Page 73 of Love and Other Trials
“Bad?” He cupped her face so she could see his eyes. “Ariel, this is awful. Like lower than pond scum?—”
“I know!” She stalked away. “Tiffany thought I could offset the curse or manage the damage. And I’ve worked so hard on this wedding. God! I mean, if I have to pick up a shovel and start digging out this mud, I will. Dax, that’s how committed I am to getting her married.”
And getting her grandma’s house…
The cute white one with the green shutters, the palm tree she’d tried to climb, and the shell chimes that she’d made when she was a girl.
He set his hands on his hips as he studied her. Her chin was thrust in the air, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d raised her fist and given a solemn vow. His heart was raw inside him, he realized, pulsing thickly, and he knew what he was going to do as he listened to its beat. What he had to do.
“Ariel, when I lost confidence in my mission as best man, I realized that you were my new mission. That I was going to do everything in my power to help you. I’m not going to deviate from that now.”
Her lips wobbled slightly before she walked over and wrapped her arms around him. “You have no idea what hearing that means to me, especially knowing how you feel about things.”
“That doesn’t matter.” He gathered her tighter toward him and stroked her back. “You matter. Because I’d do anything for you.”
Suddenly, Rob’s words came back to him. The things you did for…love. Whoa! L-O-V-E. Yeah. Okay. That was… Early. Very early. But not surprising. Especially given how things stood between them. On the water today, he’d looked toward the future and could envision fishing with Ariel over and over again. He knew Gramps would approve of her. His family too. That was the gold standard as far as he was concerned.
He angled back from the woman who’d brought him back to something he loved today. The vibrancy she’d had earlier was nearly gone. He was determined to bring back the light inside her, the one he loved, the one she shared so freely with others.
“You’re the best.” Her voice was hoarse with emotion. “Do you know how much?”
He lifted his shoulder, uncomfortable. “You’d do it for me.”
When she nodded, he knew he’d made the best decision of his life. Her. Helping her find a way out of this. Putting his pride and sense of duty to Rob aside.
“The only way I see this place changing before the wedding is if we find the leak and resod the whole area. It’s going to be a bitch, but it’s doable with the right muscle, and you know I have the right muscles, Elizabeth.”
“That I do, Stephan.” She leaned up, tugging on his shirt, and laid her mouth on his.
The kiss was soft, slow, and sweet, and when she drew back, her eyes were brighter. He also could feel a new and stronger conviction that he would help her through this crisis and any other she’d encounter.
“All right, assuming they can find the leak stat,” she ticked off in a practical tone that called to the military officer in him, “I’d need to talk to the resort about resodding. I don’t know how many staff they have for this kind of emergency. Getting everything done in time is going to be tough.”
Then she shook herself, mentally steeling herself for what lay ahead, and this was something he loved about her too. She was tenacious. He could see why she and Sherlock found people for a living. Putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, he flexed his bicep. “Like I said, you’ve got my muscles and a few others of the Navy’s best coming. I’ll bet they’ll come early to help. We can be grunt labor if needed. Don’t lose faith now.”
Because she had to have that house—if he had to redo the whole area by himself.
“How could I lose faith when I have you by my side?” She stroked Sherlock under the ears when he returned and pressed his head against the side of her leg. “All right, I need to huddle with the event manager. The guy who trained me in disaster recovery’s motto was brick by brick.”
He could see her standing on the site of destruction, assessing the damage, girding herself for what needed to be done. Sherlock would be at her side. Like he was now. “Brick by brick, baby. I’ll go talk to Rob about getting the rest of the Navy guys on board.”
Cupping her face in both hands, he waited until she met his eyes. He held her gaze, showing her his determination and his concern for her. Then he lowered his head and kissed her lightly on the mouth until she sighed. When he leveled back, he was more settled too, one hell of an indicator about his feelings.
She enticed him.
She intrigued him.
She made him laugh.
She made him hard.
She made him calm.
She made him want to give her everything.
What more could you ask for in a woman?
He held her by the shoulders because he didn’t want to let her go. “I’ve got ya.”
