“We’re… over…”
“Yeah, I got that loud and clear. Now, will you let me go?”
“Never,” he growls, standing up from the couch.
I try wiggling out of his embrace, but he turns and lays me down on the couch, climbing over me and caging me in with an arm on either side of my head.
“I’m fucking this all up,” he mutters, shaking his head.
Even though this man is ripping my heart out, I hate seeing him like this. I cup his face, wanting to comfort him somehow.
Brown eyes lock onto mine, and I can see every unspoken emotion swirling in their depths. God, I’m going to miss him.
“I’m not leaving you,” he finally whispers. “I’m trying to whisk you off your feet.”
I give him a questioning look. “Well, I’m off my feet…”
Alister grunts and shakes his head again. “I mean, I want… I wanted to ask if you…” He takes a deep breath, his chest brushing against mine as oxygen fills his lungs. “Will you come with me? Start a new life away from your brothers and the Romanos? Away from our past? Oh, and marry me. That’s the most important part.”
I blink a few times, my heart stopping and then kicking into overdrive. Did I just hear him correctly? “What?”
“What, what?” he responds with a grin.
“Um, what to all of it! Are you serious?”
“Most of the time, yes.”
I swat his chest, then fist his shirt, pulling him closer. “You want to keep me?”
“Delaney,” he murmurs, kissing my forehead. “Always. Forever. I thought I already told you that, but I’ll have to do a better job of reminding you.”
I nod, making Alister smile.
He kisses the tip of my nose before continuing. “I guess I skipped over the proposal part,” he says, sitting up. He pulls me up with him, adjusting us so I’m tucked into his side. “Delaney, my sweet, tempting little siren. I don’t know what the hell I did to deserve your light and goodness, but it would be my honor to love you for the rest of our lives. Will you let me?”
Tears trail down my cheeks as I nod my head. “Yes,” I whisper. “I love you, Alister. Thank you for saving me, for protecting me, for giving me what I needed even when I didn’t know what that was.”
“Baby, don’t cry. We don’t have to go to Texas, it was just an option. I have other friends. I think. Theo lives in New York, so that might not be the best route, but…”
“I don’t care where we are,” I say with a laugh. “I just want to be with you. Always.”
“Then that’s what you’ll get, sweet girl.”
“Promise?” I whisper, tipping my head up so our lips are inches apart.
“With all my heart and soul,” he murmurs, closing the distance between us.
I taste promises of forever on his tongue as I fall into his embrace. I could live anywhere with this man as long as he keeps kissing me like this. In fact, I plan to do just that.
EPILOGUE
ALISTER
Ipound the fence post into the ground with a final strike of the mallet and wipe the sweat from my brow. Looking over the ranch, a sense of pride settles deep in my chest. It’s been happening more and more lately, and I know it’s all thanks to my incredible wife.
When Delaney and I showed up here six years ago, there was a lot of work that needed to be done. Not only had the ranch been left in disarray for years, but there was a bit of a miscommunication about property lines with the neighbor.
Emmitt made it his personal responsibility to handle the problem. He ended up marrying it instead.