his wife when she asked him where they should have dinner?”
“You don’t have to prove that these can get worse,” I inform him, eyes wide.
He bares his teeth, abashed but unable to stop himself from spreading these bad jokes when he has a captive audience, apparently. “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a clam.” He licks his lip. “Since we’re on the topic of marine life, I have one about squids. Do you know what a GoPro camera is?”
I make a face. “Hang on. Squids, GoPros, and you have an affinity for corny… is this going to end in a painful play on ‘quid pro quo?’”
His eyes shoot wide. “Susan…” He could not sound more delighted with me and his face breaks into the goofiest smile. “You nailed the punchline!”
Wincing for him, I laugh. “Lucan, no—we need to look into getting you help for these or something!”
But Lucan isn’t bothered. In fact, his lips tip into an entirely different sort of grin, morphing from adorable to super sexy in the space of a heartbeat.
“Maybe…” I bite my lip, battling shyness. “Do you think we can have sex?” I want him. But it’s been a while for me—so long, I thought something was broken. It turns out all of my parts are still operational; it seems I only get interested in a specific sort of man now, and the prospect of a few stolen moments with him has my head swimming with excitement. “Do you want to?”
His gaze collides with mine and I read a strong YES that he doesn’t give voice to. His body heat has ratcheted up; he clears his throat, his eyes lowering, but only as far as my lips.
Without no preamble, he asks very seriously, “Are you opposed to getting married?”
My breath catches. “Marriage,” I clear my throat on the word, it comes out so squeaky. “You weren’t kidding when you said werewolves take relationships seriously. That’s...” It’s one thing to have sex with no promises. It’s another to make vows and put all your faith into the other person not abusing your trust.
But this is Lucan, my heart stubbornly points out. He’s not a human man, who has the luxury of being fickle. He’s a werewolf. A werewolf who wants you for forever—and you want him too.
Lucan lowers himself until he’s kneeling on one knee. “Susan? Will you marry me?”
I hear Finn’s easy Irish drawl in my head next: Swayt hart, don’t be a cunt about this. Say yes!
If you’d told me a few months ago that I'd be considering getting married again, I’d have scoffed. And my inner self would have screamed, “Are you stupid?”
After all, I know better.
I was schooled to detest the word marriage by a man who twisted all the vows we made to each other, once upon a time. I've heard every excuse. Every lie. Every broken promise.
Before Lucan, I would have said I have no trust left. Because everything I had was crushed to death. Systematically and completely and horribly.
But Lucan? Bone-deep, I believe he’d never hurt me on purpose. And with every fiber of his being, he’s loyal. I believe that. I know it. He would never betray me, because that would be like betraying himself.
Likely because of my silence, he’s searching my eyes, such a rare thing. “I don’t want to scare you,” he says, “but yes. Marriage. See, I’m… you’re my…” His words trail off strangely, and his gaze turns distant and… aggravated. His jaw works and his neck muscles swell. “Crap.”
I blink at him. “Excuse me?”
“I’m going to beat Finn’s face in.”
“What?”
Lucan’s lips are peeled back, and his glossy cuspids are growing very prominent. “He never gave me permission to tell you—son of a mangy coyote!”
Lucan, werewolf-cursing? I blink again. “Should I try to guess it?”
He reaches into his back pocket and draws out his cell phone. “I want the right to tell you. I need to call Finn. Again.”
When Finn answers, Lucan’s eyes meet mine, causing a little zip of thrill to buzz through me. “I need you to give me permission to tell her, you scut.”
I squint. From what I’ve gathered at the pub, ‘scut’ is the affectionate form of ‘jackass’ in Ireland. Either that, or my fellow employees are really mean to each other.
“And how are the girls doing?” Lucan adds so naturally, no prompting from me, that right in this second, I know I love this man.
Finn relays that they’re playing, and Maggie, the one most likely to need me, is doing