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“I will treat her like a princess,” Jase promised.
He watched as Lachlan processed his words. “All right.”
Amber scooched off the sofa and picked up the ring box from the floor. “Ooooh, it does have diamonds!”
“Hello. I’m back. Did you miss me?”
Jase looked up and saw Bonnie come through the doorway of their rented condo. She looked gorgeous and refreshed in her red sundress. He couldn’t wait to get her alone tonight to propose.
“Jase is marrying all of us, and he’s going to treat you like a princess, otherwise Grandpa Christos is going to be disappointed,” Lachlan said as he bounded off the couch to give his mom a hug.
“Yeah, and you can’t be disappointed in the ring, because there are some diamonds on it, so it really is an engagement ring. See?”
Amber had the ring box in her hand and was shoving it into Bonnie’s for her to look at. He saw Bonnie’s look of befuddlement, but then she looked over her two terrors and zeroed in on Jase. Her head tilted in question.
Jase shrugged. Of course things went wonky, it was the Larkin way.
Jase got up off the coffee table where he had been sitting and wrapped his arms around his little family.
She reached up around her children and kissed the hollow of Jase’s throat. Then she whispered in his ear. “I like you very much.”
“You have all my like, too.” He whispered back.
She giggled.
He stroked his fingers through her hair and bit the lobe of her ear. Then he whispered. “Bonnie Fiona Larkin. You and your children have brought color into my life. Will you marry me?”
She didn’t answer immediately. She was pondering, just like her son did. Then she smiled and stood on her toes to whisper in his ear.
“Jase, I have never felt so treasured in my entire life. I don’t know if I can do it, but I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to show you just how much I really do love you. You are the piece of my heart I never knew I was missing. Yes, I will marry you, Jase Drakos. Absolutely yes.”
“She said yes,” Lachlan whispered loudly.
“I know. You know what that means,” Amber whispered back just as loud.
“We can get a dog!” Lachlan yelled.
“We can get a baby sister!” Amber screeched.
* * *
