“I love you. I can’t wait to make you mine.”
She leaned back. “I want to make you mine as well.”
He thought for a moment, then was struck by a thought. “Have you ever thought about getting tattoos?”
The shock on her face was hilarious. She stuttered around an answer for a moment before being able to put a coherent thought together. “I’ve thought about getting one at some point. Why?”
“I want to prove to you I’m serious.”
Silence slid between them for a heartbeat. Two.
“Are you crazy? You’ve only been with me for two days. And you’re talking a tattoo? Permanent?” Each question got louder and shriller. “What if we don’t work out? Then what? You’ll have something on your body that will remind you of me.”
He let her get it out of her system and, when she stopped asking questions, the last being something about infectious diseases and ink poisoning, he calmly scooped her up, set her on her feet and stood.
“Yes, a tattoo. I want to get something that will show you and the world that I’m yours. Today.”
“What? You can’t… I mean, that’s…”
He grinned. “I can. And I can see the hope in your eyes. This will be my engagement present to you.”
Perhaps he’d pushed too much, because for a second Margie faltered on her feet. “Engagement.”
He sank to his knees. All the hokey movies with romantic drivel played through his mind, but now he understood. Engagements, the romance, the sappiness was for the women. If he had to wear pink tutus and sing show tunes for a month, he would, if it would give her the ability to trust his sincerity. With a deep breath he asked a question he’d sworn never to ask again. “Margarete Barrie, will you do me the honor of being my mate, my wife, my heart?”
Tears ran down her cheeks as she looked down at him. “You need to get up. All this heartfelt stuff is making me leak.”
He chuckled but remained on his knees. Waiting.
She sighed. “Fine. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes a thousand times.” Each answer was followed quickly by a smack on the arm. “Now get up. Let’s go get your tattoo. I want something pretty, like a unicorn dancing on a cloud.”
Margie continued throwing insane ideas over her shoulder as she headed up the stairs to change. “Oh, how about a pink-and-purple heart covering your ass cheeks? Or a kitten with huge eyes on your chest? No, I know—I want to get a chain of flowers along your lower back.”
He let her talk, laughing silently as she continued. He’d already thought of the perfect thing to show their loves and lives combining. Something Skip had said long ago had stuck with Connor. Steel was stronger than its original parts because it was repeatedly put through the fires of hell and tempered. That was his heart. Hardened through hell’s fires, but it had been heated and cooled over the last few years because of his spitfire.
A phone call later to the tattoo parlor in the neighboring town, and he had an appointment. He grinned as his Margie, cute as a button in her sweatshirt and jeans but ready for battle if the spark in her eye told him anything.
Not stopping himself from doing what his heart wanted, he rushed to her, pulled her to his chest and whispered against her ear, “I love you so much.”
She melted into his embrace before answering, “I love you too. Let’s go get you a pony or rainbow tattoo.”
Laughing, he spun her around. “Life is never going to be dull with you around, is it?”
She grinned, looking deeply into his eyes. “Nope. And you wouldn’t want it any other way.”
No, he wouldn’t. With a screeching mate over his shoulder, he ran out the door toward his new life. His coyote, content and happy, yipped his agreement in the back of his mind. He hadn’t liked the life Fate had handed him, but without it, Margie wouldn’t have been the one for him.
The End
About the Author:
Lea lives in Western New York with her hubby, three children, and miscellaneous critters. Before the rugrats, she lived a life of adventure following her husband all over Europe with the US military. She’s slept in a car outside Paris, drove six hours just to see tulips in the Netherlands, and knocked ash from her shoes at Pompeii. Now she spends her time in life’s adventures at soccer games, PTA meetings and school plays.
Lea has loved reading from a very young age, spending many sleepless nights devouring books. Science fiction and paranormal were her favorite genres to read as a teenager, and that love bled into her adult life. She started writing during a bout of insomnia to fill time and found it filled a creative void. Now she communes regularly with the characters in her head and tries not to laugh out loud when they say something funny.
When Lea isn’t reading, writing or corralling kids, she enjoys watching movies and sciencey shows, or just kicking back and listening to some music.
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Tempering Steel Page 17