“Here, let me help you with that extra bag.”
She passes it to me quietly, a small smile hinting around the corners of her mouth. “This is Mr. Williamson. We met on the plane.”
I dip my head. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
He glances between us. “This your boyfriend?”
I answer for her, bending down to kiss her cheek before I offer him my hand. “Yes, sir. Beau Hamilton.”
He lifts one hand from his walker to shake mine. “You have a very sweet girlfriend, Beau.”
I nod, my eyes on Bethany as I reach for her hand. There’s still plenty for us to discuss, but this is the first time I have acknowledged myself publicly as her boyfriend. She doesn’t correct me. I don’t know if that’s for my benefit or for Mr. Williamson’s, but we’ll have about an hour alone together in my truck for me to find out.
When we reach the carousel, a relative of Mr. Williamson meets him and I pass over his rolling bag. He shakes my hand a second time telling me to take care of Bethany. She smiles widely and gives him a hug before he leaves. I reclaim her hand as we stand together waiting for her suitcase.
We walk in a comfortable silence back to my truck once we’ve retrieved it. It’s once I’ve loaded it into the back and we’re both seated that I break the silence.
“I’m sorry I’ve been acting like an ass.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my engagement,” she replies, lifting my hand into hers.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I don’t want you to feel pressured.”
She sighs, turning her head to look out the front windshield. “It’s hard to talk about, and that’s why I haven’t brought it up before. I told Bess while we were waiting for you to wake up at the hospital. What happened with you reminded me of what happened with Kurt. He wasn’t bitten by a snake though. He had been in a car accident. Waiting for you to wake up brought me right back to when I waited for him to wake up; only in his case, he didn’t.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Life goes on. His death inspired me to make so many changes in my life. A part of me will always mourn the life we never had, but I’m also grateful that I still have the opportunity to live mine. I don’t know if I ever would have been brave enough to leave my job and move out here. If I hadn’t have done that, I never would have met you, Beau.”
“You are so brave.”
“I’m just trying to live my live without regrets. I don’t want to look back and wish I would have done something but was too scared to.”
“That’s sorta how I feel right now. I’ve been scared since the bite that now you don’t think I’m man enough for you. Then, after finding out you were engaged, I let that push me even further away. I was scared there was something wrong with me and that’s why you hadn’t told me. I’m realizing now what an idiot I was.”
She squeezes my hand. “We’re human, Beau. We’re all going to make mistakes. I only ask that you talk to me first next time and I’ll do the same.”
I lift her knuckles to my lips. “Deal.”
“I noticed you didn’t correct Mr. Williamson about being my boyfriend.”
I nod, my eyes flicking from the road to hers. “I’d like to be. My stupid streak seems to be over for the time being and I’d like to take advantage of it and make you my girlfriend. Also, I want you to know I love you.”
I’ve known I was in love with Bethany for a while; I was not planning to just spit it out like that though. Terrified, I wait for her reaction, hoping she feels the same way.
She leans across the seat and kisses my cheek. “I love you, too.”
Without the tension that’s been holding me down, I feel lighter than I have in days. We laugh and joke the whole ride back to her house. The moment I kill the engine though, the mood shifts from lighthearted to something more intense.
“I’ve missed you.” The husky tone of her voice lets me know just how much.
“We’ve got some catching up to do.”
She makes it to her front door before me, but squeals when I swoop her up into my arms. “Your foot?”
I shake my head. “Don’t you worry about a thing.”
Concentrating on lifting my leg high enough takes most of my attention as I carry her up the stairs to her bedroom. The way she nips at and kisses my neck on the way has me wondering if she’d be cool with me taking her right on her stairs. I’d do it too if spreading her out across her bed was a temptation I could pass.
It has been too long since I was inside her and a quickie on the stairs is not what I have in mind. Patience is a virtue, right? Sure the Good Lord probably meant waiting till marriage, not waiting till you reached her bedroom though.