Erin Kern - Along Came Trouble

A small square box.

Elisa sucked in a breath and told herself that Brody could have anything in there. Anything nonjewelry, though she hoped not.

He gazed down at the box and didn’t speak for a moment. “I bought this, thinking I would give it to you when you came back. But then I didn’t want to wait.” He placed his focus on her. “And then I didn’t want to come here without it, so I brought it with me. The only problem is,” he said, opening the box to reveal a ring inside, silver with just settings and no diamonds, “it doesn’t have a center stone, and I need you to pick one out. That’s why you have to come back.”

Her heart, which hadn’t really slowed down since seeing him, now dropped to the bottom of her stomach. The feeling made her slightly ill because she had no earthly clue how to respond to Brody’s gesture. The gorgeous ring, with the empty center setting, was breathtaking and was undoubtedly an engagement ring. Unless Brody had some twisted sense of humor and went way overboard with a friendship ring.

Elisa adjusted the strap of her camera bag and tried to force words out of her mouth. But the lump in her throat prevented any kind of intelligent response.

“Look,” he said on a sigh. “You know I’m no good with words. I’ve never been a great communicator, and it’s something I’ve tried to work on lately. But the bottom line is I miss you.” He shook his head and glanced at the ring. “I know I did a lot of stuff wrong, and, even though it wasn’t my intention, I pushed you away. It wasn’t until it was too late that I realized what I was doing. And, when I realized you left, I felt… Hell, I felt empty.”

Elisa held her breath while Brody gazed so deeply into her eyes that her heart felt like it was going to beat through her rib cage.

“Not long after I met you, I knew you’d be different. You’d made me feel things I had never felt before, and it scared me. The only thing I could think was that you deserved better than me. I kept thinking of how I broke Kelly’s heart, and I couldn’t bear to do the same to you.”

“But you did break my heart, Brody,” Elisa said softly. “You were trying to protect me when I didn’t want to be protected.”

“I know.” He laughed, but the sound was strained. “Funny how when you reflect on things, they seem so clear.” He closed the ring box with a loud snap . “I’m not proud of how I acted. And the possibility of you leaving should not have been enough for me to write off our relationship. I used that as my out, and it was wrong.

“The real reason I came was because I didn’t feel myself without you. And when I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, I couldn’t sit around and wait. And if that meant bankrupting myself and all but begging you, then that’s what I’m willing to do.”

Elisa licked her lips again and tried to think of something to say. Her feelings for Brody were so clear, yet the words were a jumbled mess in her mind. The urge to laugh was as strong as it was to cry.

“You came all the way here for me?”

“You and Tyler are the only people I would fly halfway around the world for. And I would do it again too. Even if you tell me to leave you alone, I would still do it again.”

She shook her head. “I’m not going to tell you to leave me alone. Just seeing you here is enough.”

Something close to relief and joy flashed across Brody’s face. His eyes dropped closed and he exhaled a breath as though he’d been through just as much torment as she had. The idea was oddly comforting, even though she didn’t like the idea of him in any kind of discomfort. But it was reassuring to know she hadn’t been the only one questioning and regretting.

“I know why you did what you did,” she said to him. “And I’m not saying it was okay. But I understand it now, even if at the time I didn’t.” She placed a hand on his cheek, loving the way his whiskers bit into her palm. “We both have some things to work on, and to be honest, I haven’t felt right since I left Trouble. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love what I’m doing here and I love South Africa, but ever since I got on the airplane, I’ve had this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. And I think I knew in my heart that leaving you wasn’t the right thing. I guess I felt like I was protecting myself.”

Brody cursed under his breath. “You shouldn’t have had to protect yourself. I should have done that, and I failed miserably. I’m sorry. Sorry for making you doubt yourself and sorry for breaking your heart.”

“Brody, don’t you think you’ve been blaming yourself long enough? Maybe it’s time you share that responsibility with someone else.” She pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. “You have my forgiveness, if that’s what you need. But you also have my love, so stop beating yourself up.”

“As long as you love me, then nothing else matters. Because now that I’m here, you’re never getting rid of me.”

She smiled and studied his handsome face. “Who said anything about getting rid of you?”

“Just so we’re clear,” he replied. “In fact, now you really can’t get rid of me.” Elisa held her breath as he opened the ring box and slipped the ring on her third finger. Even without its center stone, the piece was stunning. She didn’t care that the ring was too big. Just having it on her finger felt better than anything had in a long time.

“I love it,” she said around the lump in her throat. “I still can’t believe you came all the way here just for me.”

He cupped her cheek in his warm palm. “You’re worth every mile and every dollar.”

“Tell me you love me, because I’ve been waiting a long time to hear it and I can’t wait any more.”

He dropped a kiss to her lips, and it was the most romantic yet nerve-wracking moment of her life. “I love you, Elisa Cardoso. And if I have to follow you around the world to be with you, then I will.”

Heat flamed her up to her cheeks at his words. “I wouldn’t make you do that, and I wouldn’t make you leave Tyler like that.” This was more than a good enough reason to come back to Trouble.

THERE WAS A VERY GOOD reason Elisa never played sports. One was grass stains. Those suckers were damn near impossible to get out and were always in some obvious spot that acted like a freakin’ bull’s-eye. Like the one on her rear end. On her best pair of yoga pants.

The other was the running. Now, she was no slouch or anything. All things considered, she was in pretty good shape. Ate well, stayed relatively active.

But, shit, did she have to run every single time Tyler hit the ball? Couldn’t the kid like strike out or something?

Brody, who stood on the pitcher’s mound in a pair of well-worn jeans and a too-tight black T-shirt, glanced back at her. That was her other problem. She kept missing the ball because she spent too much time staring at Brody’s ass.

She lifted her baseball glove–covered hand and waved at him. “Don’t mind me,” she called from the outfield. “I’ll just be back here sucking.”

He turned to face her. Even with dark sunglasses shielding his eyes, she still felt the scorching heat of his gaze. “Do you want to come pitch?” he asked.

“Oh, no,” she replied with a shake of her head. Hadn’t he seen her running around like a headless chicken back here? What would make him think she could pitch the ball? “It’s much better for me to be way out here than it would be for me to potentially give your son a concussion. Trust me,” she added.

“Dad, come on,” Tyler said from home plate. He’d lowered the bat and bounced from foot to foot. So far the kid had rounded the bases countless times. Mostly because Elisa kept chasing the ball around like she was deaf, dumb, and blind. Then she couldn’t throw it for shit. One time she’d hit Brody in the shoulder, which he pretended hadn’t hurt.