Page 29 of Burn for You

I cocked my head with a look as if to say, are you kidding me?

“I would pity you because your sanity would probably reach a breaking point. And I would teach them to treat their mama right.”

Marlee’s eyes sparkled and she ducked her head, brushing her lips along the curve of my neck. I swore under my breath. She knew how to unravel me in a heartbeat.

“What if childbirth changes me and my body so drastically that I’m not the woman you fell in love with?” she asked.

I raised my eyebrows, trying to wrap my head around that concept. She seemed to be…probing for something. Trying to trap me in scenarios that may or may not happen. Was she testing me? Or was she trying to push me away?

“I’m not going anywhere, Marlee,” I replied. “And I’ll prove it to you every day for the rest of my life if that’s what it takes. I’d be the luckiest man in the world to have you as my wife and the mother of our children.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Is that another one of your cheesy pick-up lines you use on all the girls in town?”

“No,” I countered. “I’ve never said anything like this to anyone. I…know that I dated around a lot, but I never made anypromises I didn’t intend to keep. You’re the only one I’ve ever proposed to.”

Marlee gave me a friendly poke in the chest.

“Technically, you haven’t proposed yet. You wanted to know what my answer would be if you asked. That’s not the same thing.”

I took her hands in mine and held her gaze as I sank down to one knee. The pavement bit through the fabric of my pants, but I ignored the discomfort. It wasn’t romantic by any stretch of the imagination—outside the police station, lingering at the edge of the parking lot, with no ring, and nothing but the shirt on my back and my heart on my sleeve. For a woman who was accustomed to a more lavish lifestyle back in California, it was probably ludicrously disappointing.

“I don’t have a diamond ring or an elaborate proposal. I can’t offer you much on a firefighter’s salary. But I swear I’m a hard worker, and I’ll strive every day to be a husband who makes you proud. Will you build a life with me, Marlee? Will you marry me?”

She briefly pressed her hand to her mouth, her eyes shining. Then she nodded.

“Only if you promise to turn me into a small town girl.”

My grin grew from ear to ear.

“Oh, sweetheart, you can pull that off all by yourself.”

Epilogue

Marlee - Six months later

I woke to the buzz of my alarm and the weight of Seth’s arm draped across my waist. He grumbled, burying his face in my neck with a kiss to my bare shoulder. I fumbled around on the nightstand until I shut off my alarm. Then I burrowed deeper under the covers.

“I have to get ready for work,” I mumbled.

“You’re a freelancer,” Seth replied. “You can call in sick whenever you want.”

I snorted.

“Doesn’t quite work like that.”

A week after Seth’s proposal, I decided to take a leap of faith and start my own consulting firm as an architectural designer. The first two months had been a whirlwind of paperwork, research, and meetings with lawyers to work out details.

By the third month, I had my first client—a local homestead that wanted to convert their barn into a venue for weddings. Itwas a musty old space, with rotting floorboards and a cobweb-filled hayloft, but I saw the potential underneath it all and I started drafting a design for my first paying job.

Seth skimmed his hand down my side and squeezed my hip. I wiggled back against him, smiling to myself when I felt his cock twitch to life against the back of my thigh. He bought a ring for me last month—a gorgeous yet humble little ruby that shimmered like fire in the sunlight. We were batting ideas around for a wedding, but we hadn’t settled on a date yet. I was enjoying this planning stage, dreaming up possibilities and everything we could look forward to together.

With my ex, I did all the work, a one-sided effort that had drained me more than I realized. Weighing me down. Leeching all the joy out of the process.

With Seth, he was bursting with ideas and eager to share.

“Give me five more minutes,” Seth murmured, nuzzling at my earlobe.

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