He whipped around, ready to take out whoever dared invade his home.
A familiar chuckle reverberated through the space, and a light flipped on.
He squinted to adjust to the sudden brightness and shook his head. “Luke. I hate it when you sneak up on me. How’d you get in?”
“0858,” he said, referring to the code on Isaac’s front door. “Really? We all use Dad’s birth month and year for all our passwords.”
Isaac vowed to change his passwords to something more original. He walked over and gave his brother a brief hug. “Great to see you. How long are you here?” He had tomorrow off, so at least he’d have one day with his brother.
“Until tomorrow night.” Luke clapped him on the shoulder. “C’mon. I’ve got to show you something.”
The last thing Isaac wanted to do was go somewhere. Couldn’t they just sit on the couch, chat, maybe watch some hockey? The Bruins were on tonight, and he’d always loved watching Austin Strong, even more so now that he’d met Stetson, Austin’s uncle.
“Okay,” he said reluctantly.
He slid back into his shoes and followed Luke outside and across the street to where Luke had parked his rented Audi. They chatted as they drove off the base and into the nearby town of Fort Walton Beach.
Pulling up to some industrial warehouse-type buildings, Luke grinned at him. “C’mon. You’re going to love this.”
Isaac highly doubted it. He would’ve loved to relax, call Cosette, and go to bed early. He forced a smile and got out of the car. Luke led the way through a regular door that was next to a huge closed bay door. They walked into a dark space. Isaac could tell that it was large from the way their footsteps echoed on the concrete floor.
“Why do I feel like Seth and Caleb are going to jump out at me any second?” he asked.
“They’ll be here tomorrow,” Luke said.
“Really? What for?”
“Your wedding day,” the sweetest voice on the planet said from behind him.
Isaac whipped around just as a soft light haloed Cosette. His breath whooshed out, and he took a brief second to stare at her beautiful face. Rushing toward her, he picked her up and swung her around. “Cozy!” He kissed her long and hard before drawing back. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming and …” He shook his head to clear it. “What did you just say?”
Cosette smiled up at him. “Your brothers are coming for your wedding day tomorrow.”
Isaac glanced around for Luke, but he couldn’t see him in the dimness stretching out from the one light that was focused on Cosette. The warehouse was a decent size, and there might have been a couple of offices or a bathroom across the open space. He focused back on what he wanted to see—Cosette.
He lowered his voice and said, “Cozy. I would marry you any day of the week, but there are a lot of questions you have to answer before that can happen.” Loving and missing her so deeply had made him realize that marrying her was worth any risk, but would she think it was worth it?
“Such as?” She tilted her chin imperiously. She had the grit to be a military wife, but …
“What if I get deployed? You’ll be alone for fourteen months.”
“That’ll suck, but I love you enough to wait for you.”
He brushed the hair over her shoulder, breathing in her sweet scent. “What if I get killed?”
Cosette blinked up at him. “That’ll worse than suck, but Isaac … I could get killed driving down the freeway tomorrow. We can’t put our lives on hold for a what-if.”
“My unit’s likelihood of death is a little higher than someone driving on the freeway … Well, except for you. You are a horrible driver.”
“What? I rocked that golf cart driving. And truthfully, I don’t drive a car much.”
Isaac chuckled but knew he had to keep going with his line of reasoning, though the thought of marrying Cosette tomorrow had him hot all over. “I don’t have leave for five weeks. If we get married tomorrow, we can’t even take a honeymoon.”
“We worked that out,” a voice called from across the open area. “General Watson owed me a favor.”
“Was that your dad?” Isaac’s gaze darted to the voice, but he only saw darkness and heard a deep chuckle.
Cosette nodded. “I had some help. We’ve got the wedding venue set, your family and some friends flying in, the honeymoon set, your leave transferred to next week …” She shifted uneasily.
“What about living across the country from each other even when I’m not on assignment or deployed?”
“This is my future lab. Mar’s going to get it ready for me while we’re on our honeymoon.” Cosette squeezed his hand and gestured at the large open area. “I can work from wherever you are, Ike, and Mar’s found a way to ship everything safely from here to San Francisco. If you get deployed, I’ll go back to San Francisco until you’re done.”
Isaac’s eyes widened. He was reeling. Cosette would move around, set up labs and work from wherever he was? She’d do that for him? “That’s very generous of you.” It was lame, as he didn’t really know what to say. He wanted to swoop in and propose on the spot, but he was still trying to figure all of this out.
“Andthisis very brave of me.” She smiled and pushed out a shaky breath. “Ike, you know I’m a bit crazy but not really that brave. At the risk of feeling very stupid asking this question as your brother, your sister, Mar, and my dad listen in … will you marry me?”
Isaac looked down into her beautiful face, thrilled that she’d been willing to take this step for him. He loved her and was sick and tired of being apart. If she was willing to sacrifice and set up labs close to wherever he was stationed, it would be insane to wait until a more convenient opportunity presented itself. “Yes,” he murmured. “Of course, yes, my love.”
There was whooping and cheering, but Isaac ignored all of them, pulled his fiancée close, and kissed her. He wondered when they were going to get rings and where they’d go on their honeymoon and how he’d leave her again with how much he loved her, but the little details didn’t matter. They loved each other, and they were going to make it work.