Page 72 of Too Lethal to Love

“Sweet. Did you challenge the theory?”

Beth bit her lip. “Yes.”

“What was the outcome?”

“He asked me to marry him.”

Scarlett’s eyes bulged out of her head. “Well, I never factored in that variable.”

“Me neither.”Not in a million years.

“What did you say?” Scarlett clapped her hands together. “Please say I’m going to be a maid of honor.”

“No. I told him he was ridiculous. He thinks getting married is a loophole.”

Scarlett tapped her chin with her finger. “It is a damn good argument.”

“No, it’s not.” Beth grabbed her skirt and tugged it on. “It’s insane.”

“No more insane than you thinking a curse is responsible for three deaths.”

Beth sighed as she retrieved her boots from under the cot. “I know. I’m working on letting that go.”

“Are you making progress?”

“Still gathering data.” Beth glanced at the tree. “But the outcome is looking favorable.”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned since I fell for my super soldier, it’s that science and logic hold no weight when it comes to love. Maybe you’ll find some divine intervention at church.”

Beth huffed out “maybe” as she tugged on her boots. Neither she nor Kane had said they’d loved each other. The thought of saying those three words scared and exhilarated her, but excitement had an edge. “Any idea when the boys are expected back?”

“Hopefully in time to meet us at mass.”

No, Beth wouldn’t hope. She wasn’t cursed. The million dazzling pieces she’d shattered into when he’d made her come last night created a mosaic of truth. She hadn’t been afraid to fall in love again because she feared killing another boyfriend. She feared another loss killingher.

Kane will come back.

Still, she crossed her fingers for good measure.

Kane’s leg jittered in the passenger seat as he adjusted his bulletproof vest. “So glad we’re not headed to Mexico.”

“Five minutes out,” Linc said from the driver’s seat of a VIPER-issued SUV.

Five minutes out was good, and they were only fifteen minutes from where Beth would attend the evening Christmas mass. He’d blocked the everlasting high of last night’s life-changing experience while they’d examined the intel and devised a plan to extract Dr. Sable. That had taken several hours. Now, they were underway. If they did their job quickly, and Edgar kept the debrief even quicker, he could have his sugarplum naked under her Christmas tree before midnight. And then he’d spend all Christmas Day convincing her the curse wasn’t real, but his love was.

How he’d fallen so hard for Dr. Beth Parker in such a short time wasn’t even a mystery. He didn’t believe in curses any more than he believed in flying reindeer, but he finally believed in Gran’s sixth sense. Dr. Beth Parker was the woman for him. The whole time he’d beendenying his attraction, he hadn’t been fighting her or even himself. He’d been fighting against fate, and he certainly had no control over that.

That fight ended today.

While he couldn’t control Beth, nor did he ever want to, he’d do his damn hardest to convince her they should be together. He wouldn’t allow curses and fears to keep him from spending every night wrapped around her sweet body, but he couldn’t shake the uneasiness in his gut. Apprehending Chavez had been too simple, and they still didn’t have any clues as to why.

Kane glanced at his comms unit. The little red dot representing Dr. Sable’s location was exactly where it had been since they’d begun tracking her via a minuscule device under the skin of her wrist.

Chris shook his head from the back seat. “I can’t believe a grandma implanted an untraceable tracker in her body.”

“Me neither.” But her daughter, who thought her mother’s suspicions about nefarious people stopping at nothing to obtain the information inside her head was over-the-top radical, was plenty grateful for the extreme caution.

“I can’t wait to implant a device like that in Scarlett.”

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