Chapter 16
Sterling woke the next morning in her bed to find Lindsey staring at him, a warm look in her eyes.
“You took off your prosthetic sometime in the night. Does it bother you?”
He was on top of the covers, just in his T-shirt and boxers, his prosthetic on the floor. He nodded at it. “Not necessarily the most comfortable thing, especially for long periods of time.”
“That makes sense.” She sat up and stretched, then yawned. “A quick trip to the bathroom is what I need.”
He nodded. “I was just there. Maybe that’s what woke you, but I hope not.”
“No, it’s fine.” She got up and headed into the en suite. When she returned a few minutes later, she curled back up under the covers.
“Need more sleep?” he asked.
“I feel pretty good actually,” she replied. “It’s just nice to crawl into bed and to know that everything is okay and that I don’t need to be worried.”
“No, you don’t,” he agreed.
“Have you heard from anybody?”
“Not yet but it’s early.”
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around what happened,” she noted, shaking her head. “I guess you need to get supplies picked up and the vehicle back out there, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I’m definitely heading to the Haven after this, not to mention Richard needs to talk to Chelsea, and that’s where she is.”
“Right.” Lindsey nodded. “We need to go out there. Oh, and I need to pick up my car.”
“You want to come out for the day?”
“Yeah, that would be great,” she said. “Honestly—and I know it’s foolish—but I don’t really feel like being alone until this is all settled up.”
“Stop,” he told her. “It’s not foolish at all. It’s actually smart. I don’t know what this will be at the end of the day, but we really don’t want anybody else getting hurt,” he shared. “So come out and spend the day with me, and we’ll deal with life after that.”
She smiled and snuggled back into the covers. “So, does the day have to start now, or can it wait a little bit?”
He looked at her in surprise, not sure about her meaning. Then she grabbed the neck of his T-shirt and tugged it down, pulling him toward her.
She smirked. “If we’re spending some time getting to know each other, we should really start right now.”
“Do we now?” he teased, with a chuckle. “And here I thought you might want a bit of time.”
“I did, but that was before some asshole pointed a gun in my face and made me realize just how short life really is.”
He nodded. “It’s amazing how life can look so very different after you come face-to-face with death.”
“You say that as if you’ve had that experience.”
“Yeah, I’ve come pretty close to dying a couple times,” he confirmed.
“I’ve had somebody hold a gun against my head, and it definitely changes you,” he shared.
“You literally aren’t the same person anymore because you had to face your mortality.
I really hadn’t expected to feel that way myself because I’d seen a lot over the course of my military service.
However, it’s a pretty profound experience.
” He shrugged. “It just goes to show you that life happens and that you should do the best you can. You hope that, when you wind up in a situation where things suddenly turn to shit, you’ll be lucky enough to survive.
Or at least that it’s worth dying over.”
“Maybe.” She frowned. “It was definitely a shock and not a good one.”
“Understood,” he agreed. “Let’s get back to whatever you were suggesting,” he teased, as he waggled his eyebrows at her.
She grinned, then looped her arms around his neck. “I really do think we should have a better idea of what we want before we face everybody else.”
“That’s an interesting point,” he acknowledged, “and I’m certainly not against it.
And you’re right. It would be good to spend more time together.
I don’t want to rush you, and I don’t know how long it’ll take to settle up the farm property.
It could go quickly, or it might be longer if we end up in court.
Regardless, I would absolutely love to spend time with you and to figure out where we want to be in our lives. ”
“I already know where I want to be,” she declared. “I haven’t met anybody quite as fascinating as you in a very long time,” she told him. “My grandfather knew, just from my talking on the phone about you with him, and that’s why he asked me to bring you around for a visit.”
When Sterling stared at her, she nodded.
“I’ve always been a decisive person,” she stated, with a smile. “So, he knew and was hoping we were a little further along so he could meet you.”
“I would be absolutely delighted to meet him,” Sterling replied. “Besides, you’ve already met the closest thing to a parent that I’ve got.”
“I have, and he’s a sweetheart.”
“The fact that he tried to salvage things for me—long before he knew I was still alive—makes a big difference too.” Sterling had to laugh. “Not just to secure the property in my name, but just that he didn’t—”
Lindsey finished his sentence for him. “Your grandpa didn’t abandon you.
Penny swept you away before he could even mourn his daughter, then lied to him that you were dead too.
Your grandfather was a victim of Penny’s too, but thank goodness he saw her potential for deceit and took action to protect your interests.
” Then Lindsey pulled Sterling closer and whispered, “I still think we need to spend a little more time here, alone, just the two of us.”
“I am absolutely all yours if that’s what you want.”
She reached over, flipped back the covers in an unspoken invitation. He joined her under them in seconds.
Chuckling, she kissed him softly, a gentle exploratory kiss.
He loved the taste, loved the softness of her lips, the feminine form beneath his hands.
After several teasing kisses, he leaned down and deepened the next kiss softly, giving her a chance to pull back, giving her a chance to show any hesitation, but instead she wrapped her arms tightly around him and pulled him close so that he fully rested against her body.
She smiled against his lips and whispered, “I’m not a delicate orchid,” she began. “I’m just a full-on flesh-and-blood woman who knows what she wants.”
“And that,” he noted, as he shifted his full weight atop her, “is a damn good thing.”
Then he kissed her, this time with all the emotions he had been holding back since they first met.
She’d been tantalizing, teasing, and exactly what he’d always thought he wanted.
Fully engaged now, he realized he’d better regain some control of himself, and, when she moaned softly beneath him, he froze.
Shaking her head, she muttered, “Don’t you dare stop.”
He chuckled, then leaned over and kissed her again and again. Their tongues warred softly as his hands explored her soft skin and all her curves and valleys. All that female space was so very different from his.
When she stretched up and pulled him closer, she shifted and said, “I really do want that shirt off you.”
He was still partially clothed. He laughed, sat up, and quickly stripped off the T-shirt, dropped his boxers, and when he turned to face her, she was sitting on the bed fully nude herself. He gasped in wonderment as she smiled shyly.
“It seemed only fair.”
“Oh absolutely,” he declared fervently. “Fair is fair.”
She laughed and opened her arms and, as he fell into them, this time there was no slow arousal or getting to know each other. It was just hot and heavy, until she exploded in his arms, and he followed soon afterward. He gasped for breath on the bed beside her, holding her close.
She chuckled. “That’s not quite how I thought we would get to know each other.”
“Yeah, it is,” he countered, “or at least from my perspective.”
She smiled up at him. “And yet you wouldn’t make that first move.”
“I wanted to give you some time.”
“And I didn’t want to waste any more time,” she stated, as she stretched her arms over her head. “I feel wonderful now.”
“Good,” he whispered, “but not half as wonderful as I feel.”
She burst out laughing. “We can argue about that all day,” she told him, a smile on her face, “but we probably should get going.” She asked him, “Meet you in the shower?”
“Absolutely.”
As he hopped off the bed to stand one-legged, he reached for his prosthetic, then attached it roughly as he hobbled over to the bathroom. She was already at the shower, getting the hot water running.
As she stepped in, she looked back at him and asked, “Do you need a hand?”
“Nope,” he said, with a grin. “I got this.”
“Good,” she muttered, giving him a sultry smile.
He quickly joined her in the shower, using the side to hold himself up.
She nodded. “Nice to see you have some ability to put weight on it.”
“Not much,” he clarified. “I certainly wouldn’t want to walk very far.
However, when in the shower, it’s a little too easy to fall.
In my future home,” he noted, “I’ll put in a couple extra handholds.
They put them in the bunkhouse at Timber’s place, since so many of the guys have one issue or another. ”
“Makes sense to me,” she agreed cheerfully.
“So, it doesn’t bother you?”
She turned to him and frowned. “What?”
“The missing leg.”
She frowned. “God no,” she replied in astonishment. “Why would it?”
He studied her closely, and, when he saw only honesty in her expression, he felt something relax inside.
“Were you worried about that?” she asked, incredulous.
“Hell yes. I’ve heard of pretty rough responses from some women. Some of the guys have had rough receptions when they’ve come home broken.”
“That’s awful,” she cried out. “Anybody who would be bothered by that is not someone you need in your life.”
“Exactly, but for a lot of people it’s a reality, including some mothers, fathers, wives, sisters, girlfriends, you name it.”
She winced. “I’m sorry. People just suck.”
“Sometimes,” he noted cheerfully, “but I got lucky.”
She nodded. “And he’s hoping there’s more getting lucky before the day is out.” When he burst out laughing, she grinned. “See? It’s all about having a sense of humor.”
“It’s about a lot of things,” he added, as he picked up the soap and quickly started working on her back. “It’s about caring. It’s about understanding and acceptance. And that,” he stated, “is really nice, … and a simple way to live.”
“It’s all about love.”
“I’m really glad to hear that too,” he whispered, as he leaned over and kissed her shoulder. “I really want to think that’s where we’re headed.”
“I swear to God we’re already there,” she declared, turning in his arms and looping hers around his neck. “I won’t push it right now, but one of these days we’ll have to try it in here.”
“Give me a chance to figure out the logistics,” he said, “and one of these days it’ll happen.”
She beamed and turned off the water. In the distance they heard a phone ringing. “The real world is still out there calling us.” She frowned.
Sterling nodded. “Guess that means we need to get going.”
“Fine,” she conceded, with a smile. “Let’s move it.”
And that’s what they did.