Chapter Eighteen
Eva
The thought of having Trace in my life forever as my best friend, my lover, and my husband was overwhelming.
Things like this don’t happen to women like me.
I hugged him again, whimpering against his neck.
“Hell, is the thought of marrying me that depressing?” Trace asked, as he wrapped his arms around me tightly.
“No,” I answered with a cough that sounded more like a sob. “It’s amazing. But for a woman like me, it’s pretty much a fantasy to have the man of my dreams ask me to marry him.”
“I’m an asshole, Eva. But if you agree to put up with me, you’ll make me the happiest asshole in the world.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Trace might be arrogant, bossy and determined to have his way when he thought he was right, but his positive qualities outweighed those things by a ton. Besides, sometimes I actually liked his bossiness. When I didn’t, we were bound to argue, but none of that mattered. We loved each other, so we’d always compromise somehow.
“You are a little bit bossy,” I mused aloud.
“Agreed,” he admitted readily.
“And I don’t like it when you do what you think is right for me without asking me.”
“I won’t,” he vowed.
My heart melted, and I couldn’t tease him anymore. “But you’re my Prince Charming, and you rescued me when I didn’t want to keep trying anymore,” I admitted tearfully. “You believed in me, and made me feel like a valuable person again. Pretty soon, I started to believe that I was, too. I have work to do if I’m going to find myself again and leave my past behind, but I know I want to do that with you. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my life, but I know where I belong now.”
“Where?” he asked nervously.
“With you,” I breathed softly into his ear. “Always with you if you really want me.”
“So is that a yes?” he asked huskily.
“Yes, please. I love you so much it hurts. I want to marry you.” Fat tears were still rolling down my cheeks, but I didn’t care. After what seemed like a lifetime of hell, I now had the most valuable thing I’d ever possessed in my life; I had Trace’s love.
“I don’t ever want you to hurt, Eva. I think we both need to put the past where it belongs: in the past. It’s history. You were never guilty of anything but working your ass off to survive.” His arms tightened possessively. “I’ll give you everything in my power to make you happy. What were your plans before you were arrested?”
I sighed and laid my head on Trace’s strong shoulder. “Culinary school. Isa was helping me get scholarships and finding me a school that allowed me to work while I was learning.”
“In Colorado?”
I nodded.
“Thank fuck!” he exclaimed. “The last thing I want is to have to be away from you to make you happy. Do you still want to go to school?”
“More than anything,” I said wistfully.
“We’ll find the best school in the area, and you can feel free to try out new recipes on me,” he said magnanimously.
I actually giggled because I was so happy. “Thank you. That’s very nice of you.”
“I’m a selfish bastard,” he corrected. “You’re an amazing cook.”
God, I adored this man who made me feel like I could do anything. “I love you,” I told him breathlessly, my heart hammering with the adrenaline of loving and being loved. “I’ll cook you anything I’m capable of making. It’s the only thing I can think of to give you something back.”
“I don’t care what you do, as long as you’re happy. Cook. Don’t cook.” He flipped me onto my back gently and covered my upper body with his. His dark jade eyes were intense as our gazes locked and held. “Just love me and marry me.”
The raw power that Trace always seemed to exude was still present, but the vulnerability that he was willing to let show in his eyes would have brought me to my knees if I had been standing.
I knew that it was time to let go, to release myself from my past. Everything that had happened was unfortunate, but karma had given me an unbelievable future, and a man who would never let me feel alone and afraid again. If I had to do it all again just to end up where I was now, I’d do it just to be with him. Maybe I’d still have an occasional nightmare, and I didn’t know how I felt about my grandmother, but I could figure that out later. All that mattered was living in the present, and be grateful that fate had thrown Trace Walker into my path.
He was right. I was guilty of nothing except trying to be a better person. From now on, I needed to let go of my anger and hold my head up as high as I possibly could. I was young. I was incredibly happy. And I knew I was capable of doing good things. The Britneys in the world could go to hell.
I lifted my hand and cupped his jaw, letting my fingers play over his lips. “I love you, too, Trace. We’ll let go of the past together.”
“Deal,” he agreed in husky voice. “I have something I want to give you, but I don’t want to make you cry again.”
He made it sound like me crying was worse than torture for him. Didn’t he understand that I was actually tearful because I was overwhelmingly happy?
“I won’t cry,” I promised.
“Good.” He grinned at me as he rolled out of bed and went to his closet and pulled out a framed picture from the bottom of his closet. “I didn’t get a chance to wrap it and put it under the tree.”
For a moment, I’d been temporarily highly distracted by his naked form, my eyes glued to the hottest, tightest ass I’d ever seen. Until he turned around, and I was greeted by the sight of his cock standing at attention. My eyes devoured every defined muscle as he moved back to the bed. God, would I always be rendered mute and stunned just by looking at him naked? Dressed or undressed, the sight of him always took my breath away.
I smiled back at him as I reached out to accept the large frame. It was at least a foot wide and similar in height, and it was heavy, probably because of the ornate frame. I turned it around, and I froze as I looked at the face that seemed to be looking back at me.
It was a picture of my father.
I gasped in surprise, and contrary to my promise, tears welled up in my eyes. “Oh, my God. How?”
I didn’t have a picture of my father. I’d lost everything, including most of my personal items when I’d been incarcerated.
“I found it in public records, and I digitally restored and enhanced it. You look like him, Eva.”
The original photo might have been a work ID, or a picture taken by a coworker. It was a close-up, head and shoulders only, but my dad was smiling into the camera, his broad shoulders covered by one of his usual navy work shirts.
My fingers were trembling as I traced the outline of my father’s face inside the glass cover. “This is how I remember him. No matter how hard he worked, or how hard life was, he was always smiling.”
Trace sat back down on the bed and put his arm around me. “Then you’re very much alike,” he observed.
We were alike. The prominent picture gave me back a little piece of my dad, and made me remember how proud I was to be his daughter. “How do I thank you for something like this?”
“Kiss me?” he suggested hopefully.
I took the picture and carefully set it on my bedside table. It was really too big to set on a shelf, but I’d figure out where to hang it later.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I moved in closer and whispered against his lips, “Thank you.” Then, I kissed him, pouring every emotion I was feeling into the embrace.
It was funny how our Christmas gifts were so similar. I’d actually bought a very large frame and inserted the pictures of him, his father and his brothers into the spaces provided, photos that seemed to be shoved in drawers all over his house. I thought it would look good in his office. Strange how both of us seemed to want the other to remember happier times, a time before our lives had ended up in ruin. That gift, along with a few other small items, was already wrapped and under the tree for him to open in the morning.
We both came out of the kiss almost breathless. Trace stood up and pulled me to my feet, slowly undressing me as though he’d been doing it for years before he lowered me gently to the bed, and tucked the sheets and comforter around me.
He went to the closet and quickly donned a bathrobe and moved toward the door.
“What are you doing?” I asked from my comfortable cocoon.
“Making sure Britney is gone by morning.”
He left before I had a chance to say anything else, but he was back within in a few minutes.
Trace shucked the robe, turned off the light, and slid in beside me. “Done,” he affirmed as he gathered me up in his arms.
I almost purred with contentment as our bodies met skin-to-skin. “That quickly?”
“Sweetheart, she’s not as scary as you might think. She’s a woman who preys on rich men. The last thing she’d do is spill secrets. It’s not good for her future prospects.”
“Is Dane okay?”
“Having her leave early was his idea. Once I told him she was threatening you, he was ready to get rid of her. He likes you. So does Sebastian.”
“I’d like to tell them the truth eventually,” I told him hesitantly. I’d always wanted a brother, and I planned on making Trace’s family my own.
“Then tell them. You can decide whether or not you want to share your past. It doesn’t matter to me in any way except that I hate how much you suffered.”
I cuddled into his warm body, feeling so content that I couldn’t move if the house was on fire. God, I loved the way he trusted my judgment, the way he was willing to accept anything I decided to do. “I’ll think about it.”
I was tired, and my eyes closed as I relaxed against him. “I love you so much. Merry Christmas, Trace.”
“Merry Christmas, baby,” he replied as he kissed me tenderly on the forehead.
As I drifted off to sleep, I marveled at the fact that this Christmas hadn’t exactly gone the way I’d planned. I’d known that this job with Trace would change my life, but I just didn’t know how much.
I never imagined when I’d went with plan ‘A’ the day I met Trace, that not only would I be saved from the streets, but I’d end up truly being loved.
For a woman like me who had never known a whole lot of love in her life, it was nothing less than a miracle, and the best gift I could ever receive.
I fell asleep with a smile on my lips and my arms wrapped tightly around my best Christmas present ever.