Chapter 7

Joy lit AJ's face as he lifted Mac into the air and spun her around the room. The kiss he gave her left no room in her mind for doubts. AJ did want her! He did love her! And he had proposed!

As the kiss broke on a happy sigh, he pulled back just enough to reluctantly bring up a touchy subject, "There's just one problem, Sarah."

"What?" she asked bemusedly. AJ loved her, what problem could there be?

"At the moment you have one too many fiancés for my comfort level," he told her gently.

"Oh Lord…Harm!"

"Yes."

"I'll have to tell him."

"Yes."

"He's not going to be happy."

"No."

"What can I say to him?" she fretted.

"The truth is always best. Does he know you love me?"

"No, he knows that there's someone and that there are reasons I couldn't be with that someone, but he doesn't know it's you."

"Then you need to tell him."

"Oh AJ, I couldn't! It would hurt him."

"Don't you think he'll know when we get married?"

"He might just think I made the same arrangement with you, but was able to keep my career too," she speculated.

"Is it fair to let him think that? Sarah, you said that he has been your best friend for years. As such, doesn't he deserve to know the truth? That you're choosing me because you love me, not just because with me, you could keep your career, when with him you couldn't?"

"How did you get to be so wise?"

"With age comes wisdom, plus I know that in his place I would want your happiness above all else.

"And yet when you arrived today, you were furious that I was going to marry Harm and leave the Corps."

"If marrying him would make you happy I would have found a way to be glad for you, but I know you Sarah, and I know how much being a Marine means to you. If I'd learned that the coin toss had gone the other way and that you would be going to San Diego, I would never have come."

A gentle smile graced her face and she softly told him, "Then I've never been so glad to lose a coin toss in my life, AJ."

"So you'll talk to Harm soon?"

"Yes."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No AJ, I know you're only concerned about me, but he deserves to hear this from me and if he needs to rant and rave, he deserves privacy for that. I'll be the one hurting him and if he feels like tearing into me I don't want you to think less of him for that."

"It seems you are wise too, my beautiful Sarah. When will you tell him?"

"We have a…date tonight."

"Oh…I see…"

"AJ, that was before…"

Placing a finger over her lips to stop her explanation he said, "Of course it was. Will you come out to the house when your…date is over?"

"It's just a meeting now, AJ. In fact when he comes to pick me up, I'll just tell him right here, then we won't even have to leave the apartment."

"Yes, privacy is better than a public restaurant for something like this."

"I agree," Mac sighed, hating the thought of hurting Harm. She knew he loved her in his own way, even if it wasn't the deep abiding passion of a one true love, but they had been so close all these years that she knew this would likely end their friendship as well as their engagement.

"Sarah, are you sure you want to do this alone?"

"Want? No, but I need to, AJ. However, as soon as it's done I will come to McLean."

"Alright, my love, will you plan on staying the rest of the weekend?" he asked with a tender smile.

"Oh," she gasped softly and then eagerly nodded.

They shared several more kisses, but when passions again began to get out of hand, AJ reluctantly pulled back. "If we keep this up Harm will find out his engagement is off the same way I did Sarah, and I wouldn't want to do that to anyone."

Wincing, Mac nodded and slowly stepped out of his arms. "Well I'd like to get a shower and change clothes before he gets here, so this might be a good time to say good-bye."

"Yes, but the drive home just got harder since now I'll be picturing you in the shower."

"Well if you're very good I might just let you see it for real some time this weekend."

With a brief but heated kiss on her lips, he said, "I'll hold you to that."

She pressed her fingers to her lips as he walked out the door, just barely able to whisper, "You do that," before he left.

To be continued….