Deeper Than The Ocean by Julie Ann Walker
Chapter 37
3:04 PM…
The day was balmy and breezy. The wind smelled like freshly cut grass. And the birds in the nearby palm trees belted out a chorus of tunes that competed with the road noise.
Wolf registered none of it.
Firstly, because his gaze kept sliding down Chrissy’s body as she walked beside him on the shady sidewalk. She wore a red sundress with big white hibiscus flowers printed on it, and as far as he could tell, there wasn’t a straight line on her. Well, except for her mouth, which was formed into a ruler’s edge. And secondly, because his brain kept replaying Winston’s words inside his head. “Called the person you’re crazy in love with since you’re too chicken shit to do it yourself.”
Was that true? Or had Wolf completely misconstrued Winston’s words because that’s what his heart wanted to hear?
Chrissy’s anxious, slightly sick-looking expression gave him no clue.
“How are you feelin’?” he asked, and her ocean eyes darted to his face.
He hitched his chin toward her shoulder. The bandage was long gone and in its place was a thin scar.
“Oh.” Her expression cleared. “I’m fine. It’s still sore when I lift my arm too high. But other than that, I forget it’s there. How about you?” She pointed to the gash on his shoulder, the one hidden under the sleeve of his T-shirt.
His bullet wound wasn’t nearly as well-healed as hers. It still sported a thin scab and he knew the tattoo was completely ruined. But the pain was minimal.
He said as much while pointing to the puckered flesh at his temple. “Compared to this thing, what happened to my shoulder is nothin’ more than a mosquito bite.”
Her eyes grew misty. “I wish people I l—” She stopped herself, but Wolf felt everything inside him grow very, very still. “People I care about would stop having to spend weeks in the hospital. I’m tired of bleach and antiseptic and terrible coffee.”
She almost said ‘love,’ he thought.
As quickly as everything inside him had screeched to a halt, that’s how quickly it all started moving again. His heart raced. His blood roared. He lungs thought he was running a race.
“And what about Jill and her goons?” His voice was more gravelly than usual when he forced himself to carry on with the small talk, but Chrissy didn’t seem to notice.
“According to Dixon, they’ve all cut deals.” When he scowled, she clarified. “Oh, they’ll still serve time. I’ve been assured of that. But their sentences will be less because they’re naming names and giving up cartel secrets to the DEA.”
He sighed. “Sucks to find out that even in situations like this, it’s all about the quid pro quo. The last thing justice should be is transactional.”
“Oh!” She snapped her fingers. “And come to find out, it was Hernandez who was behind the wheel of Cliff Barnes’s Celica in the hospital parking lot. Also,Hernandez and Williams both confessed that they snuck into my house through the back door that Jill left open to turn on my gas and light the candle. Which, as horrible as that is to contemplate, is also sort of good news since it means I wasn’t crazy or hopped up on too many pain meds.”
“So it was them all along, huh?” He shook his head, almost as relieved as she was to discover the paranoia he’d suffered hadn’t really been paranoia at all. “What a couple of bastards.”
“Mmm.” She agreed. “So what about you? What’s the news on the hunt for the mother lode?”
He motioned to a bench beneath a royal poinciana tree with its deep green foliage and bright red flowers. Chrissy took a seat and then primly pulled her long, flowing skirt aside to make room for him.
He didn’t crowd her. But he didn’t smash himself into the corner of the bench either. He gave her enough room so that a bare inch of space separated their thighs. He would swear he could feel arcs of electricity shooting between the small divide.
Can she feel it too?
If the deep blush staining her cheeks was anything to go by, the answer was yes.
“We found a campsite,” he said, and then went on to explain about the artifacts and Alex’s suggestion they use ground penetrating sonar to search the island.
Chrissy nodded. “You guys are close to finding it. I can feel it in my bones.”
“My bones are less sure,” he admitted. “But I hope you’re right. We can’t keep up the hunt much longer. We’re runnin’ out of capital.”
They fell into silence after that pronouncement. Wolf let it drag on for as long as he could before blurting, “I heard what Winston said.”
Her eyes were wide when she turned to look at him. “Which part?”
“The only part that matters, Christina. The part where he said you’re crazy in love with me.”
There was a time to mince words. This wasn’t it.
She raked in a ragged breath and he watched as myriad emotions flashed across her face. Then, some of the tension seemed to drain out of her.
She tucked a strand of hair that’d fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. The movement made the abalone charms on her bracelet jingle.
For a second, he wondered if she would answer. Then she did. And with every word out of her mouth, his heart soared higher.
“From the moment I met you, I knew you,” she said softly. “It was like we were friends and lovers from a different lifetime. You stepped up to me and I felt like saying, ‘Oh, hello you. There you are. Finally.’”
He swallowed and nodded because he’d felt the exact same way.
“I’ve never liked a laugh as much as I like yours,” she went on. “I’ve never been as much myself with anyone as I am when I’m with you. I’ve never felt more alive than I do when I’m in your arms. And all of that terrifies me down to my bones. Because what happens if I lose it? What happens if I—”
He stopped her by closing the distance between them. By framing her face with his hands and kissing her.
It wasn’t a small peck either. He put his back and his whole mouth into it as if no one was watching. Only when things began to go too far did he pull back and swear against her lips, “You’ll never lose it. Because you’ll never lose me.”
Tears stood in her eyes when she shook her head. “But that’s just it, isn’t it? We can make these vows now, but who knows what the future holds?” He opened his mouth to swear his devotion, but she pressed on. “And that uncertainty, the…unpredictability of falling in love was why I was determined not to do it. But you, Wolf.” It was her turn to frame his face. “You’re worth all the risk. And I swear to you, if there ever comes a day when it’s not enough and you feel like have to leave, you can. I never want to be the reason you don’t have the life you want. All I want is for you to be happy.”
His heart was so full he thought it a wonder it didn’t explode right out of his chest. “You crazy woman. Don’t you know a life spent with the person you love is the greatest adventure of all?”
Tears flowed freely down her face now. He wiped them away with his thumbs, but more fell to replace them. “Thank you,” he told her.
“For what?” she sniffed.
“I told you I wouldn’t settle for anything less than everything. That I wanted that out of control, ass over teakettle tumble into romantic bliss and a woman who is as nuts for me as I am for her. And you’ve given it to me.”
She caught her lip between her teeth and nodded. “Then I think we should get married.”
The suddenness of her suggestion caught him unawares. “You do?”
“As soon as possible.”
“Why?” He blinked, feeling his mouth tremble to contain a grin. Joy was a tangible force vibrating around him, vibrating through him. “Am I pregnant?”
She chuckled wetly and shook her head. “It’s cliché, I know. But I’ve been waiting so long for this part of my life to start that I don’t want to wait another second. I want to be your wife. I want to have your babies. Let’s build a family together, Wolf. I miss having a family.”
“Chrissy, darlin’, you already have a family,” he assured her. “My family. They’re goin’ to love you. And they’re goin’ to love the family you and I build together. You’re goin’ to have so much family you might wish you had less.”
“You promise?” Her lips trembled.
“Yes.” He grabbed her hands and squeezed his pledge into her fingers. “I promise. And just so you know, if we ever find the treasure—”
“When you find the treasure,” she insisted.
“Okay, when we find the treasure, I’ve got obligations back home. I want to use some of the money for my nieces and nephews and—”
“You can use all the money.” She shook her head at him. “I don’t give a shit about it. All I want is you.”
Just when he thought he couldn’t love her more, she said that and he did.
He had to work to paste on a stern expression. “Well, darlin’, you got me. But before we walk down that aisle, I need to hear it.”
Her eyebrows puckered. “Hear what?”
He cocked his head and pursed his mouth.
“You need to hear me say I love you again?” she asked, and he snorted.
“You can’t say it again,darlin’. You never said it the first time.”
“I didn’t?” She looked genuinely perplexed when he shook his head. Then her expression softened and she took a deep breath. “Okay then. Here goes. Wolf?” He nodded. “I have categorically, conclusively, unconditionally fallen head over heels in love with you.”
Damnit! Now he was the one on the verge of tears. To hide the moistness in his eyes, he pulled her in for another kiss. But it ended up in a desperate hug as each of them clung to the other, their hearts full and beating together in a rhythm he knew would last a lifetime.
“And you’re in for it, buster.” Her voice was thick with tears. “Because I hold on like hell to what I’ve got.”
He grinned as Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer”played in his head. He hummed a little of it and then sang, “It doesn’t make a difference if we’re naked or not. We’ve got each—”
She pulled back and bit the inside of her cheek.
He groaned. “Oh, hell. What did I get wrong this time?”
“It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not,” she said and then burst out laughing. “At least your misheard lyric wasn’t about food this time!” She hiccupped, wiping away happy tears.
He grinned and touched the corner of one glittering blue eye. “Has anyone ever told you that you absolutely sparkle when you laugh?”
Her humor dried up and her expression grew serious. “On her deathbed, my mother told me to find a man who makes me laugh and shine. To steal a phrase from your previous profession: mission accomplished.”