Page 40 of Barbed Wire and Burglary
“As soon as I could.” She gave him a pleading look, tightening her fingers on his arm. “My paranoid uncle has me tied up in knots with more confidentiality agreements than you can shake a stick at. Every time I turn around, he’s making more rules.”
“Was any of it real?” he demanded bitterly.
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“Us, Aurora!” What else did she think he was upset about? “Was any of what we shared real?”
She blinked rapidly, eyes filling with tears.
Something inside him broke. He gathered her close. “So help me, Aurora,” he growled against her sweet-smelling temple, “if this is all an act?—“
A wounded sound tore out of her. “A.J.!” Then her arms slid around his neck. She was weeping as she pressed her lips to his.
It was impossible not to react. And tug her closer still. And kiss her like his life depended on it, because maybe it did.
His tears mingled with hers as he pondered all the danger she’d been in while he’d been fixated on putting her brother behind bars. He’d made their lives exponentially harder.
He must have said something to that effect out loud, because she gave a muffled protest against his lips. “Not true. I feel safer every time you’re in the room.”
“I’ve been trying to put your brother in jail,” he reminded ruefully.
“It’s not your fault,” she said quickly. “None of this is your fault. Or Aaron’s fault. This is entirely on me.”
He didn’t agree, but it suddenly no longer mattered. What did matter was affirming how she felt about him. Raising his head, he gazed deeply into her eyes. “Do you still love me?”
“I never stopped!” A sob tore out of her. “The last thing I ever wanted was for us to break up. If that makes me sound pitiful and desperate, then that’s what I am. I’m pitifully and desperately in love with you despite how impossible our circumstances are. I—what are you doing?” she demanded breathlessly as he took a knee in front of her.
“What does it look like?” More dampness trickled down his cheeks. “You own my heart, Aurora, so if you really mean what you’re saying…”
“I do.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth as he drew a C-shaped piece of silver from his pocket and bent it into the shape of a ring.
“Then wear this for me.” He reached for her left hand. Since he hadn’t planned any of this in advance, he was improvising.
“What is it?” She didn’t resist when he slid the twist of metal onto her ring finger.
“A promise ring,” he declared boldly. It felt too soon for a full-blown marriage proposal, but he was ready to take an in-between step. He hoped she was, too. “Made from the clip of a grenade that saved my life during one of my deployments overseas. I’ll replace it with a diamond and a real proposal when you’re ready.”
“Oh, A.J.,” Aurora breathed, cupping his face betweenher hands. “It’s perfect. I’m honored to wear something that means so much to you.”
“I’m glad you feel that way.” It also gave him a lot to pray about in the coming days.
“I do.” The adoring look she gave him took his breath away. “So much that my current assignment with Diamondback may be my last.”
“You would do that?”For me?He stood, wrapping her in his arms again.
“In a heartbeat,” she confessed. “I want to be with you, and it’s unrealistic to expect you to keep moving to keep dating me.”
There was only one proper response to a declaration like that. He nipped tenderly at her lips, drinking her in slowly, savoring the wonder of what was happening between them.
“Going ring shopping with a jewelry expert will be a whole new brand of fun,” he joked.
The way she smiled against his lips filled the emptiest, loneliest parts of him. He never wanted the moment to end, but the phone buzzing in his back pocket had other ideas. He tried to ignore it, but it kept buzzing.
Aurora leaned back in his arms. “You need to get that.” It wasn’t a suggestion. She understood the seriousness of what they did for a living.
He reluctantly fished out his phone and glanced at the caller ID. It was Aaron calling. He quickly lifted it to his ear. “What’s up?”
“Sorry to interrupt.” Her brother couldn’t have sounded more contrite. “But there’s been another robbery.”
