“No, but if we don’t take this home, I’m afraid I’ll be forced to give the good doctor and his unsuspecting nurses a visual aid in sex education.” He shifts and adjusts the blankets to camouflage his arousal. It doesn’t work.
A giggle bubbles up from my chest, and my hand covers my mouth. Something rough on my finger rubs against my lips. What the heck?
My mood sobers as I examine my hand, palm down, fingers splayed. It’s on my ring finger. A gold band composed of tiny diamonds with one large round diamond in the center. The setting is old-fashioned, understated, and absolutely perfect. I stare in awe.
The cool air burns my eyes. I’m unable to blink. I force my eyes to Jonah who’s smiling his thousand-watt smile: all teeth, two dimples, and shining eyes.
“Jonah?” I whisper, my eyes asking the question my words can’t form.
“The ring was my mom’s. My dad gave it to her when they got engaged, and she wore it every day, until this morning. She brought it by when you were sleeping.” He pulls my hand to his chest and nimbly spins the ring on my finger.
“Raven, I fell in love with you the second I saw you. I thought I had my life mapped out, thought I had it together. Then you came along and flipped my world on its head. You make me want things I never knew I needed. This ring is more than a symbol of my love. It represents family. Our family. The one we’ll build together. You said you didn’t want to talk about our future until you knew we had a future to talk about. Well, now we do. So? Will you marry me?”
Our family. Our future. Now that we have one.
He stares at me, his eyebrows raised. I taste the salty tears as my lips curl at the edges. A slow smile creeps across his face.
I study the perfect ring then lock eyes with him. “Okay.”
His face splits into a smile. “Okay.” He kisses me deep and hard, possessive.
My insides turn to liquid. I explore every curve of his rippled stomach, and his muscles flex beneath my touch. My nails dig into his skin and drag down lower, until they’re under the blankets that lie across his hips. He flexes into my touch, showing me what he wants. Me.
“Oh, one more thing.” He breaks the kiss enough to speak, but his words are said against my lips.
An embarrassing whimper escapes at the loss of his mouth. “Yeah?” I lean into him.
He rubs his thumb across my aching lower lip. “Happy birthday, baby.”
The words are barely out before I’m on him again. Desperation takes over my rational mind and I pull at his gown. Too many clothes.
A voice clears from the end of the bed, popping the love-driven sex bubble we’d created. I curl into Jonah’s body, hoping to disappear from whoever caught me making out with my injured boyfriend. Fiancé.
“Well, well, well. Looks like someone’s feeling better,” Blake says from the foot of the bed, motioning to the pile of thin hospital blankets at Jonah’s crotch.
I say a quick prayer of thanks that it’s Blake and not Katherine. “Hey, Blake.”
“What’s up?” Jonah acts unaffected as he twirls a strand of my hair.
“Just came back from the police station. Dominick’s operation is under intense investigation. Thought you two would like to know Vince and Candy are going to be looking at the inside of a jail cell for the foreseeable future.”
Jonah and I take a collective breath.
Blake grimaces. “Vinnie should be the most popular guy in his cell block. They couldn’t save his dick so they gave him a *. Boys in prison should love that.”
“Blake!” I attempt to sound offended, my hysterical laughter ruining any chance I have of being taken seriously. Besides, that’s the least he deserves for what he did to Eve, me, and probably loads of other women who weren’t lucky enough to get away.
“I see you got a decent piece of ice there on your finger, baby girl.”
I hold up my hand and admire the ring again. “Yeah.” Jonah kisses my head at my breathy reply.
“Right on. I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.” He holds up his hand. “Word of caution, the doc is on his way in to check on your shoulder. You might want to keep Mr. Moby on the down-low.” He looks at the bed then back at us. “Looks like it’s too late for down-low, so . . . under wraps.”
“Dude, you mind keeping your eyes off my dick?”
He flashes his cocky smile. And even in the arms of the man of my dreams, his smile makes me giggle like a teenage girl. He winks then turns on his heel and heads through the draped dividers.
“Catch you two later. Got a hot little nurse who’s waiting to give my dick an oral exam.”
I laugh hard, trying to keep my body from shaking at its intensity. “He’s so funny.”
“Yes, so you’ve said.” Jonah’s deadpan tone makes me grin.
“Ooh, are you jealous?” I touch the end of his nose with my fingertip.
“Hmph. No.”
I slide my lower lip out in an exaggerated pout. “Oh. That’s too bad. I was going to prove my feelings for you . . . physically.” I kiss the sensitive skin below his ear.
“Is that right?” I can hear the smile in his voice.