Page 124 of Silent Partner (Pine Falls 3)

“Merry Christmas,” I whispered before I rested my head on his chest. It was the perfect moment. We were perfect together. We swayed to the music and planned our future. P.S. It was going to be good.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Three Months Later

I removed Oscar from my suitcase . . . again. He apparently thought he was being helpful while I packed. In fact, he was not, and I reminded myself to bring a lint roller to DC.

Brant typed away on his laptop, propped up against some pillows on my bed. I had moved back home a few months ago, after Christmas. An engaged couple needed more privacy, after all. And since I had security following me around everywhere, I felt comfortable doing so. Well, as comfortable as any of us got these days. It was finally time to face the music. John was set to testify before Congress in two days. Brant would be representing him, even though it wasn’t like a criminal trial and Brant couldn’t defend him or call witnesses. All he could do was offer counsel. Brant, along with the congressional investigations lawyer they had added to their legal team, had been relentlessly prepping John for weeks. They’d held mock hearings and grilled him until he could answer every question without stuttering or even having to think about dates and times.

Brant set his laptop on the nightstand and rubbed his eyes.

“You should get some sleep,” I suggested.

He gave me a sleepy smile and patted the space next to him. “Care to join me?”

“That sounds dangerous,” I teased. We were still holding to the no-cookie-baking rule, but it was getting harder and harder. Unfortunately, there had been no time to plan a wedding in all the chaos. Besides, we didn’t want the unwarranted attention a wedding would bring right now.

He held up his hand as if he were taking an oath. “I swear to mostly behave.”

“Uh-huh.” I set my suitcase on the floor and hopped on the bed.

He pulled me to him, and I burrowed into him, breathing him in. Yep, he still smelled like hope and sunshine—basically, happiness.

His hand ran down my back in gentle sweeping motions. “Thanks for coming with me.”

“You’re welcome.” Though, I was nervous. I’d heard the spotlight shines brighter in DC.

“I was thinking we should share a hotel room while we’re there,” he mentioned offhandedly.

My head popped up. “Oh. I, uh . . .” I wasn’t sure what to say. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to bake cookies with him, but I liked the thought of waiting until we were married. It had been nice to explore all the other aspects of our relationship first.

Brant brushed my hair back. “I mean, we would have to get married first.”

I felt my eyes bulge. “When? We fly out tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow works for me,” he said so casually, I was sure he was joking.

I sat up. “Are you being serious?”

“Very.” He ran a finger down my cheek.

I blinked a dozen times. “I don’t have a dress, we don’t even have a license, and what about our family?”

“I was thinking we could get a license tomorrow morning. I know a judge who will be discreet about it. And we’ll tell our family later.”

“You want to elope?” I had to say I was a bit shell shocked.

He wagged his brows. “Yes, ma’am. I’m tired as hell of saying goodbye to you every night. And I want my wife by my side while we’re in DC.”

When he called me his wife, my heart about leapt out of my chest. It was the best thing I had ever heard. But . . . “Our families will kill us.”

“Nah. They’ll be happy. We’ll do a big wedding celebration when this is all over and let my mom and your grandma go crazy. Besides, our nieces are getting upset with you because you haven’t baked cookies with me yet. You’re about to lose your favorite status.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not worried about that. Oscar is my secret weapon, and I can bake anything they want.”

Brant took my hands in his and admired the ring he had placed on my finger. It was magnificent. “Kins, I’m being serious. Will you marry me tomorrow?”

I bit my lip, thinking about my sisters and grandparents and his mom and dad. I didn’t care what Brant said—they were going to kill us. Especially Dani, who was ready to pop in the next few weeks. Her hormones were all over the place right now. On the flip side, I was so tired of not being married to him, especially when there didn’t seem to be any end in sight to this chaos.

“You know you want to,” Brant sing-songed while he kissed my nose, each cheek, and my chin. Then he made his way down my neck, knowing that he was going to turn me into a big pile of goo.

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