Page 164 of Hot for Hostage

“What’s this all about?” She accepted it with a small smile and took a moment to admire the little basket.

I leaned back on my hands. “It’s what’s next on the very long list of things I want to do to you.”

Her face flushed an attractive shade of red, and she carefully opened the box. Her eyes lit up at what was inside—a perfect chocolate cupcake I’d made myself after hours of failed batches. And in the center of a dollop of meringue on top was a ring.

Sadie gasped when she spotted the diamond, and her wide eyes shot up to me. “Dav?”

That damn rubber band snapped in my chest.

“I think it’s time we make this hostage arrangement permanent.” I nodded toward the ring. “Put it on your finger.”

She laughed softly at the demand, staring at the ring again and swallowing before looking at me with a sparkle in her eyes. “Are you trying to ask me something?”

Part of me missed the days when everyone followed my demands without question, but Sadie had never been like that. It was one of the first things that drew me to her.

I got up on one knee, and it was more than worth it when her eyes crinkled at the corners. I gently took the baked treat from her, fished out the ring, and set the cupcake aside for now.

“Sadie, I’ve been yours since the moment you pointed that gun at me. But I want more—like my ring on your finger. I want you to take my name and make this partnership official. I want to spend every day trying to make you happier than you were the day before. And that’s just the start of my new list.” Unable to resist, I lifted her left hand and slid the ring onto her finger, impatient to get it on her. Small globs of meringue covered her knuckles, having hitched a ride on the ring, and I took care of them with a few open-mouthed kisses. Her hand trembled in my grip as I focused on her gorgeous grey eyes. “Now, will you make me the happiest hostage in the world and be my wife?”

Sadie let out a watery laugh, before biting her lip as she looked at the ring again. She nodded with tears in her eyes. “I can’t think of anything I’d want more than that.”

That was all the warning I had before she launched herself at me, and I barely caught her around the waist before she could knock me flat on my ass.

“You sure you wouldn’t rather adopt another dog?” I asked dryly, keeping her in my lap.

Sadie playfully smacked my arm before squeezing me even tighter. “Shush. You love them, too.”

I’d go to my grave before admitting something like that out loud.

She attacked my face with kisses before pulling back, wiping her nose and sniffling even as she smiled. Her eyes were drawn back to the cupcake sitting beside us.

“What’s this?” She nodded at the white marshmallow-like topping, before poking it with the tip of her finger.

“I made meringue,” I said, surprised she didn’t recognize it.

Sadie’s brows crept higher, and she took her eyes off the cupcake to stare at me. “You made meringue?”

She didn’t have to sound so shocked.

“It seemed important to you.” I watched her closely—studying the delicate way her throat worked as she swallowed—then shrugged. “You said all that stuff about how we couldn’t be meringue, but we can. We are.”

She blinked and looked at it again. More tears welled in her eyes.

“You made meringue,” she repeated softly, seemingly at a loss for words, before shaking her head. She wiped her nose, sniffling again. “I can’t believe…Wow.”

I pressed a kiss to her temple. “Tony tried to talk me out of it. He said meringue isn’t a traditional topping for cupcakes, but I told him we’re not a traditional couple.”

Sadie hugged me with a breathless laugh—one that sounded dangerously close to a sob. “It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect. This is the most romantic thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

“So far,” I murmured, squeezing her tight. I had plans for Sadie. Big, big plans.

She pulled back just far enough to look at her ring again, grinning at it. “It’s pink.”

I eyed her dress and hair. “Pink suits you.”

“I love it,” she whispered. Her grin widened before she snickered under her breath. “Sorry, mafia princesses, but he’sallmine.”

Phase three commenced after it fully sank in that she’d said yes.

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