“Good.”
“And the man I am is fucking crazy about you. That was obvious to me, right from the start. I didn’t even have a chance.”
I couldn’t help it; I grinned.
“I’ve never doubted that I could love you,” he went on. “The only doubt I ever had was about whether or not I could do my job and be in love with you at the same time.”
“Of course you can,” I said. “You’re doing it right now.”
“Fuck, I love you.”
He leaned in and kissed me. And when he deepened the kiss, I could’ve lost myself in it…
But I pulled away, grinning. “So. Now I know you were once married to a lesbian…”
He groaned.
“Though I suppose that’s off-limits for casual cocktail party conversation?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“But if we do this… maybe we could tell all our friends tonight that we got engaged?” I inquired.
“Yeah. We’ll tell them together.”
“And your uncle… we should call him first thing tomorrow.”
“Yeah.”
“What about your parents?” I’d met Uncle Rob, but I still hadn’t met his mom and dad.
He considered that. “You know, when I got engaged the first time, I told my parents first, thinking they might actually be proud of me.”
“Wrong?”
“My dad said literally nothing except, ‘I’m not paying for any fancy wedding.’ Which was why we ended up eloping. My mom’s exact words, after I told her I’d gone ahead and gotten married, were, ‘I never liked that girl.’ Pretty much the same thing she said when I told her we’d separated.”
“Your parents sound super supportive.”
“They’re not like yours, that’s for sure.”
“Then we could elope? We’ll go somewhere amazing. And we can avoid all the family politics.”
“I would, in a heartbeat,” he said, “but if I start off my marriage to Gunnar Sorensen’s daughter by depriving him of the right to walk her down the aisle, that’s gonna be a major mistake.”
I smiled. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I respect your parents too much to do that to them. We’ll have whatever wedding you want, and we’ll do it right. We’ll invite both our families… for better or worse, right?”
“Right… But you need to know,” I informed him, “if we do this, I want a giant, lavish wedding. Or to elope. It’s one or the other. I don’t do things halfway. Oh my God.” I gasped. “Think about all the parties. Engagement party, bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, the wedding reception…”
He groaned again. “And I want to at least see the budget before you spend a dime.”
“We’ll discuss that.”
He chuckled and I kissed him again.
When he broke the kiss, he murmured, “I wasn’t gonna be your half-assed bodyguard. I’m not gonna be your boyfriend forever. I want to be your husband. Will you marry me, Summer? I don’t do things halfway, and neither do you.”
“Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He got down on one knee again, on the carpet, and slipped the engagement ring onto my finger.
“Well, that looks damn official.” I admired the ring on my hand. It was gorgeous, and extra twinkly because of the happy tears in my eyes. “I’m assuming you won’t mind if I wear this tonight, and squee with the girls and embarrass you?”
“Squee all you want,” he said, his voice gruff with emotion. “I hope you wear it all the time.”
Then he took my dad’s ring out of the box. I held up my third finger on my right hand, where I always wore it, and he slipped it on.
“They look good together,” I said, holding up the rings.
He looked up into my eyes. “They look good on you.” He took my hands and kissed both rings… and my heart fucking swelled.
Yes, I was a daddy’s girl. And it made me ridiculously happy that he both understood and respected that my dad was my hero.
At least… he had been, until Ronan came along.
“You just made my dad really happy, you know.”
“You just made me really happy, Summer Sorensen.”
He looked utterly serious, and I looked him over.
“This is you, happy?” I teased.
“It’s the Christmas sweater,” he said gravely. “It’s overpowering the joy I’m exuding.”
“Then take it off.”
He stripped it off over his head, and I helped him.
“You’re not allowed to fuck up my makeup,” I informed him as he started pushing the layers of organza up my thighs, “but you can rip the panties.”
He growled a little in his throat as he reached under my skirt. He ripped off my panties, glancing at them as he tossed them aside. “Didn’t you just buy those…?”
“Uh-huh,” I breathed, as he started kissing his way up my thigh. I’d bought them today, in fact.
“We’re really gonna have to review your budget…” he murmured against my skin, as he started pulling off my skirt.
“Ugh. You and Brody can both shut up about my budget.”
He dropped my skirt on the floor. “I just want to make sure you have enough money to afford all the tear-off panties you want,” he said innocently.
Okay, that was a budget I could work with.
“Fine,” I sighed, as I helped him strip off my bustier. “You win this one.”
“You know, it really turns me on when you say that.”
I grinned as I undid his jeans… only to discover that he’d snuck on the slutty red underwear I gave him. I laughed with joy.
Then I made love to my fiancé… wearing nothing but my two diamond rings.
Christmas music played downstairs. Snow fell softly outside. I felt completely safe, loved, in Ronan’s arms.
And I knew…
Sometimes, fairytales do come true.
Epilogue
Taylor
“On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love sent to meeee…!”
Oh, yes, indeed. I was happy.
I was so happy, in fact, that I was singing all the way up the stairs to my apartment.
Because so what if my psycho boss had completely screwed me over in the most psycho boss move ever—by coming on to me while he was drunk
