AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I told the truth. I wanted to help you.”
“I’m grateful, but I need more help. I need you by my side, and in my corner, telling me I can do it when I get frustrated, or kicking my ass if I slack off. I’ll need support. Literally.” His lips tipped up into the barest of smiles. “I’ll be an unemployed student.” He stood there, hi
s unfaltering blue gaze locked on her. “Can I count on you to be there for me?”
She opened her mouth and tried to find her voice, but emotions choked her. He wanted her. He needed her. Not space. Her.
“I want to be there for you, too, and for Joy. I want to be the man who walks her down the aisle someday.”
Madison drew in a painful laugh. “You don’t want anyone to touch her until she’s thirty.”
“Not even then. But I do want to be the one who stands up for her and lets that poor bastard know he’s going to have to deal with me if he ever fucks up.”
Rachel swung around the corner and stopped. “Oh boy. You must be Hunter. Um, ladies, I can help you down here.”
“I want one of those, to go,” the tallest one said, pointing at Hunter. The others nodded.
He squeezed her hand. “We’re holding up the line, baby. Let me get down to the point. I know you wish we’d met on a random afternoon over a screwed-up coffee order, but I wouldn’t trade the way I met you for anything, because I’m not going to regret a single instant of the most important moment of my life. This might have started as me rescuing you, and maybe my so-called hero complex did play a part in drawing us together, but it’s not what draws me to you now. You don’t need saving, but I hope you still need me, because I love you. I love your stubborn, prideful, independent, soft, generous heart.” He took her wrist, turned it palm side up, and dropped something in the center of her hand. “You signed your letter ‘Love Always.’ Did you mean it? Yes or no, Madison.” He drew his hand away. She stared at the small black box.
A series of gasps and one, “Hot damn, he’s serious,” reached her buzzing ears. She clasped the top of the box with shaking fingers and flipped it open. Light dazzled and danced over the facets of the diamond solitaire nestled in white satin. “I…I…” She struggled to find the air to say what was in her heart but only managed a whispered, “Yes.”
Applause and “awws” surrounded them as he slipped the ring on her finger and then leaned across the counter and swept her into a kiss. When he broke away they were both breathing hard, but she sank her fingers into his hair and pulled him down for another. He held back, and she saw a measure of the heartache she’d endured these last few days reflected in his face. His growl of a question confirmed it. “What the hell were you thinking, leaving like that?”
“I’m sorry. I love you, too, and I thought you needed space.”
“I’m going to show you exactly what I need, Madison. It’s going to take a while—possibly the rest of my damn life—so I’d like to get started as soon as possible. What time do you get done here?”
“Soon.” She kissed him again.
“Good. Consider this a Code 3 emergency. I require a hot response.”
“Hunter Knox, I’ll always come to your rescue.”
Epilogue
Madison raised her soapy face to the shower spray and then sucked in a startled breath—and a mouthful of water—when an arm slid around her waist. A second later she found her back pressed against a wide, hard chest.
“Who’s interrupting my shower?”
“Your husband.” The response vibrated through his chest and along her spine. Another arm banded her waist and flutters started low in her belly. “Remember him?”
She turned her head away from the streaming water and smiled. “That’s impossible. My husband’s a second year resident, and he just got off a twenty-four-hour shift. He’s fast asleep.”
“Do I need to show you my ID?”
“You carry identification in the shower?”
“I sure do, baby. Hold on…there you go.”
His “ID” nestled into the divide between her butt cheeks. A shiver danced through her, despite the hot water. “Hmm. Let me check it.” She reached around, grabbed a handful of his chiseled backside, and hugged him to her at the same time she squeezed his glutes.
The move produced a low groan from him. “Damn, I like the way you verify, woman.”
Her laugh turned to a squeal when he growled, “You know what else I like?” and then cupped her breasts.
“I did kind of”—oh, God, he massaged gently and her knees went weak—“pick up on that.”
“They’re a couple of my favorite things.”
