“You’re beautiful,” Tuck said. “Would you live here? Would you marry me, Maryn?”
Maryn sat up straighter. “Now wait a minute. That is no kind of way to propose to a girl. Nuh-uh. I need flowers and a beautiful ring and maybe some music, but most of all there needs to be kissing. Lots of kissing.”
Tucker stood and walked away from her.
“Where are you going?” He couldn’t fulfill the kissing requirement if he was leaving her.
“Just a second.” He winked at her. “I’ll be right back.”
He walked out of the room and Maryn wondered what in the world was going on. If she was really getting a proposal, she needed to freshen up. A girl had to have dreams.
She ran into the bathroom and swished water around in her mouth then made sure her makeup from last night was still semi in place. She looked tired but not horrible. She found some toothpaste in the drawer and scrubbed her teeth with her finger. Feeling better and hoping Tucker was coming back soon, she eased herself down onto the couch again.
Tucker walked in with flowers in one hand and some kind of tickets in his other hand. Soft music played through the house’s built-in speakers.
Tucker held up two tickets. Maryn stood and leaned closer to read what they were, but he kept them just out of reach. “What are they for?”
“Nope. I need a kiss first.”
Maryn laughed and kissed him, grabbing the tickets from his hands as she pulled back. “Chargers and Broncos? Yes! My Broncos are going to kill your team.”
He watched her with an amused glint on his face. “If you wear a Peyton Manning jersey I will claim I don’t know you.”
“You’d better believe I’m wearing his jersey. Peyton is my boy.”
“Oh? I thought I was your boy?”
Maryn trailed her fingers down his chest. “No, you’re my man.”
Tucker chuckled, wrapped his arms around her waist, and softly kissed her. Maryn dropped the tickets on a side table, ran her hands up his chest to his shoulders and deepened the kiss. She trembled from his touch and knew she would only want this man, even if Peyton Manning came knocking.
Tucker pulled back, dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring box.
Maryn thought she might faint. “How did you? When did you?”
“I bought it two weeks ago.” He grinned at her.
“Oh, my heck!”
Shaking his head, he said, “Maryn Howe, will you marry me?”
He popped open the ring box but she was already yanking him to his feet, throwing herself at him, and almost knocking him over.
“Yes!” she screamed, kissing him until he knew she meant it. Pulling back, she looked at the open ring box. The ring was a beautiful round diamond set in a thick gold band. It was exquisite and as simple as a two-karat diamond could be. “Oh, I love it.”
“You do?”
“It’s perfect.”
Tucker grinned, pulled it out of the box, and slipped it on her finger. Maryn studied the ring for a minute before looking back into his dark eyes. “I love you, Tucker Shaffer.”
He swallowed and pulled her in for a lingering kiss. “I love you, Maryn Howe.”
“I never thought I’d be grateful to be attacked by a bear, but I am. Otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten to know you.”
“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord.’”
“What the heck?” Maryn straightened up. “You’re quotingmescripture?”