Page 47 of Searching for Bristol
The other woman sounded extremely excited, and while Rocky didn’t exactly care about jewelry, hedidcare about making sure his future sister-in-law felt comfortable around him, and that Bristol knew he supported her work.
As he closed his door, Rocky once again tried to wrap his mind around the fact that Bristol made an unbelievably successful living with her art. He hadn’t seen her make one of her stained-glass panels yet, but after their trip to Kingsport, he’d immediately looked her up online—and was flabbergasted by what he’d seen.
She was a miracle worker. The windows she’d made were so beautiful, they’d taken his breath away. And Rocky wasn’t a man who was easily impressed. His favorite piece he’d seen so far wasn’t the biggest, about six feet tall and three feet wide. A man in Indiana had installed the window in his home, on the second floor. The sunrise caught it perfectly, and was a perfect complement to the beach scene Bristol had crafted out of glass. The sun coming over the horizon made it look as if the glass was coming to life. Seeing that image, Rocky had better understood why her art cost as much as it did.
“Hey, Lilly,” he said, making a beeline for Bristol. It had been three days since they’d gotten back from Kingsport, and while he’d never thought his houseguest had been unhappy, it was easy to see how much creating art settled her. She seemed more…content, than she had before.
He walked over to where she was sitting on his couch and leaned over, kissing her. Rocky loved having the freedom to touch her when he felt the urge. Loved being able to show her physically how happy he was that she was with him. And the way she enthusiastically returned his kisses was soul-satisfying.
He lifted his head, but didn’t stand up all the way, bracing a hand on the arm of the couch. “How do you feel?”
She smiled up at him. “Good.”
“You take any painkillers today?”
Shaking her head, Bristol said, “No. I feel fine.”
Rocky studied her, trying to ascertain if she was telling the truth or not. His Bristol had a high pain tolerance; he might not know everything about her yet, but he knew that much. The fact that she’d crawled through the woods and hadn’t complained even once after surgery proved it.
“All right,” he said after a moment. “But don’t be a hero. If you hurt, take something.”
“I will,” she said, reaching out and running her palm up and down his biceps tenderly.
Feeling her hands on him made Rocky want her so badly, it almost hurt. But no matter how much he wanted to physically prove that he liked and admired her, she wasn’t healed yet. He never wanted to hurt her, and if he got her naked, the last thing he’d be thinking about was being careful with her leg.
Not only that, he was enjoying this slow intimacy between them. The desire was always there, buzzing gently, but the anticipation of how and when they’d move their relationship to the next level was exciting. Gave him something to look forward to. Lord knew he needed that, after going from the life of a SEAL, to the last five slow—extremely slow—years here in Fallport.
“All right, enough lovey-dovey stuff,” Lilly said with a laugh. “Look at the earrings Bristol made for me!” She held up a pair of dangly earrings.
Rocky stood and obediently took the jewelry from Lilly. He examined them much more carefully than he would’ve if they were anything other than something made by the woman he could still taste on his lips.
He had no idea what kind of flower Bristol had made out of the beads she’d brought from her house, but they were incredibly detailed. They even sparkled in the low light of the apartment. “They’re very pretty,” he remarked as he handed them back to Lilly.
Both women chuckled.
“Coming from a guy, that’s high praise,” Lilly said. “They’re lilies. You know, like my name.”
“At risk of sounding like acompleteguy…the only kind of flower I’d recognize is a rose. Maybe a dandelion too,” Rocky said with a small shrug. “But thesearepretty. The blue in them will bring out the lovely blue in your eyes.”
Lilly stared at him for a beat, then said, “Wow.”
“Right?” Bristol agreed.
Rocky looked between the two women in confusion. “What?”
They laughed again, and he was completely lost.
Bristol obviously felt sorry for him, because once she got control of herself, she explained, “I’m guessing not many men would comment on jewelry matching someone’s eyes.”
“I love Ethan to death, but I know for a fact he’d never say something like that,” Lilly added with a huge smile.
“Aaaaand now I’m gonna go smash a beer can against my forehead, belch, and scratch my nuts to reassert my manliness,” Rocky said with a laugh.
That set the two women off again, and he watched with a big grin as they laughed hysterically.Thiswas what was missing in his life. Joy. Laughter.
“While you two make fun of me, I’m gonna go shower,” Rocky told them.
To his surprise, Bristol leaned forward and grabbed his hand. “We weren’t making fun of you,” she told him, looking serious. “I’m impressed you even made that connection, because that’s exactly what I was thinking when I decided on the colors.”
