Luke looked down at his phone. There were new messages there, but they were from his agent asking about the manuscript. For the third time this week, Luke put the agent off. He wasn’t prepared to show anyone the book, not until he learned what Elaine thought of the ending.
He’d left the book on her porch the other day. He hadn’t heard anything back from her. But he’d already decided he wasn’t giving up. Not on her. Not on what they could be.
“It’s good,” said Paul.
The man lay in the hospital bed. He was immobile after his surgery. Surprisingly, he was in good spirits. But that’s what relieving chronic pain tended to do.
Luke kept his mouth shut on that opinion. The doctors expected Paul to make a full recovery. In time.
Luke had sent the first draft of the book to Elaine. But he’d also left a copy for Paul. His best friend had always been his first reader. Paul’s vote of confidence was up there with Elaine’s. Although his and Paul’s future relationship wasn’t hanging in the balance.
“Really?” said Luke. “You liked it?”
Paul nodded.
“Even though the hero doesn’t get the girl?”
“It true to the character’s growth,” said Paul. “The two of them are just at the beginning of things. They both have a lot of scars that need to heal.”
The second in command had offered himself up as a sacrifice for the captain. But she’d come to his rescue, blasting the enemy with her phaser. Her most trusted soldier had raced to her, swaggered was how Luke had described it on the page.
After he’d kissed her, she’d pushed him away. Both the captain and her creator knew she wasn’t ready to receive love. Not yet. But it had awakened something in her, something she wanted to fight for.
Just like the captain did with every battle, she would be methodical about it. She would be thoughtful. She would work on her plan.
The plan was to help her new love interest heal the wounds he’d sustained in battle, the wounds she’d tried to protect him from. She’d learned that she couldn’t protect the people she loved from hardships. All she could do was stand by them, help them heal.
“You realize I’m in the recovery wing of the hospital,” said Paul. “I’m in the healing process. Your librarian is still out there on the battlefield.”
Luke scrubbed a hand over his face. He wanted nothing more than to charge back into the minefield that was Elaine’s past and slay all her demons. It had killed him to leave her at the door the other day. She’d looked so lost and in need. But he knew she wouldn’t reach out to him. She was still too wounded to even lift her hand.
“I’m going to have to be patient with her,” Luke said. Just like the heroine he penned, the female main character in his real-life wasn’t ready to receive love. But he was certain something had awakened inside her. He needed to be methodical about his next move. “I have a plan. I need to show her I’m not going anywhere.”
Paul made a sound of disbelief. “You crowded me when I got injured. You bullied me into this treatment. You’ve been nothing short of a helicopter parent. But she gets space to make her own decisions?”
“Yeah.” Luke shrugged. “You can’t outrun me. I don’t want to scare her off.”
Paul tossed a pillow at Luke’s head. Luke easily dodged. When he straightened, both men chuckled.
When Paul sobered, he stared his best friend straight into the eye and asked the million-dollar question. “What are you doing here babysitting me? Go annoy her into submission.”
That wasn’t part of the plan. He needed to give her time. He knew Elaine was it for him. He knew it in his bones. Just as he’d known that he and Paul would be more than military brothers.
“It’s been two days,” said Paul. “She could use a little nudge. Plus, I need to get my beauty sleep.”
Maybe Paul was right. Maybe Luke could just stop by her house and check on her? Or stroll by the library. It was Taco Tuesday and getting close to noon. He knew where she’d be.
“And then get to work on the final book so that captain and her boy toy can finally get together.”
Yeah. Luke was eager to write that book. But before that, he needed to pen his own final chapter. He was ready for his own happily ever after. He was ready for the battle to be over.
He headed out of the hospital and down the main street. He pulled out his phone and pulled up Elaine’s number. Before hitting her contact, he made sure to look both ways at the intersection. And there she was.
Elaine stood on the other side of the street, looking down at her phone. Her fingers worked furiously. Luke watched as she took a deep breath and then hit one final key.
A second later, he startled as his phone chimed. Her fingers had moved so fast, so furious, for a long stretch. But her message was simple.
I made a mistake. Will you give me another chance?
Instead of replying, Luke looked up from his phone. He’d hoped to catch her gaze, but she was looking down at her phone. Her gaze was intent as she waited. She cradled the device in both her hands, as though afraid she’d drop it.
Luke took a step into the street, only to jerk his foot back when the screech of a honking horn demanded his attention.
Elaine looked up then. She caught his gaze. Her features broke into a beautiful smile, brighter than the sun.
She stepped a foot into the street, only to jerk back when another vehicle honked at her.
Looking up to the street lights, Luke saw the white walking man flashing on the opposite street. The orange numbers counted down, telling him that he only needed to wait another twenty seconds before he could get to her.
It was too long.
Luke held out his hand, strong-arming the cars on the road to stop for him. He was able to make it safely across to her in under five seconds.
He had a carefully calculated plan. It all went out the window the moment he was standing at her feet. Without waiting for a protest, he brought his lips to hers.
Just like she had the first time he’d kissed her, Elaine melted into his arms. She opened to him. She opened for him. Without any words between them, Luke knew that the healing process had begun. Not just for her, but for him as well.
“I’m sorry,” she said when he let her up for air. “I don’t know how to do this. I said I’d never do this. And now that I’m here, I’m just so scared.”
“I’ve got you,” he said, pulling her closer to him. “I’m not going to leave you. I’m never going to leave you. Even if you want to read Hardy to me every night, I’ll still be here in the morning.”
That got a small smile out of her. Then she gulped. “So, we’re going to do this? We’re going to date?”
“Date?” Luke grinned, biting his tongue and the proposal that was right at the tip of it. “Yes, we’re going to date. How about I buy you a taco?”
“I’d like that.”
Luke offered Elaine his arm. Just like something out of the Victorian era books that she liked. When she took it, he swaggered into the restaurant, just like the heroes of the military science fiction books and movies that he liked.
From behind the counter, Juan glared at the two of them. Luke let it slide. He had time to win the chef over. As long as the man realized the battle for Elaine had been fought and won. Because like he said, he wasn’t going anywhere.
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