Chapter Five

Gently, slowly, he guided her hand up and down her body, ran their fingers along each and every scar. He left the largest one for last, knowing that this was the one that frightened and disgusted her the most. That asshole had sliced her from her breastbone straight down the middle of her body, all the way to her navel. The scar was thick and raised, an angry, vivid purple, and every time she looked at it, she remembered how terrified she had been at that moment. She'd truly thought he was going to gut her like a fish; she'd thought she was going to die.

Dallas paused at the top of the scar. “OK?”

She nodded again.

He took her small hand in his large one and carefully traced the scar down. A sob caught in her chest, and he stopped.

“Olivia?”

“Don’t stop,” she said. “I’m OK.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

Dallas turned her face to his, pressed a tender kiss on her lips. She closed her eyes, just for a second, drawing strength from him.

“I love you,” he said again.

“I know.” Olivia smiled at him. “I can feel it, all the way to my fingertips.”

He moved her hand down, moving it the whole length of her upper body. Olivia watched in the mirror as they traced the horrible scar down, then up, then down again. Each time, it got easier; each time, it felt less uncomfortable. His hand on top of hers was strong, steady. Finally, he stopped and wrapped both arms around her. They stared at each other in the mirror, loving the love between them.

“How was that?” Dallas said.

“Good.” She leaned back into his body. “Surprisingly good.”

“We can do that every morning, baby. You just say the word.”

Her tears slid down her cheeks, and he used his thumbs to catch them, wipe them away.

“OK,” she said. “It – it’s easier with you. It helps.”

“That’s all I want to do. Just make it better, if I can.”

Olivia turned in his arms. He clasped his hands around her waist, breathing her in. Loving her.

“So what are you up to today?” he asked.

“I’m meeting Nigel for a coffee. He’s got a whole bunch of wedding dress pictures he wants to show me. He says he wants an idea of what I like and don’t like, then he’ll head out to a few stores and pull some dresses for me to try on.”

“So you’re really going through with this, huh?” Dallas teased her. “I guess if you’re shopping for the dress, you’ll actually marry me?”

“Uh-huh.” Her eyes sparkled up at him. “I just hope I can find a dress you like.”

“Baby, you could show up in a white paper bag, and I’d think you were the most stunning thing I’d ever seen in the whole of my life.”

“Yeah?” She grinned. “I’ll keep that in mind when Nigel starts throwing the thirty-thousand-dollar dresses at me. A paper bag’ll cost a mere fraction of that, right?”

Dallas blinked down at her in horror. “Thirty-thousand…”

“Yep. Welcome to the world of bridal dresses, babe. Nothing short of highway robbery.”

“I’ll say.” He shook his head. “But whatever you want, you’ll get. You know that, right?”

“Oh, no way. I couldn’t live with myself if I paraded down the aisle in that kind of dress. We’re keeping it small and simple, and that goes for the dress too.”

“You sure?” He kissed her forehead. “I kind of thought that the princess dress was every woman’s fantasy.”

“Propaganda.” She ran her fingers over the tight muscles of his biceps. “A smart, sexy, hot man in her bed is every woman’s fantasy… and mine has already come true.”

“So… the white paper bag dress it is, huh?”

“Yep.” She laughed. “A paper bag with some sparkles and glitter stuck on. That’ll do me just fine. Now I just have to break it to Nigel.”

“He’s gonna take it hard?”

“Oh, honey.” Olivia’s eyes sparkled up at him. “You have no idea how heartbroken he’s going to be.”