Page 134 of Forged By Sacrifice

“Do you remember when we said we had a lot of chemistry?”

She nodded.

“And we do, right?”

She nodded again.

“And you kind of like me, just a wee bit?”

“I don’t just like you. You know that. I love you. You’re kind and smart and gentle?”

“I’m not always gentle,” I cut her off, and I could see she was wondering where my rambling was going, but I couldn’t help teasing her. “And I’m quite handsome, too.”

“But the best part of you is your family,” she teased back.

I tried to look offended but couldn’t. “I can’t really argue it. They’re great. Except Thomas.”

She laughed again, and I kissed her.

“You’re distracting me,” I told her.

“Sorry. Present. Right.” She stuck her hand out.

“I forgot what I was supposed to say,” I told her with a laugh.

“What you were supposed to say?” Her brow furrowed, but she was still smiling.

“Eli had it all planned for me, him being the word guy and all.”

I thought maybe she was getting a hint of what I was trying to do, because her smile slowly melted, being replaced with something in her eyes that wasn’t just love. Something that looked like my future.

“You can’t do this while I’m in my pajamas,” she said with a laugh.

“You look sexy as hell just like that.”

“Just propose already,” she teased.

And I couldn’t help but grin at her because she knew me well enough to know what I was doing from the moment I started. I pulled the velvet box out of my pocket and placed it between her hands, but covered them with my own so she couldn’t open it yet.

“I told you on the roof above the bar that I couldn’t imagine my future without you in it. And I mean that. But I’ve also seen how short a time that people can have together.” My throat caught, thinking of Darren’s wife spending her first Christmas without her husband. “And I’ve also seen how long they can have, like my grandparents. But because we don’t know what the road ahead of us looks like, I want to make sure that you’re on it with me every step of the way.”

“I’m already on the road with you, Mac.”

“You are, but I want it to be official. I want you to be mine in every way possible. If you’ll have me for the rest of your life.”

Her eyes glittered with tears, the pale green that was all her reflecting the lights from the tree. “I would be honored to be on any road with you for as long as you’ll have me,” she said.

“Forever it is, then.” I smiled and leaned in to kiss her before removing my hand and helping her open the little black box.

It was a ring that had a diamond in the middle with a rainbow of colored stones on either side. Multiple colors just like her multiple lenses.

“I didn’t want you to have to pick just one color,” I said quietly.

“Mac…” she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

I took the ring and slipped it on her finger and then picked her up and carried her down the hall. We were about halfway when the shoulder of my uniform ripped with a great big, resounding tear.

“Goddamn it,” I swore, and she laughed.

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