18. Colter
CHAPTER 18
COLTER
P oppy raises her head and looks at the clock then groans. She’ll have to get up to go to work soon, and I don’t want to let her go. I can’t help but notice how much my life has changed, hell I’ve changed, since I met Poppy. I used to value my time by myself and would look for ways to skip events and hang out at home alone. Now I’ll do anything that Poppy wants to do. She wants to go to dinner with our friends, I’m there. She wants me to go to the grocery store with her or for her, I’m on it. She wants to go to a baking class, movies, and group date nights, I’m all for it.
She sighs next to me, and I know she’s about to get up.
“Don’t go,” I murmur, tucking her against my naked body.
She curls into me, and I smile as she kisses the crook of my neck. It’s been a week since everything with my ex-wife, and I’ve done everything I can to assure her that nothing like that will happen again. We’ve been in a good place, and I know it’s only going to get better.
She groans. “I have to go to work.”
I thread our legs together, binding her to me because I really don’t want to let her go. “What time do you get off?”
“Hmmm. Six. And then don’t forget, I’m going home tonight.”
I raise up to look at her. “No, you’re staying here… tonight.” It was on the tip of my tongue to say forever, but I know there’s other things I need to do first. I think about the ring I’ve had in my nightstand for the last week. I’ve been fighting with myself on when to give it to her.
She shakes her head and laughs. “I need to do laundry, straighten up my apartment, and?—”
Just the thought of her not being here for one night makes me panic. “Move in here.”
She gasps. “What do you mean move in here? I can’t just move in.”
I push her to her back and lean over her. “We’re getting married anyway. Why can’t you move in?”
She laughs, and then when she realizes I’m not joking, she shakes her head in awe. “What do you mean we’re getting married?”
I cup her face. “I mean, we’re getting married.”
She just shakes her head at me. “We just met a month ago…”
“I knew the first time I met you, I wanted to marry you.”
Hope flairs on her face, but she shakes her head. “It’s too soon.”
“Do you love me, Poppy?”
She smiles instantly. “You know I do.”
I nod and then climb out of bed, grab the box from the nightstand, and then go down on one knee. “I tried to figure out the best way to do this. I’ve been thinking about it and wanted to get it right, but I don’t want to wait any longer. Marry me. Be my wife. Be the mom to my babies. Make all my dreams come true.”
When she doesn’t answer right away, it’s like a jolt to my system. “If you want to wait, we can, but I want to do it with my ring on your finger.”
“Yes,” she murmurs.
I suck in a breath. “Yes?”
She laughs and cries at the same time. “Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Relief comes over me, and I’m trembling as I pull the ring from the box. It slides on her finger easily, and she glances at it. “It’s so beautiful.”
I lift her chin. “Nowhere near as beautiful as you.”
She leans over and kisses me. Not wanting it to end, I push her to her back and climb over her. I break the kiss reluctantly. “Ugh, this was horrible timing. I know you need to go.”
She looks at the clock on the nightstand and slides her hands up my chest. “We’ve got time as long as you don’t mind sharing your shower with me.”
I groan. “I’d love to.”
I’m kissing my way down her body as she gently gyrates her hips against me. I’m loving the feel of her against me, and as I kiss her belly, the ringing of my cell phone has me pausing. I put the sound out of my head and nip at Poppy’s soft skin. She moans as my phone rings again. I try to stay focused, but I’m reminded that what I do is important and I need to answer my phone.
I raise my head, and Poppy is looking at me. “Answer it.”
I groan, “I’m so sorry.”
She sits up, reaches for the phone, and hands it to me. “Here. We’ll celebrate after work.”
As I answer the phone, I watch Poppy’s ass shake side to side as she walks to the bathroom. I’m sitting here with a hard-on, wanting to cuss whoever is on the other end of the phone. “What?” I bark impatiently.
“Meet me at the warehouse. Fifteen minutes.”
I’m a little stunned because I haven’t been called into the warehouse since I was injured. The warehouse is where they prepare for missions and coordinate all the ins and outs. If Walker is calling me in, it has to be something important.
When I don’t answer him, his voice drops. “It’s Zach. Wheels up in an hour, and I’m going to need you to go on this one. You good?”
I lift my head, and Poppy is looking at me with a worried glance. Instantly, I know my answer. Even after everything I’ve been through, there’s no way I won’t be there to serve. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”
I hang up the phone and stand up. Poppy rushes to me. “What is it? What’s happening?”
I grip her upper arms. “Poppy, I have to go.”
She sucks in a breath, and I know I’ve shocked her. I’ve told her that my work is from here, and that wasn’t a lie. Hell, does she think I’ve lied about something else?
It’s important she knows the truth. “I promise you, when I said I work from my office here at home, that was the truth. But Walker is sending us on a mission… I have to go.”
Her mouth drops, and before she can talk me out of it, I say, “It’s Zach.”
She puts her arms around my neck. “Oh, Colter.”
I run my hand through her hair. “I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. I may be able to call, and I may not. I’ll make sure the girls all check on you while I’m gone and?—”
She cuts me off. “Stop, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“I have to be there in fifteen minutes.”
She backs away from me. “Okay, what can I do?”
I grab a duffle bag out from under my bed. I grab some underwear, T-shirts, and socks out of the drawer and stuff them in the bag. I keep one clean pair of underwear out and pull them on. “I can get this. I know you need to get to work.”
She puts clothes on, and I wish I had time to watch her and savor the sight, but I don’t. I throw an already packed toiletry bag into my duffle bag and then shove in the last few items I need.
Poppy is standing in the doorway to the bedroom, hugging her arms around herself. This part sucks. I don’t want to say bye to her.
She gives me a look. “Promise that you’ll come back to me, Colter.”
I put the strap of the bag over my shoulder. “I promise. Now will you make me a promise?”
She nods. “Anything.”
I circle my hand around the room. “Stay here while I’m gone. I need to know that you’re okay while I’m away, and the only way to do that is if you’re here.”
She wants to argue with me, but she must see how important this is to me because she agrees. “Okay, I love you, Colter.”
I hug her to me, “I love you too, baby. I’ll be back as soon as I can, and I’ll call or text you if I can.”
We kiss, and I have to force myself to back away from her. I get to the front door before she stops me. “Wait, what if you can’t call? How will I know if you’re okay?”
I smile softly at her. “I’ll have Brooklyn put you on the wife list. She’ll keep you updated.”
She sighs. “Okay, I love you, Colter. Don’t forget you promised. You have to come back to me.”
“I promise.” I walk out the door and have to run through the compound to the get to the other side of the property where the warehouse is. The whole way, I’m thinking about Poppy. She’s my life and soon to be wife. And the promise I made to her is one I’m going to keep.