Page 80 of Operation Rescue
“But…how could you want me back, after what I told you?”
He reached out and cupped her face. “I still don’t like the idea that you would have stayed. But…something Rafe said made me think. All that fighting you did for me, when I couldn’t? And all the grit and determination you’ve shown these last couple of weeks? That was you paying in advance for a second chance. For us.”
And then he was kissing her, and she wondered not for the first time how this man, and this man only, could make her feel safe, cherished and more than a little wild, all at the same time.
Wild enough to have crazy sex with him on a bathroom floor with their son playing right outside. But after thinking about that for a moment, she decided there couldn’t be a better time.
And afterward, when they finished tugging clothes back on, he gave her a cautious look.
“I’m not changing my mind, if that’s what that look is for,” she assured him.
“You might still, after I tell you something. Well, a couple of things, actually.”
She went still, but her determination held. “Nope. Not a chance. What?”
“Well… I’m transferring to Pendleton. You’ll have to put up with me under the same roof. In your house.”
“Ourhouse!” She threw her arms around him in delight. “Why on earth would you think that would upset me?”
“Not done yet. The second thing is kind of two connected things. No, make that three.”
She was laughing now. “Can we get back to where you don’t walk on eggshells anymore? Just out with it.”
“You really want it all at once?”
“Fire when ready,” she said, and to her inner glee, she meant it. If it meant having Blaine back, she could—and would—take anything.
“I’m leaving the Corps after this re-up. Foxworth has offered me a job here at this office, but I’ll still be flying now and then.”
She stared at him. “You’re leaving the Marines?”
He nodded. “I decided that before you even called about Ethan.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it wasn’t important while Ethan was missing, and now… I didn’t want that to be the reason you said yes.”
For a long moment she kept looking at him, processing what he’d said. Finally she nodded. “Okay. I get that.”
He looked startled. “And you got that I’ll still be flying?”
“Yes. I’ve been okay with that since you mentioned you weren’t getting shot at anymore.” She kissed him, long and hard and deep. And then she pulled back and met his gaze again. “I meant what I said, Blaine. Nothing matters more than you and Ethan, and I’ve realized I can’t hang on to either of you with a choke hold. That’s done, over. I love you.”
“Say that last bit again?”
“I love you, I love you, I love you.”
He looked oddly thoughtful. “Okay, about twenty-seven hundred more times and you’ll have made up for three times a day for the last two and half years.”
Erin burst out laughing. “Oh,” she said when she could, “I’m going to beat that by a long shot.”
“Promise?”
“I do,” she said, purposely choosing the vow they’d made all those years ago. He kissed her this time, full of promises old and new.
Then they went outside to collect their son.
Epilogue
