SEAL's Baby (Navy SEAL Secret Baby Romance) (61 page)

CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO

AMBER

When I first glanced up and saw the man in
the tuxedo and the black Stetson hat I thought, “Wow, he favors Kyle.” That
didn’t surprise me. I found myself looking for him everywhere I went and often
found someone who looks like him. I chastise myself for it all the time. It’s a
sickness to be so attracted to men who treat you poorly – my therapist had told
me so more than once. I started to ignore him even though he was staring at
me…but then I saw he cane. I looked back up and realized that those hazel eyes
were unmistakably his. My body was shaking so hard, I wasn’t even sure if I
trusted it to hold me up as I stood.
What
is he doing here?
I started towards him and he towards me. We stopped about
three feet from each other.

“Hi, Amber,” he said it as if we’d only
just seen each other last week. It has been six months to the day and every one
of those days has been like torture.

“Kyle, what are you doing here?”

“Um…” he adjusted himself with the cane.
Why is he using a cane…and he’s so thin…
“I was hoping we could talk,” he said at last.

“Kyle, are you okay? Are you sick?”

“Can we sit down?” I looked at the time.
It was still a little over an hour before I had to board my flight. If he’d
looked well, I liked to think I would have been strong enough not to give him
the time of day. He’d literally broken my heart – all of me, as a matter of
fact. But something wasn’t right and no matter how angry I still wanted to be with
him, I didn’t want to see him sick or hurt.

“Okay.” He followed me over to a seating
area where there wasn’t anyone else for a few rows and we sat down. He looked
like whatever he came to say was sticking in his throat. I thought about
running into Sarah the other day and I knew she must have sent him. “Kyle,
what’s going on?”

“I don’t know where to start,” he said.
“My sister told me once that the reason people get married and stay married is
because they can’t imagine living without the other person. At the time I made
a crack about that being a silly romantic notion. But the truth is Amber, I’ve
tried living without you so many times since I met you – and I just can’t. I
mean, I wake up every morning and I’m still breathing. But you can ask anyone…
I’m not living. I only wake up because I have to and the only reason I keep
breathing is because I know you’re somewhere not too far away breathing the
same air. I never stopped loving you, Amber. I can’t stop loving you and I
don’t want to live without you.”

My eyes were burning with tears. They
were, in part, angry tears.
How dare he
put me through this and then show up when I’m finally getting on with my life
and tell me all of the things I so desperately needed to hear months ago?
“Until the next time you decide we should see other people, right?”

He looked down at the floor and swallowed
hard before looking back up at me. There were tears in his eyes, too. “I never
saw anyone else, Amber. For me, there is no one else. Since the day I realized
I could never love Callie the way I love you, I haven’t as much as thought
about being with another woman. There’s only you and if I can’t ever be with
you again…then I’ll be alone.”

My head was spinning, my heart was aching,
and my limbs were shaking so hard my teeth were chattering. “I don’t
understand, Kyle. Why are you doing this to me?”

“I’m so sorry, baby. I thought I was doing
it for you. The day I went to the doctor and I told you everything was good…and
then I told you that made me want to live my life and be with other people, I
lied. The tumor was not only back, it was cancer. All I could think about were
the nights I held you while you trembled because of what you’d been through
with Dylan. At that time, my prognosis was up in the air and I couldn’t ask you
to marry me knowing there was a good possibility of leaving you a widow and
making you go thorough watching me shrivel up and die…”

“Oh, Kyle… Jesus, you are so stupid.”

He laughed and wiped a tear away that
rolled out of his pretty eyes. “I’m not going to argue with that.”

“Kyle, when you love someone, it’s not
only about the fun and the good times. Truly loving someone means that you
actually want to be there for them when they’re sick or hurt or just having a
bad day. Let me ask you a question. Did you enjoy being with me the nights I
woke up screaming after I’d had a dream about Dylan?”

He looked like he was thinking about it
and then he said, “I don’t think enjoy is the right word, but I was glad I was
there, for you.” I looked at him for a long time before I saw it click on his
face. “I just love you so much, Amber. I hate the thought of making you
unhappy…” That clicked, too, and I let it settle in before I said,

“You did make me unhappy by pushing me
away. I’ve never been unhappier than when I wasn’t with you. Oh, Kyle…life is
never going to be perfect, but the beauty of it is having someone to share it
all with.” I reached up and took off his hat. His hair was growing back in
places. It was soft-looking and fuzzy like a baby chick. I ran my fingers
through it. “You poor thing… God, I wish that you would have let me be there
for you.”

“You’re right. I’m an idiot. The next time
I think I’m doing the right thing, I guess I should run it by someone else
first. The cancer is gone, for the most part. I have to still do another thirty
radiation treatments, but the prognosis is good. Is there any possibility you
would consider giving me another chance?”

I sat his hat back on his head and put my
hand on his thin face. He was pale and drawn, and his suit looked like he
bought it before he lost fifty pounds…but he was still the most beautiful man
I’d ever seen. I considered playing hard to get a little bit and making him
work for it, but the truth was I know we’re not playing here. This was the most
real thing I’d ever felt in my life and I couldn’t even pretend that it wasn’t.
“Only if you promise that you’ll always be honest with me…and that you’ll never
leave me again.”

The tears were already spilling down my
cheeks as he took my hand and said, “I promise to always be honest.” He started
to slide down off the chair then to the floor. He was struggling with it and I
wanted to help him, but I knew that would only embarrass him. I could hardly
see through the tears as I realized what he was doing. Once he was on one knee
he continued, “I also promise I will never leave you again. I brought a ring in
case you wanted proof of that.” He smiled and blinked his eyes a few times
before saying, “Amber Reed Scott, you are the best thing that has ever happened
to me and I’m sorry that I’m so stupid. I wanted to do this six months ago and
I should have. Will you please consider marrying me? After my hair grows back
and I can walk right again.” He grinned when he said the last part. He’s fought
so hard through all of this and I was so proud of him. I’d gladly walk down the
aisle with him, even pushing a wheelchair with him as bald as an eagle. I was
not in love with his hair or his ability to walk. I was in love with his soul
and it consumed me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, and it
felt so good to touch him. He put his arms around my upper back and held me
there. This was what I missed the most. I never felt safer than when I was in
his arms. When I finally got ahold of myself I pulled back and said, “Yes.”

“Yes, you’ll marry me?”

I laughed and wiped at my face. “Yes, I’d
love nothing more than to be your wife. I’d marry you right now Kyle – today.”
He hugged me again and then he started planting kisses all over my face. When
he pulled back, he was smiling. He took the ring out of the box and slipped it
onto my left hand. It fit perfectly – just like he and I do. I rested my arms
on his shoulders and leaned down so that our lips met. Time and space mean
nothing where my feelings for this man are concerned. The kiss was as explosive
as the first one we ever shared, even more so when I thought about the fact
that I was going to fall asleep and wake up with that kiss on my lips every day
for the rest of my life. I looked down at his tux again and said, “Kyle? Can I
ask you something?”

“Anything.”

I giggled. “Did you rent that tux just to
ask me to marry you?”

He grinned. “No, but if it helped you say
yes, I’m keeping it.”

“You look really handsome in it. Why are
you wearing a tux?”

“Greg got married today.”

I pulled my face up and looked at him to
see if he was kidding. “Greg? Married?”

Laughing, he said, “Yep…it’s proof.”

“Proof of what?”

“That love really does conquer all. He was
my inspiration for coming here today.”

“Well then, now I’m his biggest fan.”

“Do you want to go eat some wedding cake
and have a glass of champagne with me?”

I thought about my luggage and the seven
hundred dollar airline ticket, but only for half a second before I said, “I’d
love to. I’ll drive…”

He struggled to his feet and I handed him
his cane and stood up. He took my hand and said, “How about we come back later
for your car? I’ve always wanted to make out in a limo…”

I wasn’t sure if he was serious about the
limo, but making out with him sounded like heaven. “I love you, Kyle.”

He stopped walking and looked at me and
said, “I love you more.” He was wrong, but I could live with letting him think
that.

Get my next book.
Click here to continue.

Get my
never released free book Boarded for a limited time.

Click
here to get your free book

BLIND
LOVE

By
Erin Wes

This
book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are
products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not
to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual
events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Copyright
© 2016 Erin Wes

PART
1

Chapter
One

Dylan

“Why are these
houses so far apart?”

I sighed. If I was
going to find the right car to steal, I knew I had to find the right house. So
far, no one had left the keys in the car. Maybe rich people never did that.
Poor people did because they didn’t expect anyone to take their crappy cars.

Needing a new
computer and with my mother getting fired once again, I knew that I had to take
desperate measures. With a new computer, I could do my programming homework at
home instead of school. The computers at school were crappy, and I could never
get enough time on them in class.

I spied a
Mercedes. That could get a good price. My cousin boosted cars and he’d shown me
where I could sell it to get cash. That would be one sweet computer.

My stomach
rumbled. Right. I hadn’t had dinner and the low income lunch had been hours
ago. The night was turning chilly, and I needed to get this done. I hadn’t
brought a jacket because I had no idea where it was. Knowing my mother, she
sold it.

I looked around.
No one on the street. Being twilight, everyone was probably having dinner.
Something I might have to skip tonight – unless I found some ketchup packets in
the refrigerator.

I sighed. This
life sucks and with that computer, I can make a better one. I didn’t feel bad
for stealing the car because they had insurance. They could buy another one.

I thanked my luck
that the car was in the driveway instead of the garage. A silver Mercedes
E-class. I’d bet it had all the bells and whistles. It would be a sweet ride to
the chop shop. The porch light on the McMansion turned on, so I froze standing
behind a tree. There was a light on in a front window, but I couldn’t see
anyone in the room. No one came out of the house.

I stalked up to
the car, then pulled on the handle to the driver’s side door. It was unlocked,
but the dome light came on and the car dinged. The key was inside.

Sweet. I hopped in
and slumped down. If anyone looked out, they wouldn’t see me. There was no
movement, from what I could tell. I had just let out a breath I’d been holding,
when the passenger door opened.

My heart raced,
but I froze instead of jumping out of the car. A hand clamped onto my arm,
which should have energized me, but it didn’t.

I looked up into
the stern face of the man who probably owned the car.

“Son, what the
hell do you think you’re doing?”

My lips moved, but
I could form no words. I’d been caught doing petty stuff. My life as a criminal
had not been smooth. Ever. Auto theft was big deal – this was real jail time.

“Uh.”

“That’s all you
got?” he said.

He’d probably
already called the cops, so I’d better run, but the man had a strong grip and I
couldn’t pull free. “I’m sorry.”

The man chuckled.
He was laughing at me? It wasn’t a maniacal laugh, but it sent chills through
me, anyway. “Oh, son. I’m guessing you’ve never done this before.”