Lincoln came into her office after lunch, freshly showered. “Are you going to be here for a bit? I need to run to town. I want to get meat for the new grill,” he grinned.
BB nodded. “I’ll be here. We might have some chicken in the freezer…”
He shook his freshly washed head, grinning. “Nope, won’t do. I need real, red meat.”
Laughing, she accepted his kiss, watching as he leaned over to rub on the dogs before walking out of the room. She might have watched his tight little ass as he left…
Lincoln was back within two hours, loaded down with bags. Louie bounced on his back feet, excited that his new play buddy was back. BB almost cried as Lincoln handed her a big beautiful bunch of fiery-orange lilies. They were so stunning and distinctive. Then he pulled out a box of her favorite chocolates. It wasn’t even the items that got her, it was the fact that he was trying to pamper her the way she’d grown to miss. “I love you,” she whispered, leaning toward him for another kiss.
Louie took that moment of inattention to jump up and snap at them, but the grocery bags were between them. Louie’s sharp teeth snagged one and it ripped open, dropping a container of blueberries to scatter along the floor. BB and Lincoln jerked back with a gasp. “Damn it, Louie…” he growled.
BB went down to her knees, setting the flowers on the floor beside her as she started gathering up the runaway berries. Louie, thinking this was a game too, lunged at her, scrambling them even worse. She tried to shoo him away but, butt wiggling in the air, he harrumphed at her. Lincoln started to move in and Louie, obviously looking for a final chance to be a shit, grabbed the plastic wrapper around the flowers as he spun away.
“No!” BB cried, but the damage was done. As Louie disappeared down the hallway, he left a scattering of very expensive lilies.
“Damn it, dog!” Lincoln growled, lunging after him.
BB dropped back onto her ass, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. Lincoln thumped through the house, chasing the dog, and she shook her head. Wiping tears from her cheeks, she glanced up as he walked in, handful of bruised flowers in his fist. He saw her laughing on the floor and his own face relaxed into laughter. Crossing the kitchen, he knelt in front of her, handing her the lilies. “Not how I expected this to go,” he said with a laugh.
BB took the flowers, trying to straighten them. They would be okay.
“You know,” he said thoughtfully, his eyes brilliant, “I never could have imagined being in this position six months ago. I was lonely as well as alone, and you’ve changed the course of my life completely. I used to live to be a Navy SEAL, now I live to see the way your eyes light up, or the way you love me. I live to hear the little sounds you make when you orgasm.”
She laughed, peeling a mangled leaf from one of the flowers.
“There’s nothing I would change about us,” he continued. “Well, there is one thing,” he said thoughtfully.
BB blinked and looked up at his words, wondering what he meant. Then her eyes caught the glint of silver in the midst of the petals of one of the lilies and she had to gasp. There was a stunning solitaire in a flower shaped, diamond studded setting. Lincoln went to one knee in front of her. “BB, my love, this has been too long in coming and I want to fix it. Will you marry me and make me the proudest man in the world? Though you haven’t been a part of my life long, you are as vital to me as breathing.”
The lingering laughter turned to tears, but BB didn’t even hesitate. She nodded, unable to say anything as she fought for control. Lincoln took the flower and pulled the string holding the ring from the stem, then he held his hands out for hers. Shaking, BB held her hand out, allowing him to slip the ring onto her finger.
“I hope this fits. I called your sister Carolina to guess at your ring size.”
She laughed through her tears. “I’m sure she loved that.”
“Oh, she’s positively busting to tell anyone, but I swore her to secrecy, because I didn’t know when I was going to make it home. This has been at the jeweler for several weeks.”
BB frowned thoughtfully. “You know, she did text me a lot asking me if I’d heard from you.”
Lincoln nodded, looking at her. BB leaned over and kissed him. He wrapped her into his arms and cradled her against him. BB tucked her head under his chin, amazed at the feelings swirling through her. Six months ago, she didn’t even have a dating prospect. Now she was engaged to be married, pregnant and had a military family she never could have imagined. “Are you sure?” she whispered, breathing him in. “This has been so fast.”
Lincoln chuckled. “It’s been fast for you, maybe, but I’ve been stewing over this for the past four months. I had ordered the ring before I left in the hopes that it would be done by Christmas. I never expected to be gone this long. I love you, BB Jones. In case I haven’t been clear, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
She cried because she had to. The emotion inside her was, quite simply, overflowing, and she didn’t know what to do with the excess, so she poured it out over him. Lincoln held her
