“I’ll move back to D.C.,” he says, pulling one of his hands free to bring it to the nape of my neck. He squeezes, then dips his head in closer to me. “I’ve worked it out with Kynan. I can base myself out of D.C., but I’ll have to travel to Pittsburgh some. Of course, I’ll have to travel sometimes for other jobs that come my way through Jameson.”
I drop my head as I think about his offer. Cruce’s fingers come under my chin, forcing my gaze back up. “I thought that would make you happy. You do want to be together, right?”
I nod, smiling through the tears starting to form. “Yes. I want to be together. I love you.”
Cruce goes unnaturally still, and I wonder if this was the wrong time to break that news to him. We’ve known each other just shy of a month, but what we’ve been through has bonded us closer than most. I’ve spent more time with Cruce over these last few weeks than I have with most of my friends combined over my lifetime. We’ve meshed hard and fast and I trust my heart, despite how little practice it has had with this tender feeling.
“Too soon?” I guess with a sheepish expression.
“No,” he murmurs, eyes still wide with awe. “Perfect timing, actually. I just… I wasn’t sure you felt that way. I know I do. Love you, that is.”
“Do you really?” I ask, not because I’m having a tough time believing it, even though this is new and all.
But mainly because it sounded extremely nice, and I want to hear it again.
“I love you,” he says candidly, staring deep into my eyes. “I want to be with you forever, whatever that means. I don’t want to be in a life without you by my side.”
My gaze moves outward across the street, watching the bustle of rush-hour traffic and the pedestrians coming off the Metro a few blocks down.
When I look back at him, I admit, “I’ve always been so closed off from life and people. I’ve never been a romantic or dreamy type of woman. Science was my life and my love for so long, but all it took was a few moments with you to realize my life was fundamentally lacking in something important. When I saw you get shot and sink into the water, I’d never known pain like that. My heart was so broken, and I instinctually knew I was suffering the pain of lost love. It’s how I figured out I loved you. It’s how I realized I was a changed person. Cruce… I don’t even know if I could go back to the same life I was leading.”
“What are you saying?” he asks tentatively.
I feel like I’m on the brink of metamorphosis. I’m making a gut decision based on feelings churning deep, but I think it’s the right thing. “I’m saying I think I want to back away from my work for a bit. I mean… I don’t even have any current work to do, but I’ve already got offers pouring in from all kinds of private corporations and even some governments who want to hire me. But… I don’t think I want that.”
“What do you want?”
“The dream,” I murmur, and my heart skips a beat over the way his expression warms with happiness. “I want you. A family—in our own time, of course. I want to learn how to cook and plant flowers in a backyard. Want to go to sleep with you every night, or as many as possible given your work. I think… I want to move to Pittsburgh with you.”
Cruce shifts to angle toward me, his hands coming to my shoulders. He looks hopeful and wary all at the same time. “Are you sure? You’re big stuff right now, Barrett. You could go anywhere in this world… command any salary you wanted. Your future is bright and set.”
“Not without you, it isn’t,” I say honestly. “And frankly… right now, I don’t want anything but you. I’d like to take a break to just enjoy my life for a bit.”
Cruce chuckles. “I bet getting kidnapped and tortured put things into perspective.”
I shake my head. “Nothing to do with that. You put things into perspective for me.”
“I did?” Cruce looks very triumphant right now, his chest puffed out a bit.
“You told me back on the island that when I got involved in my work, you believed the world could burn down around me and I wouldn’t even notice. And yes, that was probably true. But who I am now only wants the world to burn down around me with you by my side, because it wouldn’t matter as long as we are together.”
“I love you,” he replies simply, bending his head to get in closer. “Love you more than anything in this world, Barrett. I’ll give you whatever you want, but if it’s Pittsburgh, then I say let’s do it.”
“And the dream?”
“I’ll give you that, too,” he murmurs before moving in to brush a sweet kiss on my mouth. He pulls away, locking his determined eyes on mine. “Promise.”
EPILOGUE
Cruce
I point the remote control at the TV, flipping through the channels, but I don’t see anything that interests me. As far as comfort goes, this hotel bed has it going on. If I’m not careful, I might doze off, which would ruin the entire evening. I sit up a little straighter, pushing against the pillows I’d stacked against the headboard, and choose a news station that’s heavy on opinion and light on fact, knowing it will irritate me enough to at least keep me awake.
Barrett finally exits the bathroom, a waft of steam following. Her wet hair is wrapped in a towel, and she’s wearing one of my t-shirts. From personal experience, having lived with her for the last several weeks, I know she won’t have any panties on under it.
I glance at the clock, noting I still have a few minutes, then watch as she trudges my way. She makes it to her side of the bed and falls face-first onto the mattress, groaning with extreme exaggeration. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been this tired in my life.”
“Preach it, sister,” I reply, because I’m feeling the same level of exhausted.
We’ve just completed the last day of a four-day trip to Orlando, where we’ve taken in the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Universal Studios while under the hot Florida sun. So fucking stupid to come here in the summertime, but I just couldn’t let go of the fact Barrett had never been before.
Never been on a frivolously fun vacation ever.
We fly home to Pittsburgh tomorrow. I’m thoroughly whipped, but there is one more thing that must be done.
She twists slightly. “If you want to do sex stuff to me, you better make it fast,” she mutters.
I snort because as tired as I am, I’m never too tired to do sex stuff with her. But right now, I have other stuff on my mind.
I roll off my side of the bed, then head toward the mini-fridge I had secretly stocked while we were at Universal today. After I open the door, I pull out a bottle of chilled champagne and two glass flutes.
Barrett lifts her head from the bed with interest. “You know one glass of that will put me out. No sex stuff tonight.”
“I’m sure I won’t die if we don’t fuck on at least one night a week,” I reply dryly as I proceed to uncork the bottle.
Giggling, Barrett climbs out of the bed. Truth is that we don’t have sex every night, but we damn sure come close to it. We can’t get enough of each other, and I’m all right by that.
Pulling the towel off her head, she tosses it on the end of the bed, sauntering toward me as I pour two glasses of champagne at the TV stand. She grabs her glass and holds it up, waiting for me to tap mine against it, but I shake my head and take her free hand.
“Let’s go out on the balcony,” I say.
Grumbling, she follows me out into the muggy Florida night. “It’s so humid… I’m going to need another shower when we go in.”
“Damn right you are,” I say. “I’ve got my second wind. Later, I’m going to do sex stuff with you, so you’ll definitely need another shower.”
Barrett snickers, leaning forward to press her stomach against the railing. We stayed at the Grand Floridian in a room that faces the Magic Kingdom across the water. It’s the first evening we even stepped out onto the balcony.
I glance at my watch, then at Barrett. “Have a good time this week?”
She looks away from the Magic Kingdom,
swiveling slightly toward me while still holding her glass of champagne. “I’ve had the absolute best time in my life, and it’s all because of you.”
“I’m glad,” I say, then finally hold my glass of champagne up to her. She clinks hers against mine. When she moves it to her lips to take a sip, I say, “I’d give you anything in the world.”
Her glass halts millimeters from her lips, and she smiles. “I’d do the same for you.”
“Promise?”
She nods and lowers her glass, head tilted in curiosity.
“Would you marry me?” I ask as I reach into the front pocket of my cargo shorts, then pull out the black box I’d stuffed in there when she went into the bathroom earlier. I’d known I was going to propose to her this week, but I wanted it to be the perfect time. We’ve been on the run so much since getting here, there hasn’t been a great time, but there is now.
Like right now.
The first boom of fireworks cracks the night sky as the sound reaches us before the lights. In the next second, an explosion of fiery speckles fills the area over the castle.
Barrett jumps slightly, whirls to see the array of fireworks filling the air, then gasps. “Oh, wow.”
I don’t look at them, though.
I only watch her as she takes in the fireworks, still holding her glass of champagne that hasn’t been touched, as I wait patiently for her answer.
Luckily, she doesn’t make me suffer for long.
Turning back to me, she looks at the box. “Going to open that up?”
“Nope,” I say with a grin. “Not until I know what your answer is going to be.”
“I don’t get to base my answer on the size of the diamond, huh?” she quips with a saucy grin.
Laughing, I shake my head.
“In that case,” she drawls, pausing to finally takes a delicate sip of her champagne to drag the moment out. “I think my answer will be ‘yes’.”
My hands are occupied with a ring and a champagne flute, which is not convenient at all. I hurry to set them both on the small patio table flanked by two chairs, then pull Barrett into my arms. She tips her head back, already anticipating my kiss, and I can see her smiling as I bring my mouth to hers.
It’s fucking perfect.
This night is perfect.
She’s perfect.
She said yes, and my life is perfect.
When I pull back, I ask, “Want to see the ring?”
Barrett shrugs. “I guess.”
I kiss her again, until she finally starts making a grab for the box, then I open it with a flourish.
The diamond inside is massive, and I’d expected the gasp that comes out of her mouth. It’s so big, in fact, I can see the reflection of the fireworks in its surface.
“Oh, Cruce,” she murmurs, her voice shaking. “That’s way too much.”
“Nothing is too much for you,” I assure her as I pluck it from its resting spot and take her left hand in mine. When I slide the ring onto her finger, my first indication she’s crying is a tear splashing on the back of my hand as she bends to marvel over it.
“Hey, no tears,” I admonish gently. Inside, though, I’m secretly warmed to my fucking toes that she’s crying with joy over this moment.
I want to give her the dream we’ve talked about. I want to give her everything because she’s already given it to me. And by everything, I mean her heart.
Barrett looks up, dashing the tears away with the back of her hand. “I love you, Cruce. You’ve made me so happy.”
“I love you, too,” I say before I kiss her yet again.
The fireworks boom and shake the ground, the lights sparkle, and the world seems to burn around us.
But neither one of us notices.
The suspense continues at Jameson Force Security! CLICK HERE to preorder Code Name: Heist (Jameson Force Security, Book #3), coming January 7, 2020!
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About the Author
Since the release of her debut contemporary romance novel, Off Sides, in January 2013, Sawyer Bennett has released multiple books, many of which have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.
A reformed trial lawyer from North Carolina, Sawyer uses real life experience to create relatable, sexy stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From new adult to erotic contemporary romance, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.
Sawyer likes her Bloody Marys strong, her martinis dirty, and her heroes a combination of the two. When not bringing fictional romance to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to a very active daughter, as well as full-time servant to her adorably naughty dogs. She believes in the good of others, and that a bad day can be cured with a great work-out, cake, or even better, both.
Sawyer also writes general and women’s fiction under the pen name S. Bennett and sweet romance under the name Juliette Poe.
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