Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Jorja closed the door to their apartment and exhaled a shaky breath. She’d survived the first trip to the pharmacy and store from where she’d been kidnapped, and she’d managed it alone. She dropped the shopping bags on the couch and called, “Gunnar?”
When he didn’t answer, she took her purse with her into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, locking it before she pulled out the paper baggie with her purchase. After reading the paperwork which came with the package twice, she followed directions, then washed her hands and waited.
Please be negative, because God, we aren’t ready for that!
She sat on the closed toilet seat and stared at the clock, watching the seconds tick down, then jumped a mile when the buzz sounded.
“Baby?” Gunnar’s voice called from outside the door. “Are you okay, beautiful?”
Shit!
Panic set in for a heartbeat before she got to her feet and unlocked the door. She didn’t want to check that stick without him with her. “I—um—” She pointed to the stick on the sink. “I needed to check.”
He looked confused for a minute before she saw understanding dawn across his face. He quirked up one eyebrow. “Did you check?”
She shook her head. “The buzzer just went off when you called me.”
He folded her into his arms. “Whatever is on it, we deal together.” He tipped up her chin. “Don’t hide important stuff like this from me. I want to know. I need to know.”
“I’m sorry, it was stupid…”
“No. Being scared isn’t stupid, beautiful. But trust me to catch you when you need it, just as I know you’ll catch me if I need it.”
She knew it. “I panicked.”
“I know.” He reached for the stick on the sink. “Want me to check?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded and turned it over, his eyes narrowing. “Umm, I don’t know what it means.” He showed her the stick.
“One line?” He brought it closer to his nose. Should she tell him what exactly was on the tip of that stick?
“Yes, one line.”
“Negative.”
“That means you’re not pregnant, right?”
“Yes, that’s what it means.” She took the stick from him and dumped it and the wrapper into the trash.
“You don’t sound upset about it.” He picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her into the bedroom and sat on the end of the bed with her straddling his lap. “Are you upset about it?”
Yes.
No.
Maybe.
I don’t know.
Because I want your babies at some point.
“No.” She leaned her head against his chest. “I just want it to be us for a bit before we add a baby into the mix.”
“Thank God.” He kissed the top of her head. “If it happened, I wouldn’t be mad about it,” he added. “But I agree, when the time is right and we both agree, then we talk about it.”
“Okay.”
He tipped her chin up and kissed her softly. “Come to dinner with me tonight?”
“In the mountains?”
“Yeah, our place.”
She loved that he knew exactly where she’d meant, and it was adorable that he too thought of it as their place. “Yes.” His phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket, glanced at it, and tossed it on the bathroom vanity. “You should answer that.”
“It’s Remi. He can wait until I know you are okay.”
She did an internal check, and surprisingly, she was okay. More than okay. “I promise I am. What time do you want me ready to leave?”
“We have to be there at eight, so does seven or seven-thirty work?”
“Perfect.”
He picked up his phone, brushed her hair back, and left the bathroom whistling.
* * *
Jorja leaned against Gunnar’s chest and sipped on her wine as they watched the sun setting over La Spezia bay. “If we keep coming here, I’m going to have to start running or something, because I think I put on ten pounds just from the dessert alone.”
“Hah.” He shifted behind her. “I don’t care if you put on fifty pounds.
You’ll still be mine, and I’ll still be yours.
” He wrapped his second arm around her and nuzzled into her neck.
“I’d offer to let you walk home, but you might lose this if you did, and if you cried about it, it would piss me off. ”
“Lose what?” She looked over her shoulder and up at him and frowned. “Why are you so tense all of a sudden?”
He got to his feet and helped her to stand. “I…”
Her eyes widened when Gunnar dropped to one knee in front of her. “Loving a man like me isn’t easy…”
Is this really happening?
Oh my God.
Happy tears leaked out the corner of her eyes, and she pinched herself as she listened to what he was saying.
“There will be more trouble than either one of us can handle alone at times. But together we can handle anything. You are the fire in my soul…” He trailed off and peered up at her with a serious expression on his face. “Jorja?”
“Yes?”
“Will you do me the honor of being my wife? Mine forever, just as I am already yours.”
She dropped to her knees in front of him, launching herself into his arms. “Yes.” It was then she realized he was shaking as much as she was. He slid a gorgeous, blue-stoned ring onto her finger and claimed her lips for the sweetest kiss of all.
Jorja’s heart was beating so fast, it could probably jump right out of her chest and make it home and back before she’d even realized it was gone. She smiled up at Gunnar as he tipped his head back and yelled, “She said YES!”