV. I saw you have a pretty extensive library, maybe I’ll thumb through one of your books.”

  I reached into my junk drawer and pulled out my spare key. Again, it should seem strange for me to leave a stranger alone in my house and provide him with the key, but I didn’t feel worried.

  “You’ll be needing this then, in case you go out for a walk or something. Just remember if I come home, and everything is missing, I’ll know who it was,” I teased.

  “Yes, Ma’am, no worries there.” He reached out, swiped the key from my hand, and placed it in his pants pocket.

  I poured us both coffee and sat down with him at the table. He handed me a section of the paper. I smiled, and took it. We sat in silence, reading the paper, and sipping our coffee like it was old routine with one another. Every once in awhile, one of us would peek over the paper and look at the other, but we always seemed to do it at the same exact time. I found that we both lingered in our stares.

  “So, we need to take care of some things for your case. I thought maybe we could sit out back, and just fill out some of the paperwork.”

  “Yes, Ma’am. Is it okay if I rake your backyard while we do it? Your yard could use it, plus I could use the exercise. I’m feeling a little stiff.” A smile spread across both our faces, obviously our minds in sync with the same dirty thought.

  I just couldn’t believe this. This drop dead gorgeous guy comes into my life, we have instant chemistry, and he likes to do housework. Things couldn’t get any better. Could they?

  We headed out to the garage, I handed him the rake, and sent him on his way to get started. I grabbed my cell to call Cheryl to make plans for lunch with her and Gina. When my lunch plans were firmly in place with promises of exciting news to tell them, I headed to my backyard to join Aiden.

  I had an expansive piece of property, but part of it was gated from the woods that stretched out behind it, forming a quaint courtyard. There was a creek back there, and often the neighborhood kids could be found playing along the banks. I didn’t want them to feel like they were trespassing, so I put the fence up to let them know where their freedom ended on my property. My terrace was constructed in cobblestone, and was adorned with an outdoor sofa, chiminea, and my favorite chair to sit and read in, a large papasan. I settled myself into this chair to watch him work.

  He was so muscular, and I was enjoying my view immensely. He raked. I asked questions. He answered. I flirted. He flirted back. We both laughed. He raked some more. Before I knew it, it was time to leave for lunch. Time just didn’t exist when I was with him.

  “I have to go now. Will you be all right here? Do you want to come with me? I can drop you off at the base so you can take care of anything you might need to there. Or if you’d like, you can join us for lunch.”

  “No, thank you. I’ll be just fine here. I’d like to finish up the yard. Do you mind if I do some other things around here? I noticed they could use a man’s touch.”

  “Be my guest. I love you.” Immediately, I realized that my innocent comment might sound totally out of line. My eyes got wide, I felt the blood drain from my face, and my mouth dropped open but nothing came out.

  “Good to hear.” He gave me that amazing smile, and any strangeness was suddenly at a zero level. He leaned in to kiss me gently. Hum and tingle.

  Aiden walked me to my car, and watched as I pulled down the drive. He looked lost when he waved goodbye to me. He was out of sight in a moment, and I strangely found myself missing him already. I definitely thought about him the entire drive to lunch, feeling like I was in high school with a crush on a cute boy.

  Chapter Three: Cheryl

  I was driving to a local diner, which I frequented with my girls at least once a week. It was close to Gina’s ballet studio, so Cheryl and I join her there often for lunch or dinner.

  When I arrived I searched for them. They were sitting in the back in the greenhouse room, so it took me a few minutes to locate them. Gina liked to sit where it was sunny; she didn’t like to feel closed in.

  She was sitting very close to Cheryl. It was so obvious they were a couple. I’m sure there were people at the diner, and other places, who had issues with their relationship. That always infuriated me. They were one of the sweetest, most down-to-earth couples I knew. Their relationship had outlasted many of the heterosexual ones I knew. Their marriage was forever, whatever that meant. I was positive if there were an afterlife, you’d find them together even then. I sometimes wished everyone would just stop all the prejudice. It seemed to me that everyone s
hould be past it by now.

  “Hello, ladies. Am I late?”

  “Hi, Sydney!” Gina pulled me into a hug and planted a kiss on my cheek.

  “No, you’re right on time. I ordered you a diet with a twist of lime, just like you always order.” Cheryl knew what women wanted. That’s exactly how she swept Gina right off her feet. The second they met it was true love-at-first-sight. Their chemistry oozed out of them, and there was no way anyone could overlook it. They had been with each other for many years now, yet the bond was still as strong as ever. I wondered if what I felt for Aiden was even remotely close to what they had experienced when they had first met.

  “So no office time for you anymore?” Cheryl questioned me like she was my mother.

  “I only have one case. Why go into the office?” I sounded just like her snarky teenager in my reply.

  “So, who is this guy, a general’s son?” I could see Cheryl was going to grill me on everything today.

  “No, nothing like that. He’s this very handsome decorated soldier.”

  “Handsome. Hmm.” Gina’s eyes gleamed when she said it, and she shot Cheryl a cute look.

  “I didn’t say handsome. I said highly. Highly decorated soldier.”

  “No, you didn’t, you said handsome. I heard you.” Gina voice was sing-songy, like a young child ready to start singing the kissing in a tree song.

  “Cheryl, please tell her I said highly. Please make her stop.”

  “Sorry, I can’t do that. You said handsome.” Cheryl had an evil grin on her face. It was Gina and Cheryl’s favorite game. They had a blast messing with me. I didn’t mind one bit because I laughed a lot when I was with them. They were the closest thing to family I had these days.

  “Okay, he is handsome.”