Twenty-Five
Drew
Kicked back in his recliner, Drew watched the tiny men on the TV score another touchdown against him. He dropped the game controller and scrubbed a hand over his face.
Anna walked out his door four days ago, and nothing could distract him from that reality.
He hadn’t seen her smile, kissed those pink lips, touched her soft skin, or even heard her voice in four long freaking days. There was also the pure torturous hell of wondering where she was, with whom she might be spending her time, and if she’d come back home.
Would his house ever feel like home again without her?
Drew and Luke spent every weekend for a year remodeling the Collins’ old farmhouse after Drew bought it. But it had never really felt like home until the moment Anna stepped inside. He wanted to make love to her by the fireplace, and he wanted to bring their babies home and fill the empty rooms. Even without those babies, he wanted to spend his life loving her.
Without her, it just felt empty.
The images in his mind of Anna and Mason together, married and happy, started to feel like a bigger possibility every second. Yesterday morning he’d convinced himself to call her, but when she didn’t answer, he only felt worse.
Drew swept the recliner closed and put his face in his hands.
He needed to see her.
It was already dark outside, but Drew ignored the hour and grabbed his keys off the counter. Operation Sit on Layla and Ryan’s Porch Until She Talked to Him started now. Maybe she’d tell him to leave, but he’d promised to fight for her, and he wouldn’t sit around while she slipped away.
After a search for his wallet, Drew shoved it in his pocket and turned toward the garage. The doorbell stopped him as he reached to turn the knob. He stalked through the kitchen and flung open the door, his eyes narrowing with annoyance at whoever kept him from getting to her.
His breath came out in a rush as his Sunshine’s eyes locked with his.
“Anna,” he whispered. “Why did you ring the doorbell?”
“I don’t know.” She looked down, lingering on the keys in his hand. “Am I keeping you from something?”
His arms wrapped around her waist, and he swept her inside, squeezing so tight he wasn’t sure she could breathe. “I was coming to see you.”
Drew kept his hold, afraid she might bolt at any minute. Her head tucked under his chin as he breathed her in, placing a kiss in that silky blonde hair. She melted into his embrace, and he leaned them back against the entry way wall.
There were dark circles under her red, tired eyes. Drew’s lips brushed the shell of her ear. “Are you okay?”
“I will be,” she mumbled into his shirt.
Drew took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her to meet his gaze. “If you’re leaving, just do it, okay? I can’t…”
Before he could finish, she reached on tiptoes, grabbed his neck and kissed him hard. He’d been dying to feel those lips on his for days, the sweetness melting away the knot in his stomach.
Anna leaned her forehead against his chest. “I love you, Drew.”
He sighed with relief, placing another kiss in her hair. “You don’t know how badly I’ve wanted to hear you say those words, Sunshine.” His hands ran up and down her back as he continued. “Anna, the papers?”
“He signed them.” She squeezed her eyes closed for a brief second, then looked back at Drew.
He wanted her with him more than he wanted his next breath, but he wanted her happiness more.
“Are you sure this is what you want? Are you sure that…”
“Drew, it’s you,” she whispered, those green eyes searing into his. “When I close my eyes and picture the rest of my life, I see you.”
He gently cupped her face in both hands, brushing his thumb across her lips. Drew touched his mouth to hers before leaning back slightly. She rewarded him with the smile that had always owned him.
Drew pulled her down next to him on the couch, her breath warming his neck as she snuggled into his side. There was so much more he wanted to say, that he wanted to ask, but he simply held her close. He continued to whisper how much he loved her, stroking her side as she fell asleep in his arms.
***
Four Weeks and Two Days Later
Drew closed his eyes as they rode the elevator to their room. Anna stood next to him, her tiny fingers intertwined with his. The cool metal of her engagement ring and diamond wedding band rubbed against his finger.
His wife.
The soft fabric of her white gown brushed against his arm, and he glanced toward her. Anna’s gaze rose and meet his. Her teeth sunk into her lower lip as a bright pink blush covered her cheeks and neck.
Anna’s divorce was finalized two days earlier. Drew woke early the next day as always. He made her favorite breakfast and drank three cups of coffee before he heard her stirring from sleep.
As soon as she walked through the door, he got down on one knee holding the little red ring box.
Her eyes widened with surprise, both hands covering her mouth. His name was a whisper from her lips as he told her he loved her, loved her so much more than he could ever tell her, and that he didn’t want to spend one more day not being her husband.
Then he asked if she would please be his wife.
Tears ran down her cheeks as she dropped to her knees in front of him and said, “Of course I will marry you.”
Drew smiled as he placed the round diamond on her hand. He lifted it and placed a tender kiss on the ring.
He tugged her into his arms and kissed her, then stared in awe at the woman he had loved his entire life.
“I meant it,” he told her softly. “I don’t want to spend one more day not being your husband. Let’s elope.”
She’d started to laugh but realized the seriousness in his expression. Drew nodded his head toward their packed bag next to the door. He’d already asked Layla, Ryan, and Luke to come along. They were meeting in two hours. If she said yes.
She looked from Drew to the bags then grabbed his face in her hands.
“Yes.”
And thirty minutes ago, he’d stared into his Sunshine’s eyes as she promised him her forever.
I, Anna, take you, Drew, to be my husband and my best friend. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live.
Now Drew held her hand while they walked to the honeymoon suite. Halfway down the hall, Drew scooped her into his arms.
“What are you doing?” she giggled.
“If you think I’m missing out on carrying you over the threshold, you’re crazy,” he whispered. Drew shifted her in his arms to reach for the room key, but she gave a sassy smirk and slid her hand into his pants pocket. She grabbed the key, running her fingers slowly along his thigh.
The lock flashed green, and he pushed them through the door. He loved her dress, loved the way it hugged her curves and still had a feminine flow to it. But he wanted her out of it more than he wanted his next breath. Drew pressed his lips to hers as he walked into the room, and she fisted her hands in his hair.
He set her on her feet, and they stared out at the oceans waves through the wall full of windows. The large white king-sized bed, hundreds of candles flickering with light and twelve bouquets of her favorite red roses filled the room. She turned and smiled, a sexy little grin that had him insane with the urge to rip the damn dress off.
She didn’t need it anymore, right?
Anna walked to the bathroom entrance and stared at the giant whirlpool tub. Drew placed a kiss behind her ear. “We’ll get to that later.”
She moved to stand in front of the desk and mirror, her chin to her chest. He walked up behind her again, his fingers caressing the bare skin of her shoulders.
“Anna.” He touched his lips between her shoulder blades then ran his hands down her arms.
Her gaze met his in the mirror as he pulled her closer. Her stare was shy and timid under long lashes.
“I’m…nervous,” she whispered. “What if I’ve built up this moment…what if…”
Drew’s arms wrapped around her waist, her citrus scent surrounding him. “Sunshine.”
“Yes,” she sighed, placing her hands over the top of his on her stomach.
“This moment is everything it was always supposed to be. You and me, here, together. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
He smiled against her neck, kissing all the way to the buttons of her dress. He flicked each one open slowly, placing a kiss on her skin.
“I’ve spent ten years picturing exactly what I’d do to you if I had the chance,” he whispered. “I guarantee you will not be disappointed.”
She trembled as he opened the last button and spun her to face him. Heat flashed in her green eyes. The eyes of the woman with one hell of a hold on his heart.
Drew gave her dress a slight tug, watching as it pooled at her feet. His sharp intake of breath brought her gaze back to his. Her cheeks blushed the brightest red he’d ever seen as he took in every single inch of her. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
His lingering perusal of her body stopped immediately on her left hip, where he spotted a tiny orange and yellow tattoo.
A tattoo of the sun.
My Sunshine…
Drew slid his hand down her arm, her side, and held onto her hip as he stroked his thumb across the inked perfection.
“Your tattoo…is of…the sunshine,” he barely choked out as the emotions welled in his throat.
She’d had it all this time.
Her teary gaze met his as she smiled and stroked her fingers along his jaw. “I’ve always been your Sunshine.”
Fighting back tears, Drew swept her in his arms again and walked over to the massive bed. He laid her down gently, dying to fulfill the biggest fantasy he’d had since he was fifteen.
She bit her lip and smiled, pushing at his jacket. “I love you, husband.”
He ripped the damn thing off, and it ended up somewhere across the room. Easing down closer to her, he rested his elbows at her sides, his thumb stroking her collarbone.
She loosened, then pulled the baby blue tie over his head. Her hands shook as she slowly unfastened the buttons of his white dress shirt, their eyes never breaking contact.
With the last button open, Anna slid the shirt torturously slow down his biceps and forearms. It joined his jacket as her hands blazed a trail down his chest and abs.
Drew’s forehead fell against hers. “I can’t convince myself this isn’t a dream. That you are really my wife.”
Anna tipped his face up, and a knot lodged in Drew’s throat with the devotion shining back at him. No one could ever make him feel more loved with only one look.
“Believe it,” she whispered. Her hands caressed the skin at the back of his neck, inching him closer until her soft lips covered his.