AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The sun was dipping down below the horizon when Brandon put Reegan’s Ford F-150 in park outside their home.
Their home.
When had he switched over from thinking of the small row house as a borrowed home to claiming it as a homestead for him and his soon to be wife? Probably a second after she said yes to his proposal. He turned to her now, the last rays of the sun wrapped one of its tendrils around her cheek like a warm kiss.
Brandon wanted to take that trail. But he didn’t. Not after the brief, but stern, chat they’d had with Pastor Barrett. It would seem that the senior pastor wasn’t as enthused as Dr. Patel about their engagement.
The man had insisted on premarital counseling. Reegan had stepped forward. She’d agreed but on the condition that they receive their counseling from Pastor Patel a
nd not the man who’d stepped into the role of father to her since her own father had passed away.
Pastor Barrett had clearly wanted to argue. But Reegan’s jaw was set. Her chin was lifted high in defiance. Brandon hadn’t necessarily wanted to spend hours each week under the man’s disapproving glare, but he’d do it if that meant Reegan was the prize. Luckily, his bride to be was fierce, and the man of cloth acquiesced to her demands.
Now she sat comfortably in the passenger seat of her own vehicle, allowing Brandon to take the wheel. Something bloomed in Brandon’s chest. He knew that he would protect this woman with everything in his heart. He would strive every day to ease her way in this life.
Reegan turned to him then, a small smile on her beautiful face. Brandon’s breath caught. Though he still felt the claws of exhaustion right now, he pushed the feeling down. He didn’t want to miss the opportunity to have his first taste of his soon to be wife. He’d been dreaming of brushing his lips against hers since … well, since the first night he’d met her, and he’d fallen into the first contented sleep in months.
He parted his lips to take a deep breath, only to exhale a long yawn.
“Oh, are you tired?” asked Reegan.
“No, I’m not.” Yes, he was. He hadn’t gotten much sleep at all last night.
“I’m surprised after that nap you took during rehearsal.”
“I’m sorry about that.” He wrinkled his nose.
“I know some of the songs are boring and—”
“No, it wasn’t that. It was your voice.”
Her brows shot up in surprise. “My voice is boring?”
“No, no.” Brandon took another deep breath. This time it came out on a sigh and not a yawn. “Your voice is beautiful, peaceful.”
He searched for the words to make her understand the numbness he felt throughout the day. The incessant buzzing that ran through his head like a radio tuned to a defunct station.
“I told you it feels like a war raging in my mind,” he said. “The constant noise and images keep me on high alert, keeps my adrenaline up. But when I hear you sing, it all just stops. And because it stops, I can rest.”
She nodded, understanding clear in her blue eyes. “We can go inside and lay down.” The moment the words left her lips her cheeks flushed a crimson red. “I didn’t mean like that. I mean—I know we’re getting married. And it’s a marriage of convenience—”
Putting his arms around her waist, he pulled her to him, effectively hushing her errant thoughts. But also putting a point on the statement he was making. “I need you to understand that this marriage is more than a convenience for me.”
“It is?” Her voice was breathless. Her eyes kept dipping down to his mouth.
Brandon had to swallow when she wet her lower lip. He was fascinated with everything that came out of her mouth. Including the small pink of her tongue. She could probably start quacking like a duck, and he'd be rapt with attention.
“Reegan, I wanted to kiss you since the first time I heard you open your mouth.”
“Oh.” She looked down. “Because my voice puts you to sleep.”
He chuckled. With his other hand, he tilted up her chin so that he could gaze directly in her eyes. His thumb brushed over her lower lip, giving himself a preview of what he was about to sample.
“Your voice gives me peace,” he said. “Being with you gives me purpose. This marriage is more than about a home. Reegan, I want to give you the world.”
“Oh,” she sighed. Her warm breath brushed the tip of his thumb. “That’s funny.”
“Funny?”
