Wounded (An Aspen Series Novella) (Prequel to Relentless) (9 page)

Her worst nightmare had come true, and he could
see the worry and stress etched into her features.  It killed him to know that
he might have caused her that kind of misery as well.

“Miss Reynolds?”

Both he and Kimber jumped to their feet as a
nurse addressed her.  “Yes.  I’m Kimber Reynolds.  How’s my dad?”

“He’s doing well.  The bullet nicked an artery in
his leg, but his doctor was able to repair it with little trouble.  They’re
moving him to recovery right now.  If you’d like to go see him, you may.  He
should be waking up soon.”  She glanced at Jerry.  “One person is probably
best.”

“I understand.”  He nodded to the nurse, and she
left.

Kimber released a shaky breath.  “He’s okay.”

It sickened him to see her so scared.  “Yeah. 
Sounds like he did well.”

“I’m going to go see him.”

“You definitely should.  I’ll tell Noelle when
she wakes.”

She tried to give him a smile, but it barely
reached her lips and came nowhere near her eyes.  She squeezed his hand and
hurried off down the hall.

He watched her go with a hollow ache in his
chest.  Maybe he was pushing things between them too fast.

God knows, he wanted her, but was he being fair
to her?  There was no doubt there was a fireball of attraction between them,
but what about the times they had to be apart?  Was it fair to her to keep her
waiting and wondering?  What if he did get her pregnant and then died
overseas?  Could he put that on her?

Fuck.  He scrubbed his hands over his hair and
sank back into his seat.  When he woke several hours later, Kimber still hadn’t
returned.  He checked with the nurse’s station.  When they let him know Sheriff
Reynolds was doing well and resting peacefully, he woke Noelle and offered her
a ride home.

It was obvious Kimber needed time with her dad,
and she didn’t need to be worrying about him.  Maybe it was a sign that they
really weren’t meant to be together.  As much as he loved her, she needed a guy
who’d come home each night and hold her in his arms.

*        *        *

Kimber woke with a jerk.  Morning sun filtered
through the blinds in her dad’s hospital room.  She blinked a few times to get
her bearings before her gaze shot to her dad.

“Morning, cupcake.”  Her dad’s pale cheeks bore
truth to the violence he’d survived, but he had a smile on his face.

“Dad.”  She jumped to her feet and hurried
forward to hug him.  “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Of course I’m okay.”  He had enough strength to
crush her to him, which reassured her beyond measure.  “You don’t think a
little bullet is going to do me in.  I’m too tough for that.”

Tears filled her eyes.

“Now, sweetheart.  No crying.  You know that
makes us guys uncomfortable.”

She sniffed and laughed.  “I know.”

“I’m going to be just fine.”  He glanced at her
chair.  “You sleep here all night?”

Her gaze flew to the door.  “Jerry.  He brought
me as soon as we heard.  Crap.  I left him and Noelle out in the waiting room. 
I meant to go tell them to go home, but I guess I fell asleep.”

“Jerry, huh?  You two finally talking again?”

Heat crept up her cheeks at the thought of what
they’d done besides talk.  “Yeah.”

“And?”

“I think he’s forgiven me.  We came to an
understanding last night.”  She had to quit thinking about being in his arms.

“Is the wedding back on?”

She squeezed his hand.  “Are you trying to get
rid of me?”

He started to laugh and then coughed.  He held up
a hand before she could say anything.  “I’m fine.  Little bit of a dry throat.” 
He took a sip of water.  “I’m not trying to get rid of you, but it seems to me
Jerry’s a damn fine man.  You could do a lot worse, and I know if you’re with
him, you’ll be loved and well taken care of.”

Emotion flooded her eyes again.  “Yeah,” she
whispered.  “I figured that out, too.”

“There you go again with the tears.  Why don’t
you go see if you can find your man?  Let him deal with your emotions and let
me get some rest.”

“Dad,” she said with mock outrage, and he
laughed.  “Fine.  I’ll go, but I’m coming back later today.”

“You do that.  Bring your soldier boy with you.”

A happy grin claimed her lips.  “Okay.”  She
kissed his whiskered cheek and shut the door behind her.

She was a little disappointed that Jerry wasn’t
in the waiting room, but she couldn’t blame him.  She caught a ride back to
Aspen with a deputy and took a quick shower before she drove to Jerry’s house.

She found him in the garage, tinkering with his
munched New Yorker.  Smells of grease and gasoline filled the space, and she
remembered the many times she’d spent watching him fix cars.

He had his head beneath the hood and apparently
hadn’t noticed her arrival.  She took the opportunity to study his rear end and
the width of his sexy shoulders.  The muscles in his triceps bunched when he
turned a wrench.  “Is it worth salvaging?”

He startled and straightened, hitting his head on
the hood of the car.  “Shit.”

“Are you okay?  I didn’t mean to scare you.”

He rubbed the back of his head.  “I’m fine.”  He
bent back under the hood, no happy greeting, no warm kiss good morning.

She waited for a confused moment, not sure how to
react to his chilly greeting.

“How’s your dad?” he finally asked.

“He’s doing well.  Back to his old smart-ass
behavior.”

“He sure scared you last night.”

Was that what this was about?  “Yeah.  It’s not a
phone call anyone likes to get.”

“Exactly.”  His wrench slipped off the bolt and
banged against the engine.  “Damn it.”

She exhaled, certain a fight loomed on her
horizon.  She was armed and ready for battle, and she wasn’t about to let her
man get away again.  “So, what?  You don’t think I can take a little fear?”

“I saw your face last night.  That was more than
a little fear.”

She wanted to growl.  Instead, she walked forward,
stopping inches from him.  “Do you think we could have this conversation
face-to-face instead of you hiding beneath the hood?”

Jerry straightened, a spark of irritation in his
eyes.  Good.  Kimber had known her little barb would get to him.

“There’s nothing to converse about,” he replied.

She tilted her chin up, meeting his gaze head
on.  “I disagree.  I thought we’d figured things out between us last night. 
Now, this morning, your demeanor is less than amorous.  What changed?”

He stared at her for a hard moment, but she
refused to look away.

“I’m not going to put you through that again.”

She put her hands on her hips.  “Yes, you are.”

“No.”  There was no misunderstanding the
determination in his voice.

A hint of fear scratched at her, and she worried
she might lose him again.  She bit her bottom lip until it hurt as her gaze
warred with his.  “I love you, and yes, I will worry about you, but you cannot
block me out of your life.  I won’t go.”  She moved a step closer, their bodies
all but touching.

“Damn it, Kimber.  I’m doing this for you.  I don’t
want to hurt you like that again.  If you’re not expecting a call or an email
from me, then you won’t worry when it doesn’t show.”

“That’s bullshit.  I’m going to love and care
about you for the rest of my days.  I’m stronger now.  I can handle a little
worry.  But you forcing me out of your life will kill me.  Do you hear me?”

He stared at her, stone-faced.

She pushed on his chest, hoping to elicit some
sort of response.  Anything was better than this impenetrable wall of silence. 
“Don’t shut me out, Jerry.  I might have let you go once, but that’s not going
to happen again.”

He sighed and gripped his wrench with both
hands.  He hadn’t spoken yet, but at least she knew she’d affected him.

She moved closer, wrapping her arms around his
neck, ignoring the tool he held between them.  “I can’t live without you. 
Without this.”

It might have been considered a sneak attack, but
at this point, she was willing to use every weapon she had.  She stood on her
tiptoes, pulling his head to hers.  She claimed his warm lips, tasting the man
who rocked her world.

He pulled away, growling with frustration.  His
almost-tangible hesitation hung in the air between them as he rubbed his hand
over his jaw before raking his fingers through his hair.  “It’s not going to
work.”

She touched his face, capturing his gaze.  There
was no mistaking the love that shimmered through his worried expression.  “I’m
not the same woman you left last time.  I know you’re not the same man.  But we
belong together.”

“Kimber—”

“The truth is, Jerry, you’re a soldier.  I wasn’t
strong enough to love you before, but I am now.  It might not be easy, but I’m
more than capable of handling things here while I wait for you to return home
safe to me.  I’m going in with my eyes wide open.”  She traced a finger along
his jaw.  “Just love me, Jerry.  It doesn’t have to be more complicated than
that.”

Slowly, his expression shifted from one of worry
to one of acceptance.  “You’re right.”  He blew out a deep breath.  “We are who
we are.  And I do love you.  I want us to be together.  Anything else would be
less than a life.”

He wrapped his strong arms around her as he
claimed her lips, the wrench landing to the side of them with a clank as he
fully embraced her.

“I’m glad I’ve fallen for a man who can see
reason,” she said, taking a breath.  “If God forbid someone or something takes
you from me, I…I don’t know what I’ll do, but let’s promise now that it won’t
be either of us that breaks us apart.”

He cupped her face, kissed her hard.  “I want to
get married.”

She laughed.  “Wow.  You go from
no
to
all
the way
in a hurry.”

“Hey, you’re the one who wanted to change my
mind.  Now that I have, why wait?  Let’s do it.  Today.”

“I can’t pull off a wedding that fast,” she
whispered between more kisses.

“I’ve got two weeks before I ship out again.  Is
that too fast?”

“I think I can make that work.”

“Good.  I hope your dad doesn’t mind us living
together until then, ‘cause I intend to spend every possible minute with you
until I leave.”

A happy smile blossomed on her lips.  “He’ll get
over it.”

“After that, I want you to stay with him until I
get back, okay?  Then I’m buying us a house, and we’ll start making babies.”

She laughed.  “So soon?”

“It’s never too soon.”

“What if we made a baby last night?”  She lifted
her brows and gave him a sly grin.

His smile matched hers.  “Then I’ll miss the
first part of your pregnancy, but I’ll be there when the baby is born.  Oh
honey, I’ll be there for the rest of your life if you’ll have me.”

“It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”  She wrapped her
arms around his neck and sealed the deal with a kiss.

*        *        *

Ten days later, Kimber walked down the stairs
that led from the upper deck of Luke’s massive wooden cabin into his shady
backyard, the long train of her beaded white dress trailing behind her.  At the
bottom, she took her father’s arm, excitement-induced adrenaline racing through
her veins.

A sea of family and friends stood between her and
her future husband.  She glanced at all the people who’d supported and loved
her through her life, emotion welling inside her.  It seemed as though the whole
town had come out.  Jerry’s family sat on the front row, his dad giving her an
approving nod, his mom blessing her with a warm smile as she passed them.

The only one missing was her mother.

Kimber tried to tuck that thought in the back of
her mind.  Her mom would want her to be happy today, and for all she knew, she
might be watching from heaven if that was a possibility.

She took a deep breath and focused on the man who
waited for her.  But the sight of him standing in his military blues left her
breathless.  There had never been a sexier man alive.  His height, the uniform,
everything made her heart slam against her chest.

He would be now and forever hers.

Jerry’s eyes sparkled with happiness as her
father handed her over to the man she’d love the rest of her life.

“You’re so beautiful,” Jerry whispered.  “I can’t
tell you how much I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered back.  Those
simple words could never express how deeply.

Kimber tried to focus on the ceremony, but her
thoughts kept straying to the fact that from this day forward, she and Jerry
would be as one.

Her hand shook as he slid her mother’s wedding
band on her finger.  He promised they’d shop for her own ring when he returned.

The next thing she knew, they were pronounced man
and wife.

Jerry pulled her into his embrace, bending her
over his arm, and he kissed her until the crowd started whistling.

“Save some of that for your honeymoon,” Luke
said, offering his congratulations.  He shook Jerry’s hand and kissed her
heated cheek.

Milo did the same, but right before he kissed
her, he whispered in her ear.  “You can thank me and Luke later.”

After she and Jerry had greeted all of their
guests, Kimber smiled into the mischievous eyes of her favorite pair of
cupids.  “You guys should think about opening a dating service or something.”

Luke rolled his eyes.  “It would never work. 
Milo would want to keep all the prospective clients for himself.”

Milo shrugged and laughed.  “Guilty.”

“What’s this all about?” Jerry asked.

“Nothing.”  Kimber smiled and shook her head as
the band started playing a waltz.  “Dance with me, soldier.  And kiss me.  I
haven’t had nearly enough of that yet.”

He hauled her against him, sending a heated
thrill straight through her.  He captured her gaze, his deep brown eyes
promising he’d be giving her everything she wanted and more.  She inhaled just
before he pressed his delicious lips to hers.