Dirty Sexy Alphas (Twenty Book Box Set) - Hannah Ford Page 0,193

water, with an ocean view.”

“That sounds nice,” I said, inhaling the faint woodsy scent of his cologne. “That sounds amazing, actually.”

“It will be ours,” he said.

I nodded. “I know.” He’d been very clear with me this whole time that everything that was his was mine, that both the apartment and the restaurant belonged to me, too. And yet I still wanted to build my own thing, wanted to have my own life, which was why I was planning on starting school.

“No, I mean, it will be half yours,” Colt said, tilting my chin up so that I was looking into his dark eyes. “Legally.”

I frowned. “You’re going to put me on the deed?”

He laughed, a deep laugh, and I loved the sound of it, loved that I could make him laugh. “Sure,” he said. And then he was serious, his tone turning husky. Even after six months, he still had a bit of a hard time showing emotion, but he was getting better. And I was getting better too, the two of us learning how to feel things. I hadn’t cut myself since I’d been with him. And then he was pulling away from me and the next thing I knew he was down on one knee and he was reaching into his pocket and pulling out the biggest diamond ring I’d ever seen.

“Oh my God,” I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth.

“Olivia,” he said. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I want to spend my life protecting you, taking care of you, and loving you. Will you marry me?”

I was laughing and crying and saying yes and he was slipping the ring on my finger and then his arms were around me and he was kissing me and I couldn’t believe we were getting married.

“I love you so much,” he breathed.

“I love you, too.”

The sun dipped down low in the sky and I closed my eyes and let myself go.

We told Marjorie the realtor to be expecting an offer on the restaurant the next day, then drove back to our hotel.

I couldn’t stop looking at my ring.

It was so bright and beautiful, sparking under the very last drops of sunlight that shone through the window of the Escalade.

When we got back to the room, Colt’s phone began to go crazy with texts.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“It’s everyone,” he said, looking down and frowning. “Apparently Cannon’s was written up in some magazine.”

I looked over his shoulder as he clicked on the link someone sent him. “Holy shit,” I said. “That’s Gourmet Magazine.”

My eyes scanned the article, picking up the phrases like “delectable” and “blown away.”

Colt turned to me. “My dad,” he said. “He always wanted to be written up by Gourmet magazine.”

I nodded and squeezed his hand. “He would have been really proud of you.”

He swallowed. “I hope so.”

And then he turned to me, his eyes lingering over my body in the tiny sundress I was wearing.

“How did you get to be so sexy, Mrs. Cannon?” he breathed against my neck. His began to undo the straps of my top, sliding them down over my shoulders as I took a slow breath in.

“I’m not Mrs. Cannon yet,” I said.

“I want to marry you today,” he said. “Tonight let’s get married.”

I laughed. “I think that would be a little too last minute.”

“Tomorrow then.”

“But isn’t there… I mean, isn’t there anyone you want to invite?”

“No.” He brushed the hair from my bare shoulders and wound it around his hands, pulled me to him and kissed me, hard and deep. His tongue invaded my mouth, claiming me, letting me know that he might have committed to me emotionally, that I might have been able to break down some of his walls when it came to his heart, but that he was in charge of my body and always would be.

He continued his assault on my mouth, his hand still gripping my hair tightly, his other hand pulling down the front of my dress. I wasn’t wearing a bra, and he grabbed my breast roughly with his palm, his index finger and thumb finding my nipple.

I gasped and tried to pull away from the kiss as the blissful sensations roared through my body, almost too intense to take, but he held me tight, not letting me get away as we moaned against each other’s mouths.

When he finally let me go, my breath was coming in ragged gasps.

He grinned and lowered his head, sucking my hard nipple into his