Page 73 of Sinful Skulls
Suddenly she looks up, and her head darts side to side as if she’s confused as to where she’s at. It sends alarm bells ringing in my ears. I open the sliding door, and she turns toward the sound. I give her a big smile, and she returns it with a fake one of her own.
“Are you okay out here?”
“Yeah.” She turns toward her canvas, and her shoulders fall when she finds she hasn’t even began.
“It’s time to get supper started. I can get it going if you need more time.” I place my hands on her shoulders and begin to knead her stress away. She’s tense.
“I guess I’m drawing a bit of a creative blank today.”
“I saw you looking at your ring. You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
She holds her hand up to the sun. “Of course not. It’s just so pretty in the light.”
When I lean over and press my lips to the top of her head, she reaches up and runs her fingers through my beard.
“Talk to me, baby,” I coax quietly.
The way she sighs makes my heart ache. “It’s just that we hardly know each other. What if you find out something you don’t like about me?”
I pull her from the chair and then tug her back onto my lap. “Daisy, nothing you could tell me would change my mind about marrying you.”
She worries at her bottom lip with her teeth. “Last night I cried after we made love.”
It takes everything in me to keep my face relaxed. I’ll be so mad at myself if I hurt her, but I’m perplexed because it was actually the most gentle I’ve ever been. “I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t hurt me.” She nuzzles into the side of my neck. “I cried because I don’t ever want to lose you.”
“Daisy …” I’m about to tell her she doesn’t have to worry about that when I realize she does. Tomorrow is never promised to any of us. Rachel has reminded me of that. “For as long as I live, you’ll always have me.”
“Promise me,” she whispers against my skin.
I take her hand in mine and kiss the ring on her finger. “This right here is a symbol of that promise.”
She sits up and stares into my eyes. “Something happened in Paris, and I want to talk to you about it, but I just don’t know how.”
The dread returns to my gut. I wrap my hand around the side of her neck. “You can tell me anything.”
“I know.”
“Thank you for telling me that much. I was starting to worry you were regretting saying yes last night.” I lightly kiss the corner of her mouth. “Whenever you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here.”
She nods and hugs me close. “Oh, I have an idea!”
I laugh and push her off my lap. “I’ll fix supper while you paint.”
We kiss again before I head back inside. When I close the door behind me, I see her canvas already coming to life. It kind of surprises me. It’s the first colorful thing I’ve seen her paint since the night on the beach.
She comes back in just as I’m finishing up. “Do you think she’ll like it?”
“I think she’s going to love it,” I tell her. “It never ceases to amaze me how fast you are at this.”
“Once I start, I can’t stop until it’s finished. Weird quirk.”
I snap my towel at her to get her moving along. “Go on. They’ll be here soon.”
Her giggles fade as she runs down the hallway toward our bedroom. A few minutes later some soft music begins to filter infrom the living room. I love how comfortable she is here and that she’s making this her home. It feels good.
I’ve never really pictured myself as a married man. It’s not that I was opposed to it. I’m just good at accepting what comes my way, and I never saw her coming. Meeting a girl randomly on a Tuesday at the beach was something I never could have imagined.
