(This is just a short story. A small visit with Hot Rocker Mike and his Sara.)
"Wait right here and I'll go get it!" She grinned at him from the doorway and then ducked out, her auburn tresses sliding from his view. She quickly pulled open the closet door and pulled the large box out from its hiding place. She had stressed out about him finding it for the last two days, but not as much as she'd worried that his Birthday present might not be ready on time.
Her smile grew as she lugged the large box through the bedroom door. It was perfect, the perfect gift and she couldn't wait to see the smile on his face when he opened it.
"Here it is, open it!" Her voice was anxious as she hopped onto the bed beside him, jostling his sheet clad body. He laughed, a deep sound in his throat that never failed to make her smile if not join in. "Come on, I'm dying to see what you think, to see if you like it."
His long fingers moved over her wrapping efforts, smoothing out the wrinkles. He studied the package as if he could see through the shoddy wrapping job and into the box to his gift and then his blue eyes came up to meet hers, the same blue eyes she had looked into lovingly for the last six years. "I'll love it Sara, whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it."
She grinned, her eyes alight, "Prove it." She remembered saying these same two words to him once, long ago, only to be followed by his lips crashing down on hers, in their first kiss. "Open it!" She urged before she could be further distracted, further enticed by the allure of his lips.
He laughed again and tore into the paper, pulling it away to reveal the brown, flat box held closed with clear packaging tape. He looked at it for a beat and then pulled at the tape, ripping it way.
Pausing again he turned to look at her, into the excitement reflected in her coppery eyes. She was bouncing up and down like a school girl and he couldn't help but think how cute she looked all flushed and happy like that. He knew whatever was in the box she had taken great pains with it and he had no intention of letting her down. He would pretend it was amazing even if it was the worst gift imaginable.
He smiled into her eyes and then looked down at the box. A beat later he was flipping up the top, his eyes moving over the deep wood, the strings, the beautiful body of the instrument nestled inside the box. "It's amazing." His words were filled with awe as his eyes came up to meet the warmth in her eyes, a worthy rival for the burnished wood he held in his hands.
He ran a finger along the strings, his eyes drawn back to the design on the fret board. He hadn't seen one like it since…His eyes shot back up to her grinning face. "What did you do?"
"Do you like it?"
He was speechless for a moment and then lifted it from the box. "It's…Wow…I mean…how did? I mean is it what I think it is?"
She was nodding and bouncing again. "Yep, it is…well some of it is…I mean what was salvageable anyways, pretty much just the neck and the fret board. So you like it?"
He gave her a look of incredulity. "I love it…but how?"
"Do you remember the box Heather sent over about a month ago?"
"Ah, no?"
She swatted at him playfully. "Well it was in there, that and some old Guitar world magazines. And then it was just the matter of finding someone who was willing to try to fix it."
His fingers were stroking over the strings lovingly. "It's great, Sara, but you didn't have to do this…I mean…" His voice was thick with emotion.
She reached and ran her slim fingers along the deep wood, her eyes never leaving his. "I figured it was the least I could do since I'm the one who busted it."
He grinned, "True, but you had every right to have busted it over my head."
Her laughter filled the room, a sweet music he wished he could recreate, but nothing his fingers had ever plucked from a guitar could even compare and he knew it.
Her eyes were still dancing, but the laughter had left her voice, "I like your head too much to do that." She leaned and kissed him gently to prove it.
He felt her tongue against his lips and welcomed it inside, feeling the warmth spread through him from her caress. He forced himself away his eyes delving into hers. He just had one more thing to say. "Thank you, Sara. This is the second best gift you've ever given me."
"Just second best, huh?" Her eyes were dark with arousal.
"Uh, huh, now come 'ere so I can thank you properly before the very best thing you've ever given me wakes up for his morning bottle.
Sara giggled and let him pull her into his arms; thinking, now this is the kind of thank you a girl could get used to real quick.