Page 54 of Giving It to the Monster

“What?” he asked.

“Yes. Yes, of course I’ll marry you.”

“Club and all.”

“Club, you, even if you were a homeless person I’d still marry you.”

He got to his feet, slid the ring on her finger, and she threw herself into his arms. Cheers erupted all around them.

“What made you want to marry me?” she asked, pulling away.

“Let’s just say I wanted to right a wrong I made in the past.”

“What was that?”

“The ring you’re wearing, I was going to give it to you prom night.”

She stared down at the beautiful ring.

“You were?”

“Yes. Then my father told me you wouldn’t say yes anyway. You were already planning to move on.”

“If I could kill that man again, I would.”

“I love you, Natasha, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving it to you.”

“You don’t have to prove anything to me.”

Pressing her lips to his, she melted against him, knowing without a doubt she was going to be the happiest woman alive.

****

Melissa clapped her hands as Natasha said yes to Saint, the happiness from the couple beautiful to see.

“Hey, are you okay?” Penny asked, coming toward her.

“Yeah. I’m just so happy. They’re a wonderful couple.”

“That they are.”

“Is something wrong?” Melissa asked.

“I wanted to come and talk to you actually,” Penny said, turning toward her. “You’ve been avoiding my calls, and whenever I try to talk to you at the club, you turn and walk away.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Mel, you’ve never ever been too busy for your sister. What is going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Rage told me you and Pea are going to make a go of it. What’s wrong? Don’t you want to? Is that it?”

“No, it’s not. I, erm, I care about Pea, and I’ve thought how wonderful it would be for us to actually try this. You know, have a conventional relationship.”

“What’s wrong?”

Melissa stared across the town center, where her man was congratulating Saint and Natasha. Everything was going great between them. The chemistry, the fire, and now she was afraid.

---