Chapter Ten
Lainey
While the last batch of turnovers baked, Kristy looked at me and said, “I’ve got this. Go get ready for your date.”
“Okay, first, it’s not a date, and second, shouldn’t I be the one telling you to leave and go get ready for your date?”
“No, our reservation isn’t until eight-thirty.
If I have too much time to get ready, I think I’ll freak myself out.
You go.” She reached over and plucked a piece of dough from my bangs.
“Take a shower, make yourself pretty: curl your hair, put on some makeup and perfume. When was the last time you got all-dolled up?”
“I dressed up for the grand opening.”
Kristy pursed her lips and tilted her head at me.
“Okay, let me rephrase. When was the last time you flashed a little cleavage?”
“That’s easy. My baby shower. I hadn’t realized how big my boobs had gotten and gave everyone an eyeful when I bent over.”
“Really? I don’t remember that. I remember you looked really pretty in your purple and pink dress.”
“Aw, thanks.”
She waved her hand at me. “Go get ready. I can take care of this.”
I hesitated. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Go!”
I’d started toward the stairs when she called out, “And wear your lucky underwear!”
With my hand on my hip, I slowly turned around. “I don’t have any lucky underwear.”
“Well, wear something black and silky, and maybe it will be!”
I pretended to be scandalized and took my time walking up the stairs. But when I walked through the apartment door, I raced around like a mad woman as I got ready.
For the record, I did not wear anything black and silky.
It was white and lacy. The only halfway sexy nursing bra I owned, and it’d been a gift at my shower. The rest of my mom bras were all utilitarian because who did I have to look sexy for?
And that was still the case with Adam, no matter what Kristy had almost convinced me of. But I wore the lacy one just in case. Better to be safe than sorry.
****
Adam
I used the separate entrance in the alley that led directly to Lainey’s apartment. I suspected the building owner had it installed so he could rent the space apart from the business, if necessary.
I almost dropped the pizza and cookie boxes when I walked through the door.
She was setting the kitchen table, and to say she was a fucking smokeshow would be an understatement.
Her blonde hair was styled and hung loosely around her shoulders, and although it was subtle, I could tell she had makeup on.
The blue eyeliner around her eyes made the yellow flecks in her hazel eyes stand out even more than they had earlier, and the way she’d done her lipstick made her mouth look pouty.
An image of those pink lips wrapped around my dick popped in my head.
And that’s when I almost dropped the food boxes. Thankfully, I’d already set the six-pack of Modelo bottles on the counter.
“Wow, you look amazing.”
With a shy smile, she glanced down at her teal and yellow plaid sundress that hugged her hips and gave me an eyeful of cleavage.
“Thank you.”
She’s Shawn’s girl. She’s Shawn’s girl.
I repeated the mantra in my head, hoping my cock would get the message.
It did not.
Especially after I caught a whiff of her perfume when she moved to place some napkins on the table. She opened the pizza box and moaned with her eyes closed.
The Universe was testing me. Or punishing me. Maybe both.
“Oh my God, that smells so good.”
“It really does.”
I wasn’t talking about the food.
“I’m starving!”
“Me, too.”
And even though the only thing I’d eaten since breakfast was the croissant she’d offered to let me sample, I still wasn’t talking about the food.
Lainey reached for my hand, then seemed to think better of it and dropped her arm.
“Come on, let’s eat. And you can tell me why you’re here.”
And there was the sober reminder my dick needed to calm the fuck down.
****
Lainey
The conversation with Adam over dinner was easy, like we’d known each other forever instead of having just met today.
His stories about his fellow Marines had me laughing so much my cheeks hurt. And it was evident by how many of his stories included my boyfriend that Adam had cared as much about my Shawn, as Shawn had him.
The wicked grin Adam had been wearing all through our meal fell away when I stood to remove our plates and said, “So, are you going to tell me about this promise you made to Shawn?”
He nodded solemnly. “I have something for you.”
I felt the blood drain from my head.
“Okay…”
I had no idea what it could be. Maybe something Shawn had written like one of those, “If you’re reading this…” type of letters.
While I rinsed our dishes, Adam retrieved his backpack from where he’d set it by the door.
He sat on the couch as I bagged up the leftover pizza and cookie and put it in the fridge.
I knew I was stalling. I wasn’t sure I was mentally ready to face whatever he had to give me.
“Do you want another beer?” I asked with the refrigerator door open.
“Um, sure.”
I pulled a brown bottle from its cardboard carrier and grabbed a water bottle for myself, then handed him his drink before I sat in the chair kitty-corner from where he was on the couch.
Inhaling deeply so the air filled my chest, I held my breath for a beat before slowly releasing it. With a forced smile, I said, “So…”
It looked like he was going to take something out of his backpack then changed his mind and left his hand inside.
“First, I want to apologize for not validating your feelings earlier. You’re entitled to think life isn’t fair, and I discounted that. I’m sorry.”
Oh wow. I hadn’t been expecting an apology.
“I appreciate that. But you’re right. I am blessed, and it’d behoove me to remember that.”
“You’ve been through a lot. It’s only natural you’d feel angry at the situation.”
I shrugged. “Anger isn’t going to change anything. It’s wasted energy, and I don’t have any energy to spare.”
He stared at me for a beat, then murmured, “You’re amazing, you know that?”
I didn’t feel amazing. I felt like I was barely keeping my head above water. Still, I smiled, tucked my hair behind my ear, and said, “Thank you,” as I braced myself for what was in the backpack. I nodded toward the bag he was holding. “What do you have for me?”
His gaze moved from my face to his lap. “Right.” He swallowed hard, then began, “Shawn loved you so much. I hope you know that.”
“I do. He made sure I was taken care of financially, and he hadn’t even known about Conor.”
“He asked me to witness his will, but I suggested he have Captain Davidson do it, since he was our ranking officer.” He fished around the backpack then stopped. “When I wouldn’t witness his will, he made me promise to give you this from the safe in his bedroom closet at his parents’ house.”
Pulling his hand from the bag, Adam produced a wooden heart-shaped box and handed it to me.
My breath caught in my throat at what I suspected it was. My suspicions were confirmed when I slowly opened the lid to reveal a round solitaire diamond ring.
“You were right. He was going to ask you to marry him,” he murmured softly. “He just never found the right time. But he wanted you to know he meant it when he told you he was going to make you his wife someday.”
Tears streamed down my face as I removed the ring from the black velvet and held it between my index finger and thumb, letting the light reflect off it.
“He was such a good man,” I whispered. “He would have made a great dad.” I quickly added, “And husband.”
Adam nodded. “I have no doubt he would have loved that.”
“I wish he would have known about Conor,” I said wistfully. “I wanted to wait to tell him in person. I didn’t want him to be distracted. I guess, in a way, it was a blessing I hadn’t told him. I would have always wondered if I’d somehow caused him to lose focus and that’s why...”
He reached over and grabbed my hand.
“It wouldn’t have mattered. There was nothing those guys could have done to stop that RPG from hitting their Humvee.”
****
Adam
The only thing that could have been done differently was if they hadn’t had to come rescue us in the first place. And that was entirely my fault.
My Marine brother missed out on being a husband and father because of me.
I was about to stand to leave for Brian’s house when Conor’s cries came through the baby monitor sitting on the kitchen counter.
Lainey pushed the ring back into the slot in the box and set it on the coffee table, then stood up.
“I’ll be right back.”
She brought the baby out and sat back in the chair with a receiving blanket tossed over her shoulder.
You’d think the child was starving, the way he smacked his lips between his cries as she got him situated in her lap.
“Oh my goodness,” she laughed. “Are you hungry, baby boy?”
She placed the blanket over her chest like she’d done earlier, and soon, Conor’s cries turned into grunts of contentment as he nursed.
And suddenly, I was envious of an eight-week-old.
I had no business lusting over this woman while she nourished her child. My dead friend’s ring was sitting on the table in front of us for fuck’s sake. What the hell was wrong with me?
I put my hands on my knees and leaned forward in the universal gesture that I was about to get up.
“I probably better get going.”
“Oh, don’t go yet. Stay and keep me company.”
And even though I knew I should, I couldn’t tell her no.