Page 69 of Beehives and Broken Heroes

She glared. “I know what you’re doing, and it’s not going to work.”

He leaned back on the edge of the wicker. “Oh, I don’t know.” He signaled around. “Look.”

Despite her prickliness, she couldn’t help but look. Three other balloons were up, all brightly lit in the night sky. Stars twinkled down at them, and from here they had a perfect view of the concert, the crowd, and the stage, along with the rest of the fairgrounds.

“Oh, wow,” Allie said, lifting a hand to her mouth.

“Not bad, huh?”

She stepped closer to him, reaching blindly as she kept staring. The moon was about to breach the eastern hills. He tucked her to his side, his heart swelling in his chest from nerves at what he was about to do.

“No, it’s not bad at all.” She glanced toward the edge of the basket, then looked up at the balloon. “I mean, as long as I don’t look straight down.”

“Is that what you did last time you came up?” He’d wondered about that. He’d gotten a little of the story before: she’d gone up, freaked out, and they’d brought her right down—well, as fast as they could in an untethered balloon.

“Yeah, it was kind of a windy day, and I thought I was going to fall out.” She looked up at him. “Why are we up here?”

He took a deep breath. “Because you read people better than trackers read sign, tracks, and trails.”

She furrowed her brow, and he reached up and smoothed it. “What do you mean?”

“You’re exasperating. You told me I like you, that I wanted to date you, to kiss you, and now that I love you. Which I do, by the way; I’d just like to be able to say it before you tell me it’s how I feel.” He glanced heavenward and sent up a prayer for patience.

She bit her lip. “Yeah, sorry about that. I . . . I just got excited.”

“I know,” he said, and he stood, pulling away from the edge. She stumbled back from him, standing in the middle. “And it occurred to me if I’m ever going to get to surprise you on anything, I’m going to have to do a sneak attack.”

“So, this is . . .” She frowned.

He nodded. “A sneak attack, yes.” He wrapped his arms around her, drew her close, and kissed her, and kissed her, and kissed her until she moaned against his lips, and she cupped his jaw. Then he pulled back and looked at her. Her eyes were closed, her long lashes flush against her cheek.

Slowly, she fluttered her eyes open, and stared up at him from under those lashes, a smile gracing her slightly swollen lips.

“Marry me, Sunshine,” he said.

Her eyes widened, fire-bright stars sparkling in their deep blue depths, and her lips parted just a little as she sucked in a breath. She shuddered against him, and his insides warmed. He loved that look on her face, and he’d make a point of putting it there for the rest of his life as often as possible.

* * *

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” —Oscar Wilde

Allie yanked back from Brandon and was pretty sure her eyes bugged out of her head. “What?”

He grinned. “Well, look at that, folks: she can be surprised.”

“Don’t tease me.” She slapped his shoulder. “Do you mean that?”

“I do.”

She pulled out of his grasp. “Why?”

He frowned. “Why?”

“Yes, why?” She tensed. “Why do you want to marry me? I’m a hot friggin’ mess! For months I’ve been trying to learn to control my emotions, to be more like Jo, and all I’ve managed to do is nearly miss out on dating you; then I actually broke up with you, and finally, I got kidnapped.Again. Which has got to be some kind of record.” How could he possibly want her forever? “And you, you’re so put together and just, you know, great.”

He rested his hands on her shoulders. “First of all, I’m not all put together. I’m a hot mess too. I’ve barely talked to my family in eight months. That’s not put together. And second, and most important, Jo’s a great gal—”

Allie’s stomach twisted.

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