Page 122 of Love Me Fearless

It’s like he’s dangling a carrot but keeps moving it farther away. “England’s pretty far for a visit.”

“Then how about Nevada?”

I search his face for a sign he’s messing with me, but his eyes are earnest and so clear. “You’re not going to England?”

He shakes his head, a hint of a smile playing across his face. “The 58thRescue Squadron at Nellis needed a PJ, and I happened to get accepted.”

I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in the crook of his neck. He’s taken some very big actions in a short amount of time…for me? “I don’t know what to say.”

“Do I make you happy?”

“Yes.” A laugh bubbles up my throat. “And angry.”

“I know.” He rubs my back. “Do you love me?”

“Yes.”

He hugs me tight, and a shaky sigh rattles his frame. “Can you…” His voice gets tight and he sucks in another breath. “…be patient with me?”

A detail fires to the surface of my thoughts. He saidthis time…but it’ll be the last. “Hutch, no, you can’t quit. Being a PJ means everything to you.”

He grips my shoulders and urges us apart. A tear wells in the corner of his eye, and the fierce look he’s giving me makes me start to cry all over again. “Youmean everything to me.”

I take his face in my hands and kiss him, my lips trembling. My big, strong soldier, the man I’ve always loved, is changing before my eyes. Being humble and brave and vulnerable.

For me.

For us.

I break from the kiss, breathless. “How patient?”

“Eighteen months.”

I start to cry again, big, ugly tears tracking down my face. This goes against the plans I’ve relied on…but who other than Hutch would I break them for?

“Will you send me letters?”

“Every day.”

“And I can visit?”

He laughs and brushes the tears from his eyes. “You better. We can check out Red Rocks and the Grand Canyon. And I’ll visit as often as I can.”

“What will you do when it’s over?”

He gives me a quiet smile. “Does it matter to you?”

“I don’t want you to regret this.”

A lingering sadness edges his eyes. “The only thing I regret is not telling you sooner.”

“This doesn’t feel real.”

He draws me to him for another kiss but pauses an inch from my lips. “Say yes, Greely, and it will be.”

I picture my little heart, battle-weary and fractured, standing on a cliff high above the ocean. She winks at me, then leaps.

With a shaky breath, I grip the back of his neck. “Yes.”

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