Page 81 of Theirs to Take

“That was nice of them,” she said. “But it makes me wonder how big this surprise is if you needed both of them to help.”

“It’s a doozy,” he agreed. “I just hope it was worth all of the running around they both needed to do for me.”

“I’m sure that I’ll love whatever it is,” she assured as he pulled into a gated development. He stopped at the guard’s station and explained that they had an appointment and gave an address. They were buzzed through, and he looked over at her, giving Ruby his nervous smile.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Um, sure,” she murmured. He pulled through the open gate after it raised and turned left, going towards the back of the development. “It’s lovely back here,” she said.

“Yeah, it’s one of my favorite housing developments in the area,” he said.

“Are we meeting someone back here?” she asked.

“Kind of,” he admitted, not giving away much of the details surrounding her surprise. He pulled into a driveway and nodded to the woman who was standing on the big front porch, waving to them like a loon.

“Who is she?” Ruby asked.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you,” he offered. Luke got out of the car and made his way around to her side, opening the door for her. He held out her hand and she hesitantly took it.

“Ruby, this is Stephanie, our relator. She’s going to be showing us this house,” he said.

“Showing us a house?” Ruby asked as if trying to keep up. “We’re getting a house?”

“Hopefully,” he said. “If you agree, this might be the house. I want to bring our baby to a home and not to an apartment. Besides, we don’t have the room for a baby in your one-bedroom apartment.”

Ruby looked over the massive house and back at him. “How will we be able to afford this place?” she asked.

“Well, I make good money at McTavish, plus I got the insurance money from my house being blown up. We can afford it, Ruby.”

“You can, but I don’t make very much at McTavish. I can’t afford this place,” she insisted.

“Can you give us a minute?” Luke asked Stephanie.

“Sure, I’ll be in the house. Just come on in when you’re ready,” she said.

Luke waited for the realtor to go into the house and shut the door before he pulled her into his body. “Marry me,” he whispered. Ruby must have looked at him as if he had lost his mind, judging by his chuckle.

“Marry you?” she asked.

“Yep,” Luke breathed. “I’m in love with you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to build a family with you, Ruby. This past month, I’ve had a lot of time to think about everything that’s happened since our elevator run-in where I blurted out that you are hot.”

“And I told you that I’m a total nerd,” she reminded.

“You’re the sexiest nerd that I’ve ever met,” he whispered.

She giggled, “Thank you.”

“So, how about it? Will you marry me?” he asked. Telling him yes felt right. It felt as though he was the person that she had been waiting for her whole life.

“I’ll marry you, Luke,” she said. “I love you and want to marry you too.”

“Then, I think that we need to take a look at this house,” he said. “If you hate it, please tell me. But we need to find a place soon. I want to bring this little guy to our new home.”

“Me too,” she agreed. They took a tour of the house and when they finished, she knew that Luke was right—he’d found the perfect house for their little family. “I love it,” she gushed.

“Thank fuck,” he groaned. “Because I’ve already put in an offer on it.”

“You put in an offer?” she asked.

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