Page 127 of Highball and Chain

Enzo

The clockto my right told me Shanna and I had slept through most of the day. The cat ass on the pillow to my left reminded me the view only changes if you’re the lead dog. I’d lived my life in the middle of the pack. It was high time I moved up.

Starting with claiming my woman.

I scooted the orange and white fluffball from the pillow, but the beast arched his back, hissed, and swiped razor-sharp claws across my chest.

“Son of a—”

Smiling, Shanna rolled to face me. “He doesn’t like you.”

“The feeling is mutual.” I attempted to kiss her, but Mr. Boogerre made a bizarre half-growling and half-meowing sound. “To think, I was willing to pay ten-grand for the hairball’s safe return.”

“Give him time to get used to you.” She picked the cat up and deposited him on the ground.

Ignoring the phone vibrating on the nightstand, the mewling cat, and the footsteps in the hallway, I pulled her body against mine. “Come here.”

“Is there something you want?” Shanna wiggled closer still, until we rested skin to skin from our chests to our thighs.

“You, this…us.” Tucking her beneath me, I slanted my mouth over hers and kissed her. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment it happened, but somewhere along the line, she made herself a home inside my heart.

Sliding her hand down the length of my back, Shanna whispered, “I want this too. So much.”

“Move in with me. I have a place in the Quarter. There’s plenty of room for you and the hell-beast.” I’d never asked a woman for more than a date or the occasional one-nighter—even then I’d had nothing to lose. If they turned me down, life went on. With Shanna, everything was different. The woman had the power to crush me with a single word.

“Are you sure?” She asked the question on an exhale.

“Completely sure.” I moved to my side and stared into her dark eyes. “And before you say it, the offer isn’t for a couple months while your apartment is being fixed. I want you in my bed, in my house, in my life.”

“You mean live together, live together?” Her eyes widened.

An all-too familiar pain formed beneath my sternum. Did I push too hard, too fast?

“But your family—”

I rested my index finger on her lips. “My family doesn’t get a vote.”

Shanna nodded.

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes. I’ll live in sin with you.” She laughed.

“There will be sinning, but I was thinking of something more permanent.” I cupped her precious face in my palms. “Not today, or tomorrow, but soon, I want to marry you.”

Shanna swallowed hard and pulled back. “Enzo, I don’t need a piece of paper—”

“Neither do I, but I want you to know where my head is.”

Her lower lip quivered. “We’ve only known each other a short time.”

“I agree, which is why I’m not suggesting we run to the courthouse today.”

“Hildie says it only takes a moment to fall in love.” She met my gaze.

Emotions clogged my throat. “I knew the second I heard you laugh at the gala, but it took me a while to admit it.”

Her eyes darted back and forth over my face as if she couldn’t decide where to look. “For me it was the late-night calls. Once, you fell asleep on the phone, and I listened to you breathing for a half hour before I disconnected.”

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