Stitch by Jaime Lewis (ebook reader online .txt) 📗

They lay there in silence. It was what he’d dreamed of and something he’d wanted to do every night.

“Stitch?”

“Yeah.”

“I have a confession.” He could hear the sleepiness in her voice. She was ready to fall asleep any minute.

“What is it?” He asked, loving the way her body fit against his.  Then she wiggled her little ass against his dick, and damn did he have the patience of a saint because he wanted to roll her over and bury himself in her.  Then she said the three words that blocked everything his mind was processing, and his heart grew.

“I love you,” she whispered before her breathing evened out. He grinned and snuggled closer against her body, then kissed her head.

“I love you too, Mia.”

His phone buzzed, and he pulled it off the nightstand and smiled, seeing the message from Ace. It was going to be nice to surprise Mia tomorrow morning when he told her that Ace, Alex, and her mom were coming up for a visit.

◆◆◆

The next morning Stitch walked into the bedroom and smiled. He couldn’t remember the last time sleep had come so easy for him. A lot of nights, he was met with demons from his past missions. Having Mia next to him had been comforting. She was a snuggler, but he didn’t mind one bit. He loved having her close and in his arms.

He walked toward the bed, and she popped her head up. Her hair was all tousled, but she still looked sexy. She stretched like a kitten just waking from a nap.

“Hey, sleepyhead. How did you sleep last night?”

She smiled and curled herself around his pillow. “Well, considering I had a very comfortable pillow, I slept like a log.” She turned her nose into the air and sniffed. “What smells so delicious?”

“That would be breakfast. Your brother and Alex will be here any minute, and they have a surprise for you, so you better get up and get ready.”

He smiled when he saw her face light up.  It was nice to see her smiling more.

“Ace is coming?!” She asked excitingly and tried getting out of the bed too fast and then winced as she grabbed her side. “Damn ribs are becoming a royal pain in my ass, I tell you.”

He wanted to laugh but thought better of it. Instead, he lowered to a knee in front of her. She reached out and cupped his cheek. He turned his head and kissed her palm.

“You need to be careful. We did a lot of walking yesterday. Maybe too much, now that I think about it.”

She smiled at him. “Stitch, yesterday was perfect. I’m just a little achy.”

Her recovery was priority number one, and he didn’t need her reinjuring herself and causing a set-back.

He stood up and took a step back.

“Stitch?”

“Yeah, babe?”

He watched her closely as she slowly got herself up out of bed and padded in her bare feet over to him. The good news was she seemed to be able to put more pressure on her ankle.  He thought with all the walking they did yesterday, she would be feeling some soreness this morning. Once she was in front of him, she placed her hand on his chest. Her touch alone sent warmth through his body. When she looked up at him with those big brown eyes of hers full of so many emotions, he knew he was a goner. There would never be anyone else who stood by his side.

She nibbled her lip and appeared to have something on her mind. He placed one hand over hers that rested against his chest, and the other he wrapped around her gently as not to pester her injuries.

“What is it, Mia? You can be honest with me.”

“I wanted you to know that I meant what I said last night when I told you that I loved you. You probably thought I was asleep, but I wasn’t, and I heard you say it back but…”  Her words trailed off, and he knew what was coming, but he was done pussyfooting around.

Once he finally swallowed the huge mass that suddenly formed in his dry throat, he was able to speak.

“Mia, I’m gonna lay it out for you. I’ve been in love with you since you showed up at Ace and Alex’s last Christmas. I know we’ve been around each other different times before then, and I don’t know….maybe it was because during those encounters, we really didn’t get to spend a lot of time around each other, alone. I think I’ve always been attracted to you, but there were complications that we spoke about yesterday that I think prevented that attraction from growing. But getting to really spend time with you over this past year, I fell head over heels in love with you. And that’s the honest-to-god’s truth. I love you, and if I could marry you tomorrow, I would.”

He loved seeing that big bright smile he knew she had. It was a part of her that he loved. She was always a people person and friendly. Unless you pissed her off, and then the gloves were off. He’d witnessed it.

“Now, I’ll let you get ready since our guests should be arriving in the next twenty minutes or so, but if I know your brother, he’ll probably be walking in any minute. He is anxious to see you.” She grinned, and that look warmed his heart. He gave her another quick kiss. “When you’re ready to come downstairs, holler, and I’ll come and get you.”

“Stitch, I told you, I need to start walking on my own, and that includes walking down the stairs. Even you’ve mentioned how I need to build back my strength.”

Ignoring her comment, he said, “I’m sure the hot shower will feel good on those sore muscles.”

“Actually, a hot shower sounds really nice.”

“Just remember to sit on the bench. I don’t need you falling down and hurting your pretty little self any more than you already are.”

“Yes, Sir.” She said as she gave