CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
QUINN
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When I get back to my room and start packing, my legs are wobbly, my heart is full and I feel a little dizzy about how my life just changed overnight.
I’m marrying Noah.
Holy cow!
I message Mom to tell her that I’m fine, after seeing a message saying she’d heard about the police action near the compound. Of course, it hit the news. There will be a lot of reports and interviews with authorities over the next few days.
Then I send one to Jeannie.
I have news. I’ll ring you in a few hours, but if you see anything on the media, I’m alive.
Vague, but fine. I’m at the OB-GYN until three.
She’s going to lose her mind.
She’s also going to be my bridesmaid. Not that we’ve decided what we’re doing, but I’m very excited.
In some ways, I hope I’m pregnant. It’s unlikely, but it would be amazing if I was pregnant almost at the same time as my best friend.
Seeing Noah as a daddy will be the cutest thing in the world. I can’t wait to be his wife. God, I’ve wasted so much time.
“Knock, knock,” Marianne says, opening the door an inch.
“Hey, come in.” I smile, straightening.
“Are you okay? You look flushed.” She walks over.
Ah, yes, well, that’s not from the action last night. Well, it is, but not the action she thinks.
This is it.
This is the moment.
The one I’ve resisted since meeting Noah. Telling someone how I feel about him and bracing for their response. At least it’s a woman, I guess. I can either lie, and that would be a terrible thing to do, or I go back on my promise to Noah.
I won’t do that.
I do love him.
Thinking I could lose him shifted something inside me on a deep level.
He’s right; Dad would have hated many other career choices if they weren’t feminine, and so it really doesn’t matter. People often meet their spouses at work, and while it might be different as Noah trained me, can I really live my life knowing how much I love him?
No.
Sex changed everything, as I knew it would.
The moment he was inside me, our souls connected, and there was no going back. I felt it, I saw it and I became his.
Noah would spin the world in a different direction for me if I asked him to. What woman in her right mind would walk away from that kind of love?
And his gorgeous body.
Lord, that man knows how to make my body sing.
Telling my parents I’m marrying Noah is going to be uncomfortable, but he’s my future, and it’s time I stopped caring about what my father thinks.
I know it won’t happen overnight. I know there are going to be people, including Dad, who question everything because we’re together, but what are the options?
Being with him.
Not being with him.
Knowing he was in that house with dangerous cartel soldiers made everything suddenly clear as day. He’s the man I love, and if he’d died, I would have regretted it for the rest of my life.
“I spent the night with Noah.” I blush, glancing away.
“Well, that was inevitable.” Marianne nods a few times as if it’s no big deal.
“What?”
“Every time he looks at you, he eats you up with his big brown eyes. And my darling, you do the same back. It’s a little awkward.”
I choke on my next breath. “God, does everyone know?”
She laughs. “Yes. Anyone paying attention.”
I zip up my hoodie, tucking my chin into it, trying to hide from the world. “Damn.”
“Does it matter? He clearly cares for you.”
I feel my grin growing and cheeks heating.
It’s more than caring for one another, and suddenly I want to tell the world.
“I agreed to marry him.”
Her squeal fills the room as she throws her arms around me. “Oh my god, congratulations.”
Hugging her back, I can’t contain my happiness. After all these years, it feels so good to be admitting and expressing how I feel about Noah.
The compound is being closed down for a few weeks, and training is delayed, so we drag our bags outside and head to the restaurant for lunch. Noah is standing talking to some of the guys, but his eyes track me with each step I take.
He smiles.
I smile back.
Then he crooks his finger, calling me over.
“Be still, my beating heart,” Marianne whispers behind me. “Go to your man.”
I grab a carton of juice and walk over, stopping in front of him. Hayden, Cole and Liam are only a couple of feet away, and I saw Tyrell loading food onto his plate at the buffet.
I lift my face.
“There’s no going back after this.” Noah gives me an out, testing me.
“Good.” I tiptoe up and kiss him in front of everyone.
He wraps an arm around me and lifts me off my feet while a dozen people wolf-whistle and clap.
“I love you,” I say against his lips.
“I told you that you belonged to me.” Noah smirks and kisses me again.
“I fucking knew it!” We hear Tyrell yell from across the room, and we both start chuckling.
The freedom in not caring is intoxicating. Noah was right; I am a lot more confident in what I’ve achieved than I realized.
I’ve got this.
He is my life.
I won’t be in the military forever, but I will be Noah’s wife until my very last breath.