Page 62 of Forever My Protector

Damn straight she did, and she always would.“I’m never going to let anything happen to you, Scar.Ever again.”

Her eyes teared up and I regretted saying anything at all.“Colt, when I lost Brandon I swore to myself that I would never get close enough to another person to let them hurt me in that way.It cut through me like a knife, watching his memorial service, hearing all the words everyone had to say about him.And it was all the same thing—they loved him.Love seemed to me to be the problem.If you love someone, if you let them in, then you’re bound to get hurt.

“But you’re also opening yourself up to an immense amount of joy, I’ve learned.I can’t even begin to explain to you how happy you make me.You, Colt, are the love of my life.I don’t think I could do any of this without you.Okay, maybe I could do it without you, but I wouldn’t want to.Once you filled up my gas tank on the side of the road that day, I knew I was screwed.I didn’t want to love someone like you especially—an Army man.But it happened.And it was out of my control.And it was the best damn thing that ever happened to me,” she finished.

I cupped either side of her face.“Baby, I feel the exact way about you.You’re my rock.”Then I stepped closer and electricity shot through my body.I felt like every part of me was on fire and it was all I could do not to pick her up, put her in my car, and take her home so I could make love to her over and over again.Instead, I settled for leaning in and kissing her breathless with all the emotion I could muster in that one kiss.I knew she could feel it and was giving it right back.

“What’s that?”she asked, when we broke apart.She pointed to a sandcastle in the distance.

I knew exactly what it was, so we just walked to it and I watched, took it all in, as she stared at it in amazement.“It’s incredible.I’ve always wanted to build a sandcastle, but it would never come out this good, I’m sure.”

Then I watched as her eyes scanned over it and she spotted the ring sitting on the top of one of the points of the castle.It was amazing to watch her facial expression change, to see her hands cover her mouth, and then look over to me.I was still holding her hand, but dropped down on one knee, so I could do this properly for her.“Scarlet Rose—”

She stopped me.“Colt, are you—”

I laughed and answered, “Yes, if you’d let me.”

She chuckled.“Yes, yes, go on.”

Smiling, I continued from where I left off, “Now, where was I?Oh, right.Scarlet, no one has ever understood me the way you do.You see me for who I am, not for who you wish I would be.You see my faults and love me in spite of them.I never thought I’d know a love like this, that it really existed.I just thought my parents got lucky.And I believe soulmates exist, but, for some reason, I never thought I would find mine.I came to terms with that a long time ago, that I’d missed my chance when I went off to the Army.

“You, Scar, have made me the man I always wanted to be.Always knew I could be.I love you with every single fiber of my being.Waking up next to you is the only thing I need.Going to sleep next to you at night is the highlight of my entire day.You’re a heck of a woman, you’re going to be a heck of a mother, and some day you’re going to make a man very happy by being a heck of a wife to them.Will you make me the happiest man in the world and become my wife?”

The tears were rolling down her cheeks and I wanted so badly to wipe them away, but didn’t want to ruin the moment.After all, this was going to be a moment we’d remember forever.A moment we told our children and grandchildren about one day.“Yes!”she yelled.“Yes, yes, yes!A million times yes!”Forgetting all about the ring box I had opened in the middle of my proposal, she slammed into me and gave me the kiss of a lifetime.

“Oh, wait,” she said, pulling something out of her purse.

When I saw the dog tags, I knew what she was doing and it wasn’t necessary.“Here,” she said, placing them around my neck.

I shook my head.“Baby, I know what you’re doing.”

“Let me just say it,” Scarlet told me.“When I first met you, I hated these dog tags.In fact, they were the reason I didn’t want to have anything to do with you.What they mean, what they symbolize, I couldn’t handle it.I didn’t want to face the fact that I could fall for a man that was in the same Army, fighting the same war, that took my brother away from me.”She began to tear up again.“But this is who you are, Colt.And I love you, all of you.I don’t want you to have to hide that part from me.”

I brushed the pad of my thumb on her cheek.“I’m a civilian now,” I explained and took them off.“I don’t need these anymore because this is part of my past and you, Scar, are my future.”

She took them from me then and put them back in her purse.“You make me so incredibly happy, Colt.”

Out of words, I responded, “Ditto.”

“What are you waiting for?”she asked and put out her hand.“The ring, please.I want everyone to know that I’m taken.That I’m spending the rest of my life with the man of my dreams.”

I laughed, took my grandmother’s ring and slid it on her ring finger.“Nothing would make me happier.”Then I picked her up and spun her around.It was pure bliss and I savored every moment of it.

She laughed as I did and couldn’t stop smiling.“Hey, I didn’t notice that before,” she said, looking at the other side of the sandcastle.

“What’s that?”I asked, holding her hand.

She laughed.“Oh, Colt, you’re brother’s a riot.”

I looked at it, too, and saw the words in the sand next to the sandcastle.“Damon was here,” it read.

“He’s a piece of work,” I grumbled.

She giggled.“I think he’s cute.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, pretending to be upset.

She swatted my chest.“Oh, please, are you jealous?Colt, don’t you know by now I only have eyes for you?”

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