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Willow lay wrapped around him and held him close as he sighed and relaxed. She stayed there, wide awake, as he began to breathe more deeply and settle closer to her. She watched him sleep, still stunned about the night's conclusion. She was getting married. To him. She was going to become the wife of this fierce, passionate, handsome man.
She studied his features in the moonlit room, unable to stop smiling. "I love you, Raith Malloy," she softly told her sleeping fiancé. "You and little Bubble Malloy too."
A moment later, he patted her hip and mumbled what sounded like, "Coward."
Willow frowned. "Excuse me?" she said as she watched his eyes flicker open.
"You're such a coward," he repeated, his words thick with sleep.
Shaking her head, Willow demanded, "Oh? And how's that?"
"You couldn't tell me you loved me when I was awake, could you? Had to wait until you thought I was asleep."
"I did not!" Willow jerked to a sitting position. "I could've mentioned it any time I wanted."
"Then why didn't you?"
For a second, she sputtered. "I... I didn't think of it until just now."
Raith snorted. "Uh, huh. Sure."
"Well, you didn't say it to me either."
"Did too."
Willow lifted an eyebrow. "No," she stated adamantly. "You said I was the best thing that had ever happened to you. You mentioned nothing about love."
"Hell," Raith complained, yanking her moodily down to his side so he could curl back around her. "I thought I loved Deb, and that was nothing compared to this. You completely blow my mind, woman. I will never love anyone the way I love you."
Willow blinked. Then she relaxed against him and smiled in satisfaction. "Well… that's more like it."
As she kissed his chin, he growled sullenly but then buried his face in her hair and inhaled her scent. "Thank God," he muttered. "Can we get some sleep now?"
"I don't know." She yawned, already sinking toward oblivion. "Are you going to get any mushier on me? Dedicate the stars to me or
something?"
He cursed and pulled her snug against him. "Go to sleep, smartass."
Twenty Six
His cell phone rang the moment Raith stepped from the jewelry store. When he saw it was the station calling, he answered, "Malloy."
"Hey," the voice of Officer Hinton spoke in his ear. "Good news. We just got a blood match for the perpetrator who broke into your girlfriend's house."
Raith grinned at the term.
Girlfriend.
He wondered what Hinton would say if he corrected him and told the kid she was now officially his fiancée. Stuffing the ring box in his pocket, he patted the bulge it made and strolled toward his truck. "Great. What's this bastard's name?"
"You'll never believe it. Max Kettle."
Raith stopped in his tracks. "Are you shitting me?"
When Hinton's confirmation came back, he stopped breathing. Kettle had been dead set on exacting his revenge. But Raith never imagined he'd do it by going after Willow.
A cold sweat filmed his skin as he told the deputy to send someone to Willow's office. Then he hung up and hopped into his truck, speeding toward her himself.
