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“What?” she said innocently. “I’m aging over here…gracefully, Archer. I want to be young enough to enjoy my grandchildren.”
He huffed out a breath. “Mom, I haven’t even found anyone to date, let alone marry, so that’s a tall order, unless you want me to go around releasing my seed into any female who looks promising.”
“Oh, don’t be crass.” She chuckled and nudged him. “You know your stepfather and I want you to be happy.”
“Of course, I do, but these things can’t be rushed.” He sighed. “I want what they have, Mom. Look at them.” GQ and his bride looked so happy. Iceman and Rose moved together, her rounded belly snuggled up against his boss, lost in each other’s eyes as they swayed. Then, Luna and Preacher, acting like they were still newlyweds. Then the latest of his teammates to fall, Kodiak and Kaiya. He clenched his jaw, despairing that he could find such a caliber of woman they had been so lucky to find.
He was over the moon when Kodiak had told him Kaiya had shown up in Alaska, told him that she loved him and had sacrificed her citizenship, her family, and her homeland to move to the States to be with him. She stared up at him with deep emotion, and Kodiak looked down at her, besotted. Yeah, he expected wedding bells wouldn’t be far behind.
His mom slipped her arm around his waist and leaned her head against his shoulder. “They do look wonderfully happy, but that will happen for you, too.”
“When?”
“Someday. You are so deserving of a good woman, Archer, and she’s out there waiting for you to find her.”
He nodded, hope settling hard against his heart. He just hoped it wasn’t during a deployment. He, unlike, Kodiak didn’t condone mixing combat with romance. It would be much too distracting to him.
* * *
Kodiak finished givinghis testimony against Barry Turner in the Australian court and exited the courthouse. He walked back to their hotel where Kaiya, who had testified earlier, was waiting for him. They were headed back to Virginia Beach tomorrow, but tonight they were going to be having dinner with Mickey, Alice and Archie and Kaiya’s parents before Archie performedMadame Butterflyat the Sydney Opera House as their first chair violinist.
When he got to the room, he used his keycard to enter. He found Kaiya fumbling with a side zipper on an exquisite slim gown with one shoulder bare and an asymmetrical bow on the other shoulder. The color was a mesmerizing blue and brought out the deep copper of her smooth skin. She turned at the sound of the door.
“Oh, thank God. Could you zip me up, love?”
He stood there dazzled and blown away. Her hair was tamed into an elegant updo that accentuated the exquisite lines of her cheekbones, and jaw. Her stunning eyes seemed to glow.
She tilted her head, oblivious to how her beauty affected him. “Kodiak?”
“What the fuck color do they call that? And I don’t think you should be allowed in public. I don’t know that I can protect you from being mauled.”
“Oh, stop,” she said with a sly look as she made a gimme gesture with her fingers for more of his heartfelt compliments. “It’s calledNight Sky. Pretty, right?”
“Gorgeous. You look…gorgeous.” Words just escaped him.
He came up to her and she slipped her hand around the back of his neck. “I think I’m going to have to be extra nice to you tonight with all these head-turning compliments.” She brushed her mouth over his, then kissed him deeply.
“Oh? Define extra nice,” he said as she broke the kiss.
“If I did, you wouldn’t be zipping up, love.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
“Oh, right. We have obligations, including meeting the parents.”
She nodded as he zipped her up. Her throat was bare and the only jewelry she was wearing was a pair of chunky, crystal-studded hoops.
Before he could change his mind, thinking this was the perfect moment, he slipped his hand into his pocket. The ring box was right where he’d left it. He’d been carrying it around for a week.
He closed his eyes, a knot of raw emotion climbing up his throat. He waited for the aching contraction to ease, then he said the words he had wanted to say for some time. “You make me whole, Kaiya. When you showed up in Kodiak, I was blown away by your courage and sacrifice for me. I know it wasn’t easy.”
She stopped fussing with her evening bag, turning her head to look at him, her eyes wide, her expression transfixed by a host of emotions. There was a hushed sincerity in his tone, and it set off that he was about to deliver something monumental. Kodiak took her face between his hands, his heart hammering as he held her gaze. “Marry me, Kai. I want us to vow to each other out loud what we feel in our hearts.”
Kaiya stared at him, moved so profoundly, her eyes filled. Tightening his hold on her face, he took a deep, unsteady breath, and gave her a little shake, his voice catching. “Marry me.”
She stared at him for an instant as he let her go and pulled out the ring box. She looked down at it, and as it opened, she gasped. Nestled inside the black velvet was an exquisite diamond, the six prongs making it look like a starburst. He’d memorized what the jeweler told him. “It’s a pavé setting, meaning the ring sits above the pavé diamond band.” His voice broke a little when he continued, “I think of it as my heart floating for you.” He cleared his throat at her tender look. “It’s engraved.” He turned the ring so she could see the wordjaanetched inside the band.
She made a melting sound, filled with tears, and she said, “Yes. I love the ring and the engraving, and you. You are the most wonderful man in the world. So many yeses.”
He pulled the ring out and slipped it on her finger. Wrapping his arms right around her torso, he totally engulfed her, burying his face in her neck. “You’ve made me the happiest guy in the world, Kaiya.”
