Blue Roses (16 page)

We pull the bike into the hospital parking lot. Luca’s arms are wrapped around me, and I’m the one steering the bike.

Luca says it’s my bike now, but I think it’s too early in the relationship for such extravagant gifts. We’ve only been back together for a few months, but by the way things are going, I’ll probably relent and start calling it my bike soon.

The doctors didn’t want Luca riding while his foot was still in the cast. They did say he could go on a few rides, but only if someone else drove. I think that suggestion was a joke on the doctor’s part, but Luca called a friend that night to set me up with lessons.

I like riding. I like the rumble of the engine, and the way leaning from side to side for balance feels like your whole body is connecting with motion. It’s great exercise, too. I could never have muscles like Luca’s but I’m building strength and balance.

And I look really hot in black leather pants.

Luca hops off the bike on his boot side and waits for me to get under his arm. The bad part about taking the bike anywhere is there’s no way we’re taking the crutches. People already stare enough as it is, with a girl in front and the guy with a big cast on his foot.

We hop our way into the waiting room and take a seat.

Luca is excited about getting the cast off. We brought with us a new pair of boots that lace up, so he doesn’t strain the mending bone.

I pick up a magazine, and Luca sighs.

I put down the magazine again and turn to him. “What’s going on?”

He grins. “My foot is aching a bit. Slide over here and give me some sugar.”

I glance around the waiting room. There are a few people reading magazines, pretending they didn’t hear him.

This has been our little game for the last several weeks. He only took painkillers for the first two days after the accident, then he switched over to “natural” painkillers. The treatments involve me kissing or massaging him, or the other way around. I can’t say I mind the “natural” approach at all.

He puts his arm around me and steals a long kiss. His lips ignite my passionate feelings instantly. I pull away quickly, before I embarrass myself by moaning in public, here in this hospital waiting room.

He leans over and nuzzles in my ear, “Let me see it.”

I turn and give him a shocked look. “I’m wearing jeans,” I whisper.

He rolls his yes. “I mean your little O face.”

My cheeks feel hot. “Have you lost your mind?”

He tugs up my shirt, exposing my midriff. “There it is,” he says.

I yank my shirt down. One of the ladies across from us smiles. She probably thinks I’m having a baby—which I most certainly am not. I’m on birth control now, and while having a baby is definitely an option for the future, it’s not happening just yet.

He pulls my shirt up again and says, “O face.”

I pull it down again. “What’s gotten into you? What O face?”

“This one.” He lifts my shirt and points to three little freckles that form a triangle above my belly button. “Eye, eye, nose.” He pokes my navel. “Mouth. See? It’s a face, and the mouth is open like it’s saying O.”

Suddenly, a whole bunch of things make sense.

“Is that why I catch you talking to my stomach sometimes?”

“Do I do that?”

“Yes, you do.” I shake my head, letting out a small laugh of relief. “I thought maybe you were obsessed with getting me pregnant or something.”

He pulls back, his eyes wide. “Easy now.”

“Well, what was I supposed to think?” I tug my shirt back down. “Not that I even want that sort of thing right now.”

“Of course not. We have to get married first, and tour the world, of course. Should we get married in a vineyard, or just go there for the honeymoon?”

I blink at him. “Did you take one of those Vicodin? Where’s this wedding talk coming from?”

He pulls away from me and reaches into the pocket of his leather jacket. He clears his throat, and eases himself down onto his knee in front of me.

“Tina, I have a question for you.”

Now everyone in the waiting room is looking our way.

My cheeks are feeling very hot, and my pulse is rushing in my ears.

My voice is high and stretched thin. “Yes, Luca?”

He pulls from his pocket the tiniest diamond ring in existence. It’s the same size as the other charms on my charm bracelet.

He frowns down at the ring. “That’s funny. It seemed bigger in the store. Wait a minute. Hold onto this.” He drops the charm into my shaking hand.

He reaches into his pocket again, and this time he pulls out a ring made to fit on my finger.

The ring is the second most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen is Luca’s blue eyes, glistening as he looks up at me and asks, “Will you marry me?”

I’m so overcome with emotion that I barely choke out, “Yes.”

I lean forward and wrap my arms around his big shoulders.

The other patients and nurses around us clap and cheer.

This isn’t the way most people get engaged. They don’t do it in a hospital waiting room, in front of a giant mural of ducks flying over a lake.

Some of the worst moments of my life have happened here in this waiting room. I don’t know if Luca has sensed that, or if he was planning to propose tonight at our fancy dinner and simply decided he couldn’t wait.

As he pushes the ring onto my finger, the world comes apart at all its seams. Time is no longer linear, and every moment of my life is happening at the same time. I can see the future as easily as the past, and it doesn’t matter what has happened or what will happen.

I’m going to marry Luca Lowell. We’ll fight, but we’ll never give up, and we’ll never walk away mad.

It doesn’t matter that it took a broken foot for us to reconnect. In my heart, I know we would have, one way or another.

It doesn’t matter that we’re getting engaged in a hospital waiting room.

It doesn’t matter that nothing lasts forever, or that some things are too big to ever get over.

All that matters is this moment, what we feel, and what we choose to care about.

Love matters.

And, of course, friends, and family, and learning how to ride a bike, and learning how to make up after a fight.

Trust. Hope. Compassion.

But above all else, love.

THE END of BLUE ROSES

This is the end of Baker Street Romance #1, but you can spend more time with these characters in book #2, which is about Tina's sister, Megan, a.k.a. "Meenie." There are appearances by Tina, Luca, Rory, and a few other surprises! You'll definitely see shy Rory again, in her own book.

The next Baker Street Romance novel is called COMPLICATED GIRL, Baker Street Romance #2. It's being released on May 5, 2014.

For retailer links, do a search on your favorite bookseller site for "Complicated Girl by Mimi Strong" or visit
www.mimistrong.com
for all the links, Mimi's bio, news, and more!