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Oliver made his way to the bathroom and turned the water on. He poured bubble bath in to create a sea of suds before stripping and climbing in. Lillian watched with appreciation, enjoying the show from afar.
Everything on him was solid muscle. He was defined, hard, and sexy, and he belonged to her. God, that made her happy.
In one quick movement, Lillian pulled the T-shirt she wore over her head and tossed it on the floor. She saw Oliver’s eyes widen with desire, and it made her happy to know that she had incited that kind of reaction in him.
She climbed into the deep clawfoot tub and settled against his chest. Her thoughts wandered to their conversation earlier. Her becoming the sleuth matriarch was a huge responsibility. What if she wasn’t good at it?
She had every intention of putting forth every bit of effort she could. She wanted to be the best she could be. All she had to do was think of Ronnetta and the other shifters like her, and that alone was enough to ensure Lillian would never falter.
“Oliver, do you think I’ll be good for the sleuth?” she asked quietly as she played with a large bubble that perched at the top of the water.
He was silent so long that she worried he thought otherwise. Maybe he would tell her that she needed training. She could handle that. She wouldn’t be able to handle him telling her she’d be a bad matriarch.
“Lillian, I think you’ll be spectacular. I think you’ll love them as much as you say you will, and I think they’ll adore you. Most of them already do. There’s no one in the world better suited to lead them or to be my mate than you.”
She turned to face him, essentially sitting on his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Do you really mean that?”
“I do. I couldn’t be with someone who didn’t take my town or my people seriously. They are important to me, so they need to be important to the woman I’m with. And I feel as though you understand the seriousness of that.”
She nodded. “I do.”
At that moment, his phone dinged with a text message. He kissed her forehead before checking the message.
“C’mon, stop crying and rinse that mane of hair out. I have something I want to show you.”
She frowned but finished washing quickly. He stood, rinsed off, and wrapped a towel around his waist. While waiting for her to finish, he dressed. With a towel around her head and one around her chest, she entered the bedroom.
“What do you want to show me?” she questioned.
He grinned mischievously. “It’s a surprise. Get dressed.”
She rummaged through the drawers and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. As soon as she was ready, he took her hand and led her outside. They rounded the house until they were facing a large, detached garage.
“I never noticed this building before,” Lillian said as she took in the log siding and massive white garage doors.
“I just had it remodeled. It was pretty run down.”
He opened the side door for her, and she stepped onto the concrete floors. Her gasp echoed around the well-lit room.
An art studio with canvases, paint, paintbrushes, clay, charcoal, pencils, and every other artistic tool one could want lined endless shelves along one wall. Plenty of windows gave a ton of natural light.
“Oliver, this is perfect.”
She walked around the studio, looking at everything that had been purchased especially for her. He spared no expense, buying only the best. There were sketch pads and canvases of every size. A table with a bright lamp that could be used to draw and color was against a window.
There were oil paints and acrylic paints, watercolors, and pastels all lined up just waiting for her. Paintbrushes sat in their packaging, untouched and brand new. It was too much. She turned to him with tears in her eyes to find him kneeling on one knee.
In his hand, he held out a velvet blue box with a shiny diamond ring in it. The tears in her eyes flowed freely as the implication of the moment washed over her.
“Lillian, this ring used to be my mother’s, and before that, it was her mother’s. It’s been in my family forever, and I’d be honored if you’d wear it.”
It took a moment for the weight of his words to sink in. Was he asking her to marry him? It certainly seemed that way. She found herself nodding before any words escaped her lips.
“Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you!”
Oliver slipped the ring on her finger and rose to his feet so they could kiss. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. He felt so right. They felt so right.
The war with Uziel was behind them. It was the most perfect day for them to celebrate their bond with an engagement.
