Page 139 of Secret Mission

“You saved me on the yacht.”

It’s not fun to remember that horrible day. Frowning, I grip his hand tighter.

“I should be thanking you too. Without you dragging me out of the water, I wouldn’t be here. So, we’re even now.”

That soft, gravel voice. The tender look in his eyes. It does me in.

I crawl right up onto the bed and snuggle against him. “I thought I’d lost you. When Justice had to keep diving and diving, I couldn’t stop crying. It was the scariest thing ever.”

“I know, sweetheart.” He presses his nose against my hair. “Sorry, I don’t know what the fuck went wrong. The last thing I remember from before you revived me was tackling that bastard.”

“They think you lost consciousness under the water. Possibly because of the infection and the fever.”

“Seriously?” he mutters as his hold tightens on me. “Was it from my leg wound from the earthquake before we met?”

“The doctor said possibly. It could have been lingering, or it could have been something different. You got all those cuts in the jungle, remember. They’ve been throwing every kind of antibiotic at you they can. Last night, your fever finally broke.”

He makes a rough sound. “Shit. I guess I was feeling like hell for a reason when we were in your father’s house.”

I bury my face in his neck. “I thought something was wrong or maybe you were going to blow a gasket because it was so stressful. All I know is that I freaked when I saw you kneeling on the dock, I thought you’d been shot.”

“Felt like it. I remember a god-awful pain in my head.”

We fall still after that for a few minutes.

When I prop on my elbow, he studies my face. “What is it, sweetheart?”

“Do you remember me talking to you on the boat?”

“You mean, when you said we were getting married?”

His beautiful eyes pull me into their indigo depths.

When I thought I might never see them again, my heart didn’t want to beat any longer.

“Yeah, that. I was thinking we could… you know, live together and see if you want to?—”

“Be your husband?”

Suddenly feeling shy, I nip my lower lip and nod.

“I’d do all of that. The living together. The husband. The whole thing. House. Dog. Maybe even some kids if we want.”

“I love you, Truck. I know it’s kind of crazy, but I feel like we’ve lived ten lifetimes in the last week. I don’t know how we’ll make it work, but I am all in.”

“After we’ve been through all this, I’m sure we can figure it out.”

We share a sweet, soft laugh.

It’s been crazy. It’s been scary, but we’ve survived. That comes with an unbelievable kind of peace.

He takes my face in his hands, pulls me to him, brushing a light kiss across my lips. “I love you too. I think it happened the first day. I just didn’t think you’d want to hear that.”

“Was it between the cliff dive and the crocodile attack? Or between the stolen boat and the Tarzan act? Because that was pretty impressive. I’d never imagined you’d know how to swing on a vine like that.”

He laughs softly. “Somewhere along that timeline. Maybe before. Maybe when you were so fucking brave and strong, and you just saw me for who I am. Scars, damage, and all.”

When he kisses me this time, I melt into him. It feels good. Right.

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