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“I see . . .” she said numbly, feeling like her world was about to come crashing in on her for the second time this week. Oh, God, what was she going to do? She couldn’t lose him. Not again . . .
“So I was umm . . . wondering . . . would you like to be Mrs. Michael Fisher?”
Huh? Who? Rya
The smile he gave her would have made her swoon if she wasn’t already sitting down. Aiden turned to face her, slipped off the bed, then knelt on one knee. Forget the gallop—her heart was doing the forty-yard dash. Her breath caught in her throat when he took both of her hands in his and looked into her eyes . . .
Oh, my God! He’s going to propose!
“Rya
Wait. What? Fake wife? Was he serious? Rya
“And then, when this is all over, I was kinda thinking you could be my real wife.”
He bit his lip, trying to hold back his smile as he waited for her answer, but failed. That ass . . . He was teasing her! And then she realized, Oh, my God, he is proposing! For real!
His grin began to falter. “All right, Rya
“Yes!” she blurted out. “Yes, I’ll marry you! And I’ll be your fake wife and we’ll have a fake dog and a fake house! It’s going to be the fresh start I was hoping for!” She threw herself into his arms and he caught her before tumbling back, landing on the floor.
He chuckled at her excitement and then rolled her beneath him, pi
Aiden captured her mouth in a soul-searing kiss . . . a kiss that branded him inside her heart from this day forward, until death do they part.
EPILOGUE
Rya
When the wave Aiden was riding expired, she watched him take a dive headfirst into the ocean, and giggled. He was such a kid sometimes. Since he wasn’t fighting, he’d needed another physical challenge and had taken up surfing. He was actually rather good at it. Occasionally, she’d ask him if he missed fighting, missed the CFA. He’d sacrificed so much for her; how could he not miss his friends, or at times yearn for his old life? But he never said anything to make her believe he wasn’t happy or content. If she pressed him, he’d most often shrug noncommittally and tell her it was only temporary, and as long as they were together, that was all that really mattered. Maybe when this was all over he’d return to MMA.
When Aiden resurfaced, Tucker, their “real” Chesapeake Bay retriever, thought Aiden’s splash meant surf time was over. The dog gave an excited woof and charged into the water after him.
She watched the two roughhouse in the breaking waves, smiling in utter contentment. She never dreamed life could be this good, this peaceful . . . As Aiden trudged out of the ocean, his board shorts sitting low on his waist, revealing those narrow hips and sculpted abs, she thought he looked like a water god. Sun shimmered on the droplets clinging to his sun-kissed skin. As he started up the beach, he shook his head, sending a spray of salty water everywhere.
Tucker followed suit, sending his dog spray all over Aiden. She laughed at the look on his face. He must have heard her, because he shot her a think that’s fu
He pulled a red rubber ball from his pocket and Tucker went wild, ru
“That oughtta keep him occupied for a while.”
Aiden climbed the stairs, giving her a totally drool-worthy show of hard-bodied, gorgeous male. “You know you love that dog,” she teased, bridging the distance from her lips to the cup.
“Not a fraction of how much I love you.”
He bent and brushed his lips over hers. Mmm . . . she loved the taste of his briny kiss when he came out of the water. The scent of the ocean air clinging to his skin . . .
“How are you feeling?” he asked, placing his hand over her belly and then kissing her again before she could respond. This time his lips lingered, tongue teasing the seam of hers until she granted him entrance and was rewarded with a kiss that sent shivers of delight into every nerve ending in her body. His hand slowly glided up, capturing the heavy weight of her sensitive breast through the thin cotton of his Superman T-shirt. She wore a pair of red matching panties that were already damp from the gorgeous show on the beach.
When his thumb teased over her nipple, she moaned, everything more heightened since her pregnancy. She was enjoying her body’s changes, and so was Aiden. “I feel good . . .” she told him, answering his question when his mouth glided down the side of her neck.
A low growl of agreement rumbled in his throat. “You sure do.” He slipped his hand inside her panties and discovered her secret.
“I’ve been watching you.” She whispered the confession, then moaned when he slipped a finger deep inside her. Her core contracted around his offering, but she wanted more, needed more. Her pregnancy hormones were making her appetite for him insatiable, not that Aiden was complaining. It seemed neither one of them could get enough of the other these days.
His wicked, throaty chuckle rumbling against her ear was pure auditory sex. “You like to watch . . .” he teased, playfully nipping the sensitive flesh of her neck as he untied the string of his board shorts.