Roman chuckles at my attempt to breathe and slightly lifts his weight off of me. He looks at me while his hand strokes the top of my head, grabbing a loose strand of hair and trickling his fingers down my face.
His expression is filled with adoration as he whispers “I love you” to me again. He sits up, allowing me to breathe once more, then stands all the way up. His hand reaches for mine and I grab it as he leads me to his bedroom.
Shutting the door behind me, he keeps the lights off and I turn to face him as the nerves come rushing back. He stands still by the door, staring at me with a heated intensity full of love and passion. His eyes are almost black now and I can see his chest rise and fall. He removes his shirt, tossing it to the floor and exposing a vast scale of muscle on top of muscle. Oh god.
His deep voice hums as he remains still. “In ten seconds, I am going to kiss you and make love to you. If you want me to stop, all you have to do is tell me and I will. Okay?”
I remain silent as my head nods a “yes.”
He starts to count and slowly takes a step forward one at a time. “One, two…”
His hand reaches up to my face, tilting my head up so I can look into his eyes. Bending his head down, he breathes out and says “ten” before pressing his lips to mine.
Roman
DRAWING HER HAND up, I press my lips against it, kissing her soft skin. She looks at me and smiles, turning her head back toward the window of the bus. Our hands hold together as the bus drives us to our destination.
The sweat radiating off her hands moistens our grip and I silently laugh at her nerves. She’s always nervous. No matter what it is, she’s nervous.
A few minutes later, the bus arrives at our stop and she follows me off the bus. Taking her hand, I guide her across the street and around the corner as we make our way to our destination. Glancing over at her, she’s a little calmer now, but nerves still plague her.
Squeezing her hand, I soothe her. “Relax. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
She chirps, “I know, I’m just being a basket case at the moment.”
I bust out laughing at her expression as we continue our journey. The new spring air blows through her hair, causing the golden locks to sway in the wind. Moments later, we descend upon the end of our journey and I watch as she gets acclimated to the environment. She breathes out and gives me a smile, showing she’s okay and ready to begin.
I give her a quick wink and look down at the headstone. “Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet Melanie.”
Her soft voice carries in the wind. “Hi, nice to meet you.”
Looking at Melanie, I tell my parents all about her. “Remember that time I told you I saw her again and that I was going to fight for her? Well, I did it. Actually, she found me first, but in the end, we are together now. I wanted you to be the first ones to know that I’ve asked her to marry me and she’s said yes.”
Melanie flashes her engagement ring and I chuckle at her enthusiasm.
I let out a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears as I talk to my mother. “Mom, I want you to know that you were right. All those times you told me to cherish the little moments in life and not take anything for granted, I’ll always remember your advice. It was that advice that brought Melanie and me together. I never would have thought that me taking a job in a bakery, or beco
ming a firefighter, or heck, watching Charlie Brown would lead me to this beautiful woman standing next to me.”
I pull Melanie into my arms just as a tear trickles down my face. “I want to thank you Mom for teaching me to never give up, for telling me that there’s more to life than just living each day by the book, to go after what I want and to never stop until it’s within my reach.”
I look down at the bouquet of flowers in my hand and step forward, but Melanie takes them instead. She steps up to the tombstone and places the bouquet softly on the grave.
Her sniffled voice echoes around the cemetery. “Mr. and Mrs. Moretti, I’m honored to have met your son. He is a great guy and he has made me the happiest woman on earth. I will do my very best to watch out for him, care for him, and love him with every fiber of my body.”
She steps back into my arms as I gaze at the stone.
I let out a sigh as I say one last thing. “I promised you once that I would follow my dream no matter what. I want you to know that I’m truly happy now. I miss you both so very much and it saddens me to know that you’ll never meet my wife and kids, but when I look up into the sky at night, I’ll know that it’s you two watching over us.”
Tears spill down my cheeks as my heart rips apart for my parents. “I miss you and love you both so very much.”
A moment later, Melanie and I say our goodbyes. Just as we turn to leave, a gust of wind blows through the field, swaying around our bodies. My heart fills with love and longing for my parents, and I know that one day I’ll see them again.
Until then, I’m going to cherish every single moment that I have with the gorgeous woman holding my hand. Staring into her green eyes, I wink and press a soft kiss against her forehead.
Leading her away from the grave, I squeeze her hand and give her a warm smile. “Come on, let’s go home.
I can’t believe I managed to write another book! It’s such an amazing feeling! There are so many people I’d like to thank, especially those who have cheered me on during this crazy and stressful journey.