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“Cheers to that.”
Reclining against the headboard with pillows propped behind them, he let out a long breath. The quiet felt nice.
Sam twisted toward him, “Gray, I just want to throw this out here. You don’t think there’s any way Suzanne would be involved in this, do you?”
He held her gaze for a moment. “Her behavior since I met you has certainly become more aggressive. She seems to enjoy keeping me on edge. It doesn’t hurt to check into it, but Ethan’s right, it’s not her style. As you’ve witnessed, she usually just manipulates and causes trouble.”
He wrapped his hand around her nape and kissed the tip of her nose. “We’ll figure this out, Sam. I promise you that.”
She sighed. “I have no doubt, Gray, and I’m not second-guessing you. I just wondered if she would be capable of something like this and I wanted to get it off my chest.”
He kissed the side of her head, set his glass down on the table. “Not sure how much I’ll sleep, but I’m going to try. Might be a long day tomorrow.”
He turned off the light on the bedside table and snuggled down under the covers pulling her toward him.
She giggled, and the sound was like the finest music. “Congratulations, Gray. You’re about to get married.”
He tightened his arms around her. She nestled into his side, wrapping her legs around and through his, and they drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, he woke early and stared at the ceiling for a long time. Finding no answers there, he turned his head and smiled at the sight of Sam, sleeping peacefully, hands tucked sweetly under her chin. He slowly turned onto his side and propped his head up with his hand, lovingly feasting his eyes on her partially covered body. She’d kicked the blankets off during the night, her legs on top of them now, lying on her side, the graceful slope of her hip dipping into her waist caused his cock to stir. He’d been fortunate to find her, no doubt about it.
She brushed her fingers across her cheek and snuggled back in. The sparkle shooting from the diamonds he’d excitedly placed on her finger yesterday brought to the forefront that she’d said ‘yes.’ His dreams were coming true. She opened her eyes, the green orbs focusing in on his. It gave him a thrill and was his new favorite color, though he wouldn’t tell his mom. She’d so painstakingly grown the purple roses for him over all these years; it would just be his secret.
“Good morning,” she sleepily smiled.
“Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
She rolled onto her back and stretched. “Yes, though not long enough. You were watching me sleep again. Isn’t that boring?”
His phone rang, and he looked at the readout. “Tank.”
“Good morning. What does today bring?”
He listened to Tank explaining that they were needed at the office to go over some things with David. He glanced at Sam, watching her sit up and rake her hands through her hair. She leaned forward to glance in the mirror across from the bed and scoffed as she pushed down on the hair standing up on the top of her head.
A grin spread across his face as she grimaced. He held the phone to his chest. “We have to get going soon, what would you like for breakfast?”
She looked back at him, a slight frown on her beautiful face. “It’s Wednesday—I need to get to work by eight o’clock.”
“No, you can’t go to work until this is all taken care of. We don’t know who’s after us or even which one of us is the target, so until further notice, we’re on the lam, so to speak. I can’t go to work, either.”
He spoke into his phone. “I’ll call you in a minute.“
He ended his call and turned to Sam. “I would like you to give notice at work and come to work with me at Kinkaide & Associates. You’re perfect for the position. You can help me run the business side of things so I can draw pictures all day,” he grinned.
“Wow! With an offer like that, how can I refuse?” she sarcastically replied. “Gray, you don’t know that I can even run a business like yours. It’s a lot of responsibility and what if I screw it up?”
He smiled. “Look, if I can do it, you can do it. I’ve been basically only doing the bare minimum because I really don’t care about that part of the business. I want to design buildings. I need you. You’re smart, you’ve worked in the legal world for a while now, and you have the HR experience behind you. You also have excellent connections at the law office for advice. Besides, I’ll be there for you to ask questions whenever you feel you need to run something by me. And, once we’re married, it’ll be half yours anyway, so you should spend time running half of your business.”
She promptly responded, “Gray, you can’t mean that. You’ll want a prenup, right? What will the kids say about that? I don’t want anyone to be upset with me.”
“No, I don’t want a prenup. I’m not entering this marriage thinking about how either one of us is going to get out of it. Period. End of conversation. As far as the kids go, they’re taken care of, and I have a will, and we can write up something to protect them in the future if something would happen to me.” He stepped from the bed and walked around to her side, pulled her to the edge by her legs and leaned down, so they were nose to nose. “Work with me, Sam. Be my life partnerandmy business partner. I need you, and I want you. Besides, I pay well!”
She laughed, and the brightness lit the room and made his heart expand. “I’m very, very expensive, Mr. Kinkaide, and we haven’t even discussed salary!”
He leaned in and kissed her firmly on the lips. “Don’t I know that! The ring on your finger is just the beginning, but I would give you everything I own to keep you happy.”
“I’ll never ask that of you, Gray. Never.”
