I track the movement of her hand up and down the dog’s side. She may be annoyed at her failed seduction attempts, but snuggling up with her and the pooch is my second favorite thing to do in this bed.
This…this is what I want to come home to every time I return from a mission.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Tink.” I drop the gentlest of kisses to the stitches keeping the bullet wound closed.
So close…I came so close to losing her, and it still keeps me up at night. The guilt and the blame also manage to creep up on me, but whenever they do, Maddey is there to put me back in my place.
Justin is a whole other issue, but I trust their squad to bring him around in my absence.
“Well if you won’t give me the D, can we at least do something fun today?”
Remember how I said she was a model patient? Yeah, well that shit stopped once the medical professionals were no longer in charge of her care. If it weren’t for my mom and Babs forcing her to sit her ass down and let others take care of her, Maddey would have ripped her stitches open within twenty-four hours of being home.
“Of course, Tink. I have big plans for us today.” Bigger than you’ll guess.
“Really?” The hopeful lilt to her voice has me chuckling, but the way she grinds against me suggestively has it breaking off into a groan.
“Not those kind of plans.” I grip her hip to still her efforts at tempting me into fucking her when we’re supposed to be behaving. “I’m going to spend the day kicking your ass in Mario Kart, babe.”
Her sudden bark of laughter has Trident lifting his head to see what he missed, and the jingle of his collar reminds me what my real plans are.
“I think your refusal to fuck me has your semen backing up and causing you brain damage, Hook, because if anyone is kicking anyone’s ass in Mario Kart, it’s me.”
This is true. Even with an injured wing, she and Princess Peach still dominate the tracks.
Neither of us move, preferring to laze it up in bed. With my job, I won’t have as many of these mornings as I would like, so I need to make the most of each one I can get.
I continue to place a path of kisses down her neck and along the top of her back, reveling in every shiver my stubble elicits.
Trident flops his head back, giving me a look that says Are you gonna get on with it already? If it were possible, I would swear he was biologically Maddey’s, because damn, the dog is as much of a ballbuster as she is.
“I think someone is feeling neglected.” I gesture to Mr. Impatient.
“It’s because he agrees with his mommy that you’re being a fun-sucker.” Maddey scratches behind his ear, turning Trident into a pile of doggy goo.
Thankfully, my wingman is smart enough to flop his head around sufficiently to have her hand falling to his collar. Like she always does, Maddey hooks her fingers under the Pluto-printed Kevlar.
With our bodies pressed together, I feel as well as hear her suck in a breath.
“Dex?” She always drops the Hook whenever she’s startled.
“Yeah, Tink?” I feign nonchalance while internally shaking in my skivvies. My entire future hinges on how this moment plays out.
With a small hiss of pain, Maddey pushes up to sit, patting her lap for Trident to drop his head into it.
As her delicate fingers work to separate the tags from the string tied alongside them, I move to follow, peering over her shoulder.
“Dex?” She unties the string. “What is this?” The ring is pinched between her fingers as she holds it out to me.
“It’s the ring my dad proposed with.” Those icy eyes lock onto me as I take the simple round diamond ring from her.
“This was Peggy’s?”
I run a thumb around the thin halo of diamonds surrounding the center stone. It’s not the most elaborate of rings, but Maddey is a hopeless romantic. The sentimentality gives value to it in a way additional carats couldn’t.
With a nod, I slide off the bed and drop to a knee. She likes when I talk Disney to her, and well, I’m about to Disney it up in here.
“Madison Belle McClain…you have been my happiest place on earth for as long as I can remember.”
“Why did I never think of that as a euphemism for my vagina before?” She smacks a hand to her forehead. “I’m so disappointed in myself.”
I arch a brow and barely manage to hold back an eye roll.
“Do you think maybe you can refrain from being a smartass until after I get through my proposal?”
“You’re proposing?” She feigns shock with a hand to her chest. She’s all baby blue eyes and flashing dimples, and fuck me if I don’t want to strangle and kiss her at the same time.
You sure you want to spend the rest of your life with her?
You’re goddamn right I do.
I had to go and fall in love with a McClain.
Sensing I need the backup because his mom has never made things easy for me in life, Trident jumps down to join me. Sitting his butt next to my bent knee, he holds a paw out like he’s the one asking for Maddey’s hand in marriage. He gives me a look that says I got you. Let’s do this. I’m buying him the biggest damn bone possible.
“Anyway…” I wait to see if she will interrupt again before continuing. “You and me, Tink, we’re a tale as old as time. I always knew you were a girl worth fighting for.” I run a finger over the slight scar by her elbow where bullies caused her to bleed years ago, a nod to the moment she told me was when she first thought she fell in love with me.
“It may have taken me until a few years later to have my This is love moment, but you always had hope that one day your prince would come—even if you tried to be all I won’t say I’m in love when I first tried being part of your world.”
With each princess I tick off on my list, the light in her eyes continues to grow.
“So what do you say, Tink?” I place the ring in front of her finger. “Why don’t you let me explore this whole new world with you and marry me?”
Tears fall from her eyes, and she gives me a watery smile.
My heart is in my throat as I wait for her answer. Trident, less patient than me, smacks our joined hands with a paw.
“You approve of Hook as a dad, bud?”
Why am I not surprised she’s deferring to the dog?
Woof! Woof!
Yup, definitely buying him the biggest bone at the store.
“Come on, baby. Say yes. Be my forever happy thought.”
Epilogue 2
Because I’m a person who’s easily distracted by shiny objects, the gorgeous ring on my finger is not something I’ll be able to wear when writing.
It’s so pretty.
If you decide you don’t like it, can I have it? Asking for a friend.
You do realize we aren’t actually real so you can’t “wear” it, right?
Semantics.
“Did you know you’ve been doing that for close to an hour?” Dex braces his elbows on the arm of my favorite reading chair, where I’m currently wiggling my fingers to make the light dance in rainbow prisms.
Dragging my gaze from my engagement ring, I turn to look at my fiancé—eep, oh my god I still can’t believe it—and give him a dreamy smile.