Bless his alpha male, overprotective heart.
“Hey, baby.” He finished zipping the cover onto the grill. “Need something?”
As a matter of fact…
“I do.” To his dad, Mac asked, “Mind if I steal your son for a few minutes?”
“He’s all yours.” Robert smiled. “I’ll go see if Cheryl and the girls need help inside. I’m sure they’ll find something for me to do.”
When the other man walked away, Coop looked at Mac expectantly. “What do you need?”
“You.” Mac linked her fingers with his. “Can we go to the bluff? There was something I wanted to talk about, and I thought it would be a good place for it.”
He looked down at their hands and back up to her. She could tell he wanted to ask more, but all he said was, “Sure.”
Minutes later, she and Coop were sitting on his lowered tailgate, looking out at the spectacular view.
“It’s such a perfect day, isn’t it?” Mac asked wistfully.
“It is.” Coop rumbled. “You gonna tell me why we’re here, or should I start guessing?”
In a careful slide, she stood on the soft ground and walked toward the land’s edge. “You asked me a question the night Lillian was born. Do you remember what it was?” She heard him walking toward her.
“Yes.”
“You asked me why I thought you should propose to me again. I didn’t have an answer for you, then.” Mac turned to face him. “I do, now.”
“Mac, you don’t have to—”
“I want to,” she assured him.
Since the shooting, Coop hadn’t brought up the idea of marriage or the future with her at all. They’d just been taking everything day by day, moment by moment.
In this particular moment, his expression had become unreadable. The confidence she’d felt when this idea first struck started to wane.
In spite of that, Mac drew in a deep breath and said everything she should have said that night but was afraid to. She gave him the answer he deserved.
“You are one of the most frustrating, stubborn, pig-headed men I’ve ever known—”
Interrupting her, he said, “I think you may have misunderstood the question.” His brows were scrunched together, but the corners of his lips pulled upward.
Mac put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips. “Do you want to hear my answer or not?”
Holding back a laugh, Coop held his hands palms-up. “My apologies. Please, continue.”
“Thank you.” Clearing her throat, she started again. “You are one of the most frustrating, stubborn, pig-headed men I’ve ever known,butyou are also the sweetest, funniest, most genuinely kindhearted man I’ve ever known.”
“That’s a little better,” he muttered with a smirk.
“You were right, Sean. I do know you. And you know everything about me. My likes and dislikes. My fears and insecurities. And, despite my efforts to the contrary, you now know every single dark and dirty secret hiding in my closet.”
Coop shook his head. “You’re not hiding them, anymore.”
“No.” Mac smiled. “Thanks to you, I’m not.”
Disappointment flashed behind his eyes. “I know all of your secrets.” His Adam’s apple bobbed with an audible swallow. “That’swhy I should ask again?”
“No.” Mac shook her head and smiled. “That’s why I’m asking you.”
