Hope woke slowly, a Cheshire-cat smile breaking across her face as she remembered the perfect evening she shared with Gage the night before. They had sat in front of the fire for hours, talking and laughing, before finally coming up to bed around midnight. She blushed crimson recalling the hour they spent after they came upstairs, him worshipping every inch of her, before finally succumbing to exhaustion and sleep.

She turned to look at him, still sleeping peacefully next to her. The blankets were gathered at his waist, exposing his lovely chest for her viewing pleasure. Her fingers twitched to run through the dusting of hair on his chest and explore every smooth groove that turned his stomach into a work of chiseled art, but she wanted to let him sleep.

Sighing dreamily, she slid silently out of the covers and tip-toed out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. After a quick stop in the bathroom, she stole down the stairs into the main house. She did a clean-up of their dishes from the evening before, took a quiche out of the freezer, and popped it in the oven. After starting some coffee, she added some sausage links to a frying pan to cook, as well. She smiled, knowing food would be waiting for him and his bottomless pit of a stomach when he woke up.

While the food was cooking, she retrieved her computer bag from the entryway and brought it out into the kitchen. She took her laptop out and, while it was powering up, turned the sausages and made herself a cup of coffee.

Hope sat down in front of the computer and opened up her email frowning. Two days and almost two hundred emails sat waiting in her inbox. She clicked it shut and decided it could wait another day. She was taking a few days off, after all. Besides, what she really wanted to do is see if she could find anything out about Gage.

Opening Google, she typed ‘Gage Flynn, Pennsylvania’ in the search field and hit enter. In a matter of moments, the search engine returned several pages of findings. Before she could click on anything, the timer on the oven went off for the quiche. She got up and turned the oven off then turned the burner off under the sausages, as well, covering the pan to keep them warm.

After refilling her coffee, she moved to sit back at the computer again. She browsed the information that was returned and clicked on the link for a GF Photography website. His name was listed in the subtitle information, so she assumed this must be related to his work.

Bingo. As soon as the page came up, there was a page header announcing Gage Flynn Photography and links to his work. She clicked through them and found herself spellbound by his work. He had a whole gallery dedicated to pictures he took while deployed, documenting a side of the war she had never seen on television and knew would leave her haunted. He truly had a gift for capturing images and emotions in photos.

When she had viewed almost every gallery, she clicked back to the Google search page to see what other information she might find on him. Yes, she was snooping. She knew, if she asked him anything, he’d most likely answer as he seemed to be an open book, but sometimes Google was hard to resist. She scrolled down the page and froze when she caught the headline on one of the returned links: Obituary: Faith Julia Flynn, February 23, 2010.

Of course, she had to click. She wanted to know what happened. I mean, wouldn’t anyone be curious about that? The full obituary came up, and she started to read.

---

Faith Julia Flynn, 21, died on February 23, 2010. She was born June 15, 1988, in Millvale, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Camden and Rebecca Flynn. She attended Millvale schools and graduated from Millvale High School in 2006, where she was a member of the student council, the cheer squad, and the art club. She was currently attending Pratt Institute of Art, in Brooklyn, New York, on a full scholarship.

Faith is survived by her parents, Camden and Rebecca of Millville, and her older brother Gage Michael, currently enlisted in the United Stated Marine Corps. She also leaves her maternal grandparents, Connor and Sarah Sullivan, also of Millvale; and her paternal grandparents, Kelly and Briana Flynn of Adare, Ireland. She is also survived by several aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Conroy Funeral Home in Millvale. Calling hours will be Friday the 25th from 4pm to 7pm. The funeral will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider donations to the Millvale High School Art program.

---

Reading the obituary twice to see if she could discover more than what was said in the simple notice did no good. No cause of death was listed. What did that mean? Usually, that meant suicide or some kind of accidental death. No wonder Gage was reluctant to talk about his sister.

She was about to do a Google search on Faith but turned when she heard a creak on the stairs and saw Gage making his way downward. She quickly shut the screen on the laptop and got up to greet him.

“Good morning, sleepy head.” He was only wearing a pair of sweats, his bare torso teasing her once again, making it exceptionally easy for her to slide her arms around his waist and pull herself flush to him.

“Good morning to you.” He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “How can you look this beautiful at 8:30 in the morning? And do I smell food? Did you actually cook something?”

Pushing away and playfully swatting him on one of his luscious pecs, she retorted, “I can cook. I just prefer to let you do it all.”

“Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Angel.” He grinned at her mischievously. “What did you make me, chef?”

Hope walked around the island to the stove and lifted the lid on the frying pan. She waved her hand over the pan. “We have sausage and…” She grabbed the pot holder from the counter with one hand, opening the oven door with the other, and pulled out the hot pie tin. “Mushroom and cheese quiche!”

He groaned at the deliciousness in front of him. “Woman, you keep this up and I’ll have to marry you.”

Rearing back in surprise, the quiche slipped from her grip and clattered onto the stove top. “Shit!” She reached down to stop the pan from sliding off the stove, forgetting it just came out of the oven, and burnt the tops of her fingers as she made contact. “Ouch! Double shit!”

He sprinted around the island and took her fingers gently in his hand. Bringing them up to his lips, he slowly inserted one tip into his mouth at a time before blowing cool air over each wet digit, easing the burning she felt.

“Better?” Concerned eyes met her panicked ones as she slid her fingers from his grasp and nodded her head.

“Yes, thank you.” She turned to walk away, but he snaked a hand around her waist and held her in place.

“What was that all about?” He tilted his head toward the stove top.

Blowing on her fingertips, she looked up at him shyly. “What? Nothing. I lost my grip on the pan. Do you want to eat?”

He shook his head, a sly, knowing grin working its way across his mouth. “It’s just an expression, Hope. A figure of speech.” He placed a curled knuckle under her chin and lifted, forcing her to look him in the eye. “I promise, that wasn’t a proposal for marriage.”

Her brow furrowed, internally smarting that he was so sure that he didn’t want to marry her, yet externally, she knew she should be relieved. “I know that.”

“Uh-huh.” He bent and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Good. Let’s eat then.”

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, the spicy scent of him invading her senses.

“Besides, I always wait at least five days before I ask a girl to marry me.” He chuckled as he watched her eyes fly open wide and ducked when she moved to throw a pot holder at him.

“You are such a jerk!” She stomped her foot when her soft artillery missed its target.

He waggled his eyebrows. “Maybe, but how many jerks do you know that have abs like this?” He looked down and pointed at his stomach.

She laughed and smiled broadly. “You. Just you.” She walked up to him and ran her hands over his stomach and then around his waist to pull him into a hug. She turned her head and placed a kiss on his chest, right above his heart where the Faith tattoo sat, reminding her of the obituary she read moments ago. A wave a sadness washed over her, causing her to squeeze him just a little tighter.

He placed a kiss on top of her head as he wrapped his arms around her. “You okay?”

She pulled back and gave him a smile. “Yep. Let’s eat.”

They worked together to set the table and move the food and coffee over, as well. When they were seated and had begun eating, she asked what he wanted to do for the day. It was another gorgeous day; the sky was crisp blue, the sun reflecting off the waves of the lake.

“I know you mentioned sailing yesterday, but I remember you saying something about a covered bridge? I’d love to get some pictures of that. I bet it’s beautiful with the foliage.”

She smiled brightly and nodded her head. “Sure! There was one bridge in particular I was thinking about, but there are several around here. We can spend the day driving around doing a covered bridge tour if you want?”

“That sounds great, especially with you as my guide.” He gave her a wink, his green eyes twinkling with delight.

She got up and started walking into the kitchen. “Let me grab my phone and check the weather to see if this is supposed to last all day.”

She walked back to him, phone in hand, as she searched the weather site. Her brow furrowed as she read the report, a frown marring her face. “Hmm, today is going to be great. In the high seventies and sunny, but it looks like thunderstorms are rolling back in tomorrow morning.”

He shrugged casually. “That’s good then, right? All clear for today.”

“Well, when were you thinking of leaving?” She put her hand up to indicate she wasn’t finished when she noted the look of concern on his face. “Not that I’m trying to get rid of you!” She walked over and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Not trying to get rid of you at all.”

He yanked her down onto his lap, earning a surprised yelp from her as he did. “Good, ‘cause I like being here with you.”

She was surprised to realize that she was very happy being with him, as well, and smiled in relief that he felt the same way. “It’s just that you said something about needing to be back by Wednesday.”

He had begun trailing small kisses on her neck as she was talking and didn’t pull away as he answered. “Uh-huh, and it’s only Sunday.”

“Mmm, that feels nice.” She was momentarily distracted by his warm lips and pulled his head up so she could kiss him again. After a moment, she pulled her head away. “Listen for one second. Okay?”

His eyes were on her mouth, his tongue slipping out to slide across his bottom lip in hunger as he nodded his head. “I’m listening.”

“I was thinking we could drive back tomorrow, but if you want to stay until Tuesday, we can take the jet, getting you home in time for Wednesday.”

His brows raised up in surprise, all thoughts of kissing her vanishing. “Wait. You have a fucking jet? Exactly how rich are you?”

Her shoulders rose a fraction as a small grimace fell on her lips. “I don’t know. Rich. It’s the company jet. Does it matter?” No way was she going to tell him that it was her father’s plane. Every time she brought up her father buying something for her, he got weird.

“You get that I’m just a regular guy, right? I joined the military because we didn’t have enough money for me to go to college, and I used the skills I learned there to become a photographer. I’m not Ansel Adams.”

She pushed off his lap to stand up and look down at him, her face pinched in anger. “Does it seem like I care about how much money you may or may not have?”

He shook his head, his lips forming a tight line, his eyes turning a bit darker. “No, you don’t. But we aren’t exactly living in the real world right now, so I want to make sure you realize who I really am.”

“And you think how much money you may or may not have defines who you really are?” She could feel her cheeks heating as her anger began to boil at the surface. “Or that it defines what kind of person I am?”

He was quiet for a moment and then shook his head, his frown back. “No, you seem to be an exception to the rule.”

This time, she shook her head and stomped her foot, as well. “Listen, you! I’m not sure what your hang up with money is, but get over it when it comes to me. I like you because you picked me up when my shoes were sinking in the mud, pulled a tree out of the road in a raging storm and still smiled about it, and because you started a fire for me when it was cold. You cooked for us and can kiss like nobody’s business! I couldn’t give a shit how much money you have.”

“But will you feel that way when we’re back in the real world? When you invite me to dinner with your family and I show up on my motorcycle, wearing jeans?”

She turned to him, her eyes narrowing. “You have a motorcycle?” Then shook her head in disbelief, muttering, “Damn, could you be any sexier?”

He smirked and then stood and walked over to her. He grasped her head gently, turning it up so he could look her in the eye. “I want to believe so badly that everything will be as easy for us when we get back to reality, but my gut tells me that it won’t be. We come from two completely different worlds, Angel.”

She pursed her lips in frustration as her brows furrowed. “Why are you worrying about something that hasn’t even happened yet? If you’re so sure that we’re wrong for each other, why are you still here?”

His gaze became even more intense as his expression changed, his smile and the crinkles that normally lit up the corners of his eyes both vanishing. “Isn’t it obvious, Hope?”

She raised her eyes up to meet his, uncertain about what he was saying, and stammered out, “I guess not.”

“You are so goddamn stubborn.” He bent down then and smashed his lips over hers in a searing kiss, his hands still clasped around her face. She whimpered in protest for only second before wrapping her hands around his neck to hold him tight.

After several intense moments, he broke the kiss, resting his forehead against hers, eyes meeting hers, desire flaming between them both. “I like you, Hope. I find I’m liking you a lot. And even though it’s only been two days, this feels really right. And different.”

She captured the corner of her lower lip between her teeth to try to stifle the wide smile threatening to break across her face. “I really like you, too.” She brought her mouth forward and brushed a chaste kiss across his welcoming lips. “And I like you for everything you are, everything you’ve shown me about yourself while you’ve been here. I don’t care how much money you make, Gage. Please, don’t care about how much I may have either. This, who you see right here, this is who I am.”

“I believe you. I do.” His mouth turned down in a slight frown. “I learned the hard way that, sometimes, life has other plans for who we are or what we want, though.”

She nodded her head slowly. “I know. But let’s not let that ruin what we have right now, okay? Before it even happens.”

“I have always wanted to fly on a private jet.” He grinned slyly.

A slow grin spread across her face. “Good. It’s settled then. We’ll stay ‘til Tuesday.”