Talon (Ashes & Embers 4)

She hesitates. "I don't know…"

"Trust me. Please. We’re gonna do things right this time."

She finally gives in. "Okay. I'll try. But I can’t make you any promises, Talon. You’ve hurt me so much. I don’t know if I can get past it. I want to… but I just don’t know."

I lift her chin and kiss her lips. "I love you," I say, looking into her lavender eyes. "I'm going to leave now, but I'll see you soon. And if you think I'm acting weird, just go along with it, okay?"

She frowns. "What are you talking about? You're always kinda weird."

I press my finger to her lips. "Shh. Trust me on this. I'm going to make us the beginning we never had."

I hate leaving her, but I've got a plan.

I'm going to date my wife.

Chapter 47

Asia

Two days after Talon left my house so abruptly, he shows up at my kiosk in the mall, ignoring me while checking out the bath bombs. He picks up a few and brings them over to where I'm sitting on a stool by my register.

"What are you doing?" I ask, amused. Behind him, I can see three teen girls looking at him, most likely recognizing him, debating if they should approach him. They see me watching them and walk away.

"Just buying some of this bath stuff. I hear it's good. My name's Talon, by the way."

He hands me his credit card and I slowly take it from him, confused. "Did you hit your head again?"

Smiling, he shakes his head. "Nope. You're supposed to tell me your name, though."

For a minute, I think he's back on the meds and has lost his mind, and then I realize what he's doing. Laughing, I run his card through the machine. I can't believe he's doing this.

"My name is Asia." I hand him his card back and our fingers touch, sending a familiar tingle through my body.

"I gotta say, you've got the prettiest eyes I've ever seen. I bet you hear that about a hundred times a day, though, huh?"

"Actually, no. You're the first."

He grins and takes the bag of soaps from me. "I do have a confession."

"Okay…and that is?"

"I really don't take baths. But I saw you when I was over there buying my e-cigs, and I was like, ‘damn, that girl is beautiful, and I gotta go talk to her’."

"Oh, really?"

He nods, his long hair falling over his eyes. I want to reach out and push it back, like I’ve done a hundred times. "Do you think since I just bought a hundred bucks worth of soap, maybe I could get your phone number?"

I chew my lip skeptically. "I don't know… You're really not my type," I tease.

He groans and shakes his head, laughing.

"Give me a chance, baby. I don't bite."

Playing along, I grab one of my business cards and write my cell number on the back. He takes it from me with a big smile, melting me. "I'll give you a buzz, maybe we could grab a bite to eat."

"Sure," I say noncommittally.

I wait for him to call, but he doesn't. Four days later, an unknown number calls my phone late at night, and I let myself fall into Talon's little plan. It actually is pretty perfect, because we missed out on the fun and excitement of dating and slowly getting to know each other in the normal way.

For our first date, he takes me to a movie, then drives me home and kisses me good-bye at my door.

Over the next few days, he sends me random, cute text messages and has flowers delivered to my house.

He makes me wait a few days before he calls again. And I sit by the phone, wondering if he will want to see me again. Hoping he will.

And when he finally calls, my heart jumps with excitement, and I tell him I'm busy and will call him in a few days. I don't want to seem too easy. He isn't expecting that, which makes it even more fun.

And he waits, hoping I’ll call. And I do.

We go for walks in the park and kiss in the grass. He buys me cotton candy and sticks it to my nose.

We sit on the phone for hours, talking about everything and nothing. He tells me how he's learning to read lips, and I didn't know that. We share our favorite childhood memories and learn we went to kindergarten together, before his family moved to a different town nearby. The crazy irony of it makes us both laugh, and that sparks a niggling memory in the back of my mind.

I have one box of things from my childhood. It holds the two toys I had as a little girl, a few pictures that were left after my mother moved out, my brother’s football, and the first Valentine's Day card I ever received—in kindergarten. Reaching into the box I pulled out of my closet, I find what I’m looking for, the red paper faded, the lacy edges yellowed. But there, in black crayon, are little-boy-scribbled words:

Be mine.

Love,

Tally xo

Talon Valentine was my first valentine.

When I show it to him, his mouth falls open and he holds it gently in his hands. "Wow. I remember making this now. My mom told me how important it was to give it to the right girl. I guess she was right. I don’t even think I knew your name."

"No other boy gave me one, and I can’t believe I didn’t remember this when I found out your name the day of our wedding," I say, remembering how I coveted the card and hid it from my parents. "All the other little girls got a pile of them, but I just got this one, and I was so excited about it."

He pulls me into his arms. "I think the writing's on the wall, Asia. We belong together. We always have."

* * *

Later, while we're lying on my couch, making out like teenagers, he pulls my shirt off for the first time since we started this little dating scenario. It was his decision this time that we not have sex until the time was right.

"You still feel so soft," he whispers. "I miss touching you so much."

"Have you touched anyone else? While we were apart?" I ask, not sure I want to hear the answer. I worried when I knew he was on tour, afraid he would start sleeping around again.

"No. No one."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Me either."

"I told you I only want you. I still mean that."

He tilts my head up toward him and kisses my lips softly, his hand caressing my cheek. I pull away slightly to look into his eyes; they're dark and emotional, searching mine. His hand moves behind my neck and pulls me back to him, and the floodgates open. Months of pent-up sadness, anger, desire, and love explode between us and we're kissing hungrily, moaning against each other’s mouths, our tongues wrestling, trying to kiss deeper. He pulls me onto his lap, straddling my legs over him, and runs

his hands up and down my naked back, making me shiver beneath his touch. I can feel him between our clothes, hard and hot, and it's clouding my thoughts, making it hard to think straight and not just do. I don't think I can wait much longer to be with him in every way again.

He pulls away from me and has a serious expression on his face. "I think we've dated long enough. I want to move to the next step."

"Okay…"

"I heard you never signed your divorce papers from your first marriage," he says.

"Oh. I don't think you signed yours, either."

"Well, that means neither one of us is technically single."

I nod slowly. "That's true."

"I think that might be a problem, actually."

My heart races. "Why is it a problem?"

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a little box. "I'm not sure how I'm supposed to propose to you if you're already married. I think it violates some sort of law."

I clasp my hand over my mouth. "Oh, my God…"

He opens the box and pulls out a beautiful engagement ring, along with my wedding band.

"I never got to ask you to be my wife. And I need to know, before we go any further, if you'd say yes to me. Now that you know me and you know what you're getting into. And if you say yes, I'm taking you and Pixie home, and I'm gonna make love to you in our bed, in our fuckin' house we picked out together. I don't want to be apart anymore, and I don't want to play any more games, as fun as it's been. I want my wife back."

My heart feels like it’s grown wings. "Yes. My answer will always be yes. I want you to take me home, where we belong."

He slides the rings onto my finger then pulls his own wedding band out of his pocket and hands it to me.

"You want to put this on me again, baby?"

"I do. And I don't want you to ever take it off again." I slide the band back onto his finger, over the tattoo of my name.

"Can I kiss my bride without her turning away from me this time?" he teases. I beat him to it, bringing my lips to his, kissing him like I should have on our wedding day.

"I love you," I whisper.