“Me either. Now, are you going to feed me or do I have to starve to death?”
He chuckled. “My girl’s demanding. Want me to cook or do you want to go out? What do you feel up to?”
“Honestly I just want to go home and settle back in where I belong. We can always order takeout.”
His look of intense satisfaction told her she’d said all the right things. “Damn right that’s where you belong. You call in whatever you want and I’ll run out and get it. And I don’t want you to do a damn thing in the meantime. I’ll get all your stuff out of the car and unpack it and put it away. If I catch you lifting so much as a finger, I’ll spank your ass.”
“That’s hardly a threat,” she said saucily. “I may just have to disobey on purpose.”
“Then I’ll have to come up with another threat. Like withholding sex for a month.”
She snorted. “As if you’d last that long. Your hand isn’t that good, babe.”
He laughed, warmth and relief spreading over his features. “We’re back,” he said with satisfaction. “God, we’re back!”
THIRTY
“DOyou think they’ll last?” Kylie asked anxiously as she sat next to Jensen on the sofa.
She was curled into the crook of his shoulder, her arm stretched across his midsection while they watched a ridiculous end-of-the-world B movie. The best kind.
He stroked her hair and then pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “What I think is that we can’t control what happens in their relationship. We can only control what happens in ours.”
Kylie let out ahmmph. “Since when did you get all sage and philosophical?”
He chuckled. “I’m just smart like that. I chose you, didn’t I? That makes me the smartest guy on the planet.”
“Well, there is that …” she said smugly.
He shifted, turning slightly so he faced her instead of sitting side-by-side with her. “Speaking of …”
She cocked her head, worry assailing her at the sudden seriousness of his tone and expression. Good God, surely he wasn’t breaking up with her.
“I know this may be too soon,” he said hesitantly. “We’re still going to therapy and I know we have a long way to go, but I know my feelings aren’t going to change for you. I love you. I always will. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“Oh Jensen,” she whispered. “Swear to God if you make me cry I’ll kick your ass.”
He grinned and then pulled a small velvet jeweler’s box from underneath the sofa cushion. Then he slid from his perch on the couch and got down on one knee, opening the box to reveal a sparkling diamond engagement ring.
“Will you marry me, Kylie? We don’t have to set a date right away. I just want your promise that one day, when you’re ready, that I’ll be the man you marry.”
She couldn’t breathe around the knot in her throat and the weight bearing down on her chest. Tears blurred her vision and she sucked in a steadying breath through distended nostrils. Her hands shook uncontrollably but he made no move to slide the ring on her finger. He was waiting for her answer.
She threw her arms around his neck, holding on to him for dear life. “Yes! Oh my God, yes. I love you so much, Jensen. There’s no one I’d rather spend the rest of my life with than you.”
“Thank fuck,” he muttered. “You scared the shit out of me there for a moment when you were so silent. I thought I’d screwed up and moved too fast.”
“No one can ever accuse you of taking things slow and easy,” she teased.
“I move fast when there’s something I want. Why wait? I couldn’t take the risk that some other guy would steal you away from me.”
She rolled her eyes. “As if. No one else would put up with me. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”
“There’s no one I’d rather be stuck with than you,” he said, nearly echoing her own words.
“Thank fuck,” she said, returning his words in kind. “What was it we decided? We’ll be fucked up together?”
He laughed. “That about sums it up. Hell, who else would put up with us but each other? I guess that means we’re perfect for one another.”
