She smiled at him then hugged him tight. When Duke released her, Big Jay pulled her into his arms and lifted her up so that she straddled his hips. He pressed her against the side of the house and held her tight. She could hardly catch her breath. One look into the intense blue eyes and she smiled at him.
“I take it you missed me as much as I missed you.”
“More,” he replied then kissed her. It was a long, sexual kiss, filled with promises of more to come. She was aroused, felt needy and as he pulled away, she moved forward trying to get more of his delicious kisses.
“We have things to discuss and confirm,” he stated seriously.
“Like what?” she replied.
“Like, what we expect in a wife and what our wife can expect from us.”
She gasped as she turned toward the voice and saw Sandman approaching. He looked so good and his facial expression mimicked his brothers’ when they first approached.
“What did you say?” she asked. Her heart was pounding inside of her chest.
In a flash he placed his hands against her cheeks then stared down into her eyes.
“We can’t live without you, Grace. I can’t live without you. But this stubborn, ‘I can take care of myself’ attitude has to stop. We’re your protectors. We’re the ones who will protect you and take care of you and if you can’t accept that and trust us—”
Grace grabbed his hands that were against her cheeks and kissed him hard on the mouth. She made love to his mouth, absorbing his counter kisses until they were breathless. When she pulled back she smiled at him. “Okay,” she whispered.
“Okay?” Duke and Big Jay replied in sync.
She nodded her head and Big Jay lowered her feet to the wooden plank flooring.
“We love you,” Sandman said.
“I love the three of you, too.”
All three men smiled then each got down on one knee. They all held her one hand and she gasped in shock.
“Grace Thompson, will you marry us?”
“Yes,” she replied immediately as Sandman pulled out a gorgeous three-karat ring and placed it onto her finger. They kissed her fingers and she was filled with joy.
“What in the world?”
All four of them turned to see Frank standing there in shock.
“Did they just propose to you?” She nodded her head and Frank hooted and hollered then ran to tell the family.
“You three better hurry up and kiss me. You have no idea how bombarded with relatives we are going to be in about five seconds.”
All three men stood up. Sandman kissed her first, then Big Jay and then Duke just as loads of relatives came piling around both sides of the house.
The cheers and congratulations exploded around them and Grace was filled with more joy and happiness than she could ever imagine experiencing.
She smiled at her men as relatives they hadn’t even met hugged them, welcomed them to the family and instantly accepted them as part of the Thompson family.
She loved her family and she loved her Sandman, Duke and Big Jay with all her heart.
Aunt Betsy grabbed her arm and asked rather loudly, “How the heck did you snag three sexy, good-looking soldiers like these three?”
Duke came up behind them and kissed first Aunt Betsy on the cheek and then Grace.
“Because she’s amazing,” he whispered.
“That she is,” Sandman said.