"I can hear your heart beat," I whispered.
"It beats for you. It always has," he whispered back. I smiled, closing my eyes and simply enjoying being with the love of my life. Dean's heart pulsed, my own heart matching his mesmerizing rhythm as I drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 26
Present Day
I woke up the next morning to find that Dean was already out of bed. The room seemed empty without him. I glanced at the painting on the nightstand, the woman still defiant against the storm after all these years. It made me smile that he had kept it.
The floor was cold to my bare feet as I stumbled into the bathroom. Sitting on the toilet seat was a clean pair of sweats and a plain gray t-shirt. I slid the comfortable clothing on, rolling the waist band to keep the pants up. The shirt smelled like Dean, and I breathed it in, enjoying the scent. I giggled as I realized there was no way he was going to get this t-shirt back. Well, maybe, when it lost that wonderful smell and needed refreshing.
The rest of the apartment was quiet, but I found a pot of coffee ready with a note in Dean's messy handwriting.
Good morning Beautiful,
I didn't want to wake you, but I'm getting breakfast. Creamer's in the fridge.
I love you.
I folded the note and stuck it in my pocket. Even though it was just a simple message, it felt dear to me. Maybe it was because I had wanted simple notes like this, simple mornings like this, for a very, very long time.
The creamer was about the only thing in the fridge. That and a jar of pickles. When he said he hadn't been home much, he wasn't kidding. I poured a cup of coffee and wandered over to the couch, sipping at the dark liquid. Dean had good taste in coffee. I could get used to spending mornings here. Maybe he would even give me a drawer to keep my things in.
The thought of getting to fall asleep wrapped up in Dean's arms and then wake up in the morning and have breakfast, made me giddy. In my mind I could see the two of us getting ready for work together...
Work was a problem. Dread settled in the pit of my stomach. We could both be fired for this. I could hear Daniel's voice, repeating the conversation we had when Dean was hired.
"Thank you for telling me about your prior relationship with this man. You understand that I have to enforce the employee contract. If I make an exception for you, I will have to make exceptions for others. The whole point of the employee contract was to negate that issue," Daniel said. He stood tall in his office. There were boxes on the desk, though, the first sign that his illness was forcing him to hand the reigns over to Jack.
"I don't think it will be a problem. I don't see the two of us getting back together. I just felt it was important to tell you. I didn't want it to come up later and be an issue." I stood straight and tall in front of his desk. I had been afraid that he would be angry.
"Oh, Rachel." He gave me a big smile and came around the desk, putting his hands on my shoulders. "You are allowed to have a life outside of this company. In fact, I'd love it if you met someone and made me a godfather. I think you'll find someone better than a washed up soldier to make you happy, so I'm not going to waver on this."
"I understand. I really don't think it's going to be a problem. Those feelings, I don't think they'll ever be what they were before," I said. It was true. I was sure after our interview that he hated my guts.
He hugged me then, his arms strong as he squeezed me close. "You are the daughter I never had. I really do just want you to be happy."
How were we going to make this work? I knew after last night, I
would never be content to just sit back and watch him. Now that Dean was in my life, now that we were together, I couldn't give him up. We could try and hide our relationship, but sooner or later it would come out and one, or both, of us would be out of a job. The contract was clear.
Irrational fears started to fly through my brain. We were both going to be fired and we would end up homeless on the street. Jack would never let that happen, and even if it did, at least you'd still be together, the little voice in my head whispered.
I sagged into the couch. The leather was soft and smelled good, but I didn't cuddle into it. I knew I was just waiting for the universe to rip us apart again. My heart was a mess. It had broken when he left me the first time. It had broken when I hired him and had to ignore him. Now it was breaking because I was going to have to lose him. It was either lose him or lose the job and the people I considered a family with it.
A tear trickled down my cheek. This roller coaster of emotions was going to drive me insane. I wiped at my cheek angrily. This was getting me no where. Sitting here and crying because some stupid employee contract said that I couldn't date the man of my dreams was ridiculous. I wasn't going to just sit around and let him get away from me again. I was going to talk to Jack. I was going to fix this. There was no reason for me to be upset. No reason for us to go through the pain of losing one another again for something as equally trivial as the last time.
The sound of the front door opening pulled me from my thoughts. Dean gave me a huge grin as he walked in the door, the smell of food wafting out of a paper bag. I quickly changed my expression, putting on a happy face. I wanted us to be happy. I didn't want him to worry about his job, or mine. I just wanted to enjoy this morning. I silenced the voices of worry. Just enjoy what you have.
Dean kissed the top of my head, my hair messy around my shoulders. The couch creaked softly as he sat next to me. He pushed one of the dark brown strands behind my ear and gave me a kiss on the nose. "Now, let's have some breakfast. I got those English muffin sandwiches I know you like."
I couldn't help but smile as he reached for the paper bag with the food inside. He handed me a paper wrapped sandwich, the smells of egg and cheese making my mouth water. I was hungrier than I had thought.
I was half-way through my sandwich, leaning against Dean in a happy silence, ignoring the warning in my heart, when my phone started to ring. I still had an hour before I was expected to be back at work, but I hurried over to my purse to pick it up.
"Rachel! Oh, thank heaven," Emma cried into the phone. "I was so afraid I wasn't going to reach you in time."
"Emma, what's happening?" A note of panic crept into my voice.