He nods and I see the tears in his green eyes. “Baby, that’s how I feel too. I want to marry you so fast that everybody thinks you’re knocked up.”
I laugh. “That fast?”
“Yeah.” They start to wheel me away but I drag my hand down the nearest person’s arm. “Stop!” When they stop, I lean over and take his hand in mine, lifting it to my lips. “I’m yours, Tate. When we’re both better, I want to marry you too. Vegas or wherever. Just as long as I’m tied to you the sooner the better.”
“It’s a deal.” They start wheeling us to two different ambulances. Our eyes stay locked on each other until they roll us into our rides. I blow him a kiss before I lose sight of him.
“I will be waiting. Nothing will stop me from marrying you. Remember that.”
He shoots me a wide, carefree grin even though both of us look like we’ve gone through a war. “I’m betting on it. I’m betting on us.”
When the siren starts and they pull away from where I see the firemen spraying down what’s left of my business, I sigh and lean back, a smile on my face.
The EMT grins. “Shouldn’t you be way more upset than you are right now?”
“Nope. I’ve got a business to rebuild and a man to love. I’m better than I’ve ever been.”
He shrugs and I close my eyes, dreaming of my future with the love of my life. My own personal hero. The man that I can count on to always be there for me.
The man I intend to marry as soon as legally and physically feasible.
My eyes close and I scooch back into the gurney. The stupid smile never leaving my face as I think about my future with Tate.
Forever. I’ve waited forever, it felt like forever in that building and I’m about to build a life with forever. Life’s fucking amazing and I hope that it never changes.
I want that forever with the only man I’ve ever desperately needed. The only man who loves me the way I need to be loved. Wholeheartedly and with no reservations.