Part 28
As she drifted in and out of wakefulness, she became aware of his presence. His arms were wrapped around her pulling her as close as possible and he had one leg tangled with hers. His body was like a blanket wrapping warmth around her and making her feel safe. Snuggling closer, she put her hands on his arms.
AJ felt her moving and nuzzled her neck, giving her a kiss. His warm breath brushed her hair as he whispered, “Good morning, beautiful.”
“Mmmm, good morning,” she greeted sleepily.
“How do you feel?”
“A little sore but that’s it. I could get VERY use to this.”
“Get use to what, beautiful?”
“Waking up in your arms every morning.”
“I want you to get use to it because I plan to have you with me for a very long time. Roll over to me,” AJ requested as he let go of her. Chelsea did as he asked and when they were face to face, he reached out to caress her cheek. He smiled as she yawned again and asked, “Are you hungry?”
“A little.”
From the hall, AJ heard Kevin’s voice talking to Howie and frowned. He had wanted to tell Chelsea last night about Kevin going to the club but she’d been so happy that she had Kevin’s support and he hadn’t wanted to break her heart. He couldn’t hide the concern now knowing that she was going to find out today.
“Alex, what’s wrong?”
“Chelsea, Kevin went to ‘Snappers’ last night.”
“So? Kevin’s always liked to go to places like that.”
“He didn’t go for pleasure.” He stopped to gather his thoughts. Taking her hand in his, he started, “Last night, in the car after you fell asleep, Kevin was….upset that you’d done this and he wanted answers. We tried to talk him out of it and we thought we had.”
“But?”
“He went anyway. While I was down getting your medicine, he left. Brian went after him, to try and reason with him but I don’t know what happened.”
Chelsea closed her eyes to fight the tears but one escaped anyway. She had thought it was over last night when AJ had promised her he was okay with what she had done but obviously, it wasn’t.
AJ wiped the tear away. “Please don’t cry. It’s going to be okay, I promise. Besides, what difference does it make what Kevin thinks? You’re my girlfriend and I’m cool with it.”
Chelsea opened her eyes to see AJ’s deep brown pools and her tears began to fall effortlessly in a steady stream. He was being so wonderful about all this. Giving his hand a squeeze, she said, “I hate that I had to make money like that.”
“I know, baby.” AJ looked closely at her and the thoughts that raced across his mind unsettled him. “Chelsea, do you still love Kevin?”
“I’ll always love him, Alex. He was my first love and he’s the father of my daughter but there will never be anything between us because my heart belongs to you. I love YOU and I want to be with you. All I want right now is for this nightmare to end. I want what we talked about Monday night…time together to get to know each other…to become a couple without any interruptions. I’m tired of people being angry with me for decisions I made about my life. I made a mistake but its NOT one I would want to change because I adore my daughter.”
AJ pulled her to him, wrapping her in his arms as she cried. Softly, as he stroked her hair, he tried his best to reassure her, “Of course you do, beautiful…and I promise, Kevin is not going to say anything to upset you.”
The couple lay together as Chelsea let go of all the emotions that she had bottled up for seven years. It felt good and when she began to calm, she knew that things were going to get better and AJ was going to make sure of it.
Pulling back, she looked up at him through teary eyes. “You asked if I was hungry. You going to bring me breakfast in bed?”
“Sounds romantic. How about I go see if Howie or Brian fixed some breakfast?”
“Then you can help me get dressed.”
“I like the sounds of that,” grinned AJ as he wagged his eyebrows.
“Maybe we can do some more of what you started last night,” suggested Chelsea as she let her fingers walk across his chest. “I’d really like to get a closer look at your ‘69’ tattoo.”
“I’d be glad to show it to you. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Do you need anything else besides something to eat?”
“Just you to come back and hold me.”
“Your wish is my command, my beautiful woman.”
Giving her a quick kiss, AJ hopped up and headed downstairs to get some breakfast. He fully intended to talk to Kevin while he was away from Chelsea. He did NOT want her upset again
