“I’ll hit you later.”
Noble finished the call and sat back in the seat. He was mentally tired, counting down the minutes until his life was legal again. The risks of being the general of TLM was one of the reasons he’d bowed out before. He not only had his son but he had Irish and their new baby to be present for. Noble couldn’t bear to be taken away from his family. The idea of that happening clenched his jaw.
“Papa.”
He turned his head and saw Irish peeking out from the door.
“Come here.”
She stepped out, pulling the white sheet over her body. A satin scarf covered her ginger tresses. Irish’s bare face gave him a full display of her freckles that he loved so much. Noble positioned her on his lap sideways and kissed her cheek.
“Why you ain't sleep?”
“‘Cause you're not next to me. Why you out here?”
“Just enjoying the view.”
“Do you have something on your mind?”
He peered at her, smirking from her observation. “Why you ask that?”
“Because I can tell. I’m in tune with you. You think I don't know when your mind is heavy?”
Noble thought for a moment. People rarely were able to gauge his mood. He wore his poker face well and assumed he was doing it on their vacation. It was no surprise Irish figured Noble out, since he was so in tune with her as well.
“You can tell me,” she pressed. “What is it?”
“A’ight…” He dragged his teeth over his bottom lip, soundlessly waiting for any red flags to emerge. He waited for his intuition to interrupt what he was about to do but nothing came. Only certainty because Irish was his sure thing.
“If I asked you to marry me, would you?”
Her eyes expanded. “What?”
“Answer the question.”
“Of course I would marry you.”
“So, if I said let’s get married tomorrow, would you?”
Irish covered her mouth with her hand. Words had ceased as they gazed into each other’s eyes. “You serious?” she whispered.
He nodded. “Yeah, it’s the only thing left to do. I want you to have my last name, Pumpkin. I need you to officially be mine forever.”
“And it’s not because of the baby? You want to marry me because you want to, right?”
The space between his brows dipped. “Yeah, why would you ask me that?”
“Because I remember you said you married Kenji’s mom because she was pregnant. I just want to make sure you're not trying to fulfil an obligation.”
Noble exhaled a sharp breath. “I’m in love with you, Irish. I wasn’t in love with Daysha when I married her. Yes, I was trying to do the right thing and honor her but my heart wasn’t in it. You got my whole heart. I never wanna be without you and you having my baby is a plus. You’ll never be an obligation. You're my reason, Pumpkin.”
She blushed, biting her bottom lip.
“You believe me?” He cupped her chin.
Bobbing her head, she gazed into his eyes.
“Now tell me what I want to hear.”
