CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Balor
I came here to propose. I want to propose. I planned to ask her to marry me and give her every possible reason why she should say yes.
Her friends encouraged her to negotiate.
Forcing the ring on her blows my wad, and I lose any leverage I have to keep her in my life.
Her. Not just her and the baby. Her. Ella .
“This was where my mind went this morning after I dropped you off. Even before you...”
“Pulled the disappearing stunt?” she says with her eyes slipped close. “I’m sorry.”
I kiss her mouth. “First of all, you don’t say you’re sorry to me. You never have to be sorry. If you’ve done something that upsets me, I’ll tell you. But you never have to apologize.”
Shaking her head, she says, “I don’t want to be treated like glass, or given all these passes. I expect to be held accountable if I’ve done something wrong. Just not with...”
“Never.” He pulls our foreheads together. “ Ever . This ring is a promise. It will be here waiting for you. I know what I want.”
“And what is that?”
“You.”
“Can we wait until I see my doctor?” She sounds guilty, like if she’s not pregnant, I’ll want out of this relationship.
Not likely...
“Will you let me go with you?” I ask.
“Of course.” She softens. “What about my father? Did you send him to Tokyo on purpose?”
“If on purpose, you mean so you and I could make a go of what we had the last couple of weeks? Aye. Sort of. I did need a developer over there.”
And we needed to audit his keystrokes.
That’s the bigger picture I need to lay on Ella. She needs to know exactly who her father is and that he will be punished in some way.
Several of my brothers have to contend with an in-law they don’t care for. That’s life. Snow is mine.
Now I must convince my brothers to let him live so the woman I’m falling for doesn’t hate me and take away my baby.
“I DON’T WANT YOU STAYING here alone,” I say, glancing at the flowers. “I want you with me. Can you give me that right now?”
Nodding with a smile, she says, “I want that, too.”
I take her in my arms, and it’s the most whole I’ve felt in hours. “I’ll send someone to pick up the flowers.”
“They’re so beautiful. You didn’t have to.”
“Aye, I did. It’s not that I gave you a meadow’s worth of flowers. I will always pull out all the stops to show you what you mean to me.” I cup her cheeks, tearstained and swollen from stress.
“Me, too. And I’m so...”
I stop her with a look. “I accept you’re sorry for taking off on me today. I understand you’re stressed and confused. Let’s go spend time really getting to know each other better.”
“I want that, too.”
She lets me help her pack, and I smile at all the clothes I bought her because I recognize the labels.
Blushing, she takes out the jewelry cases. “I’m going to return these.”
“You’ll do no such thing.” I pack the up the cases. “In fact, later, I want you to wear these. And nothing else. ”
I whisk her home and we race up to my bedroom. With her suitcases lying strewn across the carpet, I’m balls-deep in my woman wearing a chunky emerald necklace that matches my eyes.
“This... This is how I want you. Every night. Naked, but draped in jewels I bought you.”
It’s not who we are to the outside world. I wear jeans and she loves leggings. This is how I get to show her exactly how much she means to me.
We both come in a rush and take a nap from the high-octane afternoon. With the sun setting, we wake up and make love again.
After, I leap from the bed, adrenaline pumping through me, until I trip over her luggage.
Laughing, I show her the second closet in my bedroom. “Put anything you want in here. Consider it yours.”
She tilts her head from the bed. “Here’s one condition I have.”
“Can I add blow jobs to these stipulations?”
“Sure.” She slips into my T-shirt and bounces toward me.
“What’s your condition?”
“I want that closet.” She points to mine.
“I say we share it. There’s a spare room on the other side we can bust into.”
“You’d break down walls for me?”
“You’ve broken down mine.”
She gasps and holds her head. “Oh no.”
“What, baby?”
“The money. I left it in my closet at home. In a shoebox. I want to give it back to you.”
“That’s your money.” And I wish she’d think of this as her home.
Baby steps.
The biggest pun in the world .
Stress returns to her face. “What are we going to tell my father?”
“When we have a plan, when we know what we want, we will tell him. If it was just a marriage proposal, I’d speak to him myself. But I will always respect you. And with a wee-one in the picture, I won’t devalue you to your father by leaving you out of the conversation.”
I consider the little wins to get the ultimate prize.
For the mother of my baby to love me.
“I worry my father is dangerous, Balor,” she confesses softly.
I laugh. “Not as dangerous as my brother Lachlan.”