Sassy in Lingerie (Lingerie 8)

He stared at me, his callused fingers rough against my smooth skin. His blue eyes showed his undying affection for me, but there was also a hint of a resistance. His wide shoulders were twice my length, and his arms were thick enough to be tree trunks. His size always made me feel smaller, even smaller than I really was.

“Was I right…?”

His fingers slid down my neck until his hand gripped my waist. He moved into me, his chin moving on top of my head. He pulled me close to him, holding me in the doorway. His fingers gripped the back of my t-shirt, keeping me in place like I might float away. “Yes.” He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “But please don’t ask me. Don’t ask me to give up my livelihood, my purpose. I would never ask you to stop painting.”

“Painting isn’t dangerous.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He pulled away so he could look at me again.

“If my parents accept us and we move forward…it’s inevitable. I can’t handle you doing this forever. I can’t suffer every single moment you’re gone. Don’t turn me into Cynthia. Don’t come back to me in worse condition than when you left.”

When he sighed, it sounded more like a growl. “I’ve done nothing but make sacrifices for this relationship.”

“I know you have… I know.”

“You’re asking me to give up everything…all that I am.”

“And embrace everything else. You aren’t giving up anything, Griffin. You’re growing into a new man. That’s all.”

“Sounds like the same thing to me.”

“It’s not.” My arms rested on his. “I’m not asking you to make the sacrifice now, but if you’re my husband, you’ll have to do it. I can’t live like that. Don’t make me live like that…please.” I rested my forehead against his chest and closed my eyes. “I love you so much…”

He cupped the back of my head and rested his lips against my forehead. “I know you do, baby.”

I squeezed him with my arms, wanting to hold on to him as long as I could. Once he was gone, I wouldn’t speak to him for almost a week. Every day would feel like an eternity until he was back in my arms. “Please call me when you’re on your way back.”

“I’ll try. But if I don’t, that doesn’t mean anything is wrong.” He pulled away and grabbed his bag from the floor. “I’ll always come back to you, baby. I’ll always do everything I can to make it back to where I belong.”

I wasn’t going to cry because it was pathetic. I’d never been the kind of woman to cry, to let tears streak down my face. I preferred to keep my feelings bottled up inside and forget they existed. I preferred to respond to my pain with smartass comments and sassiness. But with Bones, I couldn’t do that. He stripped away my exterior until the wall surrounding my heart was long gone. Now all that was left was me…just me.

The tears started, and I couldn’t stop them.

He stared at me, his eyes hurt and his jaw clenched in pain. “Baby…”

I wiped my tears away with my fingertips and sniffed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. Just don’t cry.” He cupped my cheeks and kissed my tears away, absorbing them with his lips. “I’ll be back. I promise.”

“You can’t make a promise like that.”

“Yes, I can. Because nothing will ever stop me from coming back to you.”

When I got to the winery, I had my bags of clothes in the truck along with the pistol Bones gave to me. I intended to drive to my parents’ place once the workday was over and ask if I could crash there for a few days. That house made me feel safe because my father made sure nothing ever happened to us, and it also chased away the loneliness from my man’s absence.

I headed into the main building and walked to my father’s office. He was usually there as soon as the sun rose, wanting to get his job done so he could run along the fields and then hit his private gym.

I knocked on the door before I stepped inside. “Can I come in?”

“Why do you always ask me that?” my father asked as he made notes with his pen. “When have you ever asked that and I said no?”

Not once. “Never.”

“Exactly.” He kept writing. “What do you need, tesoro?” He finished his note then set down his pen. He leaned back in the leather armchair and looked up at me, his gaze hard like he anticipated I had something important to say about Bones. But then his gaze softened, and the concern started to come into his expression. “Tesoro, what is it? Everything alright?” He shifted from being a man to being a father instantly.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I cleared my throat. “Would it be okay if I stayed with you and Mama for a few days?”