Page 103 of Silver-Tongued Devil
“Probably. I don’t seem to have much self-restraint.”
He laughed, low and soft. “Wear your hair up. I want to see your pretty shoulders in that dress. I do love your skin.”
“You also want to take my hair down afterwards. I haven’t forgotten that your parents will still be here, by the way.”
“And I’m still going to take your hair down. They know I’m a big boy. They also know I’m in love with you, because they’re smart like that. But you know, darlin’…”
“What?” She was floating some now. On the warmth of the night, the shining points of light beginning to appear now, including that brightest one, Venus. On the warmth of Blake’s arms and the tenderness in his voice.
“There are a few words you haven’t said to me,” he said. “And I’d sure like to hear them, if you’ve got them in you.”
She put her hands on either side of his face. He’d shaved for her again, or for his parents, but she thought it was for her. She traced her thumbs gently over his jaw and said, hearing the catch in her voice, “I’ve got them in me. But it’s scary.”
His arms tightened. “I know it is. That’s why I jumped first. But if you want to jump in yourself, I’ll be right here to catch you. I promise.”
She looked up at him, but there was nothing to fear in that face, or in his arms. Not right now. “I’ll tell you, then,” she said, because she couldn’t have stopped herself if she’d tried. “I love you, too. I’ve been falling in love with you for so long. When you came to find me after Evan interrupted us that time, when you asked me to give you another chance… maybe that was when I started for real. When I saw that you cared enough to try that hard. And now, I’m in so deep, I don’t even know how to get out.”
“Yep.” He sighed, and he didn’t let her go. “That’s about it. Guess we’ll have to keep holding on. Keep making that spot a safe place to land. That’s what I want to be for you, and, baby… if you could do that for me, too, that’d be good. That’d be just about everything I could ask for.”
Her heart was so full, it was going to overflow. She pulled his head down and kissed him. “I love you. And I’ll see you Thursday. And no, you don’t have to come get me. You’ll be doing all your grand opening things. Russ and I will come out there and find you in all your glory, and when we do, I’ll do my very best to knock your socks off. You wait and see.”
It was after eleven, and Blake had a full day tomorrow, but he couldn’t sleep. His parents had said goodnight more than an hour earlier, but he was sitting at the edge of the deck, his feet on the rail, looking out at the blackness that was the lake and the mountains, and the impossible, heart-aching blaze that was the sky.
He heard her behind him. He didn’t even need to turn around. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi.” Her hand gripped his shoulder, and she kissed him on top of his head. “Want some company?”
“Sure.”
She pulled up a chair beside him and sat. In her robe and slippers, her curly brown hair undisciplined at the end of her own long day, all of it as familiar and comforting as warm bread out of the oven.
He said, “More wine in there. Want me to get you some?”
“No, thanks. I’ve had enough.”
He sipped at his own beer. “I’m surprised you couldn’t sleep. Three hours of time change is no joke.”
“Hard for me to sleep when I know one of my kids is struggling.”
He laughed softly. “Is it that obvious?”
“To me. I noticed Dad and I were the only ones drinking tonight, by the way. Is there a reason for that?”
“Yeah, but it’s not me. Don’t worry.” He hesitated a moment, since it wasn’t his story to tell. But this was his mother, and nobody understood weakness better. “It’s Russell. He’s been sober almost fifteen years, but I guess it’s still a fight. Dakota won’t drink around him, so it doesn’t seem right for me to do it.”
“That’s a hard fight. And a good fight.”
“He’s a strong man.”
“Like his daughter.”
“Stepdaughter, actually. Her half-brother was his. Riley. He died in Iraq about eight years back.”
His mom took a breath. “Oh, my.”
“Yeah. Tough times.”
“I noticed that Russell’s been injured, too. And you want to make it better for both of them.”
