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“Who else would be telling you they love you?” he asked sternly yet with a gentle expression.
Arden had to run her hands over his chest to make sure he was really there.
“No one.” Happiness exploded in her chest. “You didn’t leave!” Jumping toward him, she grabbed him by the neck to kiss him. “I’m so happy!”
“Tink…”
Suddenly, the happiness vanished just as quickly as it had struck. Jerking her arms back, Arden stepped away from him.
“I didn’t mean to jump to conclusions. Are you here to say goodbye to me? Please don’t expect me to wave you off like I said I would—”
“Honey—I’m not going anywhere yet.”
“Yet?” she interrupted.
“I had a talk with Train last night. I told him I couldn’t join his team. I would have to be undercover for at least six months. I can’t leave you when you’re so close to losing your parents. Nor did I want to leave you for that long of a period of time regardless. Train said he understood and still offered me a part-time team position. I’ll be gone a couple of days at a time and be on call when the team’s deployed. The job is still dangerous, and one day, I might not be able to come home to you, but it won’t because I don’t want to. Will you be able to deal with me possibly having to leave without a minute’s notice, during birthday parties, holidays if I’m called in?”
“You’d come back in a few days?” Arden buried her nose in his neck as she wrapped her arms around him.
“Barring death, yes.”
Could she live her life with Doom constantly risking his life? Yes, she could. He would be risking it regardless of if he was with her or not.
The last week she had spent without him had given her a brief glimpse at what it would be like. All he was asking of her was to accept a job that was so important to him, perceiving it would feed a need in him that she would never be able to fill.
“Doom, I don’t have to be your whole world; I just want to be a part of it.”
“Honey—you’ve been my whole world since the moment I saw you. When I’m not here, that doesn’t mean my heart isn’t.”
Arden gave a shuddering cry at him baring his soul. Doom was a man of few words. That he was being so open about his emotions had her holding him tighter.
“I thought I’d never see you again. What changed your mind?”
Doom made a face at her. “I kept telling myself all week I was going, but I never could come up with a price to sell my furniture. I put it in a storage unit instead. Then I told myself I’d rent an apartment when I came off assignment, but I realized for sure I wasn’t going to leave you when you dropped Andy off the club yesterday.”
Arden frowned. “I didn’t see you.”
“You couldn’t. I was on the roof, trying to fix Wizard’s fucking air conditioner.”
“You know how to fix an air conditioner?” she asked in surprise. Doom was the least mechanical person she knew. His skills ran to plugging electric cords in the socket.
“I don’t know jack shit about fixing an air conditioner.”
“Then why were you trying to?”
“Because Wizard was going to ask you to fix it when you came in today.”
Warmth at his concern had her smiling mistily at him. “Awe, that’s so sweet. You didn’t want me on the roof.”
“Shit.” Doom grimaced. “I wasn’t worried about you being on the roof. Knowing you, your old man taught you how to walk a tightrope.”
“Then I don’t understand why Wizard asking me to fix his air conditioner influenced you to stay?”
“The son of a bitch told me if you fixed it, he was going to marry you right after he got you drunk enough to accept.” Doom looked as if he was in pain at his admission. “I think the fucker was deliberately making me jealous to make me stay, which was how a fight started.”
“Who started a fight?” Confused, she leaned her head back to see his face.
“I did.”
Arden couldn’t help but wrap her arms around his waist to hug him.
“I’m just curious.” Doom’s hands went to her bottom to pick up her, his pelvis suggestively rubbing against hers. “Not that it really matters, of course, but would you have been able to fix the fucking thing?”
“Sweetie—” Arden gave him a loving pat on his cheek, “air conditioners are my specialty.”
EPILOGUE ONE
Coming downstairs, Doom was surprised to see Tink and Carter’s nurse about to wheel her father out the front door.
“Dad woke up feeling good today,” Tink explained. “He wants to sit outside.”
“Let me.” Doom took the handles and carefully maneuvered the wheelchair through the doorway outside. Locking the brakes, he moved to stand in front of his father-in-law. “Looking good today, Carter,” Doom complimented the ill man.
