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"Your brother hates me." I crawl into bed with her, stealing my pillow back as I pull her onto my chest. All of her family in town met us at the Sheriff's Department. I guess Dillon called to let them know what happened. Her sisters are sweet. But her brother, Garrett? He did not seem thrilled that she was dating me.
She laughs quietly. "Garrett hates everyone with a penis who even looks at us."
"Fuck my life."
"He likes hockey, so you'll probably get off easy." She laughs again. "Razor was in a rock band. Garrett still thinks he's up to no good, and he and Adalynn are married and have a baby on the way."
"Jesus, Trouble. You aren't making me feel any better here," I mutter.
She pats my chest. "You'll be fine. Just talk about sports. And avoid mentioning the fact that you've seen me naked. He might shoot you if you tell him that."
"You little minx." I dig my fingers into her sides, making her squeal with laughter. "You're fucking with me again."
"Only a little bit," she promises, swatting my hands away. "Garrett's just grumpy. He's hiding something, but we don't know what. He's like Fort Knox."
"He's in love."
"Really?" She blinks up at me. "You think so?"
"I know so, pretty baby. I can read the signs." I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "I see the same ones in the mirror every day."
Her expression softens. "You're awfully good at that."
"Yeah?" I tilt her chin up to brush my lips across hers. "Good enough for you to spend the rest of your life with me?"
"Colter," she gasps. "Are you—?"
"Asking you to marry me? Damn right." I grab my wallet from the nightstand and pull her ring out. I hid it in there since she likes to snoop. I didn't want her to find it before I could give it to her.
She stops breathing when I slip it onto her finger.
"Marry me, goddess," I whisper, bringing her hand up to press my lips to the solitaire diamond. "Let me spend the rest of my life loving you."
"Will there be excitement?" she asks.
"You are the excitement."
"What about adventure?"
"Every fucking day."
"In that case, I need to think about it."
I growl, tipping her over beneath me.
"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" she squeals, flinging her arms around my neck. "Yes, Colter. Of course, my answer is yes."
"It damn well better be," I mutter, my lips hovering over hers. "You're stuck with me, Trouble. Permanently."
"Oh, yeah?" She slides her hands down my shoulders, smirking. "Does that mean I get to do what I want to do to you then?"
"Nope. It means I get to have my way with you." I cut her off her protest with my lips on hers. When I let her up for air, she isn't protesting anymore. In fact, she doesn't protest for a long, long time.
Epilogue
Leia
Five Years Later
"I need your help with a story."
"Hell no," Colter growls, spinning around at the kitchen sink to face me.
I take one look at his expression and crack up. "You look like you'd rather walk across glass barefoot."
"Is that an option? If so, I'm taking it."
"Chicken."
He tosses the dish towel at me, smirking. "Call me what you want, pretty baby. Every damn time I help you, it ends up being some dangerous bullshit that I live to regret. So hell no, I'm not helping you with whatever it is. And you aren't looking into it either. Give it to someone who doesn't have my baby cooking."
"Spoilsport." I stick my tongue out at him, patting my belly. I'll never admit it, but he's probably right. Every time I ask for his help, one of us ends up in danger. It's exhausting, honestly. Millionaires and billionaires have a lot of skeletons in their closets. I should probably stop looking for them, but I can't seem to help myself.
If there's a mystery to solve, I naturally want to solve it. It's what I'm good at. I never thought I'd love that part of my job the most, but I do. Even when it's dangerous.
Colter will never admit it, but he loves helping me just as much. We've been a team for five years. He always has my back. It doesn't matter what the story is; I can always count on him to help me figure it out or do something crazy to get the information I need. He's Superman as far as I'm concerned.
He retired from the AHL last year. He coaches at the college level in Houston now. He loves it. He especially loves spending more time at home with me and our two boys. Our youngest, Sutter, may take after his daddy. But our oldest, Drake, has no interest in sports. That may change one day, but we're not pushing either of them toward hockey or any other sport. The choice should be theirs.
