The bell rang again, and she spun toward it with the same puff of anticipation that came with each knock. Though Blake had told her he couldn’t make it for Christmas, she couldn’t resist the hope he’d be the next person through the door.
Cole and his mother stood outside.
“Come in.” She kissed their cheeks and pulled them inside. “Merry Christmas.”
She couldn’t stop herself from stealing a peek beyond them at Cole’s empty car. Unfortunately, there were no federal agents waiting to surprise her on Christmas. A twinge of sadness tugged her heart.
She took their coats and offered them a drink, then went to collapse on the couch.
“Marissa?” Kara called from the porch. She knocked on the window and pressed her nose to the glass, mittens cupped around her face to peer inside.
Marissa laughed. “What are you doing?” She headed for the door shaking her head. Kara had done the same thing all her life, mostly when she was in trouble and needed Marissa’s help to sneak past their parents. Considering Kara was now twenty-one and resided under her own roof, Marissa couldn’t imagine what Kara was up to. “Goof.” She opened the front door and stumbled back one big step.
Blake stood at the threshold, a small blue box in his hand. “Merry Christmas.” He looked taller and broader and more handsome than she remembered. Three weeks had been far too long. His brown leather coat and jeans were speckled with melting snow, and the smile on his lips just begged for a kiss.
Kara bobbed into view. “Should we sneak him upstairs like the other boys? For old times’ sake?”
Blake shot Kara a look. “I’m going to need a list of those boys’ names.”
“Me, too,” Mr. Lane called from behind Marissa.
She twisted to find the crowded home had fallen silent. All eyes were on her and the man before her. She turned back in a flash, grabbing Blake’s hands and towing him out of the cold. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“It’s Christmas. Where else would I be?” Blake watched her silently with an expression she couldn’t name.
Kara and West followed him inside and closed the door.
Marissa couldn’t fight the smile on her lips. “You said you couldn’t make it home for Christmas.”
Blake’s cheeks darkened. “I can’t. Technically. I have to be somewhere first thing in the morning.”
“You came all the way back for one night?” Marissa blushed at the thoughts of what they could accomplish in those precious few hours, and she wished more than ever that the nosy crowd would go back to minding its own business instead of hanging on her every word. “You didn’t have to do that.” It was just too much. “You don’t need to zigzag the country to keep me happy.” She’d known exactly what she was getting into when she’d fallen in love with Federal Agent Blake Garrett.
“I know. I’m here because I couldn’t stay away.” He took her left hand in his right. “I had to fly home tonight because I couldn’t go another day without asking you something.”
A hush rolled through the room as Blake lowered onto his knee and lifted the tiny blue box in Marissa’s direction.
She startled. “Yes.” Was this a proposal? “Yes.”
“Wait.” Blake chuckled. “I’m not finished.”
“Hurry.” Her eyes filled with tears and she covered her mouth to laugh.
The room giggled softly beside her.
Blake pinned her with glossy blue eyes. “I know this probably seems soon, and I haven’t been around as much as I’d like to,” he began. “I wish I could tell you that second part will change, but I can’t. What I can tell you is that I’ve never loved or admired anyone the way I do you. You astound and impress me every day with your strength, your bravery and your heart for this world and everything in it. I can’t promise to be here as much as other husbands, but if you’ll let me, I will vow to love, honor and protect you every day of your life. I’ll rock climb, parasail, scuba dive, or any other crazy thing you want. As long as I can do it with you.”
Marissa’s heart caught on that blessed word, husband. Blake Garrett wanted her to be his wife. She lowered to her knees and wrapped her arms around the man she loved more than all the things on Earth combined.
“Marry me?” he asked.
She pulled back enough to press her lips to his and was instantly folded into his arms. He deepened the kiss and she doubled his efforts.
Kara cleared her throat obnoxiously. “Excuse me.”
A round of giggles pulled Marissa from another perfect kiss. The only sort Blake seemed to deliver.
He pressed his forehead to hers, creating a private space for them.
“We’re waiting for an answer,” someone called. “We came for the answer.”
Marissa’s jaw dropped, and the massive impromptu party suddenly made much more sense. “You planned this?”
“Yeah.” Blake’s forehead rocked against hers. “How’d I do?”
“Amazing,” she whispered.
“Marry me?” he asked again, snaking his arms tighter around her waist and dragging her impossibly closer. “Don’t make me beg in front of all these people.”
“Yes.” She nodded and smiled, then moved her mouth to his ear. “I will never resent you for your absence in my days or your dedication to this job. I love that you want to save the world, and I can’t wait to explore it at your side.”
“Yes?” Blake asked.
“Yes,” she repeated. “Yes, to all of it. Except scuba diving. No more of that. Ever.”
Somewhere nearby, a champagne cork popped, and Blake’s dad cheered.
The crowd broke into applause as Blake lifted a fist in victory and kissed her once more. Exactly as he would for as long as they both should live.
* * * * *
Look for the next book in Julie Anne Lindsey’s PROTECTORS OF CADE COUNTY miniseries, THE SHERIFF’S SECRET, available next month!
SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
Tucker Cahill returns to Gilt Edge, Montana, with no choice but to face down his haunted past
