Page 45 of Save Me

He frowned. “Yes, and you said we’d walk that road after we got to Tulane.”

“Because I still wasn’t eighteen, and you know my parents would never have given their consent. I thought we had time.” Her voice broke. “I was wrong.”

“So, you’re a grown-ass woman and I’m asking you again. Will you marry me, darlin’?”

“In a heartbeat.”

He grinned. “I love how you play hard to get.”

She shrugged. “There’s no waiting period in Colorado. You can get a marriage license and get married in the same day, if you want to.”

He blinked. “Another plus for this state beside the fact that you’re living in it. What kind of ID do we need?”

“A simple driver’s license will suffice,” she said.

“Do you want the ceremony with all the trimmings?” he asked.

“I just want to be your wife. I want the right to call you husband. But I do want to wait until the bruises are gone before we do it, because when we get someone to take our picture, I don’t want to look like I’d been in a dogfight, and have people a hundred years from now wondering why.”

Hunt kissed the little scar on her forehead, then ran his thumb along the curve of her chin. “It’s a deal. But right now, would you like to take a ride?”

“I’m good with taking a ride. I haven’t been out of this house since you brought me home from the hospital, except to have the staples taken out of my head.”

“Then let’s do it. And wear your fuzzy leopard slippers. They’re my favorite,” he said.

She laughed. “I’m going to need a few minutes.”

“Take all the time you need. We’ve got the rest of our lives to fix the mess our parents made.” But then he thought about her walking back through the house just to get shoes and a jacket, and swung her up into his arms and carried her down the hall and into the bedroom. “Consider it taking a shortcut,” he said, brushing a kiss on her lips and leaving the room.

CHAPTER EIGHT

When they pulled into the drive-through at Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Burgers, Lainie beamed.

“Oh, Hunt! Freddy’s! Back home, it was our place to go.”

“I know. I saw it the other day when I was picking up groceries. Thought of all the times we spent eating their burgers and fries, and the hot fudge sundaes made with the frozen custard.”

“Do you remember what I liked?” she asked.

He frowned. “Darlin’. I remember everything about you.”

“Then you order for me,” she said.

He pulled up to the speaker. “Two original combos, no onions, extra ketchup for the fries and two large, sweet teas,” he said, and then drove around to the pickup window for their order.

He drove them to a nearby parking lot, distributed the food, and then they sat watching traffic as they ate.

“This is so good,” Lainie said. “All these years I’ve lived here, and I’ve never come to Freddy’s.”

“We’re here now, and we’ll be back,” Hunt said, and dunked his fry into a puddle of ketchup.

Before long, they began playing the traffic game they used to play when they were teens.

“See that old red truck with the dented fender rattling by? He’s headed to Dallas, Texas, to see his grannie on her birthday,” Lainie said.

Hunt remembered the game and jumped in. “Yeah? Well, take a look at that black Porsche darting through traffic. It belongs to the banker’s wife, but she’s on her way to meet a guy on the side, and she’s gonna get caught, because the banker found out.”

Lainie frowned. “Poor wifey. She should have settled for the Porsche and forgot about extramarital sex.”

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