Cut and Run (Lucy Kincaid #16) - Allison Brennan Page 0,147

and I’m usually right. I’m not going to change.”

“And I’ve told you a hundred times I don’t want you to change. And I’m going to prove it.”

She smiled at him. “I don’t think sex in the rose garden would be acceptable … though maybe tonight when everyone is asleep.”

“You’re on,” he said, and kissed her. Every time he kissed her, she melted. She felt like … she didn’t quite know. Like she wanted to sit in a car and make out with him. Like she wanted to spend more time with him. “And while I will have sex with you whenever and wherever you want, that’s not how I’m going to prove I love you.”

“You don’t have to prove it. I know you do. I love you. I don’t know how it happened, but I love you. And that sounds so crazy to me, because I’m selfish and self-absorbed.”

“That’s the first time you’ve told me you love me without saying, ‘I love you, too.’”

He kissed her again, and she didn’t want to leave. She didn’t want to go to her uncle’s house, she didn’t want to leave at all. She wanted Ryan, Eve, and Eleanor tonight, the four of them, talking about her grandfather and remembering his stories. Talking about the good things growing up here, about the past, about long before Max was born. She wanted peace, quiet, and the man she loved.

Her family, small and wonderful.

He took her hand and kissed it.

“You’re getting sappy on me, Maguire.”

He kissed her hand again, and again. Her heart beat rapidly and flutters she rarely felt went up and down her spine.

“I love it when I freak you out,” he said, “because you’re very hard to freak.”

“I don’t freak.”

He put his fingers on her pulse. “Really.” He kissed her neck, behind her ear, her jawline, her lips.

She melted into him. She hadn’t felt this comfortable, this loved, this wanted, in … ever.

He leaned back and looked at her. His eyes were sparkling, and for a second she thought they were tears. And maybe they were.

“I was going to wait until New Year’s Eve, your birthday, but thought that’s kind of predictable. Then I thought maybe I should wait a year, as that always seems to be standard for couples. But I’m not very good at keeping secrets, and when I know I want something I can’t just sit back and not at least try to get it. So I asked your grandmother if she would object, and she doesn’t. In fact, I think she’s rather thrilled. Must be my charm and good looks.” He reached into his pocket and came out with a small box.

“You are one of a kind, Maxine Revere, and I want to marry you.”

She stared at him.

He opened the box.

A small, perfect diamond in an exquisite antique setting was nestled in its pocket.

She couldn’t speak. Maxine Revere, a woman who was never without words, was silent. What had become of her?

He took the ring and slid it on her finger. It fit just right. “I borrowed one of your rings to have this sized.”

She stared.

Marry me.

She hadn’t expected it. She didn’t know if she even wanted it. She’d never thought much about marriage. She never thought much about her future. Everything was about living today and living in the past. Solving cold cases, looking at what was and what is, not what could be.

She’d never thought she’d get married because she’d never found a man to accept her and she had too much respect for herself to change who she was for anyone.

Yes.

She still couldn’t speak.

Ryan tilted her chin up. “Max?”

She kissed him because words failed her. She held his face and kissed him, then she didn’t let go. She held him tight, just held him.

“You’re shaking. Max.”

“I—” She couldn’t talk. Damn, she was going to cry. She never cried.

“Max?” He separated them and looked at her. “Oh, babe, I love you so much.”

“Yes,” she said, and kissed him. “Yes, you do, and yes, I will marry you.”

* * *

Family was the most important thing to Lucy, which was why she’d so desperately wanted everyone to visit for Thanksgiving. While she loved San Antonio and had made a wonderful home with Sean and now Jesse, she missed her family. Two brothers on the East Coast, the rest of her family on the West Coast, split between San Diego and Sacramento. She’d thought living in Texas—centrally located—would give her the go-to house for traveling, but it didn’t work out