“Nothing is going to happen to me. I’m not going anywhere.” Somehow she knew his deepest fear.
He hated the things Clint did, but it was more than that. Tate knew, deep down, Clint wanted to take Liz from him. He wanted her to pay for his imagined slights.
He wanted to torment and ultimately kill her.
Tate would do everything in his power to keep her safe.
But what if it wasn’t enough?
I need her so much.
Liz leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his and stared into his eyes. The green depths in hers turned solemn. “He can’t touch us. He thinks he can, because he destroys beautiful things. Relationships. Aubrey. Sex.”
Making love to Liz was a kaleidoscope of sensations and passion. Beautiful didn’t even come close to describing it.
“He took those things and twisted them up and wrecked them. I don’t know why, but he can’t have nice things. When they shine in his life, he smashes them.
“You hold on, Tate. You find a way to make things better. You make me smile and laugh and feel like I matter. You know how to use your strength to be gentle and kind and still protect and fight for what you love.”
“You matter. You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved. You’re the only woman I’ll ever love.” He didn’t plan this, but went with it and dropped to one knee.
She gasped.
“You are and will always be my best friend. I want you to be my partner for life. I want you to be my wife.”
He patted his pockets. “I’ve been carrying around your ring for what seems like forever and now I don’t have it with me.”
Her eyes went wide. “You bought me a ring?”
He nodded. “I didn’t want to wait. I had to get it for you. It’s at the house. Doesn’t matter. I’ll put it on you later. I’ve already asked your parents.”
Her eyes softened with appreciation and glassed over. “You did?”
“They gave us their blessing. Now all I need, sweet Lizard”—she laughed under her breath that he used that childhood nickname—“is for you to make me the happiest man in the world and say, yes. Will you marry me?”
She leaned in and kissed him with tears streaming down her beautiful face. One long, sexy kiss, then a dozen all over his face and with every peck she said, “Yes. Yes. Yes.” Until she was giggling and he was scooping her up into his arms and twirling her around.
“Yes!” he repeated. He let her body slide down his until he could kiss her one more time. Long. Slow. He sealed her promise with a kiss neither of them would ever forget.
He wanted to make love to her, but remembered how much she deserved the candlelit dinner, time for them to just be together, and enjoy each other’s company here where they’d make their home. So he set her on her feet, cupped her face, and stared into her bright love-filled green eyes. “I can’t wait to call you Mrs. McGrath.”
“I have old-school notebooks filled with doodles and me practicing that name.”
Of course she did. “It’ll be yours soon, but I was yours a long time ago.”
The buzzer on the oven went off.
“Dinner’s ready.” He nudged her to sit and poured her a glass of wine.
She scrunched her lips. “Wine’s not really my favorite.”
“Try the Riesling. It’s not dry like a red or Chardonnay. It’s sweeter. You’ll like it.”
She took a sip, both of them ignoring the incessant oven buzzer, and smiled. “That’s nice.”
He smiled, happy she liked it. “Points for Trinity. I told her we’d just drink beer. She said you’d like this and it goes with the chicken.” He shrugged and headed for the stupid, annoying buzzer, shut it off, pulled the oven door open, releasing the amazing smells—chicken, garlic, melted cheese—and pulled out the pans and set them on the stovetop.
“Want some help?”
“Nope. I want to do this for you.”
“Then I guess we’re off to a good start. You cooking and me enjoying a glass of wine. Being married to you won’t be half bad.” The lightness and teasing in her voice did his heart good. They needed more fun and less drama in their lives.
So he teased right back. “I don’t mind making Trinity and Adria cook for us every night.”
She laughed at that.
He finished plating up the food and headed for the table. “Trust me, if you leave the cooking to