Selective/Memory: The "Depth of Emotion" Book 2 (The Depth of Emotion) (44 page)

♪
You Belong To Me – Carla Bruni

♪♪
Impossible – Kate Earl

Three Months Later…

Watching Aria as she rested, she looked so tiny in their large bed; a bed in a home that no other woman had shared with him but her. It gave him such a comforting feeling. She was
the one
his mom had prayed for; the one who saved him from himself.

As he sat beside her, he couldn’t resist touching her and ran his thumb down the side of her arm. He had brought a dress for her; one to wear tonight. One that he very much hoped she’d like.

Her long, dark eyelashes began to flutter as his hand caressed her face, lingering there. Turning her cheek into it, she nuzzled into his touch.

“Hi,” she said, peeking up at him.

“Hi beautiful.”

He leaned down, kissing her on the head. She opened her eyes a bit wider, smiling at him.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “You look like you’re up to something?”

“I want to take you downstairs for dinner tonight. Are you up for it?” he asked.

Her blue eyes ignited like fireworks, and flew open at the invitation.

“Yes!” she squealed. “You’ve kept me up here long enough!”

She giggled, happy for the diversion.

He argued just slightly, “Not as long as I’d liked—but I thought that you might be going a little stir crazy,” he admitted.

She looked at his handsome face in the soft light.

“I am,” she confessed. “I love being here with you, and I promised you that I’d do whatever you and the doctor said—”

He broke in, quick to remind her, “—and you said you wouldn’t break that promise.”

She quickly acknowledged that fact before he changed his mind.

“Which is why, my sweet man, I’ve been staying up here, like a bird in a gilded cage, not giving you a hard time!”

She reached her arms around his neck, and he saw her wince.

“Here, let me help you,” he said.

He gently lifted her legs and arms to prop her against the pillows, causing her to roll her eyes at him.

“Declan, really,” she professed, “I’m stiffer from not moving than anything else. Once I start getting around, I’ll be fine.”

His commanding voice followed, “Aria, we do it my way, or we don’t go down.”

She frowned at him.

“You’re barking,” she said.

He turned his head so she couldn’t see his smile.

“Yes, I am,” he agreed. “I’m a regular junkyard dog.”

“Hardass,” she said, hitting his arm.

“Smartass!” he rebutted and smiled at her.

Only she would understand that comment. After what they’d been through, his sense of humor hadn’t fully come back. What little he did have was reserved for her.

“I hope you don’t mind,” he apologized. “I asked Paige, Aimee, Carter, and Blake to come to dinner. I thought you might like company.”

She almost bounced off the bed. “Really?! Yes!”

He could tell his plan was coming together.

“The girls thought it should be special, so I bought you a dress,” he said, directing his attention to the purchase. “We need to get you out of those pajamas, and fit for company. They said they’d help you do your hair and make-up.”

He put his arm across her waist.

“Would you like that, baby?” he said seductively into her hair.

Her face glowed with excitement in response.

“I would. Oh, yes. I really would.”

She turned to kiss him, his thoughtfulness moving her.

“Thank you so much…”

Her voice began to shake with emotion. He leaned down to take what she offered.

“You don’t have to thank me, baby,” he admitted, giving her a look that made her want to give him more. “I like making you happy.”

His smile reassured her, and his kiss flooded her with warmth. He held her chin in his hand, tilting her eyes toward him.

“I love you,” he professed, making good on his promise to tell her at least once every day.

Her blue eyes searched his leather brown ones.

“I love you, too,” she breathed.

Wanting to reassure him, she placed his arms around her.

“I know this has been rough on you, babe, but I’m okay. Really. I’ll be fine—at least, most of me will be…”

He knew what she was thinking, but he didn’t care about that.

“Aria, look at me.” He tipped her chin up to look at him. “You’re perfect
for me
. That’s all that matters.”

She shook her head, a worried frown forming.

“I hope you don’t regret that,” she said.

“I won’t—Ever.”

He kissed her, and then moved from the bed to go down to the kitchen.

“I’m sending the girls up while the chef is preparing the food, okay?” he asked.

She gave him a shocked look.

“The chef is preparing the food?”
she mocked.

“Yes! Dammit, will you just let me surprise you?!”

He gave her a warning look. As he started to go through the doorway, he was hit in the back of the head with a pillow.

“Oops!” she called out, laughing.

“How do I look?”

She turned toward him. Her hair was partially up, but mostly down, and beautiful.

He caught his breath.

If time could have, or would have, stood still at that moment, he would have stayed frozen there forever. It seemed such a cliché when people said that someone took their breath away, but she truly was captivating.

He swallowed a lump the size of his fist before he answered.

“I can’t quite find the words…” he started.

She smiled, then self-consciously looked down. Crossing an arm across her middle, she obstructed his view. Declan quickly came across the floor as he recognized her insecure misunderstanding. Lifting her eyes to meet his, he took her hand to his lips, lightly kissing her fingers.

“I can’t find the words to say because I don’t think I know any that would describe just how beautiful I think you are.”

He watched a perfect pink blush form as it warmed her face. Smiling, her eyes twinkled. The familiar sparks hadn’t come back in full force, but with time and healing, he was certain he could ignite them once more.

“I love this,” she said, looking down at her dress. “You pick the prettiest things for me.”

Her compliment touched him.

“It’s a special night,” he said. “I chose something I thought you’d like.”

She caressed his cheek. The lines he had gained from his own accident had grown deeper through his worry over her. Somehow, they made her love him all the more.

“Why is it that I feel every night with you is a special night?” she asked him, yet not needing an answer. “Will you please feed me now?” she asked. “I’d love to see our friends.”

He pulled something out of his pocket.

“One more thing.”

He opened the box to show her the necklace. She smiled the moment she saw it.

“Waves,” he said. “Just like us; up and down, changing—but strong.”

He put it around her neck so she could see it in the mirror. Aria touched her hand to it and turned toward him. She kissed him until he had no doubt of her desire.

“I love it,” she whispered.

Now was the time for him to erase any final doubt he may be having. If there was any lesson he had learned in his time with Aria, it was that there was no time like the present.

He pulled her close to him, lingering for a moment, enjoying her fragrance. In return, her fingers leisurely ran through his hair, making it a bit messy. She held him close to her.

“Do you love me?” he asked.

She giggled at the question.

“Yes,” she replied.

He smiled.

“Would you spend every night of the rest of your life with me if I asked you to?”

Again, she giggled.

“Yes. I would.”

He put his forehead to hers, a sign she took as insecurity.

Placing her hands on his face, she looked deeply into his eyes as she spoke.

“If you wanted me to, Declan, I’d stay here with you forever.”

Every concern he had evaporated into the sea mist, and the corners of his mouth lifted in a grin that made her ache for him.

“Well,” he said, a bit mysterious. “We’ll have to fix that as soon as possible.”

Declan bent slightly to lift her into his arms, shocking her. Aria opened her mouth to protest, which he promptly closed by placing his over it and kissing her until she couldn’t think clearly.

Once he pulled back, he gave her a hard look. He wasn’t letting her go.

“Anything for you, beautiful…”

Aria wasn’t sure what was happening.

Taking a few slow steps, he assured her he was capable of carrying her weight and walking.

“Don’t say a word…I’m doing this,” he announced.

Nothing would stop him from carrying her to his intended destination…

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, her heart quickened and she stilled in his arms. With eyes opening wide, she took in the sight before her, and he gently stood her to lean against him.

Along the old floor stood two rows of fat candles, flickering, casting their soft light against the worn and weathered wood. Forming a path from the dining room out to the large front porch, she could see hundreds of them in the distance.

Turning wide-eyed to the man she loved, she saw peace in his eyes. They had been through adversity and learned what had true value.

He could see the questions in her mind, and it made him widen his grin, sparking his eyes with mischief.

“This is for us, baby,” he said, waiting for her reaction. “Do you trust me?”

She looked at him, nodding as a warm sensation spread within. She knew that whatever his plan was, she’d share it because she trusted him—without reservation. She’d been content here with him.

As she held his hand tightly, emotion flooded. Memories overwhelmed her in a rush and tears surfaced in the ocean blue pools, but he was proposing that they would thrive and flourish—beginning tonight.

She realized she hadn’t answered his question. A tear fell as she realized all that he had done based on the hope that she
did
trust him. Her answer came out as a whisper…

“
With my life…
”

That made him very happy. He directed her attention to the décor around the house that had grown to become their home.

“Does this meet your approval?” he asked.

As she moved her eyes away from his face, she clutched at his arm. Her excitement grew as her knees became weak. The enormity of what he had undertaken made her breathless.

Every detail had been attended to. The dining table had been turned into a beautiful buffet of soft creams and blues. Starfish and seashells were placed throughout as decorations of the home they shared. Furniture had been moved throughout the room, and she noted that chairs were scattered around for a crowd larger than his original dinner. Her eyes then caught the focal point.

Centered amongst the china, silver, and linens was the symbol of what he’d hoped for tonight.

A wedding cake.

Layer upon layer of soft buttercream indented with symbols of the ocean they loved commanded her sight and attention. It was thoughtfully designed. Up on the very top sat a delicate starfish, its hand touching upon a very large but ragged seashell. She knew who the symbols depicted, and she was touched.