Revelation: A Contemporary Erotic Romance (Iris Series) (41 page)

“Jon and I have tossed around the idea of having Thanksgiving down here, so we’ll see.  I’m gonna try to get Taylor to come down over Columbus Day, so you’ll meet her, I’m sure.  I’m also gonna see if I can convince Mark to come with her.  You guys are like two peas in a pod.”

“Why does that not sound like a compliment?” he said, his tone wry.

She laughed.  “He’s a ladies’ man, rides a chopper, and is always pulling pranks.  He gets that last part from Aunt April.”

He chuckled.  “I’m looking forward to meeting all of them.  And for the record, I’m only one lady’s man from this point on.”  There was a moment of silence before Mike whispered, “I love you.”

She swallowed and looked up at him, lifting her head off of his chest.  He was looking at her so tenderly and she couldn’t remember ever feeling so cherished and loved.  She reached her hand up and stroked his cheek.

“What made you say that all of the sudden?”

“It’s not all of the sudden,” he murmured.  “I’m thinking about it all of the time.”

“Mike,” she breathed.  “I love you so much.  I still can’t believe this is happening.”

He pulled her up his body so he could kiss her then he pulled back and said, “Well, believe it.  I love you.  I can’t wait to see what each day is gonna bring.  You’re gonna keep me on my toes, that’s for sure.”  His mouth kicked up into a lazy smile.

“As will you.”

“You wanna work out tomorrow night after work?  I can meet you at the studio.”

“Okay.  I can text you when I’m leaving the office.”

“Aren’t we just the domesticated couple?”  He reached his hand around and buried it in her hair pulling her head to his neck.  She bit at his earlobe.  He grunted out a laugh.  “Stay at my place tomorrow night.”

“Okay.”

“Bring clothes to keep there.”

She smiled, “Okay.”

“And I’ll do the same for here.”

She continued smiling then nodded.

“Maybe I should start looking for a bigger apartment.”  He watched her, looking like he was trying to gauge her reaction.  She tried to hide her surprise.

“I don’t think you need a bigger apartment, Detective.  I’m kinda small so I won’t take up much room.”

He gave her a ‘duh’ look, but refrained from speaking for the next few moments.  It wasn’t like him to tiptoe around the subject.  Deep inside she would love for them to live together, but she still had remnants of fear that all of this was too good to be true.  She didn’t want him to get bored with her.  If she was always around him, wouldn’t that happen?

“I’m giving you a big heads up.  I’m gonna want us to live together, sooner rather than later.  So start thinking about it,” Mike said, playing with her hair.  He had that determined look on his face.

“Really,” she said calmly.  “You don’t think that’s a little soon?”

“Nope.”  His eyes were daring her to disagree.

“You don’t think we’ll get tired of each other, always seeing each other?” she teased, trying to hide her fear.

He stilled and really looked at her.  “Em?”

“What?”  The air shifted and everything got really serious, really fast.

“I wanna come home each night and be able to see you, eat with you, work out with you, fight with you, talk about my day, listen to you talk about yours…make love and go to sleep with you every night.”  He paused.  “I want that.  I really want it.  And I’m not gonna be completely satisfied until I get it.”  He gave her a pointed look.  “Do you understand?”

Her eyes burned at the joy and terror she felt in that moment.  She nodded in response to his question.

“What are your thoughts on that?  Does it scare you?”

She looked away, “A little.  But not in the way you think.”

“How does it scare you?  Look at me.”

She did.  She needed to be honest about her feelings with him.  He was teaching her how to do it.  She was safe with him and there wasn’t another man in this world she could share her thoughts with so completely.

“I desperately want everything you just said.  And I only want it with you.”

“But?”

“But,” she let out a nervous breath, “I don’t –” Her eyes skittered to his then away again.  “I don’t want you to get tired of me.”

“You don’t think I have the same fears about you getting tired of
me
?” he asked, taking her face in his hands and forcing her to make eye contact with him.

“You don’t look like you’re afraid of anything,” Emily said.  “You astound me with how brutally honest you are, when you’re making yourself vulnerable.  I wish I could be half as
fearless as you when it comes to that kind of stuff.”

“Baby,” he said in a disbelieving voice.  “You’re crazy if you don’t think you’re a courageous person.”

“I mean in relationships.”

“Em, you need to know that I only make myself vulnerable with you because that’s the only way I wanna be with you.  I want that connection, where I can trust you with my deepest thoughts and dreams, and yes, fears.  I want our relationship to be complete.  I want you to feel the same.”

“I do.  I just need to get over my issues.”

“We all have ’em.”  He paused.  “You know what scares me the most?”

“What?”  She touched his face.

“Losing you.  I’ve seen enough shit in this job to know it can happen in the blink of an eye.  Some psycho on the street shoots you, or you get hit by a car. Or you wake up one morning and decide you don’t feel like this is working anymore.  Those things scare me to death.”  She continued touching his face then he said, “But you know what?  Fuck that.”

A half laugh, half sob escaped from her mouth.

“I’m not gonna live my life like that. 
We’re
not gonna live that way, because it’s not livin’.  If we find that things get a little dry in the relationship, then we spice it up.  We take control over the things we can control and don’t dwell on the things we can’t control.  Life is life.  Shit’s gonna happen.  We’ll figure it out together.”

Tears were streaming from her eyes.  “Mike,” she whispered.  “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Just for being you.”  She leaned up and kissed him fiercely.  “For your patience.  Your love.” 

“Trust me, babe.  I’ll be thanking you for the same thing in the coming weeks.  I can be a pain in the ass and I’m sure I’ll drive you crazy on a weekly basis.”

“You’re probably right,” she smiled, her eyes shining.

“Let’s get some pizza.”

She barked out a laugh. “That was quite a segue.”

“You build up my appetite.” 

They ordered their pizza and settled in for the rest of the day, relaxing, watching movies, talking and building that connection they both desperately wanted.

And before the day was through, Emily made good on her promise about them having each other again.  And she also made good on the other promise she’d made; she was on top.

The next couple of days seemed to move slowly.  Mike and Emily ended up working out the following evening, but at the last minute Mike was called into work so Emily stayed at her place that night alone.

The next day, Emily made her phone calls.  After speaking with her mom and her aunt, and listening to them squeal on the phone, they’d all begun making loose plans to get together over Thanksgiving.  She finally texted the girls to let them know that she’d talked to Mike and things were moving forward in the relationship.  Of course that wasn’t nearly specific enough, each one of them sending back text after text, peppering her with questions.  By the end of the day, everyone was in the know.

Even Joe and Terrence noticed a distinct difference in her appearance and demeanor.  Neither of them asked her questions, but each of them gave her inquisitive looks and she just smiled confidently.  They both appeared relieved and happy for her.

The last person she needed to talk to was Taylor.  She would wait until she was home after work to do that.  Mike was still on a case and was planning on staying with her that night, so rather than going to the Krav Maga studio, she went right home so she wouldn’t miss him.  They’d texted several times over the last 24 hours and couldn’t wait to see each other.

After eating something she’d scrounged up from the fridge, Emily settled in and dialed Taylor.

“Hey, stranger!” Taylor said when she picked up.  “I feel like we haven’t talked in forever.”

“I know.  Sorry about that.”

“We started the program this past week.  So far, so good,” she said excitedly.

“Nice!  How’s Mark doing?”

Taylor let out a little sigh.  “He’s great with the students.  I’m so glad he’s doing it.”

Emily was determined to get some info out of Taylor about her cousin, but before she could ask her questions about Mark, she figured she needed to come clean about Mike first.

“We knew he’d be great.”  She paused.  “So, listen.  I have something to tell you.”

“Ooh, this sounds good.  Or is it bad?  Is it bad news, Emmie?”  Taylor immediately went from joking to serious.

“No, it’s not bad news.”

“Okay,” she said with relief.  Then, as if Emily could picture her with her eyebrow up, Taylor asked with anticipation, “What’s goin’ on?”

“Well, you’ve heard me talk about the crew of friends I’ve met down here,” she began.

“Did something happen with you and Mike?” Taylor said in a gush of excitement.

“What?  How on earth –?” Emily sputtered.

“You may not realize this, but you talk about him every time you call. And the fact that you weren’t getting along with him was the red flag.”

“Geez, am I that obvious?” Emily grumbled.

“What the hell happened?  Did you hook up?”  Taylor was beyond happy.

“You can say that.”

“Details, Emmie.”

“We slept together on Labor Day,” Emily said, already cringing and anticipating the fallout about to happen.

“
Labor Day
?!  That was like friggin’ three weeks ago and I’m just finding out about this
now
?!”

“I know, I know.  Don’t be pissed.”

“What the hell, Em?  Have you been together all of this time?”

“No.  Not really.”

“You’re doing it again.  Something has been going on over the last three weeks and you didn’t call because you didn’t wanna bother me with something that was bothering
you
.”

“I’m the worst best friend ever.”

“No, you’re the
best
best friend ever.  To
me
.  But you won’t let me return the favor,” she said quietly.

“You’re right.”

“You’re still doing it, Em.  I don’t need you to protect me anymore, sweetie.  Come on, it’s been years now.  You’ve always been my rock and my strongest and staunchest protector.  But you have to stop, Em.  It’s not healthy for our friendship.”

“I know,” she grumbled, impatient with herself.  “If I’ve discovered anything over the last few weeks, it’s that I’m the biggest chickenshit on the East Coast and you’re the strongest person I’ve ever met.”

“Emmie,” Taylor sighed.  “Tell me what happened.”

She did, and didn’t scrimp on the details.  By the time Emily concluded the happenings of the month, she felt cleansed.  And she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would never hide things from this woman again.  Even though Emily’s primary reason in not sharing was to spare Taylor feeling pain for her, she realized now how arrogant Emily came across when she didn’t include Taylor in her life’s experiences, regardless of how good or bad they were.  Why Taylor continued to be her friend was beyond her.
             

“I cannot believe this,” Taylor murmured.  “So much has happened.  I mean this is huge.  Especially since it’s been
years
, Em.  And you’re in love.”  She sighed happily.  “Emmie.”

“I know.  And there’s more.”  She knew Taylor had been referring to Scott when she mentioned it had been years, so she told her about the two run-ins she’d had and that Mike had discovered where Scott was working.

“I can’t believe he’s down there.  Holy shit, I can’t imagine what you were thinking when you bumped into him.  The asshole.  He obviously hasn’t changed much.”

“No.  If anything, he’s worse.”

“Well, at least you know what building he’s in and you can avoid it when necessary,” she said dryly.  “I can’t wait to meet Mike.  He sounds perfect.  I’m so stinkin’ happy for you.”

“Thanks, Tee,” Em said, reverting back to Taylor’s nickname from way back.  “I can’t wait for you guys to meet either.”

“I imagine he’s convinced you that you’re not cold in the sack like the asshole did.”

Emily belly laughed.  “You can say that.”

“Things are good there?”

“Things are beyond good there,” she sighed happily.  She hoped Taylor would find a man just as good and wonderful.