Rising (Anderson Special Ops #2) - Melody Anne Page 0,114

his life.

Epilogue

Champagne exploded as Smoke used his knife to knock the top off the bottle, froth spilling over the side while cheers exploded in the little diner off the freeway.

“Congrats!” Sleep cheered as the bubbly liquid was poured into multiple glasses.

“Yes, congrats. Another one bites the dust,” Smoke said with a huge grin as he held his own glass out.

“The mighty are falling fast,” Green said.

“But at least they’re hitting pillows when they land,” Eyes added.

“It’s not falling when you jump,” Brackish said, his arm wrapped around his wife. His wife! He thought it again. Erin was his wife.

“Tell us the story,” Chad demanded as more bottles were opened, and more champagne flowed. Tom was back in the kitchen, cooking up a storm, delivering plates of appetizers, the food gone almost as quickly as it was set down.

“Here, here, we want the story,” Eyes demanded.

“The long story short is I talked this woman into marrying me, so I called Joseph, got him to lend me the jet, and whisked her off to Vegas.”

“I think I was fooled,” Joseph grumbled as he sipped from a crystal glass, his trusty scotch sitting on the counter in front of him. He didn’t like champagne.

“Are you admitting to being outsmarted?” Chad asked, laughter in his voice.

“I don’t understand the need to jet off to Las Vegas when there are plenty of great venues right here in Seattle,” Joseph said.

Everyone laughed. “Tell us what happened,” Smoke demanded.

“I’m trying, I’m trying, but I can’t tell a story if you idiots keep interrupting me,” Brackish said.

“Our lips are sealed,” Green said. The crowd was still chuckling, but they closed their mouths.

“When we got to the hangar and walked outside, we found two tables lined with armed security and rows of rocks glittering in the morning sun,” Brackish began.

“Whoa, the jewelry store came to you?” Green asked with a laugh. Then he turned to Joseph. “Can you send a gun store my way?”

The group chuckled and Erin took over. “I stopped in my tracks. Steve told me he was going to take me to a store to pick out a ring, but I’ve never had a store come to me before.”

“That’s because you hadn’t met me yet,” Joseph said with a proud smile.

“I sure hadn’t,” Erin said. She moved up to Joseph, wrapped her arm around him, and leaned over, kissing his cheek. “Thank you.”

“Let’s see it,” Sleep demanded. Joseph held up Erin’s hand where a stunning three-carat princess-cut diamond about blinded them all.

“This was the smallest diamond on the table,” Erin said, her cheeks flushing. “I know it’s a bit flashy . . .” She paused as her lips turned up. “But, dang, I really like it even if I didn’t think I wanted something this big.”

The group laughed again. “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” Avery said, holding up her own hand where a large round solitaire shone just as brightly.

“I’ve heard that in a song,” Smoke said. “I don’t get it. That was once a lump of coal. What’s the deal with a rock costing as much as a house?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not going to complain because it’s beautiful,” Erin said.

“Okay, back to the wedding,” Smoke demanded.

“For a man who’s vowed to never get married, you sure are anxious for the story,” Eyes pointed out.

“I said I’m never getting married,” Smoke told him. “But I love hearing about my friends being sucked into the deep, dark abyss.”

“I’d be offended by that, but I have a feeling we’ll be watching you at your own wedding one day in the near future,” Erin said, flicking it right back at Smoke.

“Don’t you dare join in on the bet,” Smoke told her. “I like you, Erin, but I’d have to take you down.”

“You’re nothing more than a big teddy bear,” Erin told him, moving to his side and reaching way up on her tippy toes to kiss Smoke’s cheek.

“Holy shit, is that a blush I see on Smoke?” Green gasped.

“Shut up, Green,” Smoke said.

“Come on, Brackish,” Joseph said, his voice booming over all of them. “Get on with the story.” Brackish had shared as much as he could with his wife, so she didn’t blink when the men called him by his military name.

“It took Erin an hour to pick out her ring. She wouldn’t touch any of them for about fifteen minutes, afraid they’d jump out at her like a spider. She looked all around and insisted the security men take away the five and six