The Promise of Love (25 page)

“Okay, we’re good to go. Maybe we should stop by that drug store, huh? And get you some girly shampoo and so on.”

“Are you serious?”

“Well, you won’t like my Old Spice stuff, I’m fairly sure.”

“David,” she grumbled and stood.

He put the two bags on the bench, tucked his crutch tighter under his armpit, then took hold of her hands.

“I’m always serious, even if I’m kidding. But in answer to your question, yeah, I’m serious. I’m not in love with you for a few weeks, or months, or years, then I’m done and off I go. I want all of it. Love, marriage, kids that drive us nuts then turn around and make grandkids we can enjoy, all of it. Cruises when we’re seventy, you name it. But we can start small with pretending, if you want. Although I did see a pretty set of rings in that jewelry store over there.”

She let out an explosive breath and suddenly threw her arms around his neck. He was still a bit wobbly, but he caught her, and didn’t drop his crutch either.

“Oh my God, that was so romantic!”

Paris stiffened then buried her face in his neck because, yeah, that wasn’t her gushing at them.

“I mean, oh my goodness, that was so sweet!”

“Thanks,” he muttered. “I think she liked it, too,” he added.

“Um, well, you forgot this. Sorry, I wasn’t trying to listen, just, oh, I’m so sorry.”

He took the little bag with the jewelry box from the sales clerk and chuckled. Paris tightened her arms and laughed against his throat. “You paid her to say that.”

“I did no such thing!” he cried, but damn, that would have been a good idea. “Now, come on, let up on the stranglehold. I got you something.”

She eased up enough to look down, then sniffed and rubbed at her face against his shoulder and shirt before she took the bag.

“Sit down, come on,” he urged. His leg throbbed so she had to sit or he’d be falling down.

“Okay, sorry you had to carry the bags alone.”

“The bags weren’t heavy, princess. Now, come on, cheer up, it’s not that bad,” he teased.

“No, it’s not, it’s wonderful.
You’re
wonderful. But you just love to shock me, and sometimes I can’t tell if you’re teasing or serious.”

“I know, I know, I can’t seem to stop that, but—”

“I don’t want you to,” she said quickly, then sniffed and rubbed her cheeks again with the back of her hand.

“Open it, it’s for you.”

She nodded, then pulled the velvet box out and lifted the lid.

“Oh.” She blinked, and he winced when a few tears slipped free. He did need to pick better ways of telling her things. He’d worried her, and if she wanted to marry him, asking to pretend now seemed like a dumb-ass thing to do.

“I think if you wear this, you and I are going down that aisle, Paris. So think about it before you put it on.”

“Uh, isn’t that an engagement ring?” she asked, doing that cute wrinkle with her nose.

“Why can’t it be an engagement necklace?” he countered, and pulled the thing from the box. The clerk had taken off the price tag, thankfully, so Paris didn’t see that. He had a feeling Paris was frugal with her money.

He held it up, and had to admit it was worth every penny to see the shock on Paris’ face. She glowed, and the happy squeal and smile he got was worth ten hundred of the damn things. She hugged him again then turned on his lap and lifted her hair. It took him a vital second to figure out that the squeal meant yes, she’d marry him,
and
she wanted him to put the necklace on her now.

“David?”

“Right.” He felt as if the world had just been lifted off his shoulders. He kissed her bare left shoulder and tucked the shirt back into place before he put the necklace on. It was so small and the tiny latch a hell of a tough ticket when he couldn’t get his hands to stop shaking. Finally he got it on and she turned, giving him a sunny, happy smile before she kissed him.

Married
. She was going to marry him.
For real. Not yet, though. Not a chance
. He wanted to give her the whole shebang. The white dress, the carpet, the flowers, the beach or a sunny garden. Somewhere romantic after.

“Start thinking on that dress, Paris, because when we tie the knot, it’s not coming undone. And we’re picking up those rings,” he said, then at her frown, he rethought the order. “If you like them, I mean.”

She squeezed her arms around his neck and laughed. “I will like them. And no way are you leaving my sight again. Not even when you’re sixty and going through that midlife crisis thing.”

“I thought that happened in the forties?”

“Well, you’re what, thirty now, and you’re still acting like a kid, so I was betting on sixty being—ahhh!”

He took that bet, and if they hadn’t been in a mall, he’d have taken a heck of a lot more.

“I love you, Paris—soon to be Jansen.”

Her eyes got all round and shimmery and her smile lit up her face. “Oh, David.”

Chapter Sixteen

“This is not a plane, this is a private jet.”

“I know, it’s for us. Faster,” David added, and pushed against her lower back to get her moving. “Back, see the door, we take that.”

She did, and stumbled inside to see an amazingly cozy cabin, complete with bed, bathroom and a few windows. David shut the door behind her, threw the crutch down and sat heavily on the bed.

“Is your leg hurting?”

“Naw, just tired. How about we sleep?”

“Oh, sleeping sounds wonderful,” she said, sighing.

“You didn’t sleep much last night,” he added, wincing when she bent to take off his brace. “It’s okay, yeah, let’s take this off.”

The sound of the engines coming to life made her pause, but David nodded. “We have five minutes, no worries.”

She did worry, though. Over him, over them, over Sara. She cleared her throat and got the last buckle undone, then slipped the brace free. “David, I’m worried about Sara.”

He was in the process of reaching for her hand, and paused. His blue eyes were tired, she thought, and red from lack of sleep. Or all his making up last night instead of sleeping.

“Come here and you can tell me why,” he murmured, helping her onto the bed and scooting back with her. “What’s wrong with Sara?”

Paris considered what to say. She trusted David completely. “I don’t want secrets between us, David,” she began.

David smoothed his thumb over the engagement ring he’d slipped on her finger. Her heart did a little jump, and she couldn’t resist kissing his cheek.

“I don’t either, Paris.” He tipped her head up to stare into her eyes. “I won’t say anything, if that’s what has you worried.”

“I know that, but I’m worried you might have to,” she managed, then sighed and leaned into his warmth. “I think she took, or maybe she was given that drug, at Duke’s.”

His chest muscles tightened under her cheek, and for a few moments he stroked her back with one hand and smoothed his thumb on her finger. Finally he sighed and she felt him nod. “I see. Will thought so too. So she’s what? Sick?”

“I think so. She isn’t eating right, and she’s anxious.”

“And?”

“She quit her job. She said it was too stressful, but she loved her job, and I think…” She hesitated again. “I think that drug, whatever it was, is doing something to her. Still. Is that possible?”

“Yeah, it is. We should get her to Chung. He’s the man that developed the first serum. If anyone can help, it’d be him. Don’t worry. I’ll see what I can find out.”

She nodded and relaxed. David would take care of it. She could count on him, and that was one reason she’d hesitated about telling him. Sara might be…embarrassed. Her friend had always been open with her sexuality, free of a lot of the hang-ups Paris had. But now, she’d changed. That meant something had caused the change. Paris only hoped it wasn’t something bad, but maybe what David had said Will suffered from—constant arousal—and not that someone had hurt her. But the way she’d taken off in Wyoming—that wasn’t Sara’s style. She’d left Paris, the car…everything and just gone. They’d talked and her reasoning had been Paris was happy and she didn’t want to rush her. But there had been something else. “Sara is back in Florida. I barely hear from her. I just want to be sure she’s okay.”

“Don’t worry, Paris,” he repeated, hugging her closer. “We’ll see what we can do, first without her knowing, then maybe if that doesn’t work, we’ll have to be more…blunt.”

Blunt did not sound good, but she’d cross that bridge when they got there. Suddenly the sound of the engines roaring alerted her and she sat up.

“Oh, we’re taking off, should we use seat belts?”

“I’m your seat belt, just hold on.” He kissed her temple and pulled her back down, then tensed his muscled stomach and lifted enough to turn off the light by the bed. “Go to sleep. Maybe I’ll wake you so we can see how good this bed is. After you let me get some rest, princess.”

She laughed remembering all the whispered demands she’d given him last night.

Wiggling up enough to reach his ear, she whispered, “Only if you promise to let me give you another wild ride.”

“Oh ho,” he laughed but sounded sleepy already. “Any time, any place.”

“I’m going to keep you to that promise,” she murmured, already feeling the heaviness of lack of sleep taking its toll on her as well.

She still heard David’s whispered, “Always.”

* * * *

“So, this is our new home for the next few…weeks?” Paris asked, staring around the cozy living room and kitchen.

This looks like my home in Canada, only…empty feeling.

“Yeah, imagine that,” he said, folding his arms over his chest. He’d come here first, making her wait outside at a post office while he’d played G.I. Joe. “Or longer.”

“Or longer?”

She might have offended him a tiny bit by playing on his phone while he’d been gone. She’d beat three levels on Angry Birds Stella, though. He’d deleted the game, so she pretty much knew she’d been in the bad because she was supposed to ‘watch’ the area. She wasn’t sure what that meant though, so after several minutes, she pulled her new iPhone out and minutes later had a few games open. Addictive wasn’t even close to what those games were.

“You wanted something more glamorous?”

“What? Me?” she asked, beginning to think this two-story cape house just might be David Jansen’s home. “It’s okay,” she murmured, turning to examine all the knick-knacks lining the bookshelves instead of books. There was a football, a really big seashell and on one of the shelves, pictures of him with various military men. One of him deep sea fishing, posing with a grin and a huge fish, and of course a beer in his hand. She circled the room and ventured back near him, feeling oddly off balance. This
was
his home.

The sneaky man laughed and beckoned her over with a hand. “Come here.”

A phone’s dull vibration made her smile, especially when his smile dipped into a frown. He scanned the screen and sighed. “Shit, we just got here.”

“What does that mean? We can leave?”

“You like the place that much, huh?” he muttered without looking up. She opened her mouth to tell him she loved the place, and he added, “Naw, we stay, the doctor’s moved my surgery to tomorrow, though.”

“What? Already?”

“Yep. Did you have something else you wanted to do?” he asked, attention back on her.

“I love this place,” she said, moving to the kitchen. “It’s yours.”

He smiled but nodded.

“And we’re safe here.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“David—”

“You’re safe with me. If Savage can connect you to me, then me to this place, and you with me here, well, that’s just about genius.”

“But he did connect me to Duke’s so…he must have seen us,” she said, not happy doubting him, but not happy keeping her thoughts to herself.

She noticed that his gaze dipped to her hand, where she now wore a shiny engagement ring. He had their matching rings in his pants pocket. He’d said if she had them she’d lose them. Probably. She’d already lost two phones—one back in Wyoming and another she’d bought in the hopes that somehow he’d find her and call. Although wedding rings were a bigger, way bigger, deal.

“If you noticed, this was a dead end street. My house is also secluded. No one outside of Will’s been here.”

“So we’re safe.”

“I believe so. If we’re not, the men stationed up the street and in the nearest couple of towns will let us know. There’s no where we can truly hide, Paris. Here, at least I know the land and will be warned if anyone suspicious shows up. Now”—he exhaled and dropped his arms to his sides—“is there anything else bothering you? Or can we be done and get to doing something else?”

“I think you and I have had more than enough of
something
else lately,” she told him when he met her eyes again. “Talking is important, too.”

He pulled her over until she fell into him. “It sure is, but we haven’t tried out this counter, or that couch. And we’re never going to have enough of
something
, believe me.” He stroked down her butt when he said that, and angled her hips so she could feel the semi hard-on he was sporting.

“We can’t just have sex all over the place,” she said quietly.

“Why not?”

She blinked, because really, she couldn’t think of any reasons. Every time David Jansen gave her that sexy blue-eyed stare, or held her in his arms, she couldn’t think properly.

“Princess, my house is safer than your momma’s arms. You can talk about anything, even how much you like me teasing you with my tongue along the inside—”

She covered his mouth, already aware of what she liked him teasing.
Touching. Licking
. Anything David did to her about summed it up.

“Don’t even say it,” she warned, but her heart swelled at the laughter in his eyes. He was leaving her again—going to surgery, yes—but so soon.
I just got him back
.

Everything he did was dangerous and snuck up on her—like leaving, that day back in Wyoming. Her stomach bottomed out. Maybe bringing her here was just as dangerous.

His phone vibrated again, a different sound from the last time. He pulled her hand from his face and winked at her. “You know you’re not lasting a full two minutes when we start, but let me get this—Will hates it when I ignore his calls.”