“And done what? Beat him up? He was jealous of you. That might have made it worse. He’d have an excuse to put you behind bars.”
He sighed. “I don’t know. It sounds like you wouldn’t have been in danger if I were with you. He’d never have tried anything if I were healthy.”
“Even healthy, you can’t be with me every minute of every day.”
Gabe realized soon he wouldn’t be able to protect her at all. “It’s probably a good thing he fired you. I’ll feel a lot better in my alternate form, if I can actually see you. Meanwhile…” He pulled from his pocket the ring that he had been waiting to give her. “Maybe showing the world you’re mine will help.”
She stepped back and gasped as she eyed the beautiful diamond solitaire.
“I wish I’d been able to go shopping with you and let you pick it out instead of ordering it online, but I was unable to leave the house. If you don’t like it—”
“No! I love it! It’s perfect.”
She grasped his shoulders. They weren’t bandaged and didn’t seem to be causing him any pain. Leaning in, she touched her lips to his.
“I think I’ve healed enough to give you a proper kiss,” he said.
He slanted his lips and deepened the kiss. Their tongues were happily reunited as they swirled together. When after several moments they broke the kiss, he said, “I love you, Misty. More than I thought I could ever love anyone.”
She looked down and smiled shyly. “Can you put it on my finger?”
“Oh.” He hadn’t realized he hadn’t given the ring to her yet. “Yeah.”
“Can you? I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“My hands are doing well. Actually, all of me is doing pretty well.” He slipped the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly. “It won’t be long before we can make this official. We should probably discuss the kind of wedding you want.”
“I haven’t changed my mind. Nothing big. Just family.”
“I thought you said nothing big,” he teased.
“Ha. Your familyismy family. I wouldn’t want to leave any of them out. And if Parker can’t be here in person, I’d like him to attend by Skype.”
“I’d like that too. He should be my best man.”
“Not one of your brothers?”
He laughed. “Too many choices. How would I pick between them?”
“I see what you mean.”
“Jayce offered to take us out on his boat for the, um, other thing. Maybe we could find a nice beach nearby for the ceremony.”
She beamed. “Get married on the beach? I love that idea. When?”
“We have to figure that out.”
“Some of that depends on Parker.”
“And it would need to be a day when all my brothers are off duty, so we’ll have to coordinate their schedules. Thankfully, they’re usually free at roughly the same times. Do you want Julie and your other girlfriends to come? We’ll have to take their availability into consideration.”
“Just Julie.”
“Yeah, she’d probably appreciate it after we tore up her house.”
Misty groaned.
* * *
