Operation Date With Destiny (36 page)

“
For what?
”

“
Oh forget it. I knew this was a bad idea—I should never have let Summer talk me into it!
”
she grumbled, turning away from him.
“
Go meet him when he gets back, she said. Go surprise him—he
’
ll love that, she said
.
”

Tupper bit back his chuckle as she imitated Summers Australian accent to a tee.
Man she was hot when she was pissed.
“
I can
’
t believe you listened to th
at
bunch of love sick saps.
”

“
They got me while I was at a low point…
obviously
I wasn
’
t thinking rationally at the time when it seemed like a good idea.
”

“
If it
’
s any consolation, they
’
re pros. You don
’
t stand a chance if they catch a whiff of vulnerability.
Bam!
”
he said reaching his hand out as though grabbing for someone
’
s throat.
“
They
’
re like a pack of hyenas.
”
They shared a moment of fragile unity
and he felt the last remaining shards of hurt fall away
.
“
Just for the record…I
’
m glad you came to meet me.
”

She sent him a hopeful look that seemed
completely
out of character for her.
“
There
was
another reason I came here tonight.
”

“
Oh yeah?
”

She dropped her gaze once more and began fidgeting with her fingers
. “
There was something I didn
’
t get a chance to
say before…back in the basement…i
t
’
s been bugging me ever since beca
use I was too scared to say it.
I hate being a
coward;
it
’
s never
sat right with me…so I
just
need to say it now.
“

She sounded so…un-Destiny like
,
and f
or the second time that night he thought he may be having a heart attack. Surely it couldn
’
t be healthy to have the damn thing stopping and starting so often
?

“
I…love you.
”

He stared at her, feeling as though he just won the lottery and not sure if it was really all just some big practical joke or not.

“
Okay…well, I said it and now, I should go.
”

“
Wait
!
”
T
hat snapped him out of his stupor faster than anything
could have.
“
Hold up. You can
’
t just dro
p
the L bomb and walk away like that.
”

“
I can so.
”

“
Why would you
do that?
”
he demanded, staring at her completely perplexed.

“
Because now I don
’
t feel like I chickened out.
”

“
So that
’
s it? You
’
re saying
y
ou love me and then you
’
re
walking away?
”

“
Yep.
”

For the first time in his life,
Tupper found himself
lost for words. Then he glared at her.
“
Do you at least
mean it?
”

“
Well of course I
mean
it…why else would I say it?
”

“
The hell if I know! What am I supposed to do with that if you walk away?
”

She turned back to face him and planted her hands on her hips as she stared at him.
“
You decide if you want to follow me or not, I guess.
”

He took two steps towards her until there was barely a breath between them, lifting her gaze to meet his with a gentle finger beneath her chin.
“
Haven
’
t you figured
that
out yet
? I
’
d follow you anywhere
.
”

“
I had to drug you the first time,
”
she reminded him softly.

“
You also tied me to the bed—I can live with that trade off.
”

“
I
’
m really sorry about that.
”

“
That
’
s okay—you can spent the next fifty or so years making it up to me,
”
he shrugged before lowering his head and giving into the thing he
’
d been wanting to do since the moment he looked up and saw her.

“
I don
’
t know how this is going to work, and there
’
s Jackson to think about,
”
she said pulling away slightly.

“
We
’
ll find away,
”
he said going back to her lips, the hunger damn near insatiable.

“
There
’
s going to be teenage attitude and arguments late nights staying up worrying—
oh my God
…
girlfriends!
”

“
And then there
’
s Jackson to deal with,
”
he added.

She slapped his chest.
“
Would you be
serious!
This stuff is important.
”

“
Okay, I get it. There
’
s going to be problems
,
but everyone has them and they get through it. The way I see it—we have an awesome kid and a great family who will be there to step in if we somehow manage to screw him up
,
too bad.
”
He chuckled at her dismayed look.
“
Trust me—that lot won
’
t let us screw him up…he
’
s a smart kid—he
’
ll be okay…
we
’
ll
be okay.
”

“
Promise?
”

“
Scouts
honor
.
”

“
But you
’
re a Marine.
”

“
Details, mere details,
”
he shrugged.

Epilogue

“
You are
not
serious?
”
Destiny said, staring down at Tupper as he lay in the hammock, looking far too calm for the day before their wedding.

“
I know—shocking, but true. Yes. I am deadly serious,
”
he confirmed without moving the hat that covered his face.

Destiny stomped her foot and then got even angrier at him for making her give into such an absurdly childish reaction.
“
I
’
m serious Johnny! You cannot read these vows at our wedding!
”

“
Why not? They
’
re perfectly good vows.
”

“
They
’
re completely ridiculous!
”

“
Pledging my love to the woman I
’
m gonna
’
marry is ridiculous?
”
he asked in an offended kind of tone as he took the hat off his face and stared up at her blankly.

“
You can
’
t use these things as your vows!
”
she said exasperated by his laid back attitude.
”

“
What
’
s wrong with them?
”

“
This is how much I love you,
”
she began reading from the page he
’
d given her earlier.
“
I love you more than a fat kid loves cake. I love you more than a pig loves NOT to be bacon. I love you more than a nerd loves math. I love you more than I love my dog…
”
she paused after that one and pinned him with a stare.
“
Y
ou don
’
t even
have
a dog, Tupperoni!
”

“
Yeah, but if I did…I
’
d love you more than
I
’
d love it,
”
he shrugged.
“
There
’
s another one I just thought of…write this down,
”
he commanded, waving a hand towards the paper in her hand.
“
I love you enough to take a bullet for you,
”
he said.

Destiny
lost her frown
and felt herself weaken just a tiny bit.
“
Fine. Maybe you can keep that one.
”

“
Typical, I make up a heap of mushy ones and my woman picks the most violent.
”

“
You
’
d
really
take a bullet for me?
”
she asked, ignoring his indignant rant as she reached for
the
hand that he held out to lower her into the hammock beside him.

“
Yep,
”
he said with a decisive nod before pausing.
“
Well, not in the head…but maybe you know…in the leg or somethin
’
. Or the hand
…
ok, maybe in the foot.
”

“
Jerk,
”
she murmured with a shake of head, and he was…but he was her jerk, and she couldn
’
t wait to start the next chapter of their life together.

The end!

Acknowledgements

To Steve Grant
—
it was YOU who came up with the BEST title and
‘
oh my God
’
moment in the history of OMG moments! Thank you for
being a huge supporter, fellow Operation fan and friend.

Kerri Williams, thank you for your support, brainstorming, hand holding in scary times and laughs when I need them
!
Moose!! Thank you so much for all your help answering my endless
questions
and just between you and me, out of all of Ghost
’
s guys—I think you
’
re my favourite…well ok, maybe after Chris
!

To the amazing 21. Can
’
t fit in here everything I want to say… I love you guys.

The amazing members of Bookaholics Anonymous
—y
ou guys are so generous and are such a great group to belong to. Thank you also to Meli
ssa Mosloski and Steve Castillo for their help in answering questions.

A huge thank you to all my Facebook friends. You guys keep me entertained, informed and sane while I write. Thank you for all you do.

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