Page 115 of Garrison's Creed

She probably needed food too. Something quick would have to do. His mind raced through everything they could do, everything he wanted to say.

“What do you say we get your Titan contract signed and sent off, then grill up some burgers?”

“Perfect. I’m starving.”

Cash watched her pull from his arms. She drew her long legs away, then stepped out of bed naked. His stomach swam in circles remembering last night, how he’d kissed every inch of her and made love until he couldn’t think anymore.

Now he could think. Hell, he couldn’t stop thinking. NicolaGarrison.It sounded so right.

***

The charcoal grill burned off, and the sky was turning from orange to purple with the sinking sun behind a canopy of trees. They were stuffed and lounging on his deck with Nic propped against his bare chest. Her fingers trailed on his jeans, snaking designs, and that was quickly becoming one of his favorite ways to relax.

“Want to go for a ride?” Cash shifted her to face him. “I could show you around the property.”

“I’ll go anywhere with you.”

He locked a forearm around her chest and squeezed, trying both to hold her close and make sure his heart didn’t explode. No better time than now to go for their drive. “Let’s go.”

Throwing on his t-shirt, Cash took an excited breath. Taking her hand, he led her to the Rubicon. His chest felt tight. The flare of excitement licked his senses, and he was hyperaware of every glance and move she threw his way.

There was no tour, just a scenic drive. With more than a few acres to choose from, he had one area in mind. It could be seen out his bedroom window, the perfect place to create a memory. He slowed to a stop and idled.

“Pretty.” Nic looked out over the rise of the hill. “Want to get out, walk around?”

Hell yes. Did he ever.

High grass waved in a summer’s breeze, its sweet smell permeating the warm air. The western sky still held a touch of orange. In the disappearing late summer light, everything was cast in a light purple hue. Fireflies floated and swirled low across the hill, surrounding them in gold bursts of light.

Nic didn’t walk anywhere but into his arms. They stood and swayed on the sloped field. Her arms draped over his shoulders as they slow danced to nature’s symphony. With her head pressed against his chest, his strong heartbeat reached for her.

“I need to show you something,” he whispered, breathing against her ear. She pulled back, and even in the cascading shadows, her brown eyes melted through him. “It’s my secret, and I need to share it.”

His hands slowly ran up and down her back, as if his fingertips were on a mission to scan and memorize. A breeze whispered by, and their hands found one another, fingers entwining. “C’mere, sweet girl.”

He led her to the back of his Rubicon, popped the hatch open, and stared at Miss Betty’s case. For years, that gun had gone almost everywhere with him.

“Your secret is your rifle?” Nic teased and leaned into him, kissing his bicep. “It’s not a secret. I know what you do.”

He didn’t say anything, just stared at the gun case, searching for the right words.

She stepped closer, two fingers grazing over his cheekbones. Her fingers drifted across his skin, leaving a trail of heat, and stopped over his lips. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Cash kissed her fingers and turned them both toward the case, clicking it open. He pulled the rifle out, cradling it as he had a thousand times. “Have you ever heard the Rifleman’s Creed?”

She shrugged. “Probably. I’m not sure.”

“This is my gun. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life… That’s how it starts. The whole Creed isn’t important, but its symbolism is.” He took a breath, turning to her. “Before you left, I wanted to marry you, but life changed in ways we couldn’t control, and my rifle became my world.”

“You’re a sniper. I understand how important your weapon is to you.”

He stepped closer to her, needing to press against her. “I still had your ring, and you were my best friend. You were my life, my whole world. I graduated college, and before I knew it, I had a rifle that kept me alive. That I chanted about day in, day out. My best friend. My life.”

Nic started to say something, but he took her index finger in his and smoothed it over the trigger. “I didn’t know what to do with your ring after you were gone. And this gun was with me everywhere. This is what I did: the trigger’s gold plated. I couldn’t get Roman’s tattoo. I couldn’t scream from the rooftop that the woman I loved was gone. But I could have this with me, no matter where in the world I was.”

“Cash…”

He looked at her in the dark, trying to make out her features and read her mind. “The Creed goes on to sayMy rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. It just fit. You’d always been with me. And somehow, thinking about us together in spirit, trenched out in the hellholes and kill zones I’d been sent to, it was nice to know you were in my foxhole. And Nicola Beatrice became… Miss Betty.”

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