Page 98 of Irresistibly Dangerous

“You love her?” Grey asks, standing before Lenox, searching his face. “This isn’t just sex?”

Lenox shakes his head and holds out his hand to me. When I take it, I feel his trembling, and then his eyes meet mine, and one by one, he slips my wedding band off first, followed by my engagement ring. My breath catches and my eyebrows knot together, and I frown when Lenox hands Zax Suzie’s ring back.

“What are you doing?” Zax questions.

“This isn’t her ring,” Lenox states simply. “When we were kids, you asked me if you could date Suzie. You promised me you’d never hurt her and that you’d always be good to her. I didn’t give you the same respect with Georgia because I wasn’t in a position to make that same level of promise. But I am now. My plan was that I was going to ask you both for your permission to be her husband. Then all this happened, and now…”

He trails off and turns back to me, his blue eyes all over me.

“I love you,” he says slowly. “I’m completely in love with you, Georgia Monroe. I don’t just want you, I need you. Every day, I need you more and more. So I don’t want you to wear Suzie’s ring. I want you to wear mine.”

He lowers himself down onto one knee, and mine just about give out.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a ring, no box, and slides it right onto my finger. “We’re already married, but now I’m asking if you’ll be my wife.”

Oh hell. My chest clenches, and tears instantly burn my eyes.

“Yours and no one else’s,” I whisper, my voice cracking at the end as a tear slips out and tracks down my cheek. He smiles softly and slips my ruby band back on my finger, nestling it against my new diamond ring. He stands, his hands sliding up to cup my cheeks, his thumbs wiping away my tears, and then he kisses me.

Right here in front of his cousins and Aurelia.

No more hiding. No more sneaking around. No more trying to hate what is impossible not to love.

The moment he pulls away, Zax and Grey grab him and haul him in for giant hugs. They’re whispering stuff to him that I can’t hear, but whatever it is has Lenox smiling and laughing.

Aurelia snatches my hand and jerks it in her direction. “That’s a hell of a ring.”

I gaze down at the large emerald-cut diamond with tapered baguette side stones. Simple. Beautiful. Classic. “It’s perfect.”

“Yeah. It really is. Your husband did good.”

I laugh. My husband. “It feels so strange now after how this all began.”

“We should throw a party. An actual party this time. Give you a proper wedding. I bet Asher would get ordained for it and remarry you. You know him.”

I glance over at Lenox, who is watching us, and tilt my head. “What do you think?”

“You want Asher to marry you?” Grey asks incredulously.

“It can’t be you or Zax. You’re family. It’s not exactly Callan’s thing, but it totally is Asher’s.”

“I’ll do it!” Asher calls out from down the hall and comes sprinting back toward us. “I told them I had to go to the bathroom, and the fools didn’t challenge me or think I’d sneak back over to listen. It’s like they don’t know me at all. Anyway, yes, I’ll marry you. Mason can be your ring bearer, and Katy your flower girl. Let’s do it. Let’s fucking do it!”

“Did you take something?” I ask, and he shakes his head.

“No, I’m just amped. I want to ask Wynter to marry me, but she’d tell me it’s too soon, which it likely is, but whatever. This is the next best thing. Let’s do it Friday since I have to leave Saturday for Dallas for a game on Sunday.”

Lenox’s lips twitch with amusement, and he threads our hands, his eyes all over me as if the decision is mine.

“Sure,” I say, loving the idea more and more. “Let’s do it.”

“Yay!” Aurelia jumps up and down and pulls out her phone and starts texting. A second later, Wynter, Fallon, and Layla all come running in. I’m swarmed in hugs and congratulations and oohs and aahs over my ring. Zax and Grey are all smiles, happy that this didn’t end in tears and heartbreak and broken noses all over their faces.

I’m getting married. And though my dad or even my mom won’t be there, I already know it’s going to be the wedding of my dreams since I’m marrying the man of them.

After that, we finally leave the foyer and gather in the great room, Boston Harbor and the skyline beyond the large windows. Lenox has me on his lap as he silently listens to everyone chattering around him, his fingers toying with the rings on my hand.

We told everyone about Alfie and Ezra, though Zax already seemed to know most of it. As far as I’m concerned, they’re on borrowed time, and with them both being clueless and across the country, I’m not going to overthink now. Not today, at least.

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