Part 23 (1/2)

He didn't respond at first as he circled the truck and opened the door for her. He slid a hand under her legs, helping her s.h.i.+ft her lower body around, and then he cupped his hands on her hips. But instead of helping her slide to the ground, he stood there, holding her just like that as he said, ”You're wrong.” He glanced at the house and murmured, ”Jillian's a serious kid. She always has been. She almost never smiles, and she hardly ever talks to anybody unless they talk to her first. She smiled at you; she talked to you. She said you're her friend.”

Taige shook her head. ”She doesn't even know me, Cullen. h.e.l.l, she's just a kid.”

”Yeah, but she's my kid, and I know her.” He dipped his head, putting his face on a level with hers. ”You know why I brought you here. You know why I bought this house.

You know what I want, and I don't even have to explain it. I will, because we need to put things out on the table and talk them through. But if you're nervous about that, don't use Jilly as a reason to pul away from me.”

The smile wobbled on her lips, and she just barely managed a whisper as she said, ”You're awful d.a.m.n c.o.c.ky.”

”No.” He shook his head, stil staring at her with intense, serious eyes. ”I'm just determined. There's a difference.” He glanced at the house once more and then back at her. ”You know what I want, Taige. I'm not giving up on us. But if you want distance, this is your one chance. You come in that house with me, and it's settled as far as I'm concerned. You're mine. I won't let you go. Not ever.”

Amused despite herself, she grinned at him. ”Is this what you call laying it out on the table?”

He grinned back and brushed her hair away from her face. ”Well, I'd planned on waiting awhile, seeing as you're supposed to be resting and recovering, but then you started looking skittish on me.”

She lifted a brow. ”I got skittish?”

His hands smoothed down her hips. Through the loose cotton of her pants, she could feel the heat of his hands. An answering heat flickered inside, and she dropped her gaze to stare at his mouth. It felt like it had been ages since he'd kissed her. Ages since he'd held her.

A groan rumbled out of him, and the hands on her hips went tight. ”Don't look at me like that, baby. We can't even think about it for a while yet.”

”Thinking doesn't hurt me,” she said hoa.r.s.ely.

”Maybe not. But it will hurt me, especially if you decide you're not ready to walk into that house with me.”

She started to lean forward, but the pain radiating through her chest froze her in place.

So instead, she lifted a finger and hooked it in the neck of his s.h.i.+rt, tugging him closer.

Pressing her lips to his, she murmured, ”I've been ready for that for years, Cullen. I just didn't think it would ever happen.”

She was talking about a lot more than just going into his house with him, but he knew that. There would be plenty of time to talk it out later.

EPILOGUE.

”You look gorgeous,” Dez said from the doorway.

Taige looked up and met her friend's gaze in the mirror. Then she looked back at her own reflection. She didn't look bad, she guessed. In the month since she'd been discharged from the hospital, she'd put on some of the weight she'd lost over the years, and she actually saw something beside skin, muscle, and bone when she looked in the mirror. She still had all her scars, but Taige was trying hard not to pay them any attention.

The most obvious scar was the one on the right side of her chest, a fairly neat little wound that was stil red and puckered. The thin scars from the drainage tubes were a lot less noticeable, and she knew they'd fade even more with time.

The dress she'd chosen covered those scars and stil managed to be s.e.xy and feminine.

Everything a bride's dress should be. The longer, thinner scar on her back wasn't completely hidden, but Taige had no plans of hiding away every scar she'd acquired in her lifetime. It wasn't like Cullen would let her, anyway.

”I can't believe this is real,” she said, more to herself than anyone else.

Stepping into the room, Dez closed the door behind her and then crossed over to stand at Taige's shoulder. ”It's real, sugar. And you deserve it one hundred percent.” She grinned, a wide, wicked grin, and winked. ”But if you wanna take off running, I'll stand in for you. That man of yours is something else. Those eyes of his . . .” She rolled her eyes and pressed a hand to her chest. ”Talk about intense.”

Narrowing her eyes, Taige said, ”Whatever you're thinking . . . just stop. I'd hate to kill my only bridesmaid right before the wedding.”

Dez laughed. ”Girl, you are so gone over on this guy.” There was a knock at the door, and Dez went to answer, stepping aside to let Jillian come in.

Jillian had on a blue dress she'd picked out, and she already had her white basket looped over her arm. Faintly, Taige could smell the fragrant, sweet flower petals held inside the white wicker.

Taige hadn't really wanted a formal wedding or anything, but somebody had mentioned flower girl, and Jillian's eyes had widened. Unable to deny the girl something she obviously wanted, Taige had decided against trying to talk Cul en into a simple civil ceremony at the courthouse.

It hadn't taken any time to fall in love with Jillian. It might have taken years to find her, but Taige knew in her heart that Jillian was hers-her daughter. Every bit as much as hers as she would have been if Taige had been the one to carry Jillian inside her and give birth to her. ”You look beautiful, angel,” Taige said with a smile, turning on her stool to look at Jillian as Robert escorted the child inside.

Jillian grinned, her nose crinkling. ”You, too.”

Taige glanced down at her dress, still feeling a little self-conscious. Okay, a lot self-conscious. She could probably count on one hand how many times she'd worn a dress in the past ten years. And still have fingers left over. So the strapless, sarong confection made of silk and scattered with small, delicate pearls and sequins was definitely not something she was used to.

Jillian peered down at Taige's feet. ”You really aren't wearing any shoes, are you?”

Taige shrugged. ”I don't like to, anyway.”

c.o.c.king her head, Jillian stuck out her foot, studying the white straps of her sandals.

”Can I go barefoot, too?”

”I wouldn't mind a bit.”

While Jillian went to work on her sandals, Taige looked up at the man who was about to become her father-in-law. Robert hadn't aged as much as she would have thought, considering how much h.e.l.l he'd been through the past twelve years. That many years could change people a lot, and the violent death of his wife, the kidnapping of his granddaughter-well, some people would have broken under it.

Robert hadn't, though. The lines around his eyes were deeper, and his blond hair had gone mostly silver, but he was still a handsome guy. He smiled at her, and she felt her heart melt a little. There was a lot of Cullen in that smile-or maybe it was more that Cullen had a lot of Robert inside him. They looked alike, and Taige figured if Cul en looked as good pus.h.i.+ng sixty as Robert did, Taige was going to be beating the women away from her husband with a stick in thirty years.

”Jillian's right. You do look beautiful.” He glanced around and then nodded to the doorway that opened to a huge balcony. ”Mind if we step outside for a few minutes?”

She followed him outside and moved over to the railing as Robert shut the door.

”Are you nervous?”

Taige grimaced. ”Nervous? No. I don't know if nervous describes it.”

”Any doubts?”

A smile spread across her face until she knew she was grinning like a fool. ”Doubts?

Not a one.”

Robert nodded. ”Good.” He leaned his elbows on the wrought iron balcony railing and stared out over the beach.

Taige hadn't done much of anything for the wedding other than pick out her dress and tel Cullen she'd like to go to Europe for a honeymoon. Cul en had hired somebody to take care of the details, and right now, those people were attending to ch.o.r.es like setting up some chairs out on the beach and tables that scattered across the huge backyard.