With Eric, there was no telling what he thought would cure tears. She looked up at him skeptically.
He patted his chest. “You. Right here. Right now.”
She collided with his chest, and he wrapped her in a tight embrace. She clung to him, her arms stealing around his waist to draw him closer. In his arms she felt safe and loved. Complete. None of those things made her feel like crying. They made her feel like smiling. If she spent a month, a year, a decade, or a century in his arms, she’d cherish every moment. No one knew how much time they had to live. She had to let the fear go and make the most of the time she did have, no matter how long that happened to be. Rebekah relaxed against him, the corners of her mouth already drawing upward. He kissed the top of her head.
“Better?” he asked after a moment.
She nodded. “Today is supposed to be the happiest day of my life.”
“It isn’t?”
She grinned and tilted her head back to stare up into his pretty blue eyes. “Not yet, but it’s getting better.” She reached up and captured the long purple lock of his hair and gave it a tug. “Thank you for knowing that I needed you to hold me.”
“You did?” he said, blinking at her. “I just wanted to see you in your underwear again.”
“Then we’re both happy.” She patted his butt, knowing his greatest defense mechanism was inappropriate humor. He used it unabashedly when he was feeling his most vulnerable. She supposed they were both on the emotionally raw side today.
She got lost in his gaze until he lowered his head to kiss her, and her eyelids fluttered shut. His affectionate embrace turned a bit more passionate as his hands slid down her back and over her bottom. She melted into him, wanting his bare skin against hers, wanting him buried deep inside her, wanting to be one with him. It didn’t matter that she’d just had all those things half an hour ago. She wanted them again already.
“Do you know what I think?” he whispered against her lips.
“That you should press me up against that wall and fuck my brains out?”
“Uh, no, that wasn’t what I was thinking. For once.”
“Were you thinking I should drop down to my knees, yank your pants down, and suck you off while you watch in the mirror?”
He groaned. “Lord, woman, you do know how my mind works, don’t you? But no, that’s not what I was thinking either.”
“Then what?” she asked, sliding her hand down his belly to cup the growing bulge between his legs. She gave his always attentive cock an appreciative squeeze.
“I think Jace got lost.”
She gasped in exasperation. “Why are you so fixated on Jace?”
An unmistakable low rumble grew louder as Jace’s Harley came up the street and drew to a halt in front of the store.
“There he is. Finally.” Eric pecked her on the lips and drew out of her arms. “You stay here,” he instructed. “I’ll be right back.”
“Eric, what’s going on?”
He grinned, boyish charm seeping from every pore. “It’s a surprise.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t like surprises.”
“Liar.” He let himself out of the dressing room, and she peeked out around the door to watch him stride toward the entrance. He had to unlock the front door to let Jace in. The bell over the door jangled.
“Welcome to Malachi’s Costume Empori…” The gravelly voice that came from behind the counter ended in a pronounced snore.
Rebekah giggled. She was surprised the old man hadn’t been robbed blind by now.
Dressed in leather and denim, Jace entered the store carrying an enormous white box and looking more out of sorts than usual. “You owe me one,” he said to Eric in greeting.
“I owe you ten. Whatever.” He pounded Jace enthusiastically on the back, sending him careening into a rack of adorable fruit and vegetable costumes for babies and toddlers.
Eric snatched the box out of Jace’s arms and headed in Rebekah’s direction. Her eyes widened, and she slipped back into the dressing room, pretending she hadn’t been eavesdropping.
“Do you know how hard it is to hold a giant box while on a motorcycle?” Jace complained. “The wind kept catching it, and I almost wiped out three times.”
“Not my fault you’re an idiot. You should have borrowed Aggie’s car.” Eric spoke just outside the dressing room door.
“You didn’t tell me the thing was so fucking huge.”
“I didn’t know.”
A sudden knock on the door made Rebekah jump.
“Yes?” Rebekah said, trying to sound nonchalant even though her heart was hammering out a rapid staccato.
“I have something for you to try on.”
“What is it?”
“A dress.”
“Where did you get it?” she asked.
“Open the door.”
“I’m in my underwear. Remember?”
“Turn around, dude,” Eric said to Jace. “He’s not looking, Reb. Open the door.”
She eased the door open. Eric beamed a smile at her, shoved the giant box into her arms, and then closed the door behind her. She set the box on the floor and stared down at it. The oversized box was shockingly familiar.
“Eric?” she said, covering her lips with a trembling hand.
“Does it make you happy?”
“Eric? How did you get this?” She didn’t have to open it to know what was inside.
“I asked your mom if she had something you could wear and sent Jace to your parents’ house to get it.”