Page 127 of Mistletoe and Malice
“Sign? The only thing I want you to sign is the Marriage Certificate.”
That knot uncoiled with her answer. “I insist on a prenup, Ri.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want there to be any question.”
“There is no question. Not for me, anyway. It was our socio-economic status that almost kept us apart. I certainly don’t believe you’ve suddenly decided what a great way to live a life of leisure. My mother didn’t sign any agreement. Neither did Delia, and she was a secretary at the company when she met Alex. Sadie’s the only one who brought as much financially into the marriage as Kevin.”
“I may need a little help in knowing how to handle this. Like providing for you. I obviously don’t need to. But I want to keep my job. I want to feel like I’m contributing.”
“You absolutely can. And money isn’t the only contribution people bring to marriage. You know that from experience. We have our faith, our families, our goals and dreams. All things we can experience together.”
She heaved a sigh. “Although I’m going to miss you something awful while you’re working an assignment.”
He tipped his head. “There might be a way around that.”
Her eyebrows rose above those green eyes he could stare into all night. “Do tell.”
“Mack made me an offer a couple of months back, but I told him I’d have to think about it. It wouldn’t take place until March, anyway, so I had time to consider it.”
“What offer?”
“The business has grown considerably, and we’re getting more and more high-profile clients from all over the world. Mack needs help at the administrative level and asked me to take a VP position. Vice President of Security Operations.”
“Oh, wow, that sounds impressive. But that would mean office work, right? Could you stand that?”
“Sure. If it meant being with you evenings and weekends. And that sounds pretty fantastic to me.”
Her smile lit her face. “To me too. But you need to be happy with how you spend your days. In your career. I know you like to be in the thick of things.”
“I’d still be involved in training new agents, planning ops, and I’d probably do field work from time to time, like Mack did with your case. I’d be very happy, Riley. Working at what I love during the day, coming home to the one I love at night.”
She reached up and put her hand along his face. “And the one who loves you.”
“Forever?”
“Forever.”
He grinned at her before kissing her again. This time, with nothing in his hands to keep him from wrapping her up in his arms.
Pulling back sometime later, he gazed down at her. “This is going to be some wild ride.”
“Guess you’d better hang on.”
Epilogue
Riley couldn’t have imagined a more perfect day.
Laying her forehead against Colton’s jaw, she let him lead her on their first turn around the dance floor as Mr. and Mrs. Blankenship. Could a heart burst with too much happiness? If so, hers must be made of some tough stuff, because she’d never known such an overflowing of joy.
The past five months leading up to their May wedding on the estate grounds had been busy and full.
Full of life. Full of fun. Full of love and laughter and new hopes and dreams. Most of which had been launched the second Colton’s father pronounced them husband and wife, little more than an hour before.
And she couldn’t wait. Couldn’t wait to live in the new house they bought after selling her townhome in January and his house last month. Much more modest than the estate, where she’d stayed during their engagement, but a bit more substantial than his previous home, complete with a gate. The new neighborhood was in a good area, and the house much closer to other homes than the estate was to its neighbors. But hernew husband—Petersen’s Vice President of Security Operations—insisted on safety first when it came to being married to a Hudson, with little heirs and heiresses running around in the future.
Little heirs and heiresses she couldn’t wait to get started on.
