He looked up at her, eyes steady, certain, open in a way that undid her. “I remember when we first met on the Dalton Highway. I thought you were beautiful and fascinating as you stood beside your semi in the middle of a blizzard.”
“Then someone began shooting at us.”
“And that seemed to set the tone of our entire relationship.”
She chuckled, unable to argue.
“Then we kept getting thrown together. Butting heads. You weren’t afraid to stand up to me and could hold your own ground. I loved—and love—that about you.”
She smiled at the memories.
“But we were two broken people,” Duke continued. “You were searching for vengeance for everything that happened in Texas. I was searching for Celeste, needing some closure. And we both realized that we were better together. Our strengths and weaknesses complimented each other.”
“They still do,” Andi murmured, this whole conversation still feeling surreal.
“Everything became clear to me after our investigation into Nursy Mercy. After that, I finally knew we could move forward.”
She repressed a shudder at the thought of that case.
She’d thought she was going to die. And, indeed, everything had become much clearer after that.
“Throughout all of that—we’ve had enough adventures to fill a lifetime it seems—one thing became certain to me. I don’t want to sound cheesy. I really don’t. But I feel like our relationship has been like a compass needle navigating a magnetic storm. Though the pull of the past initially kept us spinning in circles, we eventually found the true north in each other once the interference was cleared.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “I don’t know about cheesy, but that’s beautiful, Duke. And so true.”
He held up the ring. “Andi Slade, will you marry me?”
The world narrowed to that moment. To the man in front of her. To the life waiting on the other side of fear and chaos and near misses.
“Yes.” The word burst free, whole and unguarded. “Yes.”
He stood, the ring cool against her finger as he slid it into place.
His hands framed her face.
Then he kissed her, and the world melted away.
Until applause broke out.
Andi stepped back and laughed as the sound wrapped around them.
Without looking, she knew exactly who the sounds belonged to.
Mariella stepped from the shadows first, clapping and grinning. Simmy followed, eyes bright. Ranger nodded once, approval written all over his face. Matthew wiped at his eyes but pretended not to.
Andi leaned into Duke, overwhelmed in the best possible way.
She had not expected this.
And she was totally okay with being surprised.
Then she saw the elevator door open and the figure standing there.
Her breath caught.
Was that . . . ?
It was.
