Breaking Away (Delta Force Strong #3) - Elle James Page 0,38

she could stay, but the time had come to leave. Kylie slipped her backpack over one of her shoulders and hurried away, her eyes blinded by the tears falling freely.

She was almost to the door when a hand on her arm stopped her.

“You’ll need this,” Mac’s voice said in her ear.

She glanced up through her tears.

He pressed a napkin into her hand, closed her fingers around it and sent her on her way.

It wasn’t until she was seated on the airplane that she opened her hand and stared down at the napkin. Inside, written in Mac’s bold handwriting were the words I Love You. Beneath it was his phone number.

She laughed and cried all at once. Mac never said anything he didn’t mean.

He loved her.

And she loved him. She smiled as she held the napkin to her chest. It wasn’t as good as holding Mac, but it would have to do until she could get back to the States and make a few changes.

The first being her place of residence. She was moving from Dallas to Killeen, the town outside of Fort Hood. Hopefully, she could make that happen before Mac returned from Afghanistan. If not, it would be soon after.

She couldn’t wait to start her new life with the only man she’d ever loved. What that life would be like was a huge question but one she was willing to find the answer to.

Chapter 12

“You gonna look up your girl, now that you’re back?” Dash asked Mac.

Mac grabbed his duffel bag and turned on his phone for the first time in days, glad to be off the plane and back in Texas.

“She didn’t give me her phone number,” he said.

“What? All that face sucking, and she doesn’t want to see you again?”

Mac had worried for the past week, wondering if he’d been stupid. Why hadn’t he asked her for her phone number?

He’d given her his. If it was meant to be, he’d hear from her. “It was her move,” he said.

“Uh, I think it’s your move, now,” Dash said.

Turning with his duffel bag in his hand, Mac was confronted with a huge poster decorated with bright green glitter and the words, I LOVE YOU, MAC, written in large, bold letters.

He couldn’t see who was holding it, only the sexy, bare legs beneath the poster board.

His heart slammed hard against his ribs and beat so fast he could barely breathe.

He strode to the poster board, dropped his duffel on the ground and lowered the board to see the face that had been on his mind since he’d watched her walk out to the plane at Bagram Airfield.

“Kylie,” he said on a sigh and gathered her to him. “How did you know I’d be here?”

“I have my contacts.” She laced her hands behind his neck and pulled him down to her. “Did you like my sign?”

He nodded and kissed the tip of her nose. “The sweetest words I’ve ever seen in green glitter.”

“I wanted to make sure you saw it,” she said, tears pooling in her eyes. “I love you, Mac. And if you’ll have me, I want to be with you always. Well, at least when I’m in the country and you are, too.”

“I want that more than you can possibly know,” he said.

Her brow furrowed. “There’s something I wanted to ask you.” She stepped back until his hands had to fall to his sides.

Then she dropped to one bare knee, the hem of her sun dress brushing the floor. “Sean McDaniel, I love you, which we’ve already established, and I want to be with you always. Sean ‘Mac’ McDaniel, will you marry me?” She lifted the poster board and turned it around. In shiny pink glitter were the big, bold words, PLEASE SAY YES.

Mac laughed, took the poster from her hands, tossed it to the side and then answered with all of his heart.

“A thousand times, yes!”

Rucker, Dash, Blade, Tank, Bull, Dawg and Lance let out a hearty cheer and pounded him on the back.

“Congratulations, Mac,” Rucker said. “She’s a keeper. She’ll have your back, no matter the situation.”

“Yeah, man,” Dash said. “And if you screw this up, I’ll be there to help her pick up the pieces.”

Mac glared at Dash. “I’m not going to screw it up. You can’t have Kylie.”

Dash held up his hands. “It doesn’t hurt to throw my hat in the ring. Just saying.”

“A woman after my own heart,” Dawg said. “Never met a woman who scored three kills.” He shook Mac’s hand and hugged