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She snorted. “It wasn’t like that. She’s gorgeous—and damn, is she intimidating as a domme—but I kind of have this obsession with this boy. It’s super inconvenient.”
He smiled up at the ceiling. “Yeah?”
“Love’s a pain in the ass, isn’t it?”
He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms fully around her, his world shifting into just the right place, maybe for the first time in his life. “The worst.”
A few lazy minutes passed, and he was just about to suggest they find the bathtub before they fell asleep like this, when her quiet voice cut through the silence.
“Still want to marry me?” The question came out in a soft rush, like maybe she’d been working up the nerve to say it.
He sighed. “I’m not going to rush you this time, mama. I know I scared you. I’m just happy to have you here with me. I can act on impulse sometimes and forget that not everyone wants to take chances like that. You have Reagan, and there are lots of things we don’t know about each other. I understand why you told me no.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
He ran his fingers through her hair, staring up at the ceiling and forcing himself to be honest, even if he risked freaking her out again. “I know in my gut you’re it for me. But I can wait as long as you need. We can do things the normal way, take our time.”
Her fingers curled against his chest. “I’m kind of over normal.”
“Hmm?”
“Ask me again, Pike.”
He shifted to sit up, needing to see her face. “What?”
She sat up with him, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders, and met his gaze, her eyes as calm as he’d ever seen them. “Ask. Me. Again.”
That’s when what she was asking him finally clicked. He sucked in a breath. Ask her again. Hope bloomed in him, big and bright.
Without hesitation, he buttoned his jeans, hopped off the couch, and dropped to one knee. He took her hands in his and cleared his throat, the emotion trying to well up and block his words.
“Oakley Easton, I love you. I want you to be my first love and my last. My mission in life is to be the one putting that smile on your face every day. I promise you, I will give you and Reagan absolutely everything I have to give. Will you marry me?”
Tears filled her eyes and a wide smile broke across her face. She pushed the blanket from her shoulders and slid to her knees in front of him, naked and beautiful and more than he’d ever dreamed he could have. “James Pike Ryland, I love you back. So much that it takes my breath away if I think about it too hard. I love everything about you—including your reckless disregard for what’s normal. Yes, I want to marry you. Not next month or next year. But this weekend. I don’t need extra time to confirm what I already know for sure in my heart. You are going to be a wonderful husband … and an amazing father. Both to Rae and the children we may one day have. Our family will be filled with love and laughter because we’re in it together—all the rest of the details will work themselves out.”
He closed his eyes, the words pinging something deep within him. Family. Children. His.
He lifted his hands, cupping her cheeks, and pressing his forehead to hers, overcome with all the … feeling. Fuck. Was he crying?
“I’m totally ruining my badass image here,” he said on a choked laugh.
She lifted his head away from hers and then kissed the escapee tears off his cheeks. “You have never been more irresistible to me than right now.”
He smirked. “Sadist.”
“No, that’s you.” She pressed her mouth to his. “And I love it.”
He circled his arms around her and sat back, pulling her into his lap. “So this weekend, huh?”
She nodded. “Sunday.”
He lifted a brow. “Already have ideas, I see.”
“I’m getting better at leaps of faith. That doesn’t mean I don’t have a plan.”
He kissed her mouth. “Just tell me where to show up and I’ll be there.”
“No fear, huh? Commitment? Forever? No other women for the rest of your life?”
