“What?”
I walk over to him, get down on one knee, and take his hand. “Marry me, Wild. We’re about to give Isla a symbol of what she means to us, but we haven’t given the same thing to each other. While I’ve never been ashamed of who we are together, I was scared for what the world would do when it found out. And you and I both know it’s because, in some way, my old man still hadpower over me. But it stops right here. Now, I don’t care who knows. I know I’ve got no fucking chance of you ever wearing a property patch, so let me put a ring on it. Marry me.”
Kai grips the back of my neck firmly and encourages me to stand. “Of course, I’ll marry you.”
He doesn’t let go of my neck right away. Instead, he presses his forehead to mine, breath warm and eyes bright. “I was going to let you get to five years, then ask you if you didn’t ask me, first.”
I swallow hard and pull him into me. We don’t need rings or witnesses in a church to validate our love for one another. I just need Kai…and Isla…and a commitment to be together.
There’s a soft knock on the door, but we hold each other’s gaze for a moment longer. “I’ll love you, always.”
He huffs. “I know. I knew you would before you did.”
“Umm,” Isla says, stepping inside. “I feel like I might be overdressed for this mystery you’ve planned. So, if I am, you need to tell me, so I don’t embarrass myself when I get there.”
She’s wearing a fitted black jacket with, if I’m not mistaken, nothing underneath. The dark jeans she’s wearing hug her ass as she turns for us, and she’s wearing cute leather boots with a painfully tall heel. Her hair is loose, falling over one shoulder in waves. Several chains are layered at her neck, and her makeup is minimal and polished.
Sexy. But not trying-too-hard sexy. Not club-girl sexy. Isla sexy.
In other words, she looks absolutely breathtaking.
I kiss Kai’s temple and smooth down my shirt, like I’ve got my shit together when I absolutely do not. “I told you to wait at your place so I could come pick you up.”
She rubs her palms together nervously. “I couldn’t wait to see you both.”
“You look beautiful,” Kai says, starting with what I probably should have.
Her mouth curves, small and uncertain, like she isn’t quite sure she believes his assessment.
“Pretty as a picture, Sunbeam. And perfect for either option,” I say, reaching for her hand. I lead her to the edge of the bed, and she sits before I crouch in front of her.
“Either option?” she asks.
Kai joins me. “We wanted to talk to you and perhaps tell you a couple of things that might make you mad, but, hopefully, you’ll listen to us, first.”
Her shoulders tense, like she’s bracing for impact, so I take her hand and kiss the back of it.
“We’re taking you out tonight,” Kai says. “There’s a table booked at the Italian restaurant about twenty-five minutes’ drive away. Or we can go to the clubhouse for the club’s anniversary.”
The silence stretches painfully as Isla looks between us. “Why?” she says finally.
My heart trips a little over the words I’m about to say. “Because the club passed a vote on you becoming our old lady.”
“We know you’re not a huge fan of the club, right now,” Kai says. “But we wanted their protection to extend to you, should you need it. And we also wanted to give you the one thing in our world that shows you how much you mean to us.”
Her mouth opens. “This is all so soon.”
I squeeze her thigh, gently. “But is it unwanted?”
Her eyes glisten with tears, and she looks up at the ceiling and blinks furiously.
“Don’t cry, Sunbeam,” I say. “Your makeup is too pretty to ruin over the two of us.”
“I want to be yours,” she manages, then swallows.
“If it helps you decide,” Kai says, “he just asked me to marry him, and I said yes. It’s taken him four and a half years to ask, soyou might want to say yes, in case he doesn’t ask you again, for a while.”
The smile on my soon-to-be husband’s face is as captivating as the first time I ever saw it.
