Page 29 of Rescued By the Rebel

“I love you, Winnie.”

“I love you too.”

“Move in with me for good. I know that the threat is gone, but I still want you there. I want you with me always.”

“What if you get sick of me?” She asks, and I laugh.

“It will never happen. I love you, Winnie. I want you. Forever.”

“Alright,” she says, and I smile.

“There’s one more thing,” I tell her, and she looks at me quizzically.

“What’s that?”

“Marry me, Red.”

I pull out the diamond ring that I’ve been carrying around in my pocket for the last six months and present it to her.

“What?” She asks, her eyes wide as she stares at the ring.

“I love you, Winnie. I have since the moment that I saw you. I know you can feel how right this is between us, and I just want to make it official. I want you to be mine forever.”

“Yes,” she whispers, tears shimmering in her pretty blue eyes. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

My heart soars, and I lean forward, sealing her lips with mine.

I lean back, slipping the ring onto her finger, and she smiles down at it.

“This feels crazy,” she tells me with a laugh, and I grin.

“But so right.”

“But so right,” she agrees.

I smile as I lean forward and kiss her once again.

TWELVE

Winnie

Five Years Later…

“The meeting shouldn’t take long,” Aldis says as he slips his leather vest on and grabs his keys.

“We’ll be here,” I say, waving our daughter’s little hand at him.

She babbles, giggling at the motion, and my husband and I smile down at her.

“I’ll be back soon, little one. Then daddy can change your diaper and tuck you in for the night,” he tells her, and she smiles before she tries to shov her fist into her mouth.

“Be safe,” I tell Aldis when he stands, and he nods, leaning down to kiss me.

“Be back soon, Red.”

I watch as my husband leaves before I turn our daughter around.

“Bath time!” I tell her, and she giggles again.

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