Give Me Grace(169)

We passed by a channel-flicking Coby on the couch and walked into Casey’s bedroom. He shut the door behind us, peeled off his towel, and tossed it on the floor. I had to bite my tongue because really, Casey was naked, and he was stalking his way towards me with that predatory look in his eye. The one that told me he was done with the talking and it was time to get down to business.

“Enough talking for now,” he told me, confirming my suspicions. “On the bed,” he ordered. My towel seized, I watched it sail across the room and land on the floor, meeting his in a joint pile of rejection. I looked back at Casey.

“I told you I’d take care of you and there’s more than one way to do that,” I was informed as he crowded me towards the bed.

The backs of my knees hit the mattress and I went down on my ass. On board with his plan, I began edging backwards. The bed dipped as he climbed on and stalked towards me on his knees. My eyes dropped, my pulse racing as I watched him take his hardening cock in his hand. Then he did something I wasn’t expecting. He let go of his erection and crawled further up, hovering over me with both hands planted on either side of my head.

With solemn blue eyes, he looked down at me as though he never wanted to stop, and his next words stole my breath.

“Marry me, Grace.”

I stared at him wordlessly, shock and surprise warring inside me. My knee jerk reaction was to say yes, but I held my tongue.

“No?” Disappointment and hurt clouded his eyes and it broke my heart. “You need time or is this something you never want to do with anyone?”

“I want to do all of it,” I told him honestly. It wasn’t until you had the real possibility of your life being snatched away that you truly believed how important it was to live how you wanted to. From the moment I arrived in Sydney, it was like I’d come alive, and a part of that was due to Casey. He lit me up on the inside, and I didn’t want to just give him a lifetime, I wanted to give him forever. “And I want to do all of it with you.”

“Is it my job? I know it can be dangerous but—”

“No,” I replied vehemently. “It’s people like you who change the world.” I brushed a hand down the side of his face before letting it fall. “Protecting others is instinctive with you. I would never ask you to change who you are or what you do.”

Casey sat back on his heels and I saw the realisation sweep across his face. “It’s because you’re sick, isn’t it?” he said softly. “You don’t think you’re a sure bet.”

“I’m not,” I whispered hoarsely. My eyes burned and I bit down on my bottom lip when I felt it start to quiver. How could I promise forever with this man when forever was something I couldn’t offer? “There’s every reason to believe that after this round of chemotherapy I’ll get the all clear. But what about the next time? What if it comes back, bigger and stronger than before? I can’t watch you lose yourself like my father did. Mum dying broke him. How can I stand before God and promise to love you when I could break you too?”

“Easy,” Casey breathed. He threaded both our hands together and leaned over me again, pinning me to the bed. I was staring directly in his eyes when he pressed his forehead to mine. “You just say the words.”

“It’s not so easy,” I argued.

“It is,” he replied stubbornly. “Do one thing for me?” Casey continued before I could answer. “Ask your dad,” he told me, his voice fierce. “Ask him if it was hard or if it was easy to stand up before God and promise to love your mother forever. I bet I can tell you the answer.”

A tear escaped and ran down the side of my face. It slid off and plopped onto the sheets below. Because of course it sounded easy when he put it like that. Damn Casey for being so logical and so heartbreakingly persistent. My resolve wavered, but it didn’t break.

“You’re going to marry me, Slim,” he vowed when I couldn’t find the words to reply. His tone told me he’d brook no argument and I wanted to believe it. “I won’t stop asking until you eventually realise that there aren’t any sure bets in life. Not for anyone. And it doesn’t matter because people don’t need sure bets. They just need hope and determination, and I have enough of that for the both of us.”

My heart began to pound so hard I could feel the roar of blood in my ears. “Okay,” I breathed, feeling his determination as though it was seeping into my own skin just by touch alone.

Casey pulled back, tilting his head slightly as he looked down at me. “Okay?”