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I smile. “I know. I’ve even met her. Still can’t believe she married you.”
“Watch your mouth, boy,” the sheriff shoots back, sounding not at all upset. “She’s a woman of fine taste. Now, about your young bride…”
My fingers clench tight on my trouser leg as I narrow my eyes at my phone. Brian, I can take with warnings and advice—although those have calmed right down from the moment I put a ring on Brandi’s finger—but my boss? Fuck no.
Still, I rein it in and keep my voice even and say, “She’s also a woman of fine taste?”
“Hell, no. But she made her choice and now she’s stuck with your miserable ass.” He laughs at his own joke, then adds, “I just thought since you’ve been working hard and I know there isn’t much free time that you might want to take a long weekend—I’ve already worked it out with dispatch—so take your new bride for a mini honeymoon. I know it’s not much, but it’s the best I can do on short notice. People defer these things these days, but I figure something, even if it’s three days, will set you two up right. And I even have a little cabin you can use…”
The joy on Brandi’s face when we finally get there is utterly priceless. She wraps her arms around her waist and smiles like she can’t wipe it away as she takes in the simple, comfortable cabin a few hours later.
I look away and stoke the fire so its golden light climbs higher and I stand. As cabins go, this is pretty nice. We aren’t exactly in the wilderness, but we aren’t in the little town either, so it has that feel of being isolated with all the comforts a person might need a short car trip away.
Plus, it has heat on top of the wood stove that I’m currently standing in front of.
“This was so nice of the sheriff,” she says. “I didn’t… I didn’t expect it at all.”
I frown. “The cabin?”
“No, this.” She drops her arms and spreads her hands. “You. The honeymoon.”
“You deserve this, and so much more.”
“No. It’s perfect. You’re perfect. It’s…”
And there she goes again, stopping herself from whatever it is she was going to say.
“You deserve more.”
“This is enough, Travis.”
I glance around and start to doubt myself. Is it? It’s certainly better than no honeymoon at all and I feel like a complete asshole for not being the one to come up with the plan in the first place. If it weren’t for the sheriff thinking on his feet and making the plans for us, I’d be stuck with my thumb up my ass.
I meant it. Brandi deserves so much more than this. And I should have been the one to make sure it happens. And while I watch the smile on her face, with the dim orange light of the fire dancing along her skin, I swear to myself that I will make her dreams come true.
But for now, yeah, this is okay.
The lace curtains in the window will let the light in during the day but give us privacy, and a big bed with a cheery wedding ring design that reminds me of the one that had adorned my grandparents’ bed when I was a child takes up a chunk of real estate in the cabin.
In the corner is the kitchenette and a small table and near the fire a green sofa with fat pillows and a worn rug on the floor.
Best of all, Brandi.
Mine.
“You like it, for real?”
She nods. “It’s wonderful. Then again, anywhere with you would be.”
“Right back at you.”
“Travis, I wasn’t expecting any of this.” Her gaze is on me and I get the feeling she is talking more than the mini surprise honeymoon.
And the way the light hits her again, glancing over her turning body, makes my stomach clench.
She’s wearing a pretty floral dress, long-sleeved, that comes to just above her knees. She’s already lost her coat and hoodie as the cabin warms, and standing there like that with oversized wool socks on her feet, I don’t think I’ve seen anything sexier.
“I like your dress, baby.”
