That was obviously the wrong response.
“None of them meant anything to me, Kyns.”
She smirked. “I’m not in the mood for this right now, Miles. It’s been a real shit-filled day and it just got worse with your arrival.”
I grinned. Her eyes went to my dimples and that made me smile even bigger. “It’s your birthday. Your thirtieth birthday.”
“Is that what brought you home? You had to see if I was an old maid? Did you think I was just waiting in Hunt pining over you? If you did, you were wrong, very wrong.”
The corners of my mouth pulled up and that seemed to piss Kynslee off even more.
“Jack did ask me to marry him and you can thank yourself for that relationship. So, thanks to you, I had two amazing years of sex with a guy who knew how to stick around.”
Anger pulsed through my veins. “Yet, you said no to him. Must not have had the goods to keep you around, princess. So why did you tell him no?”
Her mouth opened, then closed. Then she did it again. I wanted to laugh, but knew if I did, I’d only make her swing at me again. “What does it matter to you?”
I shrugged. “I just want to know why you turned him down, Kynslee.”
Her eye twitched and I knew she was about to flip her shit. “What are you doing here, Miles?”
Change of subject. Okay.
“Well, since I haven’t been able to see you in so long, I wanted to be here for your birthday. It’s sort of a special one.”
Her brow raised. “Funny how you seemed to always show up when I wasn’t in town.”
I shrugged. She didn’t know I had planned it that way. Perks of working alongside the CIA. I could get information on Kynslee easily. The idea of seeing her, risking us falling into bed again and asking her to wait around for me was too great a risk. In my mind, I’d done it for all the right reasons. Now, seeing how angry she was, I knew I had made another mistake when it came to this woman.
She blew out a breath and asked, “What makes this birthday so special?”
“It’s your thirtieth birthday. Mine was last month. So, you know what that means, sweetheart.”
She chewed on her lower lip nervously. Good God, she still had that sweet little habit that made my cock come alive.
I’m here to collect on that little promise you made me twelve years ago.
“S-so?”
I handed her the bag.
“Happy birthday, Kynslee.”
The way she eyed the bag almost made me laugh. My Kynslee was always a sucker for a present. She reached into it and pulled out the worn-out blue velvet bag. Her eyes lifted to mine and a slight smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. She might have been angry as hell with me, but every year when I called her and listened to her open her gift, I could hear the excitement in her voice. She had no idea how much I needed that call every year. How when I was in a situation I wasn’t sure I would get out of, her voice kept me going. She kept me going. Knowing someday I would be back home, looking into her eyes, was my lifeline.
She smiled, and I felt my knees weaken slightly.
Jesus. When did her lips get to be so pink and soft?
I had the urge to lean down and kiss them. Not a friendly kiss, but a kiss that showed her exactly how much I had missed her.
She opened the bag and pulled out the brown tissue paper. Carefully opening it, her hand froze when she saw it.
“What is this?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper and her hand shaking.
“It’s an engagement ring.”
She lifted those green eyes to meet my gaze. “Why are you giving me an engagement ring?”
“You made me a promise.”
Kynslee stared for a few moments, as if she was trying to decide if she had heard me correctly. Then she threw her head back and laughed. Hard. When I didn’t return the laughter, she stared at me with an open mouth.
“Miles, this is a joke, right?”
A part of me was pissed she wasn’t taking me seriously. “No. We made a promise to each other. I’m here to cash in on that promise.”
And that was when I realized my biggest mistake yet. Using a phrase on her like I was here to collect my poker winnings or something.
“Cash in? Cash. In?”
I nodded, not sure what else to do and afraid to move. It was too late to take back my choice of words, so I played along with it. This time there was no doubt in my mind that she was about to hit me. What I hadn’t expected was that she would knee me right in the balls instead of coming at me with fists flying. I’d been in hand-to-hand battles with some of the most badass dudes in this world, and I’d come out alive on the other side of that fight. With Kynslee, though, I dropped to the ground like a damn rock and groaned.