Page 158 of Stolen for Keeps
I cleared my throat. “You fixed it?”
She looked up, her hazel eyes shining, a smudge of metal polish on her cheek. “It wasn’t that bad. Just needed a little TLC.”
I tested the blade. It opened smoothly.
Something about that hit me so deep that I couldn’t speak for a second.
This woman.
The woman I’d nearly lost. The woman I wanted forever.
“Well,” I rasped, “as a matter of fact, I have something for you too.”
Her lips twitched. “Oh? My birthday isn’t until next month.”
“My bad. I never actually asked you.”
“Bad cowboy!”
I chuckled, then tilted my head toward the pasture. “Come with me.”
The ranch was breathtaking this time of year. Snow crunched beneath our boots, and the air hit the nose like mint. Icicles clung to the eaves, and the late sun spilled gold across the drifts, making everything shimmer.
We were retracing the same path we’d taken while pretending to look for that imaginary earring Maya had claimed she dropped.
Except this time, I circled back toward Big Joe on purpose.
“That oak tree…” Maya murmured.
“Kinda feels like that’s where it really started.”
“Not the tent?”
“Oh, Blue. That tent was lust and adrenaline. But under that tree?” I smiled. “That’s where it stopped being easy.”
Before she could reply, Reko dashed out of nowhere. He wasn’t even invited! But he carried on, sniffing the base of Big Joe, his ears perked, then started pawing around one of the roots.
“No, Reko! Reko, stop!” I lunged, but it was too late. He had already unearthed the tiny box I’d hidden in the middle of the night.
Maya laughed so hard that she nearly doubled over. “Will you look at that? Turns out he can sniff out more than mac and cheese.”
“I swear this was supposed to be more romantic,” I muttered, snatching the box from Reko’s slobbery grip and trying to wipe it clean with my shirt.
Maya stepped closer. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” I lied. Reko sat beside me, expecting praise.
I figured the drama came with the territory, so I dropped to one knee.
My heart knocked against my ribs, unwilling to believe theanswer was certain. Ridiculous, sure, but that’s what hearts do sometimes. They sound the alarm, even when there’s no fire.
“You and me, Maya, we don’t do easy. We do bruises, courtroom brawls, and marriage licenses in strange buildings, and we love so damn real that it scares me sometimes.”
Her mouth parted, her tears building even as she grinned.
“I know we’re already married,” I went on, “but that was survival. This is me doing it the right way. You deserve that.” I reached for her hand. “Maya Lucas, will you marry me…again?”
She laughed and cried all at once. “Of course, I will, husband.”
