Page 63 of Under Fire

“Shoot.” She chewed her lip.

His gaze darkened, dead serious. “You don’t love him?”

“Not a chance.” She didn’t hesitate, finding his arms falling around her instantly.

“Good.”

He dragged her body across the bench toward him, stoking the fire.

A hard lump formed in her throat as she confessed, “I never meant to keep this from you. I just didn’t know you cared.”

Looking deep into her eyes, he held the back of her neck.

“I’m an all or nothing kind of guy. You’re either in or out with me.”

“So, am I in?”

He grinned, saying nothing—killingher.

Defeated, she sunk into his hold, feeling the icy distance melt between them. Then all she wanted was to feel his lips again, to feel his body over hers.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again,” Alisa said. “You’re nothing like my fiancé.”

His teeth grazed on his bottom lip, that familiar flame in his eyes. “Not fiancé— He’s your ex.”

Drawing her face to his, he intertwined his fingers with her gold chain once again, reminding her how he’d ripped it off the night before, reminding her how he’d ripped everything off her in the back of the Humvee. Her thighs shook with the reminder of what he drew out of her.

“Warren,” she whispered, images of his rock-hard body flashing through her mind, making her mouth water, her panties soak.

It seemed that he felt it too, admitting, “I shouldn’t have wasted the seven days.”

“We still have time.”

“Sure ’bout that?”

Tension rose between them like a hot, springy coil. She shifted a little closer. He reacted, tensing his fist, with the unfortunate effect of snapping her poorly fixed chain once again, sending the ring clinking to the ground.

“Shit,” he growled, jumping off the bench to catch it.

She gasped, lunging forward in her seat but stilled. In his thick fingers, he’d found the gold diamond ring, and he was kneeling before her on the bench. He raised it up to hand it back to her.

But they were interrupted.

“Oh my God!” A woman’s high-pitched voice echoed from the entrance to the garden, less pleased and more just shocked. “He’s proposing! Warren’s fuckingproposing!”

Warren and Alisa’s faces snapped to see voice, realizing it was Jen in her full white wedding gown and accompanied by a growing number of onlookers. Cheers came from the group, congratulating them both.

“Wait! Has she saidyes?” Jen pressed forward, clearly very drunk.

Not missing a beat, Warren slipped the ring on Alisa’s finger, his gaze locking with hers. He shot her a nod, encouraging her to play along.

“Yes,” Alisa responded, a little less convinced as she felt overwhelmed by the crowd rushing into the garden to see the spectacle.

As Warren pulled her up to her feet, he pocketed her broken gold chain. He held the small of her back as they greeted everyone. The attention had completely shifted from the bride over to them—and Alisa overheard shocked comments from the crowd.

“Warren’s proposed? He must really love this girl.”

“Who is she? He must have been hiding her.”

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