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“Don’t what?”
“Don’t try to make this better for me. It isn’t going to work. As soon as I’m no longer needed here, I’m taking leave and going home.”
“I see.”
“It’s for the best, and we both know it.”
“You wouldn’t let me get away with this shit.”
He didn’t respond, so I stood.
“Smoke, you wouldn’t let me get away with this shit.” This time I shouted it at him.
“Stop it.”
“The feckin’ hell I will.”
“You’re outta your league, little girl. I got years on you, and I’m telling you to stand the fuck down.”
“Kiddo, little girl—you don’t think I see what you’re doing? You think you can put me in my place? You think you can make me feel inferior because of my lack of experience compared to yours? You’re dead wrong, arsehole.”
Smoke stood, picked me up by the waist, moved me out of his way, and stalked out of the bedroom. I stayed right on his heels. Before we got more than a couple of steps down the hallway, he spun around on me and pointed his finger in my face. “Leave me the fuck alone,” he seethed.
I had no intention of backing down and got right back in his face. “Never.” I saw Decker approach from behind Smoke and shook my head. Casper was right behind him. “Stay out of this, the both of you. This is between Smoke and me.” My eyes met Casper’s; she smiled and nodded in what I could only assume was support. I turned my attention back to the man I loved. “If I screwed up, would you walk away from me?” I asked, keeping my voice soft. “Would you let me go if I felt like I needed to run away?” I took a deep breath. “Would you stop loving me, Smoke?”
His eyes bored into mine.
“Answer me, Smoke. Would you stop loving me?”
It took a long while before he responded, and even then, he didn’t speak. His head moved from side to side, barely detectable.
“You wouldn’t,” I said for him. “I won’t either.” I took his han
d and led him back into the bedroom, thankful he didn’t resist. I closed the door behind us. I took another deep breath, knowing the ultimatum I was about to issue may end things between Smoke and me forever, but I had to do it.
“This is it, Smoke. Right here, right now. Either we’re together or we’re not. If we’re together, it’s forever.”
The glimmer of a smile I saw in his eyes gave me hope.
“Answer me, dammit.”
“I didn’t hear a question.”
“All right, then. You want it phrased as a question? Fine. I can do that. Broderick Smoke Torcher, will you marry me?”
His eyes opened wide. “Marry you?”
“That’s right. Marry me. In sickness and in health. ’Til death do us part. All that jazz.”
“When you put it like that…”
I gritted my teeth. “Yes or no, Smoke. Will you marry me?” He cupped my cheek with his palm, and I leaned into his hand. “Please say yes, Smoke.”
“Yes, Siobhan Siren Gallagher, soon to be Torcher. I will marry you.”
My eyes filled with tears as I pushed away the ramifications of what we’d both just said. I hadn’t thought about anything other than spending the rest of my life with the man I loved, and that was exactly how it should be. We’d figure everything else out. Our jobs. Where we lived. None of that mattered compared to having Smoke in my life forever.
He brushed my tears away with this thumb and my lips with his. “You sure about this?” he asked, his forehead resting against mine.
