“Oh, I’m sure we will,” Kylie said before she stepped outside with Remy and closed the door behind them. “She is absolutely incorrigible.”
“Dat she is. You look beautiful tonight, Kylie. More den usual, because you’re always beautiful. Dis dress is da perfect color on you.”
“I’m glad you like it, Remy. I picked it out with you in mind. When you told me to dress up, I about panicked because I had nothing to wear. Emelise took me shopping earlier. You need to give a girl more than a couple hours’ warning next time,” she teased.
That got a laugh from Remy. “I’ll try to remember dat, Kitten. I make no promises though.”
“Men. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them,” she joked. Getting into the boat in heels and a dress was a little difficult but she managed it with Remy’s help. The entire ride into New Orleans, and then the drive from the docks, she couldn’t help but wonder where he was taking her for dinner. When they finally reached their destination, she stared at him a moment. “Brennan’s? You’re taking me to Brennan’s?” Had he detected the note of longing she’d had in her voice when she’d mentioned the restaurant earlier in the week?
“I am. Don’t you dare touch dat door,” he said and quickly got out to go around and open it for her.
Kylie let him help her out of the truck and slipped her hand into the crook of his arm. “You are too much, Cajun. How did you know I wanted to come here?”
“Da way you lit up talkin’ about da good tings you’ve heard about da restaurant. I knew I had to bring you to dinner here.”
“You’re amazing, you know that? No, Remy, I mean it,” she said when he started to shake his head. “A lot of men would have walked away when I kept pushing back, trying to keep my distance. A lot of men wouldn’t have wanted to deal with the mess that is my past. I still have nightmares, Remy, you know that. I woke you up with one of them. You didn’t make me feel stupid for having nightmares about a man who is no longer able to hurt me. You just held me and chased the dark memories away.”
“Dat’s because I love you, Kitten.”
Kylie looked at him, stunned. “You…did I just hear you say you love me?”
“Oui,you did, cher. You don’t…”
She cut him off with a finger to his lips. “Don’t you dare say those words. As crazy as it seems, as scary as it is, I love you too, Remy. I never thought I could feel that way, not after the hell I went through at Ezra’s hands. I thought for sure he’d ruined me. I even told him that, while I watched the light fade from his eyes and the life leave his body. I told him he’d ruined me and I hoped he rotted in hell. But…he didn’t ruin me. He just broke me and you’ve been putting me back together, one piece at a time.”
Remy lifted his hand to her cheek. “I’ll keep puttin’ dose pieces back together for as long as it takes for you to feel whole again, Kitten. Come on, we don’t want to be late for our reservation.”
She leaned into his touch a moment before she nodded. “No, no we don’t. They might give our table to someone else and then we’ll have to wait.” She stayed close to Remy as they entered the restaurant and were shown to their table. The restaurant smelled divine.
It took Kylie longer than she cared to admit to decide on what she wanted because everything sounded absolutely delicious. She started with smoked pumpkin soup, followed by roasted oysters, and for her entrée, she went with the bacon-wrapped venison backstrap which came with rutabaga puree, mustard greens, and red-currant mostarda. For dessert she had to try their Bananas Foster but she also got an order of their Crepes Fitzgerald because they sounded tasty, as well.
Remy
Remy watched her as she enjoyed every bite of her meal, from the first sip of her soup to the last crumb from the crepes. It wasn’t until they were sipping on a final glass of wine that he revealed the reason he’d chosen Brennan’s for their dinner.
“Kitten, dere’s someting I need to ask you. I want you to hear me out before you say anyting. I’ve agonized over dis for days. Is it too soon? Am I rushin’ tings? I don’t know, but I hope not. You see, da ting is, Kitten, I want to spend da rest of my life wit’ you. When you decided to sleep at da cottage last night, it about killed me. I couldn’t sleep much wit’out you dere beside me. I don’t want to go through another night like dat. If it’s too soon, tell me, and I’ll accept your answer, but…Kylie Bishop, you would make me da happiest man alive if you would agree to be my wife. Will you marry me?” By the time he’d finished talking, he’d removed the ring box from his pocket and he’d knelt in front of her on one knee.
Kneeling there, waiting for Kylie’s reply, and seeing the tears glistening in her eyes, he was terrified of what they might mean. It could go either way. The words of Kenny Chesney’sI Lost Itpopped into his head and the line was so true. It was the moment of truth, and he was scared to death because his life hung on what those tears meant.
Kylie
When Remy’d started talking, she’d set her glass down and really listened to his words. At first she thought he was going to ask her to move in with him, especially when he talked about how hard it had been for him to fall asleep without her at his side. The truth was, she’d slept fitfully without him, as well. But marriage? She hadn’t seen that one coming.
As he knelt there in the restaurant, waiting for her answer, tears filled her eyes. This man had broken through her defenses, not with force, but with patience and tenderness, and she knew in her heart he was it for her. Not because they were mates—that was more animalistic—but because he was a good, loving, passionate man, and he moved her in ways she’d never imagined.
“Yes, Remy. Yes. I never imagined I would ever feel this loved, thishappybut I know you’re it for me. There isn’t anyone else in this world I want. There isn’t anywhere else I’d rather be than in your arms every night.”
“Oh, Kitten, you’ve just made me da happiest man alive,” he said as he slid the ring on her hand.
Kylie stared down at the ring. It was beautiful and unique. The rose-gold band came up at an angle on the sides and swirled around a trio of small starburst diamonds. A fourth diamond, in the same starburst design, rested above the trio, and another, larger, teardrop diamond was attached to the other side. Looking at it, the ring reminded her of her favorite fruit. “It looks a bit like a pineapple,” she said with a soft laugh.
“Dat was da idea, Kitten. When I was havin’ it designed, I remembered you tellin’ me it was your favorite fruit. I tink da jeweler thought I was a tad crazy askin’ for it to look like dis, but I knew you’d like it.”
“I don’t just like it, Remy, I love it. It’s beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as you, Kitten.”
The applause that surrounded them brought Kylie back to the fact they were in the restaurant surrounded by strangers. She blushed and ducked her head a moment. “Let’s go home,” she murmured near his ear.
“Dat sounds like da perfect plan to me, Kitten.”
She waited until he’d paid the check, then slipped her arm through his as he led her out to the truck and to the beginning of their life together.
