Page 99 of The Matchmaker and the Marine

He crossed the short distance and stood by the bed. He slid his sweats down below his butt. With a nervous laugh he said, “Hope you like the boxers. I like wacky prints.”

Her eyes were locked on his until her gaze slid down. “Cute, I see you’ve got a thing for fish.”

Adam gave her a small smile. “Yeah, I like to fish,” He sat down on the edge of the bed.

Mel looked at his thigh. “Does it hurt? After the fall, I mean?”

“The stump is a little swollen, but not a big deal.” He proceeded to toss his pants off. “This is how I take Linus off.”

“You named it?”

He glanced over at her. “We needed to become friends.”

He pushed a button and the limb came off in his hand. He heard Mel take a deep breath, but he kept going. “This liner has a ratchet on the silicone sock that secures it to the residual limb.” He peeled off one heavy sock and then another exposing the faint, pale pink incision that encircled just below the knee. “That’s it.”

Her fingertips grazed his hand. She intertwined her fingers with his. They sat there for several long moments.

Finally Adam said, “That’s all there is to see.”

Melinda leaned in and kissed his cheek. Her kisses trailed down his jaw until they found his mouth. She kissed him tenderly and murmured, “You’re the bravest man I know.”

“You know everything about me, Mel. I have no secrets from you from this moment forward.” A single tear slid down her cheek. He wiped it away with his thumb. “Why the tear?’

“I’m humbled by you.”

“Mel.” His heart thumped in his chest.

“I’m glad you made friends with Linus.”

“Me too.” He cleared his throat. “What do you say we get some sleep? We can do something fun tomorrow.”

“Can I watch you put Linus on?”

He brushed her hair from her forehead and placed another tender kiss on her lips. “I have nothing to hide.”

He slipped the two layers of socks over the stump and then the silicone sleeve. It clicked into place. He stood and pulled his sweats up. He held out his hand to Mel and pulled her into his arms, against his chest.

He murmured in her hair, “I’ve never shown anyone that before, except Will.”

She leaned into his chest and sighed. “Thank you.”

Not trusting himself to speak, he held her tight. All he wanted to do was get things back to being the fun weekend they had started. He kissed the top of her head and took a deep, soul-soothing breath. “In the morning would you like to see the winery and then have lunch?”

“I would. But maybe we can see where the road takes us.”

“I’d like that.” Adam picked up his coat from the side chair.

Mel smiled at him. He felt it go straight to his heart like Cupid’s arrow. “I think exploring sounds like a lot of fun.” She teased, “Unless you’re afraid of getting lost.”

He chuckled. “We’re on an island. On three sides we have ocean and the other direction will lead us home.”

“That leaves us much to see.”

Adam stood and pulled her into his arms. He lowered his mouth to hers and tender turned to passionate as he kissed her. She slipped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer. He took his time exploring her lips. Savoring the newfound connection they shared. When he pulled away, he smoothed back her tousled hair. “Time for sleep.”

She smiled at him. “As much as I’ve loved talking and sharing, I think some shut eye is what we both need. Today has been a little emotional.”

He kissed her good night walked to the adjoining door. “I’ll lock the door when I get on the other side.”

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