Spooky Business (The Spectral Files #3) - S.E. Harmon Page 0,82
embarrassed by old-fashioned ideals I hadn’t even known I had.
“So… what are you saying?” he asked. “You want to get married?”
I stared at him for a few wordless moments, wondering how we’d gotten here so quickly and why the hell it was so flipping hot in here all of a sudden. I cleared my throat when the silence went on a little too long. “I haven’t really thought about it.”
“Well, maybe you should.”
“And you have?” I frowned at him. “I mean, come on, D. Don’t just put this all on me. Don’t act like you’re all in and I’m just dragging my heels.”
His mouth tightened, and he got out of bed. I was left standing there as he brushed by me and walked over to the dresser. I watched, nonplussed, as he pawed through his underwear drawer. And I was only sidetracked by his perfectly shaped butt only a teeny bit. Those muscular globes flexed, and I allowed myself one more long look before getting back to the subject at hand.
“What are you looking for?” I demanded. And what’s so bloody important that you can stop reaming me out for not thinking about our future?
He made a sound of satisfaction as he pulled something out of the drawer. Before I could even ask, he flipped it my way. I caught it instinctively, bobbling it in my hands for a few seconds. When I was sure I wouldn’t drop it, I looked down at the box in my hands… the small, velvet box.
My heart actually stuttered in my chest. I only hoped if I had a heart attack, he’d remember to put some pants on me before calling the paramedics.
“Open it,” he said.
I flipped open the box to find a ring, silver in color with a matte, brushed finish. It was gorgeous and simple and just my taste. I knew it would be a perfect fucking fit because that’s just the way Danny rolled. I looked up at him dumbly.
His voice was soft. “I’ve thought about it, Rain. I’ve thought about it a lot.”
“When did you….” I couldn’t seem to finish a complete thought, and I tried again. “When did you?”
“Before you left for DC. I mean it now even more, if possible.”
Christ. He obviously didn’t care if I ever had another coherent thought again. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“You wanted to go.” He furrowed his brow. “I figured it would’ve been wrong to try to force you to stay.”
His phone rang on the dresser and we both stared at it, so lost in our conversation that reality was an almost vulgar intrusion. The loud ringing stopped and the call went to voicemail. Before I could speak, the ringing started again.
He swore loudly as he grabbed it and answered gruffly. “McKenna.”
I had no idea what he said after that, mostly because I was staring down at the ring again. He’d had the ring for five years, then. Five fucking years. All this time, I’d been blaming him for not being all in when I was the one who needed to get myself together.
I closed the ring box and clenched it in my fist.
“We have to table this discussion,” he said when he hung up. He went back to the dresser again and this time came out with a pair of jeans and a shirt. “That was my mom.”
I watched him getting dressed, still trying to switch gears. It took me a few seconds to process what he said. “Paula?”
“That would be my mom, yes,” he said dryly. “A piece of the roof came down in the middle of the dining room.”
I widened my eyes. “Good God, is she okay?”
“Yeah, she wasn’t even home. Uncle Charlie’s over there already and I want to give him a hand.”
I snorted. “Yeah, you guys did a real bang-up job last time.”
He sent me a sizzling glare as he pulled on his jeans. “Things were a little more complicated than we originally thought. Uncle Charlie’s bringing a helper who used to work with him in construction.”
That just showed how unsettled I was—I couldn’t even think of one “three idiots on a roof” joke. I stood there like a lump on a log as he finished getting dressed. He had to walk around me no less than three times before he disappeared into the bathroom. I was still standing there when he flipped off the bathroom lights and came back in the bedroom, his hair now neatly tamed.