Inseparable Strangers (22 page)

A
yawn escaped me and I found it difficult to fight the urge to sleep any longer.

Aaron
took notice of my fatigue. “I know you’re super tired, and I’ll leave soon so
you can rest, but before I do that, I need to ask you something.”

Lifting
my eyebrows as if to say ‘what,’ I nodded, indicating to go ahead.

He
stood up and paced back and forth by my bed. “That first day I met you in the
rain, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. When
you treated me like shit, I couldn’t ignore the feeling in my gut that told me
you had a good soul, it just needed to be dug up by the right person.” He wrung
his hands nervously. “When our paths crossed again, I knew fate took a hand in
our destiny and our chances of crossing paths twice weren’t coincidental.” He
stopped pacing and stood directly in front of me. “I’ve known from the moment
you carried me out of that ditch and brought me back to your house that I would
fall in love with you. No matter how difficult it would be for us to be
romantically involved, I couldn’t stop my feelings for you. The harder I fell,
the more human I turned. When I changed completely, there was no doubt in my
mind that I was meant to spend the rest of my life with you. These last four
days in the hospital has been the most difficult time of my life. Harder than
it was when I was living on the streets without a penny to my name. To live
without you would be like dying in hell.”

Aaron
shoved both hands into the front pocket of his jeans. “Please tell me you want
to spend the rest of your life with me, too?” he asked, staring at me. His eyes
were etched with fear.

With
a nervous step, he sat down on the edge of my bed and took my hand in his, then
gently kissed the inside of my palm. “Lennox Rae Collins, there is no place
else I’d rather be than by your side for the rest of my life. I want to try a
life with you. I’ll get a job. I’ll take care of you. And then when you’re
ready, I’m going to put a ring on your finger and make you my wife. Will you
plan a future with me? Will you give us a shot to see if we have what it
takes?”

The
beeping in the room suddenly reached a crazy level of vibrato. Any moment, I
expected the nurses to come rushing through the door. There was no thinking it
through. Our bizarre encounter wasn’t coincidental, it was our destiny. “Yes!”
I blurted. Cringing from the sudden pain in my throat, I wrapped my hand around
my neck as if it would help ease the discomfort.

Nodding
my head like a bobble head, I wrote YES as big as the blank space on the paper
allowed.

Aaron
jumped up from the floor and did a fist pump in the air before rushing back to
me. He cradled my face in his hands and kissed me subtly on the mouth. “I love
you,” he murmured against my lips. “Thank you for giving me you.”

THE END

Please
support your indie authors by leaving reviews. It doesn’t have to be long, just
a sentence or two is all we are asking for. Thank you so much for your support!

As always, I want to thank my family and friends for
putting up with my absence as a wife, mother, sister, daughter, and best
friend. I promise, I’m working on making time for y’all. But, if I fail, please
forgive me.

Secondly, I want to thank my two amazing beta readers,
Terri Thomas and Amy Jennings. I truly have no idea what I would do without you
two. You both have held my hand every step of the way, and without your
expertise, Inseparable Strangers would be a big crap story nobody would want to
read. Aside from being the best beta readers ever, I thank you so much for your
true friendship. Love you ladies!

Thank you, Sheena Martin for adding your special touch
to all my grammatical errors.

 Last but not least, I want to thank my Smutsisters -
Adriane, Alexis, Amy, Beth, Dympna, Joan, Kadene, Kelly, Summer, Teri, and
Terri. We have been on one crazy roller coaster of a ride, but no matter what,
you ladies will always have a spot in my heart.

Jill Patten was born a Yankee, but raised a
southerner. She lives in the small town of Mayberry, North Carolina which was
made famous by a popular TV show back in the sixties. (Maybe there will one day
be a statue of her at the end of Main Street. Ha! A girl can dream, right?)
Jill has always loved to read, even during reading labs in middle school for
reading comprehension. Judy Blume was her first author she hero-worshipped,
maturing to revere the works of Stephen King. With all the fantastic authors
today, she simply cannot choose a favorite. Her taste is very eclectic and she
loves almost all genres. When she's not captivated by her fictional characters,
she spends time with her sweet husband and two beautiful children.
Music is her muse. Jill also loves elephants, sarcasm, and anything made with
sugar, especially sweet tea. She enjoys all things rude and crude and laughs at
stuff she probably shouldn't. She has been accused of being bossy a time or
two, but doesn't really see it herself.
All in all, Jill is just a small town girl in this great big world trying to
enable your book addiction.
Oh, and if you read her book, please leave her a review - good or bad, she'll
love you forever.

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