Chapter 14
Nate
It took me a lifetime to choose the engraving for her wedding ring.
I know no one ever looks at the words inside, but ‘I love you’ will always stay with her, even though it scares the hell out of me to say it out loud.
I love her. I’ve known it for weeks, months now, but I can no longer deny it. I’ve fallen in love with her.
This stupid, goddamn arranged wedding has bound us together in ways I never thought possible. And I’m stuck here, unsure of how to tell her.
What if she doesn’t feel the same?
What if she’s just playing her part, pretending?
She’d deserve an Oscar because it makes it feel too fucking real. I shake my head, trying to clear the flood of thoughts crashing into my skull. I’ll wait. The right moment will come. If we’re meant to be, we will be. I just need to be patient.
The day drags on, every minute filled with endless commitments and military bullshit. I’m used to it, but today it’s worse. I can’t stop thinking about her, and I’m fucking dying to hear her voice. When I finally get a break, I grab my phone’s office and dial her number.
“Hello?” Her voice is softer than I remember, confused, like she wasn’t expecting my call. Shit, she doesn’t have my office number.
I rub my face, feeling the frustration build up in me, a gnawing ache in my chest from being so far away from her. “Happy birthday, baby.”
“Nate, thank you. Where are you?”
I sigh as I roll a pen between my fingers, trying to focus on anything but her absence. “Still at the base. And unfortunately, I won’t be free anytime soon.”
“It's a day like any other, Nate. I just miss you.”
The way she says it stabs at me, and I can hear the controlled sigh, like she’s trying to hide her disappointment.
My gut clenches. I should be there with her, shouldn’t I?
We live together, but we’re always so fucking busy, it’s like we’re strangers sharing a roof.
And when I get home, I find her asleep on the couch, waiting for me.
Her hugs, when I walk through the door, are everything. They’re life.
“Miss you too, babe,” I murmur, fighting the heaviness in my chest.
“I got your roses. They’re beautiful. You shouldn’t have.”
My lips curl into a smile, the image of her holding those flowers flashing through my mind. “You’re my wife. Those flowers are just a small present to remind you that you’re special.”
“Small?” She giggles, her voice bright with amusement. “The delivery guy could barely get through the door, Nate. And I’m not your wife yet. But you’re sweet. Will you be home for dinner?”
I run my hand over my face, struggling to push back the frustration clawing at my chest. The sound of the pen slipping from my fingers fills the space between us. “Hmm,” I mutter, stalling, hoping she doesn’t hear the tightness in my voice. “Did you read my note?”
“Which note?” I hear something shift in the background, the sound of paper being moved around. My body tenses as I picture her searching for it, then pausing when she finds it. My heart thuds as I wait.
“Found it.” She’s quiet for a moment, probably reading the words I carefully wrote. “Nate, are you serious?”
Her excitement unravels me, and I can’t suppress the grin that forms on my lips. I lean back against the chair, feeling the tension in my body ease just a fraction. “Yes, baby. Pack a bag. Two days. Just us and a bottle of champagne.”
“Oh my God!” She gasps, and I swear I can feel her joy radiating through the phone, every word she says makes my heart beat faster.
The Major’s marching toward the office, and I can feel the pressure of time slipping away. I shut my eyes, forcing myself to refocus. “I gotta go. See you later, baby.”
“Laters, love.”
Love.
The word hangs in the air like a fucking storm. It’s a word I never thought I’d hear, let alone feel. But I’m lost in it. Completely fucking lost. Does she mean it? Or is she just caught up in this whirlwind of pretend, caught in this mess we’ve created?
Whatever the reality is, my body doesn’t lie. My heart doesn’t lie. And it reacts every time she’s near. I straighten my posture, pushing back the doubt, and plaster a confident smile on my face.
Being with her fills a void I didn’t even know existed in me.
She completes me, makes me feel whole in a way I’ve never experienced before.
But how the hell can I tell her that? How do I tell her that I want her to be mine—not just for a few weeks or a few months—but forever?
That I want to be the man she leans on, the man she turns to when shit hits the fan?
I don’t know how she feels about me. I don’t know if she sees me the way I see her.
If she feels the same weight in her chest when we’re apart.
Maybe she’s just used to the idea of this arrangement—of pretending, just enough to make it real.
Yet when we’re together, when she holds me, when we kiss, when she touches me, it feels like nothing else matters. It feels real.
I need to know if she feels that too.
When I finally leave the base, the exhaustion is crushing, but I push through it.
I can’t back out now. I promised her a break from this madness.
It’s happening all too fast and I get her stress even though she doesn’t complain.
Two days just for us. And when we come back, I’ll have her—really have her. I’m not letting go.
We’ll get married. I’ll give her my name, my life, everything. And the honeymoon in Hawaii? That’s the cherry on top.
I’ll enjoy every second with her. Because she’s mine. And I’m going to make damn sure she knows it. Forever.