by Piper Page
Firm, strong, defiant, he clutched my hand. “I promise you, you’ll be fine. You’ll never have to worry. My brothers can take over more of the operations. I’m giving up some responsibility to them.” He sighed and looked to the sky like asking for help. “It was difficult, but I’m doing it. They’ll do fine. As you know, I try to do everything.”
Obviously. I’d tried to run multiple times. Like he said before, why was I afraid of a good thing? I knew what I wanted—and if he promised to keep our child safe and keep the business out of it, I was all in.
My mind was already made up when he dropped to one knee.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a case. It popped open, and I clutched my heart, stopping it from running into his arms first. The diamond blinded me from looking in the high noon sun. Shielding my eyes, I saw it glimmer and sparkle as tears flowed down my cheeks.
“Krista, I know there are some things about me that are irredeemable. Maybe I’m a bad man, but when I saw you, I knew you’d make me into a good one. I’ll never apologize for trying to love you. I promise you, I’m going to protect you and cherish you for the rest of your life, and savor every moment that we have together.”
He paused. Then he brought my world down. “Krista, will you marry me?”
“Yes!” I screamed. “Diego, yes, I will.” Emotion overwhelming me, I hopped and clapped before he could put the ring on.
He slipped it on my finger and then stood just in time to catch me. Whirling me around, the world spun, and even after he put me down, it felt like I was floating.
Diego claimed my lips with a scorching hot kiss. My feelings for him burst inside me, every fiber of my being caressed in his love. My arms wrapped around his neck as he turned me around, the ring shone brilliantly.
I held it up and looked at it in front of the house.
“What am I going to do?” I said. “I wanted to teach, Diego. Do you think I could still do that here?”
He chuckled as if my question was absurd. Maybe it was. I’d rushed into the proposal because I knew my heart belonged to him. Yet I still had plans for my own future. I planned on working.
“Of course, babe. You can do whatever you’d like here. We have colleges too, and there are plenty of schools that could use your help.”
I liked his answer.
Men before him had been intimidated, or they had little self-confidence and didn’t like me leaving the house.
Diego certainly wasn’t like every other man.
With him, I had excitement and mind-blowingly great sex. I also had a family, security, and a loving husband and father to my child. It was clearly the best of both worlds here.
Something jabbed me in the side. At first, I didn’t know what it was. After all, I wasn’t doing anything particularly sexy. That was when it brushed against me again and I peered down to see Diego’s hard bulge. I looked up to see a huge grin on his face.
Did proposing get him hard?
That was the only conclusion I could come to.
My body responded in kind. Feeling his warmth against my stomach, how hard and ready he was, I was raring to go. I hopped back into his arms and he lifted me for a kiss. I kissed him as if I’d gotten on that plane and missed the best love of my life.
We both clamored for air. I could’ve kept going before he set me on my feet.
“You saw the outside. Wait until you see the inside.”
All I cared about was seeing him naked, and having me all over him. The house didn’t matter right now.
He must’ve felt the same way too, because before I could respond, he dragged me toward the door, saying, “…And wait until you see the bed.”
Epilogue
Krista
* * *
One Year Later
Another night. Another baby with the greatest set of lungs known to Earth.
I heard Olivia wail over the monitor and instantly shot awake. Groaning, I threw my legs over the bedside and rubbed my eyes. I had no idea what time of day it was. Our bedroom lights were off and the black-out blinds properly shut.
In the baby’s room, I peered down into the crib to see her gone. It then occurred to me that Diego hadn’t been by my bedside when I woke. I’d been so well trained to simply roll out of bed and care for Olivia that I hadn’t noticed.
I walked out to the kitchen. There, I saw Diego cradling baby Olivia in his arms. He sang to her some sort of lullaby in Spanish, softly and sweetly. As I approached, he brightened and shared with me a knowing smile.
The smile said he was in love. With Olivia. With me. With our lives.
It had been a year since we met that day at the Allure, when he came up to me out of nowhere and hit on me. I wondered if he knew it.
My nose sniffed the air as I caught something delicious. I leaned over to check out the stovetop.
“Want to hold her so I can continue whipping up breakfast?”
So he did remember.
Diego always impressed me.
I held my arms open and took Olivia. He’d gotten her to stop crying fairly quickly.
“What’s the occasion?” I said.
He squinted back at me. “You know very well what the occasion is.” We both laughed.
“Just checking. I was making sure it was for us and not because you woke up starving in the middle of the night.”
“I’ve got this. I wouldn’t forget our anniversary. I remember it like it was yesterday, you falling for me at first sight and going on about how hot I was.”
“That’s what you remember?” I sat down and flipped through the newspaper. “Of course that’s what you remember.”
“I also remember you had the cutest fanny pack on.”
I rolled my eyes. “Pay attention to what you’re doing over there, mister.”
“I don’t need to. It’s finished.”
Diego approached with breakfast—waffles with strawberries and cream, bacon, and toast. “Just as you like it, very American.”
“Thank you.” I knew he liked bacon and toast as well. He wasn’t fooling anybody. Diego sat across from me while I looked over the job listings.
There were quite a few listings for teaching positions.
“Do you think it’s time yet?” Diego asked before he put a chunk of waffle in his mouth.
I moaned as I took my bite. I shrugged. “Give it another year.” I’d been waiting for Olivia to grow old enough so I could begin looking for a job. Diego liked to have me at home taking care of her. He was willing to allow me to go to work too, as long as I wanted to.
“Whenever you want, you tell me and I’ll look for a nanny.”
I winked at him. “We’ll look for a nanny,” I reminded him. Diego always wanted to do things himself. Not because he didn’t believe I’d do a good job, but because he was trained at a young age to take care of everything without help.
“Right, sorry. That’s what I meant.”
We finished eating and he stretched, showing off his impressive, ripped abs as his shirt rose over them.
“Somehow, you’ve gotten even hotter,” I blurted out.
“And you’re still blunt when you’re horny.” He laughed back at me. “Guess what? I’m still as crazy about you as the first time we met. And if you remember, I was pretty crazy. I ended up following you to New York.”
“I remember.” My heart swelled as I remembered how he’d saved me.
If there were a way to stop him from going to work today, I’d do it. I pictured myself on my knees, trying to pull his pants off, except we had Olivia to look after. The joys of responsibility… Sigh.
Olivia had fallen asleep against me, so I took her back to her room, Diego following close behind. After I laid her down gently, he kissed me behind my ear. It was like electricity jolted from my jawline to my neck, riding down my spine.
He knew I loved it like that.
His hands gripped my sides. Did I feel him getting hard?
Why was it that whenever he was sweet to me,
he always wanted to take me? Now that was perfect timing.
“To celebrate, I’ve gotten us a sitter for the weekend.”
“Oh?” That sounded wonderful already.
“We’re going on a cruise to a few nearby islands. I’ve made sure the bed is big and sturdy, since I’m not sure if we’ll be leaving it often.”
My body craved to get close to him again. It’d been longer than it should’ve been because of the baby. I turned around to face him. Immediately, he pressed his lips against mine, and I wished we could’ve sped the clock up to Friday.
“Time for work.”
“Go get ‘em, babe.” I pecked him on the lips. After his goodbye kiss, he took off for work. Ever since Olivia was born, like he said, he’d pulled away from the dangerous jobs. He had a wife and daughter to come home to.
As I remembered my decision to marry Diego and stay here, I had no regrets.
I looked at Olivia as she cuddled against her blankets. She looked so sweet and happy.
I’d have some time before she woke again, so I sat out on our balcony across from the beautiful, crystal-clear waters.
There was a time when I’d looked out into the ocean and been confused and afraid. I’d been searching for answers.
Now I gazed across the sea, satisfied and eager for our future.
Ever since I took a chance and let Diego into my life, I never had to look far to find love.
**Don’t miss the other brothers, Santiago and Antonio, in books 2 and 3!**
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About the Author
Piper Page grew up in Kansas City, but always dreamed of living in the big city. Her dreams came true when she graduated from law school and got a job at a big law firm in New York City. She met a nice young man at that firm and they married a year later. That year everything was so new and exciting, Mrs. Page didn’t have time to realize how tough it all was. After getting married and settling into life, she realized she really didn’t enjoy working 80 hours a week on white collar crimes, trying to as she puts it, “save guys who ripped off people like your grandma.”
A few years later, Mrs. Page’s husband got opportunity of a lifetime to move to Portland, Oregon and work in-house at a popular up and coming tech company. They jumped at the chance to live in the Pacific Northwest surrounded by such nature and beauty.
During this transition period, Mrs. Piper did not find a legal position in a quality firm that suited her fine. Since she had some free time, she decided to pursue her real passion—writing.
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Also by Piper Page
Blur: A Sports Romance
PROTECTOR: Santiago (A Puerto Rican Crime Family, Book 2)
WINNER: Santiago (A Puerto Rican Crime Family, Book 3)