38. Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Eight
T hey stood in the hallway with her back to her bedroom door, Cody pressed along the front of her, kissing her neck. Well, the room wasn’t hers anymore. After Adam’s suicide, she’d moved into Cody’s room—their room—permanently and they’d had her old room redecorated as a guest bedroom for now. That was five months ago. Nearly Christmas now.
So much had changed since then. She’d gone through another difficult depression that included meds and lots of therapy. Mostly the Cody kind of therapy, where he spent as much time with her as possible, usually naked, loving her. But the talking kind, too, with Cody and her therapist and their grief counselor. They’d stopped seeing the latter in September, both of them feeling like they’d worked through the rush of feelings they’d had when they lost her and had settled into life without their little girl, though they still talked about her with each other from time to time.
She’d gone to Adam’s grave at one point to have a chat with him. He’d gotten his say. She hadn’t gotten hers. It felt strange but cathartic to have a clear head and heart about what he had done, what he took from her, and how he’d left her behind to deal with the fallout.
Luckily, Cody shielded her from most of it, though reporters had tried to get her to make a comment and tell her story.
But soon there was another big headline they were chasing: the governor had stuck to his word and tried to keep the focus on Adam’s mental health issues and what he was trying to do for others.
Last she’d seen, his approval rating was up.
They’d all weathered the publicity storm the best they could and Brooke was happy to be back to just another private citizen trying to make a living.
She’d delayed the opening of her Italian restaurant until after the new year so she could focus on the wedding.
She and Cody had decided in August to put the past behind them and pick a date. They decided on the very special day they had made their daughter. The date of last year’s Christmas party and the day they’d finally gotten to share their love with each other. Maybe it had fallen apart the next day, but that special night had been magical and they didn’t want to lose sight of that.
So tomorrow she was finally going to marry Cody.
He ran his tongue up her neck to the back of her ear, then growled, “Whose stupid idea was it that I sleep in the primary suite without you tonight?”
Brooke giggled, fisted her hands in Cody’s hair, and drew him up to look her in the eye. “You did. Remember?”
“I’m a stupid idiot.”
“You’re sweet. Tomorrow, we’ll be married and never spend another night alone.”
“Promise me,” he demanded.
“I swear.” She crossed her heart with her index finger.
“Seal it with a kiss.” His lips met hers, coaxing at first, then demanding. This hadn’t changed in the last many months they’d been back together. They were still desperate for each other whenever they were in the same room.
She tasted the passion mixed with the bourbon and strawberry cheesecake they’d shared on the back patio by the fire pit. They’d spent a quiet evening together, just the two of them, after she spent the day out shopping with her mom. They had picked up the wedding gown she bought months ago and left at the shop last week for alterations. She couldn’t wait to put it on tomorrow, walk down the aisle to the man she loved, and marry him. She couldn’t wait to start the rest of her life with him.
Cody released her hips and planted both hands on the door on each side of her head and pressed back, breaking the kiss. His gaze roamed down her body and back up in one hot sweep of need. “I want you so damn bad.”
“Not tonight. That’s what you wanted, remember?”
“I can’t remember anything when I’m this close to you.”
“Go to your room. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“It’s our room.” He never let her forget it.
“Yes, I know. It turned out beautifully.”
Cody had surprised her. A designer had arrived last month just before Thanksgiving and taken measurements and her and Cody’s ideas for transforming the room. Two days ago, she’d shown up with her crew and turned Cody’s bachelor basics into their honeymoon suite. The room they’d share for the rest of their marriage. Soft cream walls. Dark wood furniture. A massive king-size bed covered in a light blue and navy spread. Light blue sheers and heavy navy drapes on the windows. Black and white photos of them over the last ten years in antique silver frames on the dresser and walls.
A new room for their new life together.
Soon she’d transform her old room into a nursery. One thing at a time.
“It’s sweet you don’t want to see me until the wedding. Traditions are good,” she coaxed.
Cody rolled his eyes. “Not for me. I’m dying here.”
She giggled and smacked him on the arm.
He traced her lips with his fingertips. “I love it when you smile.”
“You make me smile.” All the time. Every day now. He’d helped her heal her heart.
He stole a kiss, pressed away from the door, and walked down the hall, calling back over his shoulder, “You’re all mine tomorrow.”
“Hey, Cody.”
He stopped just outside his door and turned back to look at her.
“I am yours. Always have been. Always will be.”
His eyes softened on her. “I love you.”
Her heart melted. “I know you do. I love you, too.”
“Tomorrow you’ll be Mrs. Jansen. My wife.”
“I can’t wait, Mr. Jansen, because you’ll be my adoring husband.”
“Always.” The look in his eyes told her he meant it.
“Fuck it.” She ran down the hall and threw herself into his open arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. He chuckled, then blew her mind with the kiss he laid on her as he took her into the room, kicked the door shut, and followed her down onto the bed, where he made love to her until they were both exhausted and panting for breath, tangled in the sheets and around each other.