Hammer's Fall (The Breakers' Bad Boys)(63)

That made this moment even more important.

Confusion filled Kalista as he shut the front door and locked it before dragging her with him through the kitchen, into the mudroom and out the side door. Two exuberant little pit bull puppies ran up to greet them as soon as they stepped out in to the yard.

“Ranger!” Kali cried as she fell to her knees and hugged the little gray dog. Her laughter filled the air as he licked her face, and she looked up to find Jared sitting next to her on the ground, holding a pretty brindle puppy. Ranger ran over to Jared and he picked up the puppy, stroking his fur as the little female dog came over to Kalista with her tag wagging.

Kalista picked up the puppy and looked around the yard in disbelief. Where a few days ago there had just been open land, Jared had built a sturdy wooden fence enclosing a large area. In the far back was a small child-sized pool and an agility course that included a teeter board, an open round tunnel, a jump bar, an agility A-frame, and a raised dog walk for the puppies to play on.

“How…?”

“This is what I was doing yesterday, and Hunter brought the little ones over early this morning.” He nodded his head to the puppy in her lap. “I thought Ranger needed a friend and that little girl seemed smitten with him, so I thought we should adopt them both. That is Tinkerbell.”

She burst out laughing. “You got a fairy to keep Ranger company?”

“It seemed fitting,” he said with a grin, then a serious expression settled over his face as he fiddled with Ranger’s collar. “Go to Mommy,” he ordered as he set the dog back onto the ground.

Dutifully, Ranger ran back over to Kali, and she smiled as she reached out to pet him. Her hand froze mid-air and it started shaking when she saw the ribbon attached to Ranger’s collar that had been tied into a pretty bow. The puppy sat there patiently with his tongue hanging out as if he were waiting for her response.

“Go on,” Jared encouraged. “Happy Valentine’s Day, baby.”

With both hands shaking, Kalista reached out and pulled the ribbon to undo it. The most beautiful ring she had ever seen fell into her hand, and she lost her breath as she looked down at it. It was a large princess-cut diamond with smaller stones surrounding it in an antique looking setting. The ring was something that she would have picked out herself, which made it even more special. The puppies seemed to lose interest in the humans because they ran across the yard and started an impromptu game of tag, but Kalista couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from the ring to see where they went.

Hammer moved closer to her until he was sitting right in front of her, with their knees touching lightly. His heart was pounding so loud it sounded like a drum beat in his ears, and he vaguely felt like he wanted to throw up. Courage, he told himself.

Just say the words and don’t fuck this up…

“I love you, Kali. I want you with me, always. Be mine. Spend a lifetime being my Valentine. Help me build a family with Ranger and Tink. Marry me.”

Kali looked up and his heart dropped when he saw the tears streaming from her eyes. “What about the job offer from the CFL?”

Hammer let out a soft curse. “You heard about that? I was going to tell you about it later. I said no, Kali. I may go out of town occasionally since I agreed to announce at the championship fights, but my life is here, with you if you’ll have me. I want to build a life together.” He paused, then let out a frustrated growl when she simply stared at him with wide eyes. “Say something! Damn it, you love me, woman!”

She nodded slowly. “I really do.”

His face paled as she held out the ring to him, then he felt his heart burst with joy as she held her left hand out for him to put the ring on. “I love you, Jared. Of course I’ll marry you,” she whispered tearfully.

He slid the ring onto her finger and felt a wave of possessive pride sweep through him at seeing his ring on her finger. He yanked her into his arms and held on tight, loving how well she fit against him. Here was everything he ever wanted, and he almost couldn’t believe she said yes and really belonged to him now. Feeling emotions well into his own eyes, he buried his face into the crook of her neck and breathed in her sweet scent.

“God, I love you, my sweet little fairy. I’m going to make you so damn happy.”

“You already do,” she said as she pulled back to cup his face. They stared into each other’s eyes as she laid her lips onto his and let herself sink into him. His hand gripped the back of her neck as he took her to the ground with him so he was half on top of her. Taking the kiss deeper, his tongue stroked against hers, showing her what she meant to him without words.