Page 86 of Under Control

The look that never failed to give her goosebumps… She blinked at him in the high afternoon sun, feeling hotter under his gaze.

Nodding, he instructed her to meet him around front—where he was going to pull out the truck. As she walked through the alley between houses, she let out a breath, relishing how much Carrick had chilled out since Petrov was dead and Andriy had been jailed. Danica’s testimony against him had been the nail in the coffin that LAPD needed to finish off a long organized-crime investigation. Of course, Danica had instructed her lawyer to donate whatever inheritance she received to an organization supporting women fleeing violence. She wasn’t going to take that tainted money.

Smiling and feeling a sense of peace for the first time since her childhood, Danica turned onto the street where Carrick’s black pickup truck was pulling around. He stopped, letting her jump up in—and hit the gas with purpose. She clicked in her seatbelt, offering Carrick a shy smile as he peeled onto the highway. Whatever it was that he wanted to show her seemed important, because she could tell he was still in some pain.

He risked his life for me.

Something she would never, ever forget.

After a short drive into the main stretch of the small beachside community, Carrick pulled in behind a well-appointed brick building that had a frontage on the tourist shopping drag and backed onto the long public beach. It was a duplex, a commercial property, and appeared to have a coffee shop on one half with the other half currently vacant.

Jumping out of the truck, Carrick came around the side and opened her door, helping her out like the perfect gentleman, despite his injuries. Well, almost the perfect gentleman. He let his hand slip a little lower on her back and lifted her up by the ass into his body.

“Fuck.” He coughed in pain, seeming to realize what a bad choice that had been, and immediately let her slip back to the ground.

“Can’t change your spots,” Danica grinned.

Wincing, Carrick grabbed the side of the truck for stability and closed his eyes. As he loomed over her, collecting himself, there was something so raw and vulnerable about him, just like how he’d been since the day he’d fallen head-first into her lap, blood flushing over his back. He’d been real.

Thingsfeltreal.

Danica couldn’t help but stand on her tiptoes to plant a little kiss on his cheek before retracting shyly. It drew a wide grin across his mouth as he touched where she’d kissed him, and he shot her a promising look.

“Coffee first?” he prompted, nodding at the shop. “Or surprise?”

Danica laughed but confusion crossed her face as he pulled her toward the front doors of the duplex.

“What—? Is the empty side the surprise?” she asked, nodding toward the dark, empty side of the building.

He raised his eyebrow like he wasn’t going to tell her anything and ushered her forward to the door of the vacant space. He whipped out a key and unlocked it, opening it for her to go in. She moved into the dusty interior. It was small and dark—and it smelled like an old printer.

Turning to him, she asked, “Let me guess. This is the new investment property you bought?”

“Yup.” He grinned, tucking his hands in his pockets.

“Nice,” she said. “Your desk will go over there, and Delta’s over here.”

He laughed like she’d said something outrageous.

“Unless you fired him?” She gasped. “Please tell me you didn’t. He’s so much nicer than you.”

“Delta’s still enlisted. He’s deploying in a few days.” Carrick shook his head. “Anyway, I don’t think you want me sitting here all day.”

“Why not?”

“Because it would be bad for business,” he said, a knowing twinkle in his eyes. “How are you going to run an art gallery all day if I can’t keep my hands off you?”

“An art gallery?” she asked…then her mouth dropped.

Carrick shrugged. “I’m investing inyou.”

Realizing what he’d done, Danica immediately felt tears of gratitude and joy welling inside her. He was never going to be the type to check with her first. That was his way. And maybe that wasn’t always a bad thing—because he was incredibly thoughtful and giving, in a way she’d never known.

Before she could say anything or move anywhere, he pulled a little bright blue box out of his pocket and toyed with it in his fingers. And she froze—staring at him, and what he was doing.

“I did this all wrong before, Dani,” he said slowly, holding the box up. “I should have told you that I love you. And you know what? If this isn’t the best marriage proposal, then I don’t know what is.”

As he finished, a wild smile crossed his lips, like even he couldn’t believe he’d said it all. And Danica burst out laughing.

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