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It’s like we’re talking silently again. I don’t have to guess why she decided to say it right then, seemingly out of the blue.
We’re always saying it like that, addicted to the L-word, to the feeling it provokes in us.
I think about the dog shelter…
And the ring box in my pocket.
“Where is everyone?” Danni asks, walking into the yard and turning in a slow circle.
I’ve just returned from the ‘toilet’…but I was getting Shelby ready.
My gaze fixates on her face, her wide eyes as she stops, facing me. She bites her lip in that soul-searing way she has, provoking lust-filled fantasies in my mind.
I want to be good, though, to save that until after…
Her confidence is growing even if she’s been driving me crazy in the bedroom.
Her bouncing up and down on me last night as I squeezed onto her hips and stared up at her was utterly amazing.
Her face was the sexiest part as we rushed toward our shared finish, the newfound assurance in her smile as she rode me vivaciously.
I walk forward, my hands twitching at my sides, my throat feeling like it is getting dry as I summon the words.
“This might seem like a strange place to choose,” I tell her, stopping a few feet short. “To most people, anyway. But I know it won’t, not to you.”
She blinks, her eyes glittering with tears. It’s the same way she looked when we told Elizabeth the truth, as though she was ready to burst into sobs.
But just like then, she holds them back for now.
“Choose for what?” she murmurs.
I take her hands in mine, staring down into her flushed cheeks, the passion blazing through her skin.
“Dogs are always going to be a big part of our life, Danni,” I go on. “That’s why I wanted to tell you here. I love you.”
“I love you too,” she says, with extra weight than before.
“You know, I never knew what love was before you walked in, and I mistook you for somebody else. But now I do. Love is knowing I’d never betray you. Love is being there for you every single day of our lives. Love is supporting each other. Love is buying a ring measurer and sneakily finding out your ring size while you’re asleep… love is knowing I’ll protect you, protect our children, forever.”
“A ring?”
She trails off, her mouth falling open as I climb to one knee.
“Danni Quick,” I say, warmly squeezing one of her hands in mine. “Will you marry me?”
She stares down, blinking, tears sliding down her cheeks.
“Wait,” I say, grinning, then raising my voice. “I said, will you marry me?”
I’ve been training Shelby to diligently associate the word marry with treats for one hour each day.
Finally, the little man emerges from the hallway, loping toward us, the ring box attached to his collar.
Danni lets out a mixture of a sob and a laugh as he comes to a stop near us, running in small excited circles.
“Good boy,” I say, tickling him behind the ear.
Opening the ring box, I look up at my woman. She looks at the full, glittering diamond for a moment, then nods, her mouth opening as she mouths a silent yes.
Then she finds her voice.
“Yes, Dominic. Yes.”
I slip the ring onto her finger, then leap to my feet and pull her into my arms.
When we kiss, Shelby lets out a yap as if telling us congratulations.
EPILOGUE
THREE WEEKS LATER
Danni
“He’s been sniffing around my belly for days,” I murmur. Shelby is shadowing my feet, practically tripping me each time I move.
Lizzy sits on the couch, smiling up at me, her nursing textbook open in her lap.
These past three weeks have proved that she really does support us…and any awkwardness she feels has quickly been replaced with excitement for the future.
She talks about having a brother or sister as passionately as I talk about having a child.
“Well,” Lizzy says, gesturing at the pregnancy test on the coffee table, resting on some toilet tissue. “Aren’t you going to look?”
I sit on the armchair, leaning down and scooping Shelby up. He curls into a ball in my lap, so cute I could cry, then double cry when I think about a little baby lying next to him.
“I don’t know if I can,” I murmur.
“I need to know,” Lizzy says. “Seriously, Dad’s proposal changed everything. I can’t imagine you two getting divorced. It’s the real deal, like you said.”
“Definitely,” I reply.
That’s one of the reasons Dominic and I are moving to a new place, finding our own house. The engagement ring seems to rub coolly against my skin when I think that, caressing me in a teasing way, a silent signal that the future beckons.
“But you better not pull any crap,” Lizzy goes on, laughing. “Like trying to ground me.”
I laugh, but it comes out shaky as my gaze moves to the test. More excitement bubbles up inside of me, so much I leap to my feet, carrying Shelby over to the test.
