Piper joined her sister and sat back up also.
I fidgeted, not sure what to do or how to help. Bodie looked over at me and then smiled before looking back at his daughters.
“Maybe one day I’ll ask her and Gemma will say yes to marrying me.”
“Yay!” the girls squealed, jumping up to their feet on the mattress and bouncing up and down. “Then she will be our mommy and we will have two!”
The next thing I knew they were off the bed and standing by the door, but I was too stunned by Bodie’s words to move.
“Come on you guys, we want to see what Santa brought us, and see if he ate our cookies.” This came from Peyton.
That was one of the things we all did at Ruby’s the night before and all the kids had helped. We baked cookies as one big family so each little one could take some home and leave them out for Santa.
I felt Bodie’s hand slip into mine under the covers and he gave it a squeeze. He looked at me with those chocolate brown eyes.
“What just happened?” I mumbled.
He chuckled. “Well, no more sneaking around for one. And two, one day when I ask, and if you say yes, the girls already gave their blessing for you to marry me.”
I gulped, completely and utterly stunned speechless.
He laughed again.
“Okay girls, run back to your room until we come to get you so you can peek at the gifts. We will be there in a minute.”
They whined some more but did what Bodie said. I couldn’t blame them, it was Christmas morning after all.
Bodie turned toward me. He traced the outline of my tattoo. We talked about it before and how I’d had the two roses placed on my arm for my parents. My father used to bring my mom roses all the time and when I remembered that, I’d stored the memory away until I was old enough to have the artwork done in honor of them.
“What do you think your father would have said about me? And what would he have said if I’d asked him if I could marry his daughter?”
“You want to marry me?” I whispered.
I hadn’t thought that Bodie would ever marry again after Isabelle and as much as that hurt my heart when I realized I was in love with him, I knew that any way I could have him was far better than not having him at all.
“One day I hope to. I know it’s soon, but I want to give you everything you want and deserve.”
He was saying the right things but was he or would he ever truly be ready? “I never want you to do something just for me. Something so big has to be because you want it too.”
“I want you, love.” He leaned further into me and kissed me deeply before pulling back.
Heart in my throat, I answered his question. “My dad would have loved you, my mom, too, and he would have gladly given you permission to marry me.”
“That’s real good to know, sweetheart.” Sliding his hand down to my sex, his fingers brushed over the top of my silky panties, causing me to moan.
“Bodie, we don’t have time, stop teasing,” I told him.
“Rain check?” He raised his brows in question. “Will you let me unwrap you when we get home tonight?” he asked with a smirk.
“Isn’t that what you’ve done the last couple of nights? How many presents do you think you get?”
“How about one a day for the rest of my life.”
Damn the man was hard on my lungs. All the air swooshed out, leaving me breathless between his words and still fondling fingers.
“I’ll think about it,” I said as I attempted to roll away and out of bed.
Bodie snatched me around the waist and drew my back to his front. “You better think about all this,” he whispered in my ear. Then he set about tickling until I squirmed and squealed.
