I laughed and kissed the top of her head again. “I was just finishing in the shower when you called out. I’m officially done with curriculum work for the summer. I still have work to do, but for the most part, I can do it here.”
She looked up at me with her gorgeous hazel eyes shining. She was stunning, even on a Friday afternoon wearing nothing but a simple sundress and her hair thrown into a messy braid. I wanted every part of her from her beautiful eyes to her tortured and twisted leg. My hand ran along the length of her left thigh, watching her face for a reaction. I got none, which meant the skin wasn’t bothering her much anymore.
“I finished most of my work today, too,” she said, still watching my face. “I was wondering if maybe I could start working over here now? I know we said I’d use the apartment as my office, but now that I’m done with all the paperwork, all I need is my laptop. It’s kind of silly to walk over the—”
My lips took hers to show her how she didn’t need to explain to me why she wanted to work here. I wanted her here with me all the time. She mewled low in her throat and wrapped her arms around my neck, digging in for the deeper connection we always seemed to crave whenever our lips touched. My fingers found their way to her hair and pulled the hair tie from the braid, patiently unwinding her hair until it slid through my fingers like butter.
Her tongue was exploring mine, and I had to stop myself from rubbing my brutally hard dick against her leg. I didn’t want to hurt that leg. I was already in enough pain from the desire coursing through me, and I didn’t want her to be in pain, too. She was everything to me. That was a lightning-fast reaction to promising to love and cherish her until death does us part. Maybe to her, our vows were for show, but in my heart, they were real. I would stay married to this woman forever if she asked me to. I had so many plans to show her that. Starting this weekend, I was going to show her that a guy like me wanted everything to do with a girl like her.
I broke the kiss off, both of us panting with desire and unfulfilled need. “God, you’re incredible, Amber,” I whispered, her hair wound up in my hands.
“Is that your way of saying it’s okay if I work over here during the day?” she asked on a sigh of contentment.
“I’ll bring everything over here first thing Monday morning,” I promised, kissing her again. When we broke apart, she was gripping my shirt tightly in her fist.
“There isn’t a lot, but I’ll need it to work on this weekend. I don’t have anything else to do, so I might as well keep going on it.”
“Wrong,” I said, tapping her nose. “We have plans for the weekend.”
“We do? Are we finishing the deck?”
“The deck is being finished this weekend, but not by us. Chris is going to work on it while we’re gone.”
“While we’re gone. Where are we going?”
I untangled my fingers from her hair and sat her on the couch so I could turn to her. “On our honeymoon.”
She sat silently for a heartbeat before answering. “Our honeymoon?”
“Yes, that thing you do where you go off as a newly married couple to cement your marriage.”
She waved her hand in the air. “Bishop, we don’t need a honeymoon. The marriage isn’t real. You’re going to divorce me as soon as that brace is paid for.”
I didn’t justify that with a response. I wound my hands back in Amber’s hair and grasped her cheeks, caressing them with my thumbs. “Think of it as a short summer getaway if that makes you feel better, but we’re going. I already cleared it with your bestie, so she knows you won’t be available for the bakery until Monday.”
“My bestie?”
I nodded, and I noticed her long, slender, smooth neck bob as she swallowed.
“Where are we going?”
“To the lake. We’re going to have campfires, watch the waves, dip our toes in the wa—”
“No! I won’t go camping!” she shouted, jumping up off the couch. She forgot she didn’t have her crutches, and I caught her as she went down to the carpet, her right knee hitting the floor, which was better than her face.
“Amber!” I pulled her back to a standing position and held her there. “You gave me a heart attack,” I said, my heart pounding. “The brace doesn’t even hold you up anymore, does it?” She shook her head, a tear dripping down her cheek when I pulled her into me. “You’re scared. This is the first time you’ve been this scared that the leg is never going to work again.” Her head nodded on my shoulder, and I held her, rocking her gently. “I’m not going to stop taking care of you, Amber. We’ll find a way through this. I know it won’t be easy. I know that I’m not the one dealing with the pain and uncertainty every day, but I am going to be here to support you.”
She grasped me desperately, her fear palpable against my skin. “Thank you, Bishop. I know you want to go camping, but I can’t. I’m staying here. I’m sorry.”
She lowered herself back to the couch, and I ran my finger over the spot on her knee that was red from falling. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I wasn’t taking you camping, my little tart. I’m not cruel. I understand your feelings about that, even if you think I don’t. I would never do anything to make what you deal with even harder. Do you believe me?”
Her head nodded, but she shrugged. “Maybe not intentionally. I know that my reaction to the mere idea of camping is ridiculous,
