“And that, my love, is why, for you, I’ve broken all my earlier vows to never marry again and exactly why I’m willing to take all new ones with you.”
I pick her up and twirl her around, bringing her down for a kiss that’s far more chaste than I’d like it to be, but I’m mindful of the security detail watching us.
“I can’t believe this is happening. Are we really getting married?”
“We really are. What’re you doing tomorrow?”
“As in the day after today? You want to get married tomorrow?”
I love her so much. I don’t have the slightest doubt that this is the right thing for both of us. “Yes, I do. We’re checking on what we can pull together for tomorrow or Monday.”
“We? Who is we?”
“Addie and me, of course.”
“I think I’m hyperventilating. Am I hyperventilating?”
Laughing, I put my arms around her and kiss her. “Oh my God! I forgot the most important part of this whole proposal thing.” I reach into my pants pocket for the ring I stashed there before we left the house. I’ve checked at least twenty times to make sure it’s still there. Reaching for her left hand, I slide the ring I had made for her onto her finger.
“Flynn! Oh my God! It’s gorgeous.” She’s crying freely now as she stares at the four-carat one-of-a-kind diamond in the platinum setting I chose for her. At times like this, it helps to have a brother-in-law in the jewelry business. Hugh and I have been in cahoots for days now, and the ring is perfect on her.
“So tomorrow or Monday? Unless you want the big white wedding. In that case, I suppose I could be convinced to wait a month or two, but absolutely no longer than two months.”
“I don’t care about a big wedding.”
“I’ve already had one, and it was a lot of headaches for one day of partying.” I hold her close to me with my chin resting on the top of her head as I watch the sun dip toward the horizon. “You don’t care about the big wedding. I certainly don’t want to go down that road again if you don’t. We really ought to take advantage of this break in the action to take care of business.”
“What about your parents? And your sisters. The kids…”
“This isn’t about them. This is about you and me. We can have a big party later to celebrate. I don’t need anyone else there. Do you?”
“Other than Leah and Aileen, I really don’t have anyone else.”
“You do now, sweetheart. You have me and an entire family that will love and protect you always. You are not alone anymore.”
“This has to be a dream. Nothing this amazing could possibly be real.”
“It’s very real, and I’ve gone from publicly swearing I’d never get married again to needing to be married to you so badly, I can’t bear the idea of waiting even two more days to make you my wife.”
“Flynn… God. This is crazy.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes!” She laughs even as she cries. “It’s a yes.”
I pick her up again and swing her around, making her scream with laughter, which of course makes Fluff bark and snap at my legs. The sound of Natalie’s laughter is the sweetest music I’ve ever heard. I put her down, make sure she’s steady on her feet and withdraw my phone from my pocket. I keep an arm around Natalie as we start back toward the house.
“Well?” Addie says when she answers.
“Green light for ASAP.”
“Flynn… That’s fantastic. Congratulations to both of you. The soonest they could do it was Monday, so I’ll set everything up and call you tomorrow with the details.”
I know she’ll work nonstop to make it happen, but I also know she doesn’t mind. She’s a sucker for romance. “You’re the best, Addie.”
“I know! Congratulations again. I’m so excited for you.”
“Thanks. Me, too.” I stash the phone in my pocket and return my full attention to Natalie. We walk slowly, taking our time returning to the house.
“Are you happy, Nat?”
“I’m so happy. I had no idea it was possible to be this happy.”
“That’s all that matters to me. That’s all that will ever matter.” Before I marry Natalie, though, I need to talk to Hayden and quit the club. I need to deal with the playroom in the basement of my house as well, although I can do that later. It’s under lock and key, so there’s no chance she’ll discover it. There’s no place for the club and what goes on there or the playroom at home in my new life with Natalie.
Chapter 9
We return to the house to find Marlowe sitting on the back deck waiting for us. She jumps up when she sees us coming. “There you are!”
“Hey, Mo.” Flynn greets his close friend and business partner with a kiss. “What’s up?”
“I brought dinner. I’ve been thinking about you guys and wanted to check in to see how you’re doing.”
He pushes his sunglasses to the top of his head. “How’re we doing, Nat?” His eyes dance with the kind of glee I haven’t seen since before my story was made public.
I hold up my left hand so she can see the ring I still can’t believe he just put on my finger.
Marlowe lets out a scream and gets up to hug us both. “Oh my God! Flynn Godfrey is engaged! This is going to be the story of the century!”