“Declan…” she begins, but I grab her around her middle and pull her tight against me.
“Summer really is the perfect name for you.You’ve always been my warmth and my light.When you’re gone, my world turns to black ice.”
She raises her arms and clasps her hands behind my neck.
“Are you worth it?Are youcrazy?Yes, yes, a million times yes, you are worth it.I’d give up anything and everything else in my life—my planes, my work, the ranch, my home and everything I have and everything I am—if it meant I could convince you to stay at my side.Can I tell you something that you might not know about yourself?”
One corner of her mouth hitches.“Do I have a choice?”
“It would be impossible for menotto love you, even if I wanted to!You’re stuck with me, baby.And yes, it’s a burning hot passion on Sunday and Tuesday and every day, hot enough to last two lifetimes.But you know that’s just the starting point for us—you’re my best friend, my ride or die, and my number one drinking buddy, though I think those days are behind us.Plus, you’re my wife.Did I mention that?And I’m your husband.Now, I have a question for you.”
She tips her chin up.“Have at it, flyboy.”
I brush a strand of hair away from my wife’s lovely face.There’s a knot in my throat.My chest burns with rising emotion.I found her.“I know we’ve gotten off to a weird start with our marriage, and we’ve had a lot to deal with.I’m pretty sure we got dicked by the dangling dong of destiny.”
“Agreed.Did you just make that up?”
“A while ago, but I’ve been saving it for the right moment.”
“Nice.”
“But I thank the heavens every day that we did what we did, and we are where we are.I don’t give a damn what the future holds as long as we’re in it together.That said,I’mthe one kicking past my coverage in this partnership and I damn well know it.I’m not worth a second look from a woman as fine as yourself, but I’ll deny I ever said that because I don’t want to give you an excuse to leave me.”
I shut up and study her face.I don’t know if I’ve convinced her.
“So what’s the question?”
“What?”
“You said you had a question for me.”
“Oh!Right.Here it is—will you do me the honor of marrying me again, Summer?For real?”
“Yes.I do.I mean, I will.But there’s something you have to know first.”
I pull her in closer.Her soft hair brushes along the tops of my hands.“Tell me.”
“I have a lot of healing to do, Declan.The emotional kind.Only now do I understand just how much.Please be patient with me.I’ll work really hard at it, but if you’re with me, I know I can do it.”
I tuck her into the front of me.She turns to rest her cheek against my chest, and I shelter her with my body and my heart.
“You can do anything you set your mind on, Summer.”I kiss her hair.“And whatever you need from me, whatever it takes, you’ve got it.”
CHAPTER 66
Summer
We leave the prison in Declan’s rented SUV.I don’t look back at the complex.There’s no point.
All this ugliness and pain has nothing to do with me, and I will never be coming back.
We walk hand in hand into the diner, and Mary, the nice waitress I’ve gotten to know over the last few days, smiles when she sees me.She takes us to a booth by the window.
“Well, who do we have here, honey?”she asks.
“Mary, this is my husband, Declan.Declan, this is Mary.”
When she gets a good look at him, the poor woman morphs into Bambi in the high beams.Declan is only being his usual kind and charming self, but I get it.He’s an exceptional man, in every way, but he’s so good-looking that women sometimes forget what they were saying.
