Chapter 19 #3
“And you’re still a badass,” Raines said. “The real deal. I think we’re done here.” He glanced at Holly. “You’ve got your hands full with this one.”
“I’ve known him for as long as I’ve been alive. I already knew he was pure gold.”
Gunner winked. “Right now, she’s my bodyguard, and I’m smart enough not to argue.”
“Sit tight. My nurse will be back to rebandage the lower arm and bring the info I mentioned about wound care. There’s one refill on those antibiotics. I suggest you refill it and finish it out. The stitches will heal faster than the injury on your lower arm.”
They both left, leaving Holly to help him get dressed. When they were ready to leave, the same nurse who’d walked them in returned to walk them back to their exit. It was almost noon.
“I’m buying lunch,” Gunner said as they got back in her car. “What’s your pleasure? Food Truck? Fast food drive-in? Pick up an order to go? I know you have to work this afternoon, and I don’t want you fussing around about trying to feed me,” Gunner said.
“Anything pasta!” Holly said. “Like spaghetti with meatballs, and you can eat pasta without hurting your jaw. If you know a good Italian place close to home, you order it as I drive, and we’ll pick it up on the way.”
“Deal, and I’ll let you know when we need to divert the route,” he said as she headed for an on-ramp. Less than five minutes on the Loop and they witnessed a fender bender, and a mile further down, a fistfight happening on the shoulder of the road.
“Hell of a place to have a disagreement,” Gunner said as they drove past.
Holly laughed. “You are the king of understatement.”
He grinned, and as soon as they exited the Loop, he directed her to the Italian restaurant.
“It’s already paid for,” Gunner said as she parked.
“Okay, but I’ll go in to get it. You stay.”
“Woof,” Gunner said and nodded his head.
She wasn’t going to give him an inch. “Be a good boy. I’ll see if they have pup cups.”
He was still grinning when the entrance door closed behind her. Lord, she is going to be so much fun to live with.
* * *
That night, after Holly’s workday had ended, they grilled wieners for hot dogs on the patio grill and ate supper by moonlight. It was a far cry from the storms of the night before and a peaceful way to spend an evening.
It had been so long since normal was even a part of Gunner’s life that he was beginning to realize how much he’d given up for the job. He was having to relearn what it meant to relax.
Holly was snuggled up against him, with her head on his shoulder, when she suddenly sat up and turned to face him.
“Hey, Gunner, do you remember that wiener roast the coach had your senior year after baseball season was over?”
Gunner grinned. “Was that when you got the toasted marshmallow in your hair?”
She rolled her eyes. “Maybe. But I was referring to the shiny gold crown the team gave me for being best bat girl of the year.”
He smiled. “I remember. You were so dang cute.”
“It was made out of cardboard, but someone had covered it with gold Christmas wrap and glued all kinds of glass ‘jewels’ on it. Mom took a picture of me with the team wearing the crown that night.”
“Really? Wish I’d seen that,” Gunner said.
“It’s hanging on the wall in my old bedroom back home. I’m standing in front of you and Will Devlin. Each of you have a hand resting on my shoulders. I want to hang it in our house after we move in.”
His teasing ended as he reached for her hand.
“Darlin’, I would love it. That was our before, and now is our after. It needs to be there.”
She leaned her head against his shoulder. Her childhood hero had become so much more to her than she could have imagined. That this was even happening still felt like a dream.
And so they stayed, lulled by the slight rocking of the glider in which they were sitting, with the night breeze stirring the air and muting the sounds out on the street. Interrupting the silence with their intermittent bursts of laughter that punctuated the moments between their kisses.
Later, as Gunner was getting into bed with her, he was wishing for so much more. “Holly, darlin’, I want to make love to you so bad I ache.”
Her hand was on his chest, feeling the steady thump of his heart.
“I know… So do I, but while the epic leap you made knocking Whistler off the Harley solved the FBI’s problem, it created another one for you.
You’re going to have to get better before you even think about stressing out the stitches on your shoulder or making your forearm start bleeding again. ”
Gunner sighed. “I know, I know. Last rooster standing, and all that.”
Her silence lay between them until she leaned over and brushed a kiss across his lips. “I know you’re frustrated, and tired of being frustrated, but I’m fine. However, if you promise to lie real still and close your eyes, I know how to rock you to sleep.”
A muscle jerked at the side of his eye as he reached out and turned off the lamp. He was already hard, and she was nothing but a silhouette in the dark as he watched her sit up.
“Promise you won’t move,” she said.
“Promise,” he said and closed his eyes.
He felt the bed give to her movements, then the weight of her straddling his hips as she eased herself down on his rock-hard erection. Tight. Warm. Soft as silk. Those were his last conscious thoughts as she began to move.
Her heart quickened when she heard a soft groan. Making love was the best feeling, and the most urgent feeling on earth—the only thing you never want to end, while chasing the climax you so desperately need to happen.
“Please say I’m not hurting you,” she whispered, then heard a groan, followed by a softly muttered plea not to stop.
It was all the verification she needed. She went faster, took him deeper, over and over, closer to the climax building within them.
It came without warning, washing through them in waves, until the ripples had faded into a stupor of afterglow.
“Lord, woman…” He took a breath, and as she moved away, it was like losing a piece of himself. “That was so… You are… You gave…”
She put a finger over his lips. “Shh. It’s just me loving you.” She kissed him and slipped into the bathroom.
When she came back, he was asleep.
“Rock-a-bye, baby,” she whispered, then pulled the covers up over both of them and fell asleep.
When she woke, her alarm was going off. She silenced it, then realized he was already in the shower. That meant he’d need her help replacing bandages. Today she was going back to her actual office to work, and Gunner would be on his own.
* * *
The rest of the week became a whirlwind of decisions. Gunner found an architect to draw up blueprints for the house and took himself back to the doctor to get the stitches out in his arm, and another checkup on his forearm.
When he walked into the waiting room wearing sunglasses and a long-sleeved shirt, nobody paid attention. He was becoming old news, which was a blessing. Time had a way of doing that.
Once he was back in an exam room, it was back off with the shirt, and then waiting. When Dr. Raines walked in and saw the sunglasses lying on his shirt, he smiled.
“Incognito. Perfect.” Then he moved to the stitches. “These have healed great, so yes, they’re coming out.”
He and his nurse proceeded to remove the stitches in his arm, then moved down to his forearm and unwrapped all of the bandages.
“All of the raw places are healing beautifully. A few scabby places, and a whole lot of new pink skin, but that can still be re-injured easily, so proceed with caution. Don’t stop the antibiotic ointment until all of the wounds have closed, and you will still need to keep the new skin soft.
Maybe use Holly’s moisturizer, or some of your own.
I’d say another week or two and you should be good to go,” Raines said.
“That’s good news all the way around,” Gunner said.
As soon as they finished rewrapping his forearm, he went back to his car and sent Holly a text.
Stitches out. Forearm healing. Mustang on the move. If you need anything for tonight, now’s the time to let me know.
Love you,
Roadrunner
Holly was walking out of the office on her way to the Tarrant County Courthouse when she got the text.
She got into her car and started it up to cool off, then read it and smiled.
All good news, but now she was back to concern for him.
Gunner Kingston was off the “be careful” list, which also meant back to normal.
His normal was usually someone else’s nightmare, but she wouldn’t want to change a thing about him. She responded to his message.
Fabulous news. We’re set for food, but if you’re getting short of nonstick bandages or Neosporin, you might want to make a stop at your pharmacy before you go home. I’m on the way to the Tarrant County Courthouse. See you this evening.
Love you more,
Holly
Gunner had one special stop in mind. He was headed to a jewelry store in the Galleria. He’d borrowed one of her favorite rings for size and was coming home with their rings. If he hadn’t pulled that motorcycle stunt, this would have already been done.
The Galleria was in its usual orderly chaos. Moving through the foot traffic inside the mall was almost as hectic as driving on the Loop, but he knew where he was going, and he knew what he wanted.
He got a few double takes but ignored them and kept walking until he got to Zales Jewelry.
He began looking in display cases until he found engagement rings and ring sets and started looking for the ones with an oval cut.
He’d noticed how pretty that shape looked on Holly’s finger, and she clearly favored the style.
When a salesclerk approached, he handed him Holly’s ring for size, then they began shopping what was on hand.
“I want an oval-cut diamond. White gold, at least a carat, and with a matching band.”
The clerk nodded and pulled what they had in her size.
Gunner wasn’t a man for waffling. He saw what he wanted and pointed.
“That set. May I see that one, please?” He picked up the engagement ring and held it to the light, imagining the light in her eyes when she saw it and how it would look on her hand.
He had no memory of ever seeing a ring on his mother’s hand, but she must have had one at some time.
On the day of their wedding, he was going to be the man who put it on her finger. “These are perfect, and I need a wedding band for myself.”
A short while later, he left the store with his purchases, stopped at one kiosk on his way out of the mall and bought flowers, then at another kiosk to buy a dozen macarons, and headed home.
* * *
Holly came home to see flowers on the dining table and three flavors of macarons beneath the glass dome of Gunner’s cake stand. The table was set, and she could smell something savory in the warming oven.
Gunner was standing beside the island, smiling. She dumped her briefcase and purse and threw her arms around his neck.
“Honey! This is so beautiful! What’s going on?” she asked.
“You’ve been taking such good care of me, I wanted to do something special for you,” he said, then cupped her face.
She shivered. The way he looked at her said it all, and then he kissed her and took the ring out of his shirt pocket. At that point, she lost focus of everything around her but this man and the sound of his voice.
“I love you, Holly Dillon…with every breath in my body. I asked you before without rings. I’m asking you again with my heart in your hands. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, a thousand times, yes,” she said, then watched him slip the ring on her finger.
The overhead lights caught in the facets, sparkling like starlight on her hand.
“It’s beautiful, Gunner, and it’s a perfect fit.
” She kissed him again and then threw back her head and laughed from the sheer joy of it.
He was grinning. “Not bad for the last standing rooster at the cockfight?”
She rolled her eyes. “You are never going to let me forget that, are you?”
“Honey… In the middle of a very painful, serious event, you made me laugh. It was the best moment of that day, so hell no, I’m not going to forget it,” he said.
A timer went off behind them.
“Dinner is about to be served,” he said.
“What are we having?” she asked.
“Chicken.”
“Hopefully not that raggedy rooster,” she said.
Gunner was still laughing as he went to get the casserole out of the oven.
“I’m taking it out. You don’t want to add a burn to your arm, too,” she said.
“Oops, good call,” he said. “It’s actually chicken pot pie from the Whole Foods deli, but they’re good. I’ll get the salad. It came out of a bag from the same place, and your favorite macarons for dessert.”
They worked together as if they’d been doing it for years and then sat down together. Holly looked at the ring on her finger again and thought of the years to come, and then Gunner bowed his head.
“I am a blessed man. Amen, thank you Lord, and pass the pepper.”
She giggled, pushed the shaker within reach, and took her first bite. “Ummm, Chef Kingston, you outdid yourself. This is so good.”
* * *
It was the wee hours of the morning when Holly woke to a whisper in her ear.
“I can’t sleep. I need you. Let me love you.”
So, she did.