He snorted. “He’s almost as tough as you,” he said, stepping from behind me and removing the black box clipped to Hound’s collar.
“I think you like him more than me.” He looked down at Hound. “I’m pretty sure you’re the only reason she’s stuck around.” He patted Hound’s back lightly.
“Not true. I love both of you equally.” Yeah, I used the L word. We both had over the past six weeks. I didn’t know what took me that long to say it. I knew I was deeply in love with Micah way before McDowell kidnapped me.
Micah kissed my lips and pulled back, looking down on me. “Are you ready to make this move permanent then?”
I swallowed. “How permanent are you talking?” Micah opened the black box, and I gasped when I saw a stunning diamond ring. He dropped to one knee.
“I couldn’t do this without him.” He gestured toward Hound. “He helped me choose the ring.”
I laughed with my hands over my mouth.
“Plus, I needed him present for insurance. You’re more than likely to say yes if I include him.”
I shook my head, laughing.
“What do you say, Jodi Taylor? Will you marry me and become Jodi Townsend.”
Nodding, I wiped away the foolish tears. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”
He wiped fake sweat away from his brow. “Thought I was going to have to keep you hostage.”
I threw my arms around his neck as soon as he finished putting the shimmering, princess-cut pink diamond on my finger.
Leaning against Micah’s body, I held out my hand with the ring on it. It felt perfect. More right than anything I experienced before.
“It’s gorgeous.”
“That’s what your mother said.”
I looked up at him. “You told my mother?”
He nodded. “And your father. I’m central Texas born and bred. I needed to let them know before I proposed.”
“To get my father’s permission?”
He snorted. “Permission? Yours was the only approval I needed, baby. You were already mine. Still, I wanted to be respectful,” he answered.
“I love you.”
“Good. Because you’ve turned my world completely upside down, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He pulled me into his arms, kissing me.
Epilogue
“There’s too much testosterone in this place,” I said, glancing over my shoulder, from the center of the ballroom.
“The only testosterone you need to worry about is mine,” my new husband insisted, tightening his arm around my waist, pulling my attention back to him.
I smiled up at him, running my free hand over his shoulder, feeling the material of the tuxedo he wore. Lifting my hand, I entwined my finger around one of the soft, curly ringlets.
“Thank you for wearing your hair down.”
He pressed a kiss to my lips. “Like I had a choice.”
Giggling, I leaned into his shoulder. “You had a choice. You always have a choice with me, babe.”
“No, that’s where you’re wrong.” He pulled back and took my chin in between his two fingers. “There was no choice needed. From the first time you walked into LS Investigations, you were mine, and I was yours.”
