He walked back out of the bathroom, ignoring the chaos of the room. To Sally, he said, "I'll be right back," and he walked out, holding the empty water bottle by the neck as he made his way to his truck. There, he slipped the bottle into an evidence bag and marked it carefully.
He texted Halley and told her he would pick her up at the entrance. She instantly texted back that she was ready. Driving towards the entrance, he waited and texted Sally, asking her where the girls wanted to go to celebrate, his treat. She instantly texted back that she had a cake back at the house, so he should meet them there in a few minutes. She also warned him to be there and not sneak off with Halley. Mike chuckled as he read the message. Trust Sally to know what was going on.
No, he wouldn't sneak off with her. Not yet. He wanted Halley to meet his family and to get to know them better. But yes, he would eventually pull her away. He wanted to be alone with her, to tell her again how amazing she looked up on that stage. And then he was going to make love to her until she couldn't breathe. Then he was going to propose. No, he wasn't going to propose. He was going to slip the diamond ring he'd bought on her finger and tell her to choose a date. There would be no questions because he wasn't giving her the option to say no.
Not that he thought she would. That look in her eyes before she'd disappeared had told him that she understood what was happening between them. Finally! Damn, the truth was slow in coming with that woman.
He didn't mind. He had years, decades, to teach her how to accept the obvious more quickly in the future.
When her smiling face emerged, he noticed that Sally, Don, and the girls were right there with her. He knew exactly what his sister was doing and he wasn't amused.
Halley jumped into the truck but Sally leaned into the open window. "Okay, so you're coming to my place for cake and ice cream?" she asked, looking to Halley instead of her brother.
"Sally, we'll be there!" he growled and started closing the window. He wanted to drive to a darkened spot and pull Halley into his arms. Just one kiss, he thought silently. "Goodbye!" and he pulled away as soon as his sister was clear of the truck.
"Meddling family," he grumbled and turned right out of the parking lot. It was towards his sister's house, but he drove past her house, just a few blocks down the street. He needed privacy and he needed to hold Halley. Sally would understand.
"You have no idea what a meddling family is like," she told him.
Mike laughed, thinking of all of her brothers and Fleur, her sister, not to mention all of the in-laws. "Yeah, you might have me beat there." He said as he pulled over to a side street, steered to the curb, and put his truck in park. "Come here," he said, about to pull her into his arms but she was already jumping over the console, landing with her cute butt in his lap.
"I thought you'd never ask," she whispered, her hands moving to touch his cheek.
He lifted her higher even as he bent his head to kiss her. And for the first time, she was kissing him back without any hesitation. Damn, she tasted good. And felt good!
"I love you," she whispered, when his lips moved to her neck even while his hands were smoothing over her waist, cupping her breasts.
At her words, he froze, astounded that he hadn't had to tease them out of her. She'd actually said them – willingly? He lifted his head and stared down at her. When she only looked back at him and he felt her body start to tremble ever so slightly, he pulled her closer. "Say it again," he growled.
The anxiousness in her eyes went away and her smile lit up the dark interior of the SUV. "I love you," she said again. "I also realized tonight that you love me too, don't you?"
He sighed and nodded his head. "Yes. I've loved you for so long, Halley DeBron! You're one of the densest women I've ever met."
She pulled back, horrified by his description. "Dense? Did you really just call me dense?" Halley laughed when he nodded, completely unrepentant. "How dare you call me dense!"
"Honey, I've been in lust with you for more than a year now."
"Lust?"
He shrugged. "The love came pretty fast behind that. But you were hard to get to know. Always running away from me."
She laughed at his pained expression, not feeling guilty in the least! "Because you're a horrible tease."
He rolled his eyes. "Honey, you wouldn't let me get close to you. It was the only way I could get any sort of reaction out of you."