“Come on, kiddo,” Lila declared. “Let’s go find Pretty Boy and tire him out. I bet you could race faster than him.”
Kenny cheered and led the way to the backyard with Lila trailing after him.
Trooper shook his head, laughing softly as he wrapped his arms around me.
“Do you think Lila will ever cave to Pretty Boy’s advances?”
I hummed in thought, idly tracing his tattoos as I considered.
“I don’t know. It’s possible. I caved to you, didn’t I?”
“Now wait a minute,” Trooper protested. “If I recall correctly, I didn’t wear you down. I won you over. There's a difference."
“Oh, really?” I replied, playing along. “And what did you do to win me over?”
“I cooked some delicious vegetables to prove that I am a functioning adult who has his shit together. And it worked like a charm.”
I draped my arms around his neck, pressing my forehead against his.
“You’re right. That was very impressive.”
He smiled, curving his hands around my lower back, smoothing down to cup my ass. For the first few months of our relationship, I had held my breath. Waiting for everything to fall apart. Waiting to wake up from this dream.
But a year had passed and Trooper was still here.
“If I asked you to marry me,” he whispered. “Would you run the other way and never look back?”
I nuzzled against him, brushing a feather-light kiss to his lips.
“I don’t know. Are you brave enough to find out?”
Trooper laughed against my mouth when he kissed me, sliding his tongue over mine. I slipped my hands under his shirt, scratching my nails lightly down his torso. He moaned with a sinfully deep rumble, pushing me back against the table’s edge.
“Marry me, Shea,” he breathed. “Fuck.Pleasemarry me.”
In my wildest fantasies, I never thought I would hear Theodore “Trooper” Gerard, self-professed commitment-phobe, actuallybeggingto get hitched.
“Ask me again tomorrow,” I said lightly.
Trooper sighed and his shoulders slumped.
“Really?”
“Yep,” I replied. “And then do it again the next day. And the day after that.”
His frown of confusion brightened as he caught on to my game.
“You’re stringing me along. You little minx.”
I laughed, nipping at his lower lip.
“I like it when you’re desperate for me. It’s sexy.”
He arched an eyebrow and lifted me onto the table, pressing his hips between my thighs. The door slammed again, and a moment later, Ironside marched into the room, rummaging around on the counter.
“Don’t get nasty in my kitchen, you two,” he said, grabbing a bottle of cracked pepper. “It’s not sanitary. Do your baby-making somewhere else.”
“We use protection,” Trooper protested.
Ironside grunted.
“That’s more information than I wanted to know. By the way, Pretty Boy is teaching your nephew some very colorful obscenities.”
“Shit,” Trooper muttered under his breath. “Tarzan is gonna kick my ass.”
He pulled away, hurrying out the back door. I watched him go with a smile. One day very soon, I would be calling that manmy husband.
