Page 132 of Love Without Demands

My stomach hurt from laughing so hard, and I chastised him through my giggles. “Put me down, you lunatic. We’re not even married yet.”

He stopped in a little alcove, away from the view of everyone else, and set me gently on my feet before cupping my face. “I love you so much, Tink. You’ve made me the happiest man in the universe, and I can’t wait to marry you.”

I covered his hands with my own as tears of unadulterated joy filled my eyes. “I love you too. And I loved the proposal. It was so…us.”

“I was worried you’d think it was too soon,” he said, concern clouding his blue eyes. “But when I saw that a real pirate ship was making a stop in New York, I couldn’t help myself.”

“It was perfect.You’reperfect.”

“I don’t want you to think I’m rushing you. I want you to take your time and plan the wedding of your dreams. I thought we could get married in your hometown church in Missouri.”

Tears flooded my cheeks and he kissed them each away with tender brushes of his lips. “Thank you, Cruz.” He pulled me close, and I felt a familiar bulge throbbing against my stomach. “Good grief, tell your little swimmers to take a chill pill.”

He chuckled and copped a feel of my ass through my leggings. “Whenever you’re ready, my boys will be waiting.”

Looking up at him, I dragged my tongue along the small scar on his bottom lip and felt his cock jerk hard. “You looked really hot as a pirate. The costumes… um, did you borrow those…”

I let the implication hang in the air, and he picked up on it immediately, his grin nothing short of rakish.

“I bought them. They’re in the trunk of the car.”

Heat flooded my nether regions, and I grabbed his hand, tugging him toward the exit. “On second thought, let’s leave now.”

He pulled me back with a laugh. “Be patient, cariño. We have family here we need to entertain, but later tonight, Captain Raven is all yours.”

As we walked hand-in-hand back to the party, I looked up at the man who knew me better than anyone—the man who loved me better than anyone—and my heart was incredibly full.

“Tell me your happy thing,” I requested, and his blue eyes lowered to mine as his lips curved into a sweet smile.

“You, Tink. It’s always you.”

And so the roguish pirate and the saucy wench lived happily ever after.

Epilogue

I strolled through CentralPark with Monty and Kassie, who was now several months pregnant. I swear, my brother’s face turned to mush every time he looked at his wife’s round belly.

It was a Saturday, and the sun beamed high in the sky, the leaves casting dappled shadows on the ground.

“How’s the new job going, Cruz?” Kassie asked.

“It’s good, actually. I work pretty much nine to five now and only get called to the building at night or weekends in case of an emergency, which is rare.”

“I’m glad you took the job, Chief,” Monty added, referring to my new position as Chief of Security forBouvier, Inc.

“I am too. I miss the excitement of the response team, but I’m going to be a married man soon, and I don’t want to work seven days a week anymore.”

“That’s right. You need to spend time with your bride.” Kass bumped me with her elbow. “Andyour kids when you two decide it’s time.”

“Yeah, SWAT work is difficult on a family life. Most—though not all—of my former teammates are bachelors or divorced. Lehra and I talked about it, and she said she’d support me in whatever I chose to do. That only made my decision easier. I chose spending time with her.”

Monty smirked. “And it’s not like you have to work two jobs for financial reasons now.”

I shot him a glare. He’d been witness to the only real fight between Auburn and me. My oldest brother wanted me to take a share ofBouvier’s annual profits, and I not-so-politely declined. In my mind, it wasn’t my company.

Our grandfather Bouvier had built it into the fashion empire it was today, but I’d never even met the man. Monty and Auburn had grown up in the industry with our dad at the helm, so I didn’t feel like I had any right to the company’s profits.

Auburn wanted me to be an equal recipient since I was a Bouvier brother, and while I appreciated the sentiment, I didn’t feel comfortable doing so. There was a lot of yelling, stomping, pouting, and table banging, but we’d finally reached a compromise with Monty serving as referee.

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