by K. C. Lynn
“What do you mean? Of course it is. Look what…”
I grab her shoulders and try to calm her hysteria. “Red, seriously calm down. It’s not like the kid walked in on us fucking. My hand was up your dress, which he couldn’t see since I was covering you.”
She stares at me for a long moment then gives my shoulders a push, “Go talk to him. You need to go explain things to him.”
“Explain what? The kid is sixteen, he has a pretty good idea what was going on.”
“Oh god!” she moans again for what has to be the thousandth time and covers her face with her hands, making me chuckle. Her face shoots back up to mine, and her features soften. “I can say my embarrassment is almost worth that sound you just made, Walker… Almost.”
Jesus, what is it with her and me fucking chuckling? Before I can think more about it, the kid comes bolting up the stairs and doesn’t look over in the kitchen. “Uh, see ya.”
“Christopher, wait!” Faith calls out.
He turns around then shifts nervously as she jumps off the counter and starts over to him. She puts her hand on his shoulder, and I watch him brace himself for what she’s about to say. “I’m so sorry you walked in on that. It will never, ever happen again, I promise.”
Yeah fucking right it won’t. Jesus, it’s not like we were fucking for christ’s sake.
He shrugs awkwardly, “Whatever. It isn’t a big deal. It’s not like you were expecting me.”
“Still, it shouldn’t have happened…Do… Do you have any questions?”
The kid jumps back. “What? No!” he replies in horror.
“Are you sure? Because, we can talk…”
“Holy shit, Faith, stop. I don’t need you to give me the sex talk. I’m sixteen years old.” He looks up at me for help.
“Well, I just thought…”
“Red, let the kid go.” I wave Christopher away, which has him bolting out the door.
She turns around to face me, her expression soft with guilt. “I just made it worse, didn’t I?”
Walking over, I pick her up so her feet dangle off the floor and give her a quick, hard kiss, making sure not to linger or I’ll end up losing control again. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I just don’t want to lose them.” The vulnerability in her voice tugs at my chest.
“Not going to happen, Red. You’re the best person that’s ever happened to them, and you’re the best for them. Let it go, baby, it’s fine.”
She gives me a small smile and wraps her arms around my neck. “Where are you taking me, Walker? I want to get on with this date, and see what you have in store for me.” After the sassy remark, she leans in and takes a sharp nip at my lip.
My cock hardens instantly. Growling, I slap her ass then lift her higher and throw her over my shoulder.
“Wait, my purse!” she shouts with a laugh, as I head out the door.
“You don’t need it.”
She giggles the entire way to the truck. “I’ve got a nice view here, Walker.” She lifts the bottom of my shirt and teases her finger just under the elastic band of my boxer briefs. “Mmm, didn’t go commando this time, huh?”
“Jesus.” I mutter and shake my head, my cock aching to fuck the sass out of her.
She laughs, finding herself fucking hilarious, but she won’t be laughing by the time I’m done with her tonight. Screaming—yes, laughing—no. After two long fucking years I am finally going to have the one woman I’ve been dying to feel again, and I know, just like last time, it will change my life forever.
Thirty minutes later, I pull off to the side of the highway and into the small opening that leads to a deserted beach.
Faith turns to me with a smile, “Mmm, how did you know the beach is my favorite place?”
“I know everything, Red.” Okay, I’m lying. Julia and Grace found out for me. Thankfully they helped me out with all of this, because I didn’t have a fucking clue what to do.
Getting out of the truck, I come around to help her down but she’s already out and toeing off her sexy boots as I reach her. “Aren’t you going to take yours off?” she asks, pointing to my shoes.
“No.”
She shakes her head and gives me a small smile. “Of course not! What was I thinking?” I ignore her sarcasm. After she puts her boots in the truck, I grab her hand and start hauling her toward the deserted cove.
“Don’t you need anything from the truck?”
“Nope,” I answer cryptically. Thanks to Julia and Grace, the only thing I need from the truck is her present, which I will come back for later. If I pull it out now she will know what it is and I don’t want her to see it just yet. I hope she fucking likes it and I picked the right one.
Walking across the beach, I take her around the giant rock and lead her into the middle of the cove where I see our spot all laid out. Oh christ, I asked the girls to drop off a blanket and the food, and of course it looks nothing like what I asked for.
Faith gasps as she takes in the over-done setup. A large blanket is spread out with flower petals sprinkled all over the goddamn thing. A picnic basket sits in the center of it, a vase of flowers, and… is that fucking champagne? I don’t drink that shit.
Red turns to me in shock but has a smile that suddenly makes me less annoyed with the girls. “Okay. Who are you and what have you done with my brooding guy?”
I can’t deny the kick to my chest at hearing her call me her guy, it makes me consider lying to her and accepting all the credit, but then decide against it. “Sorry, Red, but I didn’t do this. I told Julia and Grace to drop off a fucking blanket and the food. Not this.”
“Hmmm,” she muses, “maybe I should ask one of them on a date then.” She laughs at my annoyed expression. “Just kidding,” she says, as if I didn’t already know that. “It wouldn’t work out anyway. It seems I like my guys moody, brooding and sexy.”
I grunt, then tug on her hand, walking over to the blanket. She kneels down and I watch her grasp a handful of petals, letting them slip through her slender fingers with a smile, and it makes me wish I had been the one to think of all of this.
She picks up the bottle of champagne and quirks a brow at me, “Do you think they packed you any beer?”
“Doubtful,” I reply, sitting across from her.
She opens the basket. “Oh you are wrong. There are a few beers in here, and a note.” She pulls out a small piece of folded paper and opens it. She bursts out laughing then hands it to me after reading it. “I believe this is for you.”
I take the paper and instantly recognize Evans’ writing: You’re welcome. Have fun on your romantic date, pussy.
I grunt and crumble the paper in my hand. Asshole. I look up to see Red going through our basket of food. “Mmm, this looks good and it’s all vegetarian. What are you going to eat?” she teases, putting the whole basket on her lap.
“I’ll manage with what’s in there.” Mainly because I ate a burger after I dropped Ruthie off at Sawyer and Grace’s but I keep that part to myself.
We start eating right away, since Red is clearly starving. For someone so little she can really pack away a lot of food. She does the majority of the talking, like usual, and I contentedly sit and listen to her. She rambles excitedly about picking out Christopher’s outfit for the dance, and spending some time with him and Katelyn tomorrow. Her earlier distress about the kid walking in on us doesn’t seem to be bothering her anymore.
After we finish she packs our garbage back into the basket, then crawls over to me with a smile that has my dick jerking in my pants. She climbs over my legs and straddles me. My hands slide under her dress and cup her perfect, round ass.
She moans and grinds against my erection. “Take off your shoes, Walker. Stay a while.”
I groan and know I’m close to losing my control, but I can’t, not yet. I grasp her hips and bring her away from my throbbing cock. “Not yet, baby. I have to go back to the truck for minute.”
“Why?” she asks breathlessly, fighting against the
hold I have on her hips, which makes it that much fucking harder on me.
“Because I need to go get your birthday present.”
She stops her attempts and rears back in surprise. “My birthday present?”
“Yeah, I wanted to give it to you sooner but it took me a little while to find what I was looking for.”
“What is it?” she asks excitedly.
I grunt. “You would know by now if you would quit fucking distracting me.”
She giggles and gives me a quick, hard kiss before climbing off me. “By all means.”
I reluctantly stand and head to the truck. After grabbing the present from the back seat, where I buried it under a ton of shit so she wouldn’t see it, I make it back to our spot and come to a quick stop when I see Red standing at the edge of the water, a peaceful expression and soft smile gracing her delicate face as she watches the waves crash over her feet. The setting sun casts a glow behind her that takes me back to that first week in Iraq. She is the picture of perfection, and I swear there is no other woman who walked this earth that is more beautiful than her.
Sensing me, like she always does, she looks up and takes in the guitar case that I’m carrying. Her smile turns curious as she moves toward me. I put it down on the blanket, my palms beginning to sweat nervously again.
“Hmmm, what could be in here?” she says teasingly, sitting next to the case, thinking she knows what awaits her, but she has no fucking clue.
“Open it and find out.”
I sit down across from her and my heart starts to thump wildly in my chest as she opens the case. Jesus, I am a fucking pussy.
I watch her reaction carefully, her smile completely vanishes as she stares in disbelief at the sleek, black acoustic guitar, her trembling fingers brushing gently over the handwritten signature.
“Cade?” she asks with a shaky whisper.
“Yeah, Red.”
“Why is Elvis’ name on this guitar?”
I clear my throat, “Because he signed it. I’m told he also played it at some concert back in 1976 and…”
“Holy fucking shit!” I rear back in surprise, shocked that those words just came from her mouth. “Is this real, Walker? Like, I mean, is this for real?” she asks with a note of hysteria in her voice.
“It fucking better be.” I spent a good fucking chunk of savings on that goddamn thing and I trust Jimmy; if he says that it’s real, then it’s real.
“Oh my god! Oh-my-god…” she mutters in utter disbelief, her smile returning and her eyes becoming glassy. “How were you able to buy something like this?”
“A guy I met overseas, he was an older marine heading for retirement, and his hobby was collecting anything and everything you could think of. He told me it was what he planned to do after he retired. Anyway, I still had his contact information and figured if anyone could help me find it, it would be him. And I was right, although it took him a little bit. I wasn’t sure whether to do Elvis or that Cash guy,” she smiles as I say this, making me guess I got the name wrong, “but Christopher said Elvis, so that’s what I went…”
I get cut off when she launches herself at me and knocks me to the ground.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she says over and over again, peppering kisses all over me.
I begin to feel her warm tears spilling on my face, which would make me feel like shit if she didn’t have the biggest fucking smile I’ve ever seen on her right now.
“I guess that means you like it?” I ask with a slight twitch to my lips.
“It’s the most extraordinary, precious thing anyone has ever given me. I love it, Cade.”
I can’t help but feel fucking proud for being the one to put this smile on her face. “I have one more thing for you.”
“Another present? You really know how to make a girl feel special, Walker. Who knew?”
I grunt and ignore her sass. “It’s not really another present, it’s more giving back something that belongs to you.”
She looks at me perplexed and suddenly I get nervous again. “Sit up just a bit, baby.” I help raise her to her knees slightly then reach into my pocket and pull out something I’ve kept with me for a long time and never parted with.
“Hold out your hand.” I tell her gently as she sits back down on my stomach.
When she does what I ask I lay the delicate chain in her hand. She sucks in a sharp breath as she stares at the anklet with the music note she left for me two years ago.
I wait for her to say something and try to gauge her reaction but her expression shows nothing except shock. “I can’t believe you have this.”
I clear my throat. “Our belongings were sent to us while we were in the rehabilitation center. I’ve been waiting for the right time to give it back to you.”
I’m hoping she isn’t mad I didn’t give it back sooner, but I wasn’t ready to part with it. When she doesn’t say anything I take the anklet then lean up slightly and hook it around her slender ankle.
She stares down at it for a minute before swinging her, wet, emotional eyes up to mine. “I gave this to you so you would have something to remember me by.”
I reach up and cup the side of her face. “I never needed anything to remember you by, Red. I would have never forgotten you.”
A small sob escapes her just before she leans down and rests her forehead on mine, our lips only a breath away from one another, temping me to take a taste. I’m just about to when she says, “I love you.”
I tense without meaning to, unable to stop myself. There are those three fucking words, again, that I have been trying not to think about since she said them the other night. It has fucking panic gripping my chest like a tight vice, making it difficult to take in a breath. I’ve only ever had one person say those words to me, and it was a little girl who didn’t know any better.
“You don’t believe me.”
The sad note to her voice makes me feel like shit. “It’s not that…”
“Then what? You can’t possibly still think love doesn’t exist. Look at Jaxson and Sawyer.”
I stare into her wet, emerald eyes, seeing a burning need for answers, and before I can stop myself I tell her the truth. I tell her my biggest fear. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s I’m wondering when you’re going to wake up and realize I’m not worthy of it.”
She sucks in a sharp breath and I feel more of her tears hit my face, but I don’t break my gaze from hers.
“Never,” she whispers sadly.
“All love comes with conditions. Why do you think so many people divorce?”
“Not mine. I love unconditionally, and I think you’re perfect, all of you.”
“There is nothing close to fucking perfect about me, Red. You have to know that by now.”
“That’s just it. I see every single one of your flaws, and I value them as much as I value your strengths. You are perfect to me in every way. The good,” she presses a soft kiss to my lips, “the bad,” she gives me another one, “and… I was going to say ugly but there is nothing ugly about you, Cade Walker,” she adds with a smile.
Feeling more shit than I can handle right now, I give her a quick, hard kiss, not wanting to be a complete asshole, then change the subject. “Sing for me.”
“What?” she asks, clearly not expecting that.
“Play your new guitar and sing for me.”
She rears back, “Cade, babe, that is not a guitar you play with. That is a guitar you hang and worship.”
“You better fucking play it.” Jesus, what the hell did I spend all that fucking money for if she isn’t going to play it? She shakes her head at me, not budging, “Come on, Red, one song, baby. I want to hear you.”
Her stubborn glare softens, and when she glances longingly over at the guitar, I know I got her. She sighs reluctantly, “Fine, one song.”
She crawls over to the guitar and I watch her hands begin to tremble again as she picks it up. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m about to play fr
om the same guitar Elvis did.” She looks up at me, “This had to have cost you a fortune.”
Goddamn right it did, and Jimmy said he got me a deal. I’m scared to fucking know how much it was before that. Of course I don’t voice any of that.
“It was worth every penny I spent. You deserve it, Red.”
She gives me a soft smile. “What do you want me to sing?”
“I don’t give a shit. I just want to hear you,” I tell her truthfully.
She watches me as she thinks about it and I see the moment she makes her decision. “Mmm, okay. Here is one you will know and I think you will like.”
She scoots back and rests against the log behind her. I stay in front, wanting full view of her, and my cock jerks when she brings one of her knees up to rest the guitar on, showing me a glimpse of what I know is paradise.
As soon as her slender fingers start strumming the chords gracefully, the most breathtaking smile takes over her face. She looks down at the instrument, soaking in the fact she is playing a guitar from someone who is a legend to her. I instantly recognize the tune from the song, ‘Free Falling’ and fuck if she isn’t right, I do like this song.
The moment her mouth opens and the lyrics fall past her lips, I’m completely awestruck like always, her voice hitting me like a physical blow, except there is no pain, only her grace and beauty…
She’s a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus and America too
She’s a good girl, crazy ’bout Elvis
Loves horses and her boyfriend too
She gives me a little wink, her smile getting bigger, and I don’t miss the innuendo of the beginning lyrics. She’s as sassy as she is beautiful, and fuck if it doesn’t turn my dick as hard as steel.
It’s a long day living in Reseda
There’s a freeway runnin’ through the yard
And I’m a bad boy ’cause I don’t even miss her
I’m a bad boy for breakin’ her heart
Her fingers start strumming faster, her foot beginning to tap the sand as she starts losing herself in it. Her head falls back, her voice hitting that note, the one that makes your breath catch in your throat…
And I’m freeeeee, freee fallin’
