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She looked at him and moved to tuck her hair behind her ear, her hand trembling from his vantage point, and knew she was still unsettled by everything that had transpired this evening.
“You seem… kind,” she whispered, watching him fearfully with those large eyes, “And it’s so hard sometimes when you are alone. I could use a little kindness in my life. I know this is crazy and it’s okay to say ‘No’… but you asked what I wanted, and I shared. I want a family, for me.”
“And we’d get married to do this?”
“I would prefer the father to be on the birth certificate in case something ever happened to me,” she admitted openly. “I know what it’s like to be alone and struggling – and I cannot do that to anyone. If something happened to me, I would want the state to come looking for the father, so my child had someone.”
“Whyme– and why not Tomas or anyone else?”
“Because there’s something noble in you – and I see it,” she breathed. “It’s like this knight swooping in to save the day.”
Killian must have had a look on his face because she laughed nervously.
“Look, it’s okay. I told you this was insane and really appreciate the meal, and the help - but maybe a fake marriage was a bit much…”
“I’m in,” he said simply as she started to lift herself out of the seat to stand up – and promptly fell back down, collapsing like her legs gave out from under her.
They stared at each other, and he could see her mind working – because his certainly was. He’d done crazier, wilder things in his life, and if this didn’t work or she wasn’t the person he thought she was – he could divorce her. A lot of guys got married, slept with a woman, had kids, and somehow managed this weird life between deployments, assignments, duty stations, moving and all the chaos that came with it.
He could do it too – and it would give him a home base. A friend that was literally his to talk to, get to know, and truthfully?
Would itreallybe so hard to take her to bed?
He had thought she was beautiful from the first moment he laid eyes on her, and then that tearful gaze had looked at him with such wonder and shock that he felt like a million bucks.
What would it be like to have a son or daughter of his own? She kept saying he would have his freedom, but there was something inherently elemental about knowing a man would have a legacy – that his surname would pass on, if he died in Afghanistan.
“What?” she whispered in shock, staring at him.
“I’ll marry you,” he said quietly. “I have to fly back out in a few days and won’t be back for a few months…”
“That won’t be a problem,” she sputtered nervously. “You would have a place to come home to, and…”
“Do you want to do this tomorrow morning?” he asked, and winced at how cold it sounded. If he was leaving to return to Afghanistan and keep this quiet, it was probably best to make it like a transaction. He wouldn’t dare tell anyone else until later on when he was sure that this wasn’t some huge mistake.
… And it probably was.
“Tomorrow morning?” she croaked out and then cleared her throat nervously. “I have to be at work from noon until nine in the evening.”
“Perfect,” he said simply. “I can pick you up and we’ll go get this done,” he winced again at his verbiage. “Then you can go to work and…”
Both got quiet and Killian saw Destiny’s throat work convulsively at what was implied by his silence before she nodded.
“Thenthat,” she said simply.
“Yep…that.”
CHAPTER3
DESTINY
Oh my gosh…
OMIGOSH! OMIGOSH! O M I G O S H… He said YES?!
Destiny literally proposed to this gorgeous guy with the most decadent espresso-colored eyes, blabbing her yearning for a child of her own, and he shockingly said ‘Yes’ to her.
They were getting married in the morning, to boot!
