Page 70 of Engaging with Her Enemy

She turned. “So, you forgive me?”

“Yes, I do. But I'm not going to walk away again. This is it. If you come at me for something I didn't do, I'm going to keep after you until you listen to me.” His hands cupped her face, bringing it to the opening in the bars. He kissed her lips. “I love you. And if you'll have me, I don't plan on going anywhere. Ever.”

She kissed him again, threading her arms through the bars to hold onto him. “Yes.”

He rested his forehead against hers. “Marry me.”

“Yes.” She said it before the impact of her agreement hit her. But she wouldn't take it back. She wanted him. Forever.

Hudson smiled. “This wasn't exactly where I imagined proposing to you.”

She shook her head. “I don't care. I only want to be with you. You make my life so much better.”

He pulled a ring box out of his pocket, making the proposal official. They were going to get married.

“Have you been carrying that around?”

“For the past four days.” He opened it. “Waiting for the time that I could ask you.”

The large princess cut diamond shined and sparkled. He took it out of the box, and she held out her hand. It slipped on. Perfect fit.

“I love you so much, Hudson.” She rested her hands on the jail bars and laughed as she shook them. “Now, I just have to figure out how to bust you out of jail.”

Epilogue

Dewey followed Hudson into Rhonda’s Roadhouse. He’d never come into Rhonda’s on a Wednesday, and it wasn’t too crowded. A few people playing pool. Some others at the bar.

“You don’t have to buy me dinner, Hudson.”

“I want to thank you for helping me with Becky’s engagement ring. I owe you. And thanks again for going out mid-week. I promised Becky we’d spend time in Savannah this weekend before I have to start work.” Hudson moved through the bar and toward a booth to the side. “Is this alright?”

Dewey scanned the room, the same way he did everywhere he went. His eyes fixated on the last person he expected to see.

Eliza.

His stomach muscles tightened, and his breath stalled. But it always did that when he saw her. “Can we sit at the bar?” Without listening to Hudson’s answer, Dewey sat in a tall chair with a clear view of the pool tables. Why was she here? He knew she played pool. They’d come out to Rhonda’s as a group enough times in the past few months that he’d seen her play.

But not with the two men she currently talked to.

Not in a fitted shirt that left an inch of skin exposed and a pair of jeans that were painted on. And was she wearing make-up?

He’d kept his distance from her since she’d come back to Statem. It was better that way. She’d made it perfectly clear eight years ago that she didn’t want him around. He’d poured his heart out after that weekend with her only to have her toss it right back at his feet.

But seeing other men watch her and check her out as she took a shot made his blood thump in his temples. Was she here alone or with one of them? One of the guys said something, and Eliza threw her head back and laughed.

“I hate to interrupt, but you might want to stop staring at her.” Hudson nudged him in the side. “You’re scaring some of those guys playing with her.”

“Good. They need to back up.” The two guys in question both shot him a wary look. In their leather jackets and long hair, they looked about thirty years older than her and as though they belonged to the motorcycle club that came into Rhonda’s.

“Are you and Eliza together?”

Dewey looked away at Hudson’s question. “No.” He didn’t have a claim on her. The two of them couldn’t even call each other friends at this point. Prior acquaintances.Intimateacquaintances.

He glanced at the pool table, one more confirmation that Eliza had no business being at Rhonda’s by herself. She was too young and too sweet. Those men would take advantage of her before she even knew what happened. Like that one man who set his hand on her shoulder—

A knock on the bar in front of him made him turn back around. Rhonda, her hair teased high, popped her gum. “She comes in here every Wednesday, you know.” She passed him a beer.

“Who?” he asked before taking a long pull on the cold beer bottle.

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