Keeping Gemma (Holiday Cove 2)

I groaned. “Got any ideas for keeping me entertained?” I asked, a wicked grin tugging the corners of my mouth up.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s out of the question for a long, long time.”

“Damn. That’s gonna be pretty near impossible with you looking so smokin’ hot all the time.”

“Oh my God. I think that’s the drugs talking.” She looked down at her outfit to emphasize her point. “I don’t even remember the last time I showered. Between work and being here—”

“Dirty girl,” I drawled.

She pushed my arm but then snuggled back against it.

“Thanks for being here for me, baby. I can’t even say how much it all means to me.” I reached for her hand and held it tightly.

“Of course, Aaron.”

“I’m sorry if I scared you.”

She bit her lip and nodded. My guts twisted at the pain on her face. “I thought you were gone…when I heard the shots fired…I broke loose from the other agents. I punched one in the face actually.”

“You did?”

She nodded. There wasn’t even a hint of pride in her expression. “I had to get to you. To see you. And then…there was so much blood everywhere and you were unresponsive—I thought you’d been shot. It was like one of those movie moments. Everything in slo-mo, but my mind was racing a thousand miles a minute—I couldn’t think at all.”

I kissed the side of her face again, wishing I could erase the terrible memory from her mind. “I’m so sorry, baby. I promise I’ll never do anything like that again.”

She nodded and a tear slid down her cheek.

I tipped her chin up and swiped away the stray tear. “Marry me, Gemma.”

She smiled softly. But shook her head.

“What? Why not?”

She leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to my brow. “Because right now, you’re high on pain meds. You don’t know what you’re saying. Call me old-fashioned, but when I get proposed to, I want it to be when the man I love is lucid.”

“Gemma, I swear—”

She placed a finger on my lips to silence me. “Ask me again in a week.”

I tried to argue, but she kept her finger firmly in place.

Resigned, I nodded my agreement and she replaced her finger with her lips, sweeping a sweet kiss over mine, before she turned to leave.

As soon as her footsteps faded from the room, I closed my eyes and began plotting the real proposal that she deserved.

She might roll her eyes and think I was kidding, but I’d find a way to show her that she was wrong.

I’d made up my mind.

38

“Are you ready to head back? You don’t want to push yourself too hard your first time out,” Gemma said, glancing behind us to see our progress. She’d accompanied me for my first outing to the beach since being released from the hospital.

Even the short distance we’d covered had me huffing and puffing like I’d run a fuckin’ marathon. Her suggestion to turn back was tempting, but I pushed on. “Just a little farther,” I insisted, tugging lightly on her arm to get her attention.

“Okay…”

We walked in silence—well, plodded, would be a more accurate description—and when I abruptly stopped in the sand, Gemma turned to face me. “Are you all right? Do you feel dizzy?”

I shook my head. “I’m fine, Gemma. You gotta stop fussing. I just wanted to get to this spot.”

She looked around, as though trying to place the significance. We were standing in the middle of the beach, halfway between the surf and the waves, where the sand was packed down and easier for walking.

“I like the view of the bluff from here,” I offered, jutting my chin over her shoulder. She turned again and stood by my side.

The fog was clearing away as the late morning sun made its arrival, but it still clung to the sides of the bluff, casting an almost ethereal air around the place. From our spot on the sand, the museum wasn’t visible, but my father’s house was there, on the edge, looking down on us.

“It’s beautiful. I bet you’re happy things are back up and running,” Gemma commented.

We’d been able to get the museum up and running. Although the official re-launch party was still in the works, it was starting to look like it wouldn’t even be necessary. Thanks to the coverage of O’Keefe’s death and deceit, the business had kicked into high gear with very little effort. Everyone wanted to come and see the museum and talk to the person who caught him red-handed.

I didn’t mind, as long as they paid for their tickets at the door just like everyone else.

“It’ll be nice to get back to normal,” I agreed. “Although, there is one change I’m gonna make—a big one.”

“What’s that?” Gemma asked, raising an eyebrow as she glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.