My eyes widened, then I choked a little. “Well, in a way. Maybe.” I cleared my throat. “To be an ol’ lady, you don’t have to be a wife. Mostly because it almost carries more weight than the title of wife, but I’d like that too. Anything to make it clear to the entire world, you’re mine. Would you marry me, Korrie Kingston? I mean, if I was asking.”
“Well, earlier youtoldme you were marrying me someday soon. Now you say you want to look for a house. I’m getting your brand. I’m your ol’ lady—your do or die, as you said. So you’re not asking me to marry you?” Her lips twisted in a subdued smile.
“Damn, babe, I can’t ask you like that,” I said as I turned the corner and pulled into the shared lot for the tattoo studio and the pawnshop next door. After I put the truck in Park, I reached over, cupped the back of her neck, and pulled her over the console to my lips. “But I meant it earlier. I’m gonna marry you. I’ll be askin’, but I wanted it to be a little more romantic than that, so you better be prepared.”
“Mmm, okay.” With a soft curve of her lips, she pressed them to mine, and I nipped her bottom lip as I pulled back.
“Ready, little man?” I said into the back seat. Little eyes were watching us intently with a satisfied expression on his mini-me face.
“Yeah!” He scrambled to unbuckle, and we went to the shop door. I knocked, and Chains came to unlock it.
“Come on in. I got some donuts in the break room if your mom says it’s okay,” he said to Trace, who looked up at Korrie expectantly. She smiled and raised a questioning brow to me. I nodded.
“That’s fine,” she told him.
Korrie was looking through the books at the front counter, but what she was getting wouldn’t be found in them.
I crouched in front of Trace after I walked him into the break room. “We’ve lost a lot of years, and I’m sorry I wasn’t around.”
He shrugged, but he looked unsure and more like the little boy he was than he ever had before.
“I’m going to ask your mom to marry me. Is that okay with you?”
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “Then you’ll live with us? And we’ll be like a real family?”
The innocent question hit me right in the heart. “Yeah, buddy. A real family.”
“Mom’s kinda stubborn. What if she says no?” he questioned as his gaze skated toward his mother then back to me.
“Then we’re gonna have to convince her,” I said with a conspiratorial grin.
His dark head nodded. “Deal.”
I ruffed his hair and stood.
While Trace helped himself to a donut and settled in front of the break room TV, Chains had secured the door again, then went to his room. “We can get started if you’re ready,” he called from his doorway.
We followed him in, and I quietly discussed what I wanted. He drew out a quick sketch and showed it to me. I grinned and nodded. “Hell, yeah.”
“Do I get to see it?” Korrie questioned as she tried to look over our shoulders at the sketch. I turned toward her, blocking the drawing from her.
“Do you trust me?” I asked with a mischievous grin. She gave me a narrow-eyed consideration before raising her chin.
“Maybe,” she drawled, and I wrapped her up in my arms, lifting her feet from the floor as I backed her away from the design.
“Maybe, huh?” I nipped her neck, and she giggled. “Take off your jacket and sit your ass on the table.”
She did as instructed but the whole time gave me an assessing glare, softened by the hint of a grin on her plush lips. Since I knew she would probably want to get a job at some point—not that she needed one—I decided to place her ink in a spot that she could cover when needed.
Her eyes widened and flickered over toward where Chains was prepping his materials when I started to unbutton her flannel shirt. I only opened it enough to drop it over her shoulder, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “Nervous?” I asked before teasing her shoulder with a kiss.
“No,” she said, and I drew back to look in her eyes. The truth shone from them that as long as she trusted me, she knew she had no reason to be nervous. Unable to stop, I leaned in for a sensual kiss that became increasingly heated until there was a clearing throat behind us.
“Uh, we gonna do this or do I need to leave you two alone and reschedule?” Chains had a raised brow and a smirk on his face as he watched us.
“Naw, bro, I know you have a full schedule. Let’s get this done.”
He nodded with a shrug, turned on the TV in the room for her to watch if she wanted, then slipped on a pair of black gloves and got to work. Korrie lay on her stomach and waited. “That channel okay? Angel can change it for you if you need him to,” he said as he wiped her skin down. One of the news channels was on.