The Price of Love (Rockin' Country Book 2) (24 page)

J
ust as Garrett had figured, as soon as they were an hour outside of Atlanta and well after midnight, Hannah fell asleep in the passenger seat beside him. Taking his eyes off the road for a second, he glanced over at her and realized that his heart was full. She was his for longer than she’d been his in the entire time they’d been together. He had so many things he wanted to do with her, so many things he wanted to show her. Truth be told, he was tired too. He was tired of the distance, of the separation, and of pretending like it didn’t matter so much to him. When he didn’t show it, it didn’t seem to wear on her as much, but there was only so much he could take. He was at the end of that rope with it all. He was ready to have his wife with him, and to know that they would soon be celebrating the holidays together was one of the most exciting feelings he’d ever had.

Reaching over, he clasped her hand in his and squeezed tightly. The first order of business would be to get some weight back on her and remove the dark circles from under her eyes. The tiredness he’d seen there lately he didn’t like one bit. The way her smile didn’t touch her eyes, the beaten-down look. That needed to be gone. Garrett was ready for a bit of normalcy with them, even though he knew he’d soon be dragging her out on his tour, it would be easier with the two of them in the same spot for more than a couple of days.

Hours later, he pulled into the driveway of his in-laws and carefully got out of the car, keeping it running so that he wouldn’t wake Hannah up. Robert met him on the front porch, surprising Garrett. He said so, asking what the older man was doing awake.

“I was watching for you,” he explained. “Do you need some coffee or anything? I know you’ve driven all night.”

Garrett shook his head. “Nah, I’m good.”

Robert reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys to the house that he’d been taking care of for them. “We got some groceries for you yesterday. I had some of the guys from my shop help me move in a little bit of furniture. I figure if you don’t like it, you can use it in the studio. Just a couch, a chair, a TV, and a Blu-Ray player. The bed you ordered was delivered yesterday too, and Liz made sure there are sheets and stuff on it. Heat’s on and it should be ready for the two of you.”

“Thank you so much, you have no idea how much we appreciate this.” Garrett reached out, shaking Robert’s hand.

“Just take care of her. She’s had a rough couple of years.”

Garrett looked back at the car, knowing that Hannah slept peacefully inside. “She is my number-one priority.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. Please let us know what you two want to do for Thanksgiving.”

Garrett had almost forgotten that it was so close, even though he’d been thinking about the holidays on the drive up. “As soon as we get settled, that will be the first thing we talk about.” It was then that a jaw-popping yawn made its way out of his mouth.

“Go, get some sleep. Call us if you need anything, and we’ll figure everything out in the next few days.”

Garrett surprised himself by reaching over and hugging the other man. He felt closer to Robert than he expected to feel, and he figured that was a part of the growing-up process, a part of welcoming more people into his family. Quickly, he made his way back to the car.

It was a good thing they had a GPS, because if asked, Garrett wouldn’t be able to tell anyone how they had gotten to their new home. It had been a maze of turns, and he wanted only one thing—to get home. Home sounded like such a good word. He couldn’t wait to make this home with her. It had been one of the only things that had kept him going through their long separation.

He pulled into the garage and shut the door before turning the car off. “Han.” He reached over and gently shook her shoulder. When it was obvious she wasn’t going to wake up, he unbuckled and went over to the passenger side. Carefully, he got her out and let them both inside. He hoped like hell he remembered which room the two of them had decided on. A pang of loneliness hit him too when he didn’t hear the clickety-clack of Havock’s toenails against the floor. They would have to bring their boy out here; as it was, Garrett hated leaving him.

The stairs weren’t easy with her limp in his arms, but he navigated them. When he got to their room, he breathed a sigh of relief. The freshly made bed looked like an oasis in the middle of a desert. He was running on fumes, and he knew she was too. There wasn’t anything left in either of them. He moved back the cover as best he could with one hand and laid her down; he then lay down next to her, still fully clothed. He pulled the cover up around them. That would have to be enough. The exhaustion of the last few months weighed on him, and he finally let it go, closing his eyes, putting his arms around Hannah, and letting it all go.

*     *     *

Hannah felt like she was some place she’d been before, but she couldn’t place it. She knew that Garrett was with her because she could feel his body behind hers. Prying her eyes open, she looked around. They were in their new house and it was dusk outside. How long had they been here? Pulling her cell phone out of her pocket, she saw that it was four o’clock in the evening. The last thing she remembered was getting in the car a little after midnight that morning. Had she really slept for over twelve hours?

“Garrett.” She nudged his shoulder.

His eyes popped open and he glanced at her. “Yeah?”

“It’s four thirty at night. Have we slept that long?”

He sat up, wiping the sleep from his face and eyes. “Damn,” he mumbled, pulling his own cell phone out of his pocket. She was right, it was four and they had been there all day. “Yeah, we have,” he laughed, running a hand through his hair. “I guess we needed it.”

She lay back against the sheet and breathed deeply. She had no place to be, she had nothing to do. There wasn’t another concert that she had to rush to; there was no interview to prep for. Her schedule was as clear as the window to her right. The feeling was odd, one that she’d never had before. For some reason, she started to giggle.

“Are you okay?” he asked, staring over at her, a smile on his face.

“Yes,” she laughed. “I don’t know why I’m laughing, but I have a free schedule. Do you know how good that feels? I don’t have to be anywhere at any certain time, I don’t have to clear my schedule with anyone, and I can be with you whenever I want.”

He answered her laugh with a deep exhale of his own. “It does feel fuckin’ good, but you know what would feel really good right now?”

She shook her head, not sure where he was going with this.

“A shower and some food. I feel nasty and I’m about to starve.”

“We’re not showering together,” she told him as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I remember what happened last time we did that.”

He gave her a slow smile. “We don’t have enough time for that right now. My stomach’s about to eat itself, and I wouldn’t be able to give you my full attention. Now, after I get the shower and some food in me, I wouldn’t mind getting in you.”

She shook her head at him. “Couldn’t help it, could ya?”

“Nope.”

Hannah watched as he made his way out of the bedroom, hoping they had towels and changes of clothes somewhere. If not, there was going to be a lot of naked lounging in this family. Standing up, she stretched, sighing as her back and neck cracked. The tension she’d carried for so long was gone. She felt like she could breathe, and it had been a very long time since she had felt that way. The intense pressure that she’d been under for the last few months was gone. It felt amazing. She felt lighter as she made her way down the stairs and into the foyer. With no suitcases to be found, she guessed they were still in the car. They would need them, and she had been self-sufficient for most of her life when it came to her own luggage.

Walking out into the garage, she saw that she was right. This wasn’t the first time she’d had to lug her bags, and she knew that it wouldn’t be the last. They were just a lot heavier than she remembered. After minutes of struggling, she had both one of hers and one of Garrett’s in the foyer.

“Han?”

“Right here,” she told him, breathing hard.

“Babe, I would have grabbed that stuff.”

She looked up, laughing as he held a small towel around his waist. She wasn’t even sure it went completely around his waist. “Where did you find that?”

“The kitchen.” He shrugged. “I had to have something.”

“That’s why I grabbed these; I had some towels in my bag.” She giggled as he turned around, showing her his exposed butt cheeks.

“Now you tell me.”

She snorted. “You never asked. It was all ‘I’m gonna take a shower, get some food, and then…’”

“Please say it,” he whispered. Amusement made the edges of his mouth twitch. “Please say it.”

Hannah couldn’t bring herself to say it. “You know what you said.”

“I do know what I said,” he told her, pulling her close to him.

They were so close that she could feel the moisture of the shower he’d just taken. Hannah needed to feel a part of him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and tilted her face up to his. The invitation was clear, and Garrett didn’t make her wait long. Like he always did, he possessed her with one of the hottest kisses she’d ever had in her life, and that was saying something, given their history.

His stomach picked that moment to growl loudly. “Can we come back to this?” he asked, rubbing a hand over the skin there.

“Yeah.” She shook her head, laughing quietly. “We can, because I really need that shower.”

“I’ll cook,” he offered, bending over in front of her. “Don’t you dare smack my ass either,” he threw over his shoulder at her.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she told him as she smacked him quickly and then made a run for the stairs.

“You’re lucky that I’m hungry.”

Feeling a bit ornery, she put an extra sway into her hips as she climbed the stairs. “Promises, promises.”

He watched her, an evil glint in his eye. She would find out about those promises.

*  *  *

“I
’m lucky that you’re not only hot, but you cook pretty well too.” Hannah smiled at Garrett over their dinner.

They had set up camp in the living room, both sitting on the couch with the TV on some horrible reality TV show. They both had beers, and he’d whipped them up a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches a piece. They had found a bag of chips, and they’d dove into that like they hadn’t eaten in days. He put half of the sandwich in his mouth and chewed thoroughly before taking a healthy drink of the beer. “I told you, there are certain things you learn to do as a bachelor. Omelets and grilled cheeses are number one and number two on the list.”

She picked up half of the sandwich he’d made her and took a bite. The food tasted better when it was shared with him, it felt like it satisfied a hunger in her. Just by being together, she was more at peace. Her stomach no longer had the queasy feeling she’d had the entire time she’d been on the road. In hindsight, she wasn’t even sure that she’d known it was there, but now—now she knew how stressed she had been. “Thanks for cooking me dinner.”

“Anything for you,” he told her, swiping a chip off her plate.

She swatted at his hand, but in reality she couldn’t help but notice how at ease he appeared to be too. There was no tension at the side of his eyes, he looked semi-well rested, and the smile was much easier to come to his face when he looked at her. Sighing, she moved her plate and his before throwing herself into his arms.

“What’s that for?” he asked, rubbing his hand up and down her back.

“Because I can and because I love you.”

This was what had been missing between the two of them. Meeting in hotel rooms made it feel like their love was illicit, and while that was fun sometimes, nobody liked to feel like they weren’t supposed to be together. He wanted to show her exactly what he was capable of. That he wanted this. He wanted to make it all work and he’d been waiting on it. He’d told her that it didn’t matter how long it would take, he would wait, and he had. Now was the time to put up or shut up. She would need him just as much here as she needed him while she was on tour. Now was the time for him to prove how serious he was and how in the marriage he wanted to be. If he didn’t start this minute, this second, then what kind of a man was he? “You wanna go sit on the wraparound porch?”