Closing my eyes, I silently thank God that they’re still here.
That she’s still here.
The foundation I want to build my life on.
My reason.
My everything.
Four months later
Walking through the door, I catch the smell of dinner cooking. I stop and unclip my duty belt to hang on my gear stand but I don’t get much farther than that before she’s in my arms.
Sometimes I have to pinch myself and ask if this is my life. I get to wake up to her every morning and come home to her every night. And she’s always right here waiting for me when I get home.
“How was your day?” she asks, leaning back to look into my eyes.
“It was long.” I lean down to kiss her again. “Too damn long. How was yours?”
“It was good. I finished two more projects. The crosses I made this morning turned out really nice. Then I went up to the main house to tend to Pop and Teddy.” She perches a small hand on her hip, that sass I know and love shining through. “They are too much sometimes. Like an old married couple the way they fuss and argue.” She shakes her head, exasperated.
“Oh, and we got an invite in the mail today. Ryker and Mary Ann are getting married.”
Reaching for that perched hand, I pull her closer. That’s been weighing heavy on my mind lately. Pop gave me Gram’s ring two months ago but I haven’t found the right time to ask her to marry me. Even though I am a million percent sure she’s the only one for me, I don’t want to rush her or her feel pressured to say yes. It took a while but things calmed down after everything became public. The incident made international news, being that the AG of Mexico was in bed with some of the United States’ most prominent politicians in a trafficking ring that stretched around the world. The feds were able to keep Selena’s identity a secret along with most of the details of what happened.
“Married, huh? When?”
“July seventh,” she says.
“I can’t wait to take you home so you can meet the rest of my family.”
She’s already met Mom and Dad when they flew down the very next day. They’d flown in after they heard about what happened. My mother fell in love with her right away. Which is no surprise. I knew she would. It’s hard for anyone to meet her and not like her.
“I always knew you’d find a nice girl. A wholesome girl,” my mother had said.
She’s wholesome all right.
Innocent and sweet.
And all fucking mine.
“That all that happened today?”
Selena smiles.
“What?” I ask, tilting my head.
Her hand moves to her swollen stomach. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen and who would have thought that her carrying my baby would be so damn sexy. “Baby C moved today.”
Both of my hands move to the sides of her belly. I bend down and kiss the tiny bump.
My lips linger for several seconds before I move to her mouth, kissing her long and deep, collecting several breathy moans before I finally turn her loose.
“Justin,” she breathes.
I bury my face in her neck, her head falling back as I kiss up the slender column. “Hmm?”
Pulling my shirt loose from my pants, her hands find the skin of my back. “I need you.”
