Love and Learn (Voretti Family Book 2) (21 page)

“I should… I think I have bandages—”

“Don’t worry about it.” He stood in one smooth motion, pulling her toward him. “It’s not bleeding anymore.”

Her body fit against his, exactly where it belonged. He leaned down to give her the kiss she so desperately wanted. Except—

“No!” She pulled free. “I didn’t bring you here to… I only wanted to make sure you were all right.”

He didn’t make another move toward her, just watched her with eyes that were so hot she felt feverish. “I’m not. Not even close.”

“You…” Her voice came out low and husky even though she’d been trying for businesslike. She cleared her throat. “You said it wasn’t bleeding.”

“Wasn’t talking about that little scratch your brother gave me.”

Her whole body shivered. His nearness. His heat. The intensity in his voice. It was too much. If she didn’t get some distance, she was going to forget everything they needed to talk about and jump him. “We should sit down. Talk.”

“We are talking.” He moved in toward her.

Her heart forgot how to beat, going from a steady rhythm to a wild dance. She backed away. One single step, and she came up against the cold tile wall.

“Sorry, sweetheart.” He stood in front of her, legs braced, eyes blazing. “I’m not going anywhere until we get a few things straight. I messed up that first proposal pretty bad, and I finally understand why. I forgot to tell you the most important thing—that I love you. And I do love you. More than I realized was possible.”

“I love you too. But I don’t think either of us is ready for marriage.”

His eyes went dangerously narrow, like he was reading the fine print under her statement and didn’t like what he saw. “You think I’m going to take off.”

“No I—”

“All that stuff yesterday about how marriage takes work was your way of telling me you don’t think I’m up to the task.”

She swallowed. “You have to admit you tend to take the most convenient route through life.”
 

“Does this
look
convenient?” He pointed under his eye, where the faint purple hue heralded an epic bruise. “Because it doesn’t feel that way. If I wanted convenient I’d pick up some chick at Hannigan’s who didn’t have three crazy brothers and a father who collects guns. And I wouldn’t ask her to marry me.”

It was the moment of truth. She had to trust him with everything, or their relationship didn’t have a chance.
 

She focused on the green and white hand towel over his shoulder, because there was no way she could do this while she was looking at him. “The thing is, I’ve liked you for a long time. Back in high school, I lived for Chemistry, because I knew I’d get to see you. I’d think about it all the time, planning what I was going to wear, what I would say to you. I was so shy, especially with guys, but you drew me out. You made me laugh and relax and stop taking every second of life so seriously. Still, asking you to prom was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I didn’t sleep the night before. I kept going over it in my head, trying to get the wording perfect and wondering how I’d go on living if you turned me down. I almost chickened out, but in the end, I had to do it. I wanted you that much. And I really did believe we were meant to be together, like a fairytale come to life.”
 

She laughed softly. It was either that or cry, and if she started crying she’d never stop. “That night was amazing. I must have imagined it a hundred times, but it was better than all of my fantasies.”
 

Without conscious direction, her gaze returned to his. “The dance, and then…after the dance.”

His eyes blazed hotter, like he was remembering too.

“I don’t only mean what happened between us physically. I mean the way we talked. The plans we made. I was sure we were going to be together forever. It was stupid, but—”

He tried to object, but she shushed him. She had to get this out before it ate a hole inside her. “I was young and I had all these silly fantasies. I thought you were my prince and we were going to live happily ever after. And then I got your breakup letter. At first I didn’t think it was real. I was so caught up in my dream world that I figured it must be someone’s sick idea of a joke. But you didn’t answer any of my calls. I went to Jenna’s party hoping I would see you, that you would explain everything, but you were all over her. And then I got your letter from Basic Training. You didn’t contact me again until you were 2,000 miles away. And I finally realized what I should have known all along. You weren’t my prince. You were an eighteen-year-old boy, who liked me well enough until someone better came along.”

“You don’t understand.” His jaw was clenched so tight the words barely made it through.

Her throat was raw from forcing out the story she’d never wanted to share. She was exhausted, but she was also free. It was over. “I understand perfectly. When it was convenient, you were with me. And when it wasn’t—bam, you were with Jenna.”

“That’s not how it was.”

“That’s how your entire life is! Sean calls you Easy, and I can see why. You sail through life like it’s the easiest thing in the world. Your fiancée dumped you, and you barely noticed. Even your injury—it ended your career. And I’m so glad you’re making a new life for yourself, but you did it like it was nothing. No wallowing in depression, no cursing fate for putting you in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because that’s what you do. You go with the flow.”

“Like nothing?” His voice dropped to a low, dangerous growl she’d never heard before. “You want to know how I got that nickname?”

She caught herself just as her head started to shake. “Y-Yes.”

“We’d gotten a new kid in our platoon. I don’t know how he made it through BUD/S, because he was as green as it gets. We get word that a soldier in another platoon is being held by some tangoes nearby, and we’re gonna get him out. Two minutes ’til go time and the kid was freaking out. Out there, you can’t panic. You take your mind off the mission and you’re dead. So I told him to take a deep breath—that we had his back. That all we were gonna do was take a little stroll and find our buddy. Easy.

“’Course, it wasn’t quite as simple as that. We took some heavy fire. I got pinned down by some asshole with an AK-47. And you’d better believe that in the back of my mind, I had all the worst case scenarios running. But I knew if I let them out, I was dead, so I concentrated on that gun. And when Sean took out the shooter, I got the hell out of there. We were lucky that day. No casualties. When we got back to base, the kid started calling me Easy, and it stuck. But it wasn’t easy. Being out there was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Every day, it was the hardest thing.”

Shame curdled the contents of her stomach. Ty might adapt to changes faster than she did, but he wasn’t superhuman. “I’m so sorry. I should never have said—”

“It wasn’t just hard because of the danger. It was hard because I knew I was missing something. But I didn’t know what that something was until I came back here. To you.”
 

She wanted to believe him. But all the pretty words in the universe wouldn’t change the fact that he’d left her once. That, until two months ago, he’d been engaged to another woman.

Maybe he knew what she was thinking, because he went on. “The morning after the dance, Sean told me he was joining the Navy, and it was…it came out of nowhere. I knew his parents weren’t like mine—they didn’t have dinner on the table every night at six and they wouldn’t slip him a twenty if he was short on gas money—but I had no idea how bad it really was. They tossed him out. He turned eighteen and graduated, and that was it. They were done and he was on his own. He didn’t have any money for college, so he decided to enlist. We’d always done everything together, and…I don’t know how to say this right except that it didn’t feel like a choice to me. Enlisting felt like something I had to do. That I was
meant
to do. I had no idea when I was gonna be back. I couldn’t ask you to wait for me. I knew it was shitty to break up with you in a letter, but I was afraid to do it in person. I knew if I saw you…saw what I was giving up….” He swiped a hand over his face. “I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it.”

The part of her that still believed in true love and fairytales wanted to throw her arms around him and tell him all was forgiven. The logical part of her brain tackled that naive half-wit and put her in a chokehold. “Let me get this straight. You were so heartbroken you had to let Jenna comfort you. In her bedroom.”

“She threw herself at me, and yeah, I kissed her. I was leaving for BT the next day, and I was scared shitless. I wanted a distraction.”

“You didn’t want me.”
 

“A distraction I could leave the next morning. Can you understand that?”

“I do understand. But that proves my point, don’t you see? You were with Jenna because it was convenient. In that moment she was the person you needed. And, two years ago, when you proposed to Bri, she was who you needed. It’s the same thing with the two of us. Right now, it’s convenient for us to be together. The sex is great, and—bonus—a quick proposal got you out of my father’s rifle scope. But if we stay together, it’s not always going to be easy. We’re going to fight and take each other for granted, and, once the novelty wears off, the sex probably won’t be anything special.”

He tilted her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze. “You sure about that?”

Just that one little touch, and all she could think about was the weight of him over her. The way he’d surged into her, hard and desperate, filling her completely.

Her legs parted, like he was already there between her thighs, and she took a deep, gulping breath.
 

“Yeah, sweetheart, we’re gonna fight. But that means we get to make up. And as for the sex, don’t you worry. I have plenty of different things we can try if you get bored.”

She shivered, every inch of her skin primed for his touch.

“And no way would I ever take you for granted. You want to know why it was so easy for me to deal with that broken engagement? Because, deep down, I knew Bri wasn’t the right woman for me. Just like I didn’t have a problem leaving the Navy because that’s not where my heart was. I loved that I had a chance to make my country a little safer, but my heart was always here. With you.”

He pulled back slightly. “I know you’re not ready to marry me yet, but I think I have an idea how we can calm your family down and buy me enough time to convince you we belong together.”
 

He was holding a box. A small box covered in black velvet.

Her heart stuttered in her chest.
 

He pulled off the cover, revealing a brilliant-cut diamond. It caught all the light in the room, beaming it back at her like a promise.
Forever
.
 

“Will you wear my ring? We can be engaged for a while—as long as it takes me to convince you to marry me.”

“I….” Her voice broke.

“Damn. I did this wrong again.” He dropped to one knee right there in the middle of the bathroom floor. “Annabelle Voretti, I love you. I’ve loved you since high school, even though I was too stupid to understand what I felt. I’m still kinda stupid when it comes to emotions. I came this close to getting arrested, trying to get you a dress you didn’t even really want.”

“Arrested?” Her heart had a mini-seizure. “What happened? Are you okay? I’m so sorry. I should never have asked you for that stupid dress.”

“Stupid?” He grinned. “That’s a Natashja original you’re talking about. When you decide you’re ready to marry me—and that day will come—you’re gonna wear that dress. And it’ll look amazing on you. But, for now, know that I am trying to learn from my mistakes. I’ve had a while to get to know you—not the way you smell or the way you feel in my arms, but the way you think—and I love you, irrational phobias and all. You’re messy and you’re inconvenient, and your family is gonna be up in my shit forever, but none of that matters, because I love you. Will you marry me?”

“Y
ES
! O
F
COURSE
I’ll marry you.” The words came out before Annabelle had a chance to think, but all too soon her brain forced its way into the action, neurons firing off hundreds of different scenarios in which this sudden engagement could go horribly wrong.
 

Her chest tightened, squeezing her lungs.
 

She forced herself to breathe. Just breathe.
 

Everything was going to be fine. She hadn’t agreed to anything rash. She would marry Ty, but only once she was sure. Once they were both sure.

She tugged Ty’s hand, pulling him back to his feet. “Thank you for understanding that I need to take this slow.”

“I’m gonna have you for the rest of my life. I can wait as long as you need to be sure we’re right together.”

He gathered her close, his arms strong around her, and she tried to concentrate on that. His clean, masculine scent. The steady, even beat of his heart.
 

“So we’re okay?” he asked.

“Of course.” She made her voice light, ignoring the knot in her gut. Probably she was worried about breaking the news to her parents that the wedding tomorrow wasn’t going to happen. That was understandable.

“Good.” He smiled, but he was watching her closely.
 

She plucked the ring box out of his hand. “I guess I should put this on, huh?”

He reached for the ring at the same time she did, and their hands did an awkward dance before they both pulled back.
 

“Sorry,” he said.

“No, I’m sorry.”
 

“Do you want me to—”

“Please.”

He slid the band on. It fit her ring finger perfectly.
 

Still, the knot in her stomach tightened. She breathed in through her nose. Only nerves. Once she broke the news to her parents, she’d be fine.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Ty asked.

“Absolutely. I’m tired, that’s all. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Take a nap.”

“I think I will.” That was what she needed. The sweet oblivion of sleep, where she wouldn’t have to wonder why she was freaking out on the happiest day of her life. “But I have to talk to my parents first. I need to break the news that they’re going to have to wait a little while before the wedding.”