Chapter 17

They listened to country music until Jaxine pulled up to her apartment complex, grabbing her purse and smirked over at him. "We're home." She winked before getting out and took his hand as he did the same, guiding him up to her apartment. "I warn you now; it's a bit of a mess." She opened the door and smiled, her apartment had white walls with midnight blue woodwork and ivory carpeting, dark blue furniture with dark cherry wood for the TV stand and whatnot. The kitchen was to his right and the living room to his left. The kitchen was painted a deep shade of grey with black and white tiled flooring. "Make yourself at home, sweetie."

"Thanks." He looked around curiously, wondering just where this mess was supposed to be at. He set his bag down by the door, stepping deeper into the living room, his eyes raking over her possessions, glancing down the hall and had to admit, the room he was most curious about had a bed in it. He rubbed his bald head awkwardly, shoving those thoughts aside for the moment. "Got somethin' to drink, honey?" He asked, needing to chill out.

"Yeah, I'll get you something to drink in a minute. Come here." She grabbed his hand and guided him down the hallway, opening the first door to his left. It was a deep dark green theme, comforter and everything. "This is the guest room, which you will not be staying in." She shut it before gesturing to her right, which was the bathroom. It was silver and dark maroon, the girl liked color, but not all together. "And finally..." She walked inside her room, which had the walls painted deep lavender with white woodwork and ivory carpeting. There was a flat screen TV in the corner with a DVD player, satellite box and a fireplace underneath it. That had come with the apartment. The comforter was one plain color, no designs, and looked big enough to fit three of Steve on there. She smiled at him when his eyes widened, staring at the decor, and slowly pulled his bag from his shoulder. "You need to rest." She softly murmured, running her hands up and down his back.

He had seen the guest room and had felt a twinge of regret that turned into something else when she said he wouldn't be sleeping there. If he was honest, he'd have to admit it was a thrill of happiness. The only place he wanted to be was by her side, no strings attached. Anything she could give him, he would take. Steve had admitted to himself several days ago that he was falling in love with Jaxine and falling hard.

"Rest with me." He whispered, pulling her against him.

She smiled at him and nodded, kissing his lips softly, and stroked his face with the back of her hand. "Let me go get you something to drink." She quickly vacated the room and went to the kitchen, getting him a glass of water, no beer in her place at the moment. She walked back in and smiled when she seen he was sitting on her bed, looking uneasy. "Relax Steve." Jaxine murmured, setting the glass on her nightstand, and stood between his legs as she lifted his shirt very gently over his head, setting it on his bag before kissing his lips softly, slowly pulling back. "Let me change." She murmured and walked over to her dresser, pulling out a dark red nightgown, slipping it over her head and took her tank top off without showing him anything. She shimmied out of her jeans and kicked them to the side before pulling the comforter back, patting the spot beside her, and smiled when he joined her, instantly pulling her into his arms, sighing in contentment. "I'm so glad you're here with me."

Seeing her change her clothes in that oh so innocent and unrevealing fashion, to him, was worse then if she had just performed a strip tease for him. He was grateful his jeans were tight because he was rock hard at the moment, the jeans keeping it from springing up and making itself known. He almost cursed when she snuggled on his lap, cautiously leaning back into the headboard, wrapping his arms around her waist and rested his head on top of hers.

"I'm glad I'm here too." He murmured his voice unintentionally husky.

She rolled over so her head was on his chest, running her hand down his bare chest, a smile on her face, frowning when she felt the jean material against her bare legs. "You need to change into something more comfortable." She murmured in his ear, her amber orbs staring back into his baby blues and softly kissed him. "Go on, I'll wait." She snuggled back against the pillow; her black hair splayed all around her and watched him with pure adoration. She loved him and Jaxine knew, as she stared at the gorgeous bald man before her, that she'd made the right decision.

Steve wasn't sure if changing out of constraining jeans was such a good idea, but when she gave him that beautiful smile, the look in her eyes...he couldn't say no. He was at her mercy, if only she knew it. "I'll be right back." He whispered, going to retrieve his bag and disappeared into the bathroom, not fixing to change in front of her in his current condition. "Goddamn it." He groaned, looking down at himself. Jaxine was going to be his death.

While he was in the bathroom, Jaxine decided to walk into the kitchen to make him something to eat. She figured a sandwich wouldn't hurt and pulled the lunchmeat out of the fridge with mayonnaise, having seen him eat these on the road a lot. She would make a proper home cooked meal for him later on, but since it was nearing four o'clock in the morning, a sandwich was all he was getting. She cleaned up her mess with the breakfast, sighing gently, knowing she'd have three days to make homemade waffles, something she'd been craving lately.

Steve finally emerged from the bathroom in loose gray pajama pants, having talked himself into losing the hard-on. Though he already knew if she kept snuggling on him he was a doomed man. "Jaxine?" He called, not seeing her in the bedroom and followed his nose, his stomach giving a growl when he seen her in the kitchen. "What're ya doin', honey?"

She smiled up at him, finishing cleaning up the dishes before drying her hands on a towel. "I thought you might be hungry so I made you a sandwich." She picked the plate up and held it up to him, looking like a complete angel. "That's the quickest thing I could come up with. I promise though, for the next three days, home cooked meals all the way."

"No worries, I'm not picky." He said, picking up the sandwich and practically inhaling it. He was a big man with a big appetite, not to mention he hadn't eaten all day and even if he could have, he wasn't that fond of hospital food to begin with. He gently moved her aside so he could wash the plate it had been on, laughing when she protested. "Just let me do it, Jaxine."

"Okay." She mumbled, pouting adorably, and smiled when he just rolled his eyes at her. He was such a beautiful man and he wanted her, or so it seemed. Jaxine wasn't going to jump to any conclusions and decided no strings attached would be the best way to go. Unless he wanted more and she prayed he did. While he washed his dish, she whipped him up two more sandwiches and set them on a paper plate, giggling when he just shook his head at her. "You can eat in the room if you want." She informed him before practically dancing out of the kitchen and down the hall.

He stood there at the counter and ate them, knowing it wouldn't take him long. Two bites, one sandwich. Two more bites, both were gone. He threw away the plate, washed his hands and went to brush his teeth, finally joining her in the bedroom, smiling at her. He was going to be smiling permanently if he stayed with her much longer, and then he smiled at that, crawling onto the bed and instantly pulling her against him.

"Thanks for the meal." Steve said, kissing her temple softly.

"You're welcome sweetie." She kissed his cheek before snuggling against him, draping her arm over his stomach, running her nails lightly up his side and closed her eyes, completely exhausted. She'd been at the hospital for nearly fourteen hours and was drained. She was so happy that Steve was with her and for the first time in a long while, Jaxine felt completely content and relaxed with a man.

Steve moved until they were lying down, careful not to bump her away from him, wrapping his arms firmly around her. Even though he hadn't been up for long, he was tiring as well. He sighed contentedly, kissing the top of her head and stifled a yawn. "You're not really gonna make me stay in bed all day tomorrow?" He asked sleepily, smirking suddenly and adding, "Alone?"

"You'll never be alone again, Steve." She murmured softly in reply, snuggling further against him, entwining their fingers together and pressed them to her heart, smiling as he spooned up against her. "I'll be here as long as you want me." She added and snuggled against her pillow, hoping it was forever because that's what she was planning on.

"So are you available for all eternity? Because forever is sounding pretty good right now." He chuckled softly, reaching down to grope for the blankets, pulling the sheet over them. "Get some sleep honey; you look like you haven't had much in the past twenty-four hours." He whispered, raising her hand to his mouth to gently kiss it before resting them back over her heart.

"I'm yours." She whispered, turning to face him and staring into his blue eyes before softly kissing his lips. She laid her head on his shoulder as his arm snaked around her, their fingers entwining together and resting over his heart as the sleep claimed her entire body.

~!~

Steve woke up to the smell of waffles. He was tempted to go right back to sleep, but that scent was even more tempting. A mental image of Jaxine in her nightgown cooking for him popped into his head and as sexist as it was, the thought was too enticing. He could visualize that happening every morning for the rest of their lives. "I'm a sexist pig." He chuckled to himself, reluctantly getting out of the warm bed.

Jaxine was currently in the kitchen in a pair of black cotton shorts and a dark blue tank top, dancing as she made the waffles, her current favorite song 'Hysteria' by Def Leppard played in the kitchen. Her hair was pulled up in a high bun to keep it out of the food as she started singing to the song.

Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria

Oh can you feel it, do you believe it?

It's such a magical mysteria

When you get that feelin', better start believin'

'Cos it's a miracle, oh say you will, ooh babe

Hysteria when you're near

Out of me, into you yeah

You could hide it's just a one way street

Oh, I believe I'm in you, yeah

Open wide, that's right, dream me off my feet

Oh, believe in me

He leaned in the kitchen archway, just watching her dancing to the song. It wasn't something he recognized, but hearing her gorgeous voice singing it made it one of his new favorites. Steve smiled slightly, quietly sneaking up behind her, snaking his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him, dancing with her.

"Mornin'." He rumbled in her ear.

Jaxine jumped when she felt those arms snake around her waist and laughed as he started dancing with her, turning around when the song ended, and kissed his lips softly. "Morning to you too. I didn't wake you did I?" She bit her bottom lip, knowing the music might've been too loud as she flipped another waffle onto the plate, making that five. Now she would make hers and grinned, looking completely relaxed and happy for the first time in ages. "I hope you're hungry."

"In a way, yes." He said, smiling when she looked politely puzzled. "The waffles woke me." Steve explained, eyes widening when she pushed the loaded plate towards him. "Mmm…" He smothered them in butter and syrup, looking around and grinned when he seen a pot of coffee. "May I?" He asked, gesturing towards the pot. He knew she had said to make himself at home, but there were some things his momma had instilled in him he just couldn't get past.

Jaxine appreciated that he asked considering this wasn't his place and smiled sweetly, nodding. "Of course, help yourself." She placed her two waffles on her plate before walking over, smothering them in butter and syrup just like him before taking a bite, instantly moaning. "Oh my god, they are better than I remember." She instantly dug in, having craved these for months now, and the taste was intoxicating. She stopped after inhaling her first waffle and gulped down half of her glass of milk before continuing onto the second one.

He snorted when she moaned; fixing his coffee the way he liked it before returning his own untouched waffles. "I'm guessin' by the way you inhaled those, these waffles are sex on a plate." He commented, chuckling at the look on her face. He set the mug down and took a bite, echoing her moan. "Marry me." He said after swallowing, playfully getting on one knee before her. "You make delicious waffles, now say yes." He teased gently.

Jaxine actually looked at him, into his beautiful blue eyes, and kissed his lips softly. "Yes." She whispered, seeing his eyes widen slightly and started laughing before going back to eating her food. "That would be my answer had you done that for real." She informed him sweetly before taking another bite of her waffle, starting to feel full. She would marry this man in a millisecond and started wondering what it would be like to be Mrs. Austin. The thought made her drop her fork on her plate, taking her breath away and downed the rest of her milk.

Steve finished his breakfast in silence, considering that. He helped her clean up the kitchen before gently pulling her into him, tilting her chin back with a finger, his beautiful baby blues staring intently into her butterscotch orbs. "Will you marry me?" He asked softly, this time posing the question seriously, the expression on his face confirming that he was no longer joking.

Jaxine searched those eyes of his for what seemed like an eternity as the tears filled her own, nodding her head. "Yes. I love you so much, Steve." She laughed when he lifted her up in his arms and spun her around in circles, their lips meeting in a heated kiss that left both breathless when broke apart. "I told you forever and I meant it." She ran her finger down his cheek to his jaw, pressing her forehead to his before kissing him again, happiness exploding throughout her body.