Of course Grady’d left. He wouldn’t want to face the OGs and their wrath.
“Motherfucking scoundrel,” Rachel bit out under her breath.
“Yep,” Greta assented. “You were right all those years, girls. I spoiled him.”
“Don’t worry. This… declaring you incompetent is not going to happen,” Rachel stated.
“Damn right it’s not going to happen,” came from the house.
That voice… Rachel looked in that direction. “Connor!”
The three grandmas yelped and stood up while Connor dropped his army bag to the grass and walked over to them.
Greta hugged her grandson with tears in her eyes. “Connor, my boy. Why didn’t you tell us you were coming back to the US? How long are you staying this time?”
“I’m staying for good, Grandma.”
Their screams of happiness must have been heard all over town.
Rachel and Adrian entered the reception at the inn, hand in hand. This was the first official event they had taken part in, but Alden had gotten used to seeing them together this past month, so they weren’t raising brows anymore—or at least not as much.
He didn’t care. He couldn’t remember when he’d been this happy, this relaxed. Having her by his side made him complete. He’d even started liking Alden—go figure.
They followed the music to the backyard, which was lit up and full of people, some dancing, some sitting and mingling. All of them having a great time. It looked like champagne had been flowing freely for a while already, because everyone was extremely animated. Correction: all but one. And it was toward that one that Rachel was headed.
“This is Connor,” she told Adrian after kissing the brooding man. “Connor, this is Adrian.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Sheriff,” Connor said, shaking hands with Adrian.
“Good or bad?” he ventured, fearing the answer.
“What do you think? You arrested the OGs, locked them in a cell when they were wearing only bathrobes, and conspired with the judge to get them community service.”
Well, said like that—and by a man who looked like Connor—it was bad. “Didn’t you say he didn’t read the group chat?” Adrian asked Rachel.
“I had time to catch up,” Conner answered. Then he smiled. “I was also told Rachel loves you, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and like you. After all, the OGs like you too.”
Adrian was ecstatic—not about Connor liking him, which was a good thing, but about Rachel loving him. She’d told him so many times already, and it always caught him by surprise. When she told other people? Something swelled so big in his chest that breathing was difficult.
“Thanks,” Adrian said. “It’s good you’re here. Rachel and Mike were drowning.”
Connor laughed softly. “I noticed it when I read the messages. Don’t worry. I’ll be pulling my weight now.”
Rachel, never one to have problems expressing her feelings, hugged him. “We missed you, Con. And not only because of the OGs’ shenanigans.”
“I missed you too. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom.”
They watched as he walked inside. “He doesn’t seem comfortable surrounded by people,” Adrian said. “What did he do in the military?”
“Not sure,” she answered. “He never speaks about it. He was always on classified deployments.”
Yeah, Connor didn’t look like the desk type. More like the special ops type.
“He’s surprised all of us by leaving the military,” she continued. “He hasn’t given any explanations. He just said it was time. Oh look, the OGs.”
The grannies were sitting around a table. The second they saw Rachel, they waved. She waved back and was heading that way when Adrian grabbed her and brought her to the dance floor.
“Adrian!”
“Sorry,” he mouthed to the OGs, who just laughed. Then he kissed her. “I don’t want to share you tonight. You look gorgeous.” She had on a black gown she’d bought while shopping with Kyra in Boston. It was sexy and low-cut and Rachel looked like a million bucks in it. So much so that the first time he’d seen her wearing it, the dress had ended up bunched around her waist as he fucked her against the wall.
She looked stunning all dressed up, true, but to Adrian, she looked equally stunning in sweatpants and flip-flops, or wearing only cotton undies, or just plain naked in his bed. There wasn’t a look that his woman couldn’t rock and leave him breathless.
She giggled, melting into his embrace. “Please. We spend most of our time together.”
She hadn’t slept at Wilma’s since XL moved to Mike’s apartment; Adrian had seen to it. Most of her things were still at her grandmother’s, but Adrian would see to that too. Before the end of the summer, all her stuff would be at Adrian’s.
Which reminded him: “Close your eyes, love.” He’d thought about doing this later, while they were alone, but frankly, he couldn’t wait.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why?”
“Obey.”
Miracle of all miracles, she did. He took the velvet box from his jacket and, opening it, went down on one knee. “Now.”
The music had stopped. Everyone was looking at them. He couldn’t hear anything but the roaring of blood in his ears. Rachel opened her eyes wide and looked at the ring for the longest time, saying nothing.
Crap, he should have done this later. At home.
“You… hmm… don’t like it?” Feeling awkward, he got up. “I had the ring made into a necklace because I know with your work at the garage, you can’t wear rings. I want you to have my ring with you always, so I thought this was a perfect solution. If you don’t like it—”
Rachel threw herself at him, and the whole room exploded in cheers. Again, he couldn’t hear much. He put the necklace on her, the diamond ring dangling in the hollow of her collarbone. “With all the suspense, I forgot the question.”
She laughed and hugged him. “Yes, I’ll marry you. That was the question, right? Or did I read it wrong? Was it Alfred?”
He kissed her, laughing, unable to peel his hands from her. “No Alfred. You got it right.”
“Good.”
The music resumed, and they continued dancing. “I guess now that this place has opened, we’ve missed our chance to have sex in the swimming pool,” she whispered.
He broke into laughter. “I’m afraid so.”
“Plenty of interesting spots around here, Boomer.” One would have thought after moving in together, their tendency to fuck in risky locations would have stopped, but it hadn’t.
He kissed her long and deep. “That’s my grease babe.”
The OGs watched as Adrian and Rachel danced and laughed and kissed, his ring around her neck.
“We’re going to have another wedding, girls,” Greta said, visibly excited. Like the rest of people at the party, the OGs had held their breath as Adrian proposed and cheered when Rachel accepted.
Wilma nodded. “She did manage to pull out that stick up his ass.”
“That she did, even if he hasn’t returned our tasers or the air gun,” Rebecca added.