“Devil must be building an igloo.”
“Must be.” Maybe he wasn’t ready to stop blaming himself for his parents’ deaths yet, but damn, it felt good to know that Reece had never blamed him. And maybe, just maybe, his brothers had a point about Libby. He stood. “You know this doesn’t mean I’m going to stop annoying you every chance I get.”
“This doesn’t mean I’m going to stop being annoyed,” Reece said.
Jude didn’t know who moved first, but in the next instant, they stood together in a tight, backslapping embrace.
Reece pulled away and clasped Jude’s face in his hands, gave him an affectionate slap on the cheek like their father used to do. “Now go get your lady, bro.”
…
Jude hit the parking lot at a run, car keys in hand. For once, he didn’t mind that he was following an order given by Reece. He felt lighter somehow and damn if he wasn’t going to do everything in his power to get Libby back. He could admit now that he missed her. That he still—
And there she was. Hurrying across the parking lot of the mostly abandoned strip mall where Greer had set up the Wilde Security office, her eyes shielded against the glare of the setting evening sun by her hand.
He skidded to a halt in surprise. “Libby.”
She stopped walking a good ten feet from him. She wasn’t wearing her glasses, but he remembered she once told him they fogged up in muggy weather like this so she only wore them indoors. Knowing such a little, unimportant detail about her thrilled him. He wanted more. He wanted everything.
Libby bit down on her lower lip, fiddled with the top button of her silky blouse. “Hi.”
“Hi,” he said back. Okay, lame response but his brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders. “What are you doing here?” And, yeah, that wasn’t any better. He winced and hoped she didn’t take offense to that question.
She took several steps closer, but stopped still too far out of his reach. “I know why you cheated on me eight years ago.”
“Yeah, well, I told you why back in Key West.”
She shook her head. “I know the real reason. Dad threatened you.”
Jude’s heart started to pound a painful drumbeat against his ribs. Stupid reaction. Just because she now knew the truth didn’t mean squat as far as their relationship went. “He told you?”
“He did,” she confirmed and took another step closer. “He also told me about that woman, how she was a fellow Marine. You’re not a cheater. Never have been.”
Jude shut his eyes and savored those words, ones he never thought she’d say or even know. When he opened his eyes again, she stood directly in front of him, less than an arm length away.
“Let me hear you say it, Jude.”
He moistened his lips. “Say what?”
“You know.” She stepped into him and pressed her cheek to his chest. “Dad was only trying to protect me in his own way, but he robbed us of eight years together. Please don’t make me wait a second longer.”
His arms wrapped around her, pulling her tight against his body. “I love you, Libby.”
She sniffled, and when she raised her head, tears streamed from her eyes. “I love you, too. I never stopped.”
“Neither did I.” Intent on doing it right this time, he dropped to one knee right there in the parking lot and dipped his hand in his pocket for the ring he’d carried for too many years. He held it out to her, his nerves rattling until he saw her sharp intake of breath as she recognized it. Then everything in him settled into a sense of rightness.
“Libby, will you honeymoon in Key West with me?”
She sank to her knees in front of him and stared at the ring with wonder. “You kept it.”
“I’ve never been without it.”
The tiny diamond sparked in the evening sun. She reached out, but hesitated as if touching it would destroy the perfection of the moment. He wanted to tell her nothing could, but instead grasped her hand and slid the ring into its rightful spot on her finger.
“I love you,” he told her because he had eight years to make up for and only a lifetime in which to do it—not nearly enough time. “I want to marry you. Most of my adult life, all I’ve wanted was to marry you, start a family with you, live in domestic bliss with you until we’re both old and crazy.”
“You’re already crazy.”
“Depends on your definition.” He grinned, and for the first time in a long time, his smile didn’t hide any secret pain. “Is that a yes?”
Libby leaned forward and wound her arms around his neck. “It’s definitely a yes.”
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my fellow SHUer, Cody Langille, for sharing his experiences in Key West.
Thanks to my awesome editor, Heather Howland, for keeping me sane through this whirlwind.
And, Sue Winegardner, what would have I done without you on this one? Thanks for keeping me honest. You’re an amazing fount of military-related information.
Finally, my family. Thanks for being patient with me.