She hiccupped.
“And if you tell me it’s really over, I’ll turn and leave. Because that’s what you want.” His voice broke on the last word. “Please tell me that’s not what you want.”
“It’s not what I want,” she whispered.
“Then we’ll work through this, because I love you.”
He loved her? She glanced to him then.
“And eventually, we’d get married,” he continued. “Or we can just live together. I’ll be good with whatever you want.” He took a long breath. “And if you want kids, we’ll have kids. If you don’t want kids, I can live with that, too.” He paused. “Because I’ll be the luckiest man in the world if I get to sleep next to you every night.”
“Oh my gosh…” Claire said, reminding Heather they weren’t alone.
Brek shushed her.
“And we won’t break up?” Heather stood, facing him, letting the blanket drop to the floor.
“Not as long as you’ll have me.” He trailed a fingertip along her jawline.
“Okay.” She nodded. They’d do this. All of it.
He kissed her then—lips and tongue and heat and fire.
“Why the uniform?” she asked when he broke the kiss. “I thought you didn’t wear it anymore?”
“You said you liked a guy in uniform, and I figured it’s time to stop running from my past.”
She touched the air over one of the medals attached to the jacket, afraid to actually place her hand on it. “But isn’t this breaking the rules? It’s not a wedding or a funeral or an important event.”
“Heather.” He pulled her hand against his heart, pressing her palm against the medal she’d admired. “Convincing you to give me another chance definitely counts as an important event.”
She gulped, her throat suddenly thick with an emotion she couldn’t quite name.
He lifted a shoulder. “Also, figured since you are into uniforms, I could use all the help I could get.”
She buried her face in his chest. “You’re such a goober.”
“Yeah.” He raised his hand to the back of her neck, holding it there. “Your goober.”
He was hers.
She traced the line of his abs through the poly-cotton blend. Yes, abs like the ones on Jase Dvornakov definitely made her reconsider swearing off men.
“I love you, Jase.”
“That’s what I was counting on.” And he kissed her again.
Epilogue
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Heather sat next to Jase on her sofa. Their sofa.
He’d moved in shortly after they’d agreed to give it another try. It made sense. They spent all their nights together, anyway.
“Positive,” he replied.
He said it, but she couldn’t help but notice the way his fingers tapped against his knee. He was nervous. He never got nervous. Not like this.
She grabbed the remote control for the television. Since he’d moved in, she’d only watched when he wasn’t around. The night he showed up in his dress whites he’d shared everything about the accident overseas. The accident that had changed it all for him.
