Stitched Up Heart (Combat Hearts Book 1) (37 page)

Denise wiped Bree’s cheek with the back of her fingers. “Just think of all the new stuff you’ll have to talk to Dr. Tailor about. She’s probably sick of hearing about the same old shit.”

Bree snorted and blew out a snot bubble. Denise threw her head back and laughed while Bree glared at her. She put her hand over her nose and sniffed. “Get me a tissue, you cow.”

Jase grabbed two from the box by the bed and held them out. Bree replaced her hand with them. “Can you leave the room while I blow my nose?”

He chuckled. “No.”

“Fine. Don’t blame me if it grosses you out.” She blew her nose, then laid the wadded up remains on the corner of the table tray.

Detective Johnson approached her bed. A smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Thank you for answering my questions.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I may have more later. We’re already coordinating with hospital administration at Fort Bragg to talk to the people you work with.”

She sighed. Maybe she could talk Jase into running away to Aruba and not deal with it.

“Take care.” Detective Johnson touched two fingers to his forehead and left.

A yawn overtook her, and she covered her mouth with the back of her bandaged arm.

“I’m heading out,” Denise said. “Gran texted while you were talking to the detective. She’ll be here around two. Plenty of time to take a nap.”

“Okay.”

Denise laid her forehead against Bree’s again. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Me too.”

Denise kissed her cheek. “Later, Jase.”

“Later.” He didn’t look away from Bree. He raised her fingers to his lips, his eyes twinkling over the back of her hand. “I love you. Snot bubbles and all.”

Her face flamed. So undignified. Never mind she’d been lying in a hospital bed for three days.

His smile faded. Her breath caught in her throat as his look became grim. “You can’t ever leave me, Bree. For any reason. You hold my heart together.”

Tears welled up again. She blew another snot bubble.

“H
appy birthday…tooooo yooouuu.” The final line of the song trailed off. Everyone clapped and cheered as Gran took a deep breath and blew out her candles. All twenty-nine of them.

Bree squeezed her tight. “Happy birthday, Gran.”

“Thank you, darling girl.” She kissed Bree’s cheek before she turned to accept more hugs and well wishes.

Bree left the cake-cutting to the catering staff and made her way to the side of the large party room where Jase stood with his parents and Denise. Several extended family members and friends stopped her along the way, and it took several minutes to reach the small group.

“Denise broke off as she approached. “I’m getting a refill.” She shook her empty wine glass. “You want one?”

“God, yes. I was going to get one on my way here, but my aunt Amelia is at the bar and I know she’ll ask awkward questions about my sex life.”

Denise glanced sideways at Jase. “Especially when she gets a good look at him.”

“I’m surprised she hasn’t tried to corner him already.”

“I’ll head her off if I see her walking this way.”

“Thanks.”

The resemblance between Jase and his father was uncanny, although he got his eyes from his mother. Bree walked right under his outstretched arm and wrapped her arm around his waist. “Thank you for coming, Mr. and Mrs. Larken. I’m glad you were able to fit this into your trip.”

“Nonsense. We’re honored to be invited. I think it’s fabulous your grandmother celebrates the anniversary of her twenty-ninth birthday.”

Bree grinned. “She’s been doing it for as long as I can remember. When I was little, I didn’t understand why she stayed the same age.”

“And please, call me Melissa.” She tilted her head to her husband, who rested a hand on her shoulder. “You can call him whatever name he’s earned at the time.”

Bree pulled her lips between her teeth and tried to suppress her smile.

Jase let out an exasperated sigh. “What’d you do this time, Dad?”

He opened his mouth to answer.

“He was complaining about how all his children are involved with Air Force people,” Melissa said.

“That’s alright, Melissa,” Bree said. “We all make mistakes in life and have to learn from them. Some have to learn the hard way.” A grin spread across Jase’s father’s face until Bree continued. “By joining the Army.”

Melissa threw her head back and laughed. Jase kissed Bree’s temple, probably to hide the smile she felt.

Jases’s dad cast a glare at his giggling wife. He held his hand out for Bree to shake. “Bill. You can call me Bill.”

Bree smiled and shook his hand. “How was your drive?”

“Long,” Melissa said. “He insisted on taking back roads the whole way here. The drive took twice as long as it should have.”

“It wasn’t twice as long, woman.”

“Three-and-a-half hours is almost twice as long.”

Bree leaned close to Jase. “Are they always like this?” she asked under her breath.

He put his mouth close to her ear. “Pretty much. I don’t know what they’d do if they didn’t have something to argue about.”

His voice sent shivers down her spine. Was immediately after blowing out the candles too soon for them to leave?

She watched his parents argue, but it was easy to tell there was no heat or anger behind the words. “At least I know you came by your bossiness naturally.”

He smirked. “Yup. Got it from Mom.”

She looked at him like he was crazy. “So not was I was thinking.”

Denise rejoined them and handed Bree a glass of wine. “Ms. Mary is shagging.”

“What?” Jase asked.

Bree blinked twice, then laughed. “Did someone tell you to tell on her?”

Denise stared at her blankly. “No. Ms. Mary told me to tell you, she’s shagging.”

“Why is old people having sex interesting?” Jase asked.

His mom and Denise laughed. “What? No…” Bree shook her head. “Not…” She faked a shudder. “I need to go bleach my brain, now.”

“Shag dancing,” Bill said. “Lots of shaggin’ on the Carolina coast.” He winked at Bree.

“Bree!” Her name rang out across the room, and she glanced over her shoulder at the small wood dance floor. Ms. Mary waved her arm. “Come shag with me.”

A wide grin spread across Jase’s face. “My mind isn’t wired to think of that as anything other than an invite to—”

Bree slapped a hand over his mouth. “Quit talking. I’m going to go dance and make sure she doesn’t throw out a hip.” She removed her hand and planted a kiss on his mouth.

“Oh, yeah. I like her,” she heard Melissa say as she walked away. Her smile was instantaneous. Yeah, she liked them too.

Ms. Mary decided to lead. They danced for two songs before the DJ switched to sixties music, and people wanting to shake their tail feathers and twist overran the dance floor. Maneuvering through the crush of bodies, Bree approached the bar and asked for a glass of water. She scanned the room until she found Jase sitting with Gran.

They were in an intense conversation. Jase leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees. His look was serious, fierce even.

Her heart pounded in her chest and the blood rushed in her ears. Not again. “Fuck.” She set her glass on the bar and almost missed the edge. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity-fuck.” She made a beeline for Denise, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her into the far corner of the room, dropping f-bombs the entire way.

“Holy shit, woman. What is wrong?”

Bree felt light-headed. “Jase is talking to Gran.”

Denise’s nose scrunched and she frowned. “Okay?”

“Look at them.” She paced back and forth in the corner.

“What am I looking at?”

“I’m having flashbacks to last year. I can’t do it again.” She put her hand over her chest. “Fuck. What am I going to do?”

“Stop.” Denise grabbed her shoulders. “He knows how it went down, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright. One, he’s not an asshat, so he’s not going to do the same thing. Two, if I’m wrong and he is an asshat, then I’ll grab you and we’ll run out of here. Okay?”

That made sense. She was overreacting. Even if he was going to ask her to marry him, he wouldn’t do it here and now.

Although his parents were here.

Did she even want to be engaged again?

To Jase?

Absolutely.

“Are you calm?” Denise asked.

She swallowed around the lump in her throat and nodded.

“Right. Let’s do a shot.”

“Shots are good.”

Denise linked her arm through Bree’s and led her back to the bar. Two lemon drops later, Bree relaxed enough to stop freaking out, but spent the rest of the evening waiting for Jase to make some grand gesture.

Melissa tracked her down an hour after her freak-out to tell her they were leaving. “I can’t tell you how delighted I am to see Jase so happy.” She hugged Bree tight and whispered in her ear. “Thank you. For bringing him back to us.”

Tears pricked the back of her eyes. “Lunch tomorrow?”

Melissa held her at arm’s length and smiled, not fooled by Bree’s deflection. “I’ll call Jase in the morning so we can figure out a time.” She kissed Bree’s cheek and walked toward Bill standing near the exit with their coats.

Bree jumped as a hand slid across her hip.

“Are you okay?” Jase asked.

“Yes.” She smiled brightly. “You just startled me.” She rested her hand on top of his.

He kissed the top of her head. “You ’bout ready?”

“Yeah. Need to say goodbye to Gran.”

They wound through the remaining friends and family to where Gran sat with several people. “We’re headed out.” She leaned down and hugged Gran. “We’re having lunch with Jase’s parents tomorrow, if you’d like to join us.”

Gran kissed her cheek, then rubbed her thumb over the same spot. “I’d love to. Give me a call in the morning.”

“I will. Love you.” Bree returned her kiss.

“Love you, too.” She waved her fingers at Jase. “Drive safe.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Fingers brushing across her cheek woke her. Bree yawned wide and turned her head to Jase.

Jase brushed a strand of hair off her shoulder. “We’re home, darlin’.” She nodded and unbuckled the seat belt, and Jase helped her out of the truck.

She hung her keys on the hook next to the kitchen door and kicked off her heels.

Jase stopped her from going farther into the house. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “You’ve been quiet since you went to dance. Did something happen?”

Bree shrugged and averted her gaze. “Just tired.”

“I know how you act when you’re tired. This isn’t it.”

She sighed. “I saw you talking to Gran.”

His thumb rubbed across the top of her hand. “Okay. And?”

“I thought…” She shook her head. “It’s not important.”

He sat on the padded bench and pulled her between his legs. “You thought I was going to propose.”

She laid her hands on his shoulders, not meeting his eyes. Her face warmed. Her expectations were ridiculous. As much as she didn’t want him to propose at the party, she still felt dejected when he hadn’t. She couldn’t get the thought of marrying him out of her head.
Brianna Larken
had a nice ring to it. She may as well get a notebook and draw hearts with their initials inside them.

One of his hands ran up and down the outside of her thigh. “I was explaining a couple of things.”

Did she really want to know? “Like what?”

“That I’m not going to ask you to marry me.”

She gasped. Nope. She didn’t want to know. Her heart plummeted to her feet and she tried to step back. His fingers dug into the back of her legs.

“Let me go.” God, this hurt. Why was he even with her if they didn’t have a future?

“No. Listen to me, Bree.” One arm wrapped around her hips. She pushed at his broad shoulders, but failed to budge him. “I said I’m not going to ask you, not that I don’t want to marry you.”

She quit pushing. “I don’t understand.”

“I don’t ever want you to doubt why I’m with you. When we get married, it’s going to be because
you
asked
me
.”

Her brain struggled to play catchup. “Oh.”

He raised his eyebrows, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Oh.”

She bit her lip and dropped her gaze.
Well, this is embarrassing.
Maybe she had overreacted a little.