His Heart
Page 14
“OK,” she said, smiling. “I want to talk to you about something as well.”
“What?” I asked, distracted.
Carissa’s cheeks pinked, a sure sign of nerves with her. She looked down, and then away. “I have something for you.”
“What?” I asked again.
A smile spread across her face, and she pulled her hand from her pocket, holding it toward me, still closed.
I took it from her. It was a key.
“To your house?” I asked.
Her cheeks outright red now, Carissa nodded. “I want you to have it. I’m ready.”
I smiled, not able to do anything else. This was beyond perfect. “I have something for you, too,” I said.
“What?”
Taking a breath, I dropped down on one knee. “I love you, Carissa. I think I loved you the first time I saw you, and it just took me a while to realize it. When I met you, I wasn’t a whole man, but being with you—you saw me as whole. You didn’t see me as lacking or missing something.” I stopped, feeling a lump in my throat. “You healed me. You helped me heal myself.”
Her hand came up to her mouth, and I could see her eyes glittering.
“I know it’s been tough since everything happened, and I know you’re still working on things. I want you to know I’m there with you. I’m always there with you. I want you to lean on me, let me help you heal, if that’s what you want, or need. And I want to make it official. Make it legal. Will you marry me?”
Tears ran down her face.
“Oh, shit!”
She laughed then, even as more tears fell.
I dug into my pocket, pulling out the ring box. Opening it so she could see, I said, “These are from Gran. It’s her engagement stone, and a pair of earrings your grandfather gave her. She wanted you to have them. Will you wear them? Make a new family with me?”
Carissa nodded, and I pulled the ring from the box, sliding it onto her finger. I stood up and took her in my arms, kissing her like it was the first time.
It would be the first time forever. I’d see to that with everything I had. She was my everything.
Forever.
Epilogue
Raif
“Morrison,” Raif Garzon whispered into his mic.
There was a crackle in response, and then nothing.
“Morrison,” he said again.
Now there wasn’t even a crackle.
“Fuck it,” Raif swore. He heaved himself up, gritting his teeth at the pain in his hip. If he had to guess, he’d dislocated it. But he wouldn’t know until someone else took a look at it. You didn’t diagnose yourself. However, it felt like the ball was definitely not in the socket. Every step he took sent a searing knife of pain up and down his leg, and through his groin. It meant that he was taking longer than necessary to get to his partner.
But enduring the suck was part of being a pararescueman, a pararescue jumper. PJs, they were called. PJs were the Air Force’s Special Forces. The Navy had the SEALs, the Army the Green Berets and Delta Force, the Marines had the Raiders, and then there was the best. The PJs. He smiled at himself and the grim competitive urge that was always there, even now. Even when he was limping like someone had just kicked his ass and used his own leg to do it.
“Morrison,” Raif said again, scanning the ground with his night vision goggles.
Ten feet ahead, he saw where Morrison had hunkered down. Which was not where he was supposed to be.
“Morrison,” he hissed. “Report and get off your ass!”
He crept closer, trying to keep his lame leg from making too much noise. He got right next to Morrison and reached down to shake him.
Morrison didn’t move.
“Oh, holy fuck,” he breathed. He started to call it in. “This is Bravo Two, to—”
Then everything went dark as he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. His last thought was he hoped he didn’t crush Morrison.
Want to see more of Raif? Click HERE to find His Redemption,
the next book in the Broken Falls Ranch series!
Read about how the Broken Falls Ranch series began, with Axel and Pris HERE in Cowboy’s Heart.
The Spar Island Girls
The Spar Island Girls
This story is connected to a series called the Spar Island Girls. I wrote The Spar Island Girls with a wonderful group of authors called The Flirt Club. The stories follow a group of girls that grew up in Bristol, Rhode Island. Off of the city, there’s a little set of islands that are always shifting—there’s more of them exposed at low tide. They’re more land spits in Mt. Bay than islands. But people like to go out there and hang out for the day, and that’s what my Spar Island girls do.
Their parents were all friends growing up, and they would take their boats out and go hang out for the day. Even though most of the girls have moved away, they have never forgotten those friendships.
And there you have it—the Spar Island Girls. Look for them as me and my author besties keep bringing you our delicious collaborations!
Meet Casey in His Naughty Nurse. Part of The Halloween Honeys stories. (Spar Island #1)
Head to a holiday dinner with Nadia in Hot Apple Pie. Part of the Second Helpings Short Stories. (Spar Island #2)
Follow Cate in Naughty or Nice. Part of the Santa’s Coming Short Stories. (Spar Island #3)
Find the start of something new with Annalise in Snow Job. Part of the Resolution Pact Short Stories. (Spar Island #4)
Look for Nat’s grand scheme in Dear Shy Guy. Part of the Matchmaker Series (Spar Island #5)
Follow Jyn as she finds what she never knew she wanted in Forever Mine. Part of the Ireland Forever Short Stories. (Spar Island #6)
Meet Harper, who is going to find all that she dreams of in Mr. Black. Part of the Mr. Billionaire Short Stories. (Spar Island #7)
Go on a wild adventure with Lyssa in Spring Break Delish. Part of the Spring Breakers Short Stories (Spar Island #8)
Meet Elspeth as she takes charge of her destiny in His Buttercup. Part of the May Flowers Series. (Spar Island #9)
Follow Mallory as she learns all is not what she thinks in Three Weddings and Forever. Part of the Wedding Season Series. (Spar Island #10)
See how Serena mends a broken heart in Her Firecracker. (Spar Island #11)
Follow Pris as she risks it all for love in Cowboy’s Heart. Part of the Big Sky Short Stories. (Spar Island #12)
There are more coming!
Xoxo
Laney
About the Author
I'm a Midwestern lady, living life in the Rocky Mountains. I adore strong men with hearts of gold (even if that gold may be a bit imperfect) and that's what drives me to write the stories about them. The longer I do the romance gig, the more firefighter calendar pics I seems to collect. That's normal, right?
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Also by Laney Powell
The Spar Island Girls
(Written with the Flirt Club Authors)
His Naughty Nurse (The Halloween Honeys)
Hot Apple Pie (Second Helpings Short Story)
Naughty or Nice (Santa’s Coming Short Story)
Snow Job (Resolution Pact Short Story)
Dear Shy Guy (The Matchmaker Series)
Forever Mine (Ireland Forever Short Story)
Mr. Black (A Mr. Billionaire Short Story)
Spring Break Delight (A Spring Break Short Story)
His Buttercup (The May Flower Series)
Three Weddings and Forever (The Wedding Season Series)
Her Firecracker (The Fireworks Series)
Cowboy’s Heart (A Big Sky Short Story
Broken Falls Ranch
His Heart
His Redemption
Affair With The Billionaire
Episode One
Episode Two
Episode Three
Episode Four
Episode Five