Focusing on his leg, he squinted as if that would help his muscle work. “How long do I have to do this?”
“We’ll see how you’re doing after fifteen minutes.” She sat on the stool and wheeled over to the desk.
After a few minutes, the silence felt awkward and he searched for something to talk about. “Have you been camping again?”
“Jase and I have been a couple of times by ourselves, but I haven’t gone out with a group.”
“So you and he are still good?”
“Yeah.”
Her voice carried the smile he couldn’t see. Shit. She was a girl. Maybe she would know what he should do.
“You’re a girl.”
She spun on her stool, a look of amusement on her face. “Yes. Last time I checked.”
“No. Yes. Fuck. I’m screwing this up.” He dropped his head back in frustration and stared up at the ceiling.
“What are you trying to ask, Jordan?”
“Never mind. It’s stupid.”
“Whatever it is, I’ve been told I’m a good listener. And you don’t have anything else to do for the next…” She looked at the clock on the wall. “Ten minutes.”
Blowing out a breath, he told her everything that had happened from being asked to go with Titan to reading Emme’s email after waking up in the hospital. “We were only together for two weeks. We’ve been separated more than twice that long.”
“So what are you asking me? Since I’m a girl and all.”
“Whether she’s written me off and moved on after not hearing from me.”
Bree’s look was sympathetic. “The only way you’re going to know that is if you ask her.”
“Fuck.” He covered his eyes with the heels of his hands.
“Where does she live?”
“Her family lives in Newport News, up in Virginia.”
Bree cocked her head. “What about her.”
He shook his head and dropped his hands. “She was looking for a new job, but last time I talked to her she was still at her parents’.”
“Can you go visit her after you get released from the hospital?”
“I feel like the longer I wait the worse it’s going to be. Like one of those dreams where you’re running toward something, but no matter how fast your run, that thing just gets farther and farther away.”
The machine beeped three times and he felt Bree’s finger’s on his leg. “What about this Titan company? Do they have her contact information?”
His head jerked up. “They’ll have her parents’ number.”
She raised her eyebrows. “There you go.” She ripped off one of the electro pads.
“Son of a bitch!” He slapped a hand on the now red and bald spot on his leg and glared at her.
She winked.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Jesus. He’d never been so nervous about anything in his entire life. Jordan stared down at the phone number he’d tapped into his phone. His finger hovered over the screen, Taking a deep breath he pressed the green circle and put the phone to his ear.
“Hello?”
“Doug?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“It’s Jordan.”
“What the fuck, man. Fuck. I want to tell you to go fuck yourself and hang up, but I want to know where the fuck you’ve been more.”
“Doug—,”
“Emme cried her eyes out for two weeks.”
A knife pierced his heart. “Doug—”
“I’ve never seen her so unhappy.”
“Doug—”
“Not even after that fuckwad in high school.”
“Doug!”
“What!”
“I’ve been in the hospital.”
“What?”
“I was injured the same night Emme found out about my promotion. I’ve been in the hospital for almost a month.”
“Shit.”
“I tried to email her, but it bounced back and I couldn’t remember her cell number.”
“Did you send it to the right email?” His voice was calmer, but still held an edge to it.
“I hit reply. I don’t know why it wasn’t delivered. Can I have her number?” He held his breath in the silence. “Please.”
“I’ll give it to you, but you need to go see her in person.”
He picked up the pen from where it lay on the table. “Where is she?”
“Charleston.”
He’d been wrong. Now he was nervous. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. Maybe he should have called instead of showing up at her office, but he hadn’t wanted to give her a chance to hang up on him.
Fuck it. He stared at the closed door of the office he’d been directed to. Knuckles poised over the door, he hesitated. Maybe he should walk in. He titled his head back and forth and rapped twice.
“Come in.”
Sweat beaded on his upper lip and a litany of ‘fucks’ ran through his head. He inhaled, exhaled, and opened the door.
Maneuvering around the door on his crutches took some effort. Stepping into the office, he scanned the small room, taking in the cubicle-style desks in the far corners, one of which was occupied by a brunette, but no Emme.
“Can I help you?”
He adjusted his balance on his good leg.. “I’m looking for Emme France.”
“She’s on clinical rounds.”
“Will she be back in the office today?”
“No. Is there something I can help you with?”
“No. Thank you. I’ll try to catch her later.” Maybe he’d have better luck if he tried earlier in the day.
“Are you Jordan?”
He stopped with his hand on the knob and turned to face the woman. “Yes. Who are you?”
“Melody.” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. Her eyes scanned him from head to toe. “Now I understand what all the fuss was about.”
He turned fully and gripped the crutches. “Excuse me?”
“I plied her with margaritas the first weekend she was here and got the whole story.”
“What story was that?”
Her look was assessing. “The rescue. Abu Dhabi. Rome. Then you disappearing on her.” She took in the brace on his knee and the crutches. “Although maybe you had a reason for that. What happened?”
“I think Emme deserves to hear that first.”
“What’s your plan?”
“Apologize. See if she still wants to make it work.”
She nodded. “What do you want from her?”
“Why are you asking?”
“I’m trying to decide if I’m going to help you or not.”
He stood up straight to relieve some of the pressure on his ribs. “I want Emme.”
Her eyebrows raised. “That’s it?”
“What else is there?”
She uncrossed her arms. “You need to make a grand gesture.”
He frowned. “A what?”
“A grand gesture. You know. Sacrifice your pride and dignity and possibly make a fool of yourself.”
“And what would that entail?”
Her eyes squinted and she looked like she was thinking about the best way to humiliate him. “Putting yourself out there so she has no doubt you’re serious.”
“As long as I don’t have to run down Main Street wearing nothing but a sock and a sign.”
Her lips quirked. “As fun as that might be to see, I think you’d have a hard time running anywhere at the moment.” She wrote something on a sticky pad and tore off the top sheet. Holding it out to him, she said, “Get these and have them delivered to that address tomorrow. Then, show up at this classroom at exactly nine o’clock in the morning on Thursday.”
“That’s two days from now.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You’ve waited this long. Thursday is the next time she has lecture and it’s the best setting for what you’re going to do.”
“And what exactly am I going to do?”
Melody smirked. “Apologize
for being an ass.”
Emme checked her watch again. It was almost nine o’clock and none of her students were in the class. Pulling up the calendar on her laptop, she checked the day again. It was Thursday. She had lecture today. Jeez, she was still nervous enough about teaching. The empty classroom was freaking her out. The only reason she knew this wasn’t a dream was because she wasn’t naked.
She dug her phone out of her tote bag to call Melody when the doors at the top of the auditorium opened and her students filed in, one at time. Each of them held a single, long-stemmed, white rose. One-by-one, they came to the front of the class and handed her a rose, then took a seat. Each and every one wore a face splitting grin. When the last student reached her, her arms overflowed with flowers. She twisted to see four or five roses had fallen to the floor from the bundle.
“What’s going on?” She stared at them in bewilderment. Several of them had their cell phones out and pointed at her.
The doors opened again and a man on crutches hobbled in. He lifted his gaze from watching his feet.
Jordan.
Taking a step back, she gasped, and clamped a hand over her mouth. Several more roses fell to the floor. He made his way deliberately down the steps, glancing up to check his progress every time he reached a wider step.
Why was he here?
Why was he on crutches?
He reached the bottom of the steps and took two long strides until he was standing right in front of her. “Hey.”
“Hi,” she whispered. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m making a grand gesture.”
She shook her head. “A what?”
“I have it on good authority that a fuck up of this magnitude requires a grand gesture.” He tilted his head behind him.
Emme looked at the top of the stairs, where Melody leaned against the wall.
“Is it too late to say I’m sorry?” he asked.
She took a shuddering breath. It’d been weeks. Months. So long ago it seemed like a dream. Something that happened in another time to another person. “Jordan—”
“I resigned my commission.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“The day you called. I’d gotten the paperwork the night before. After talking to you and realizing what the promotion was for and what it meant, I turned it down.”
“Jordan.” She shook her head. “I can’t be responsible for you giving up your career.”
“Well, you are.” He shuffled closer. “You’re more important than my career. More important than anything else in my life. I’m not giving up anything. I’m gaining you.”
Tears spilled down her cheek and she shook her head.
Another step closer. “I’m sorry, Emme. I would never have left you alone like that. Please give me a chance to explain.”
“I have class.” She gestured to the students.
“You don’t,” Melody said from the back. She pushed away from the wall and ambled down the stairs. “I’m covering for you today.”
She knelt down and picked up the fallen roses, then took the rest of the flowers from Emme. “Go. Get sappy.” Placing the flowers on the desk, she grabbed Emme’s tote and held it out while pointing at the side door.
“Where to?” Jordan asked.
She pointed to the left. “There’s a cafe down the street that serves brunch.”
Even on crutches, Jordan’s pace was quick enough that Emme had to fast-walk to keep up. Until he stumbled on a crack in the sidewalk and almost fell. He caught himself, but sucked in a breath and dropped one of the crutches while holding his ribs.
“Fucking hell,” he gritted out between his teeth.
She picked up the crutch and helped him hop to the edge of the sidewalk. “What’s wrong with your ribs?”
“I fractured a couple of them.” His breathing was shallow, as if it pained him to inhale.
“How long ago?” She held out his crutch.
He leveled his stare at her. “About a month ago. The night we talked last.”
“Oh.” She looked at the crutches, then down at his leg. “Is that why you never called me back?”
“Yes.”
“What about my email?”
“I didn’t get it until a week ago. My email bounced back when I tried to reply.”
That explained the email, but nothing else. “You could have called.”
“I didn’t remember your number. Emme.” His voice held a plea and she met his gaze. His green eyes were fearful, yet hopeful. “I’ve been going crazy since I woke up, not being able to get a hold of you. I had to call Titan to get Doug’s number. He told me where to find you.” He shook his head. “I thought about calling, but I didn’t want to give you a chance to hang up on me without hearing me out. I showed up at your office on Monday, but Melody said you were in the clinic. She knew who I was and she said she’d help me and she came up with this harebrained idea to throw myself at your feet and all I wanted to do was tell you I love you.
Her heart stopped then exploded in her chest, stealing her breath. Woke up from what? Why hadn’t Doug said anything about talking to Jordan? He’d been here all week?
“You love me?”
“That’s not how I meant to tell you.” He was blushing. Jordan Grant, Army Ranger, real-life hero, was blushing.
“How did you mean to tell me?”
“Well.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, square box.
Her hand flew to her mouth and she stepped back, right into a couple walking past. She spun. “I’m so sorry,” she told them.
In slow motion, she turned back to Jordan, still holding that box. He lifted the lid and revealed a pillow-cut, brilliant blue sapphire ring.
“I’d get down on one knee, but I’ve only got one at the moment.”
She shook her head, overwhelmed by everything. “Jordan, it’s too soon.”
“It’s not. You don’t have to say ‘yes’ right now. You don’t have to say ‘yes’ a year from now. What’s important is you know I’m serious about how I feel and that I will do anything to have you in my life. I may have rescued you in Mali, but you rescued me too.”
He shifted his weight. “I was going through the motions, so bogged down by all the crap that happened in the past, I couldn’t see the good in the present. You showed me it was still there with your refusal to let everything that happened to you drag you down. You find beauty in the ocean and a marble roof. You make me stronger.” He took a deep breath. “But I hope you say ‘yes’ sooner than a year from now.”
She blinked back tears. “Yes.”
He blinked. “Really?”
She laughed at the look of shock on his face. “Really.”
Closing the distance between them, she lifted to her toes and kissed him. The crutches clattered to the ground when he wrapped his arms around her. His tongue touched her bottom lip and she opened her mouth, allowing him to swoop in.
The sound of clapping penetrated her fogging brain and she pulled away, chancing a look over her shoulder. They had attracted a small crowd, who were clapping for them.
It was her turn to blush. Setting her heels on the ground, she dropped her forehead to his chest. “My apartment is close by.”
He kissed her forehead. “Lead the way.”
EPILOGUE
“You’re sure this is it?” Emme asked, skeptically.
“It has everything we’ve been looking for,” Jordan said.
“Except walls.”
“That’s drywall. There’s lots of natural light.”
“Which is good since there’s no electrical wiring either.”
“Quit being a negative Nancy. It’s a hundred yards from the beach.”
Emme shrugged. “All right, I’ll give you that one.”
He pulled her into his arms. “This is our house, babe.”
“It’s a lot of work, Jordan.”
“It’ll give me something to do until I can start at Leonidas.” He’d had to wait to
be cleared by the orthopedist and physical therapist before the Army would release him. Thankfully, he’d had an in with the physical therapist and Bree had agreed to sign off on his paperwork if he agreed to continue seeing her while he was on terminal leave.
Her eyes grew wide. “You’re not planning on doing all the work yourself?”
He chuckled. “Not all of it. Just the things that don’t require an expert.” He squeezed her hips. “You said yourself we’re never going to find a house on Sullivan’s Island without having to buy a fixer-upper.”
“Ugh.” She dropped her head back. The ceiling was peeling. She closed her eyes to block out the image and tried to picture what it would look like once it was all finished. It really was the perfect house. Five bedrooms, close to the beach, and good schools.
She raised her head and sighed. “Think it can be done in seven months?”
“I think so, but I’d have to talk to a contractor. Why seven months?”
“Because it’s going to be really hard fitting a crib into my one-bedroom apartment.”
“What?” He pushed her away and stared at her still flat stomach. “Really?”
She grinned. “Really.”
He let out a whoop and picked her up, spinning her around. He gave her a hard, quick kiss. “You’re going to marry me now, right?”
She let out an exaggerated sigh. “I suppose I should let you make an honest woman of me.”
“Damn right. Want to christen our new house?”
“Um, let’s wait until there isn’t so much rat poop on the floor.”
He laughed and kissed her again. “Rescuing you is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, thank you Cristin. I was months away from publishing my first novel when you invited me to be a part of the Titan world. Thank you is not enough for this opportunity.
Rescued Heart (Titan World) Page 16
