Hot Protector(87)

Chase worried she’d be sad, but she was excited. Life was full of new possibilities, and she was embracing them.

Evie cut her gaze to the men. “Double D’s the only one left.”

Sophie looked over to where Dex Davidson stood with Chase and Emily’s husband, Flash. He was a handsome guy—they all were, really—and apparently he was the only one with no girlfriend.

“Maybe he’s gay,” Emily said, and Georgie snorted.

“Girl, warn a body before you say something like that!”

Olivia handed her a napkin to clean up the spray from her soda. “If he’s gay, it’s a waste for our team.”

“He’s not gay,” Sophie said, and they all looked at her. She could feel her face reddening. “I mean, I don’t think he’s gay. He seemed interested in me when we first met, though Chase put a stop to that pretty quickly.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen him flirting with waitresses,” Grace said. “I don’t think he’s gay either.”

“We need to find him a girl,” Lucky said. “He’s the only one who shows up to our gatherings alone now.”

“All right, ladies, who do we know that’s single?” Evie asked. They started to talk but then grew quiet as the men broke up their conversation and moved toward them.

“Hey, baby, how you doing?” Chase sidled up to her and put an arm around her.

Sophie leaned into him. “Great, honey. How about you?”

“Never better.”

The door opened then and Matt Girard walked in. He’d been outside, running an errand for her. When she saw him, he tipped his chin at her. She smiled and took Chase’s hand. The others exchanged looks between them.

“You got a minute, babe?” she asked.

Chase’s brows drew together. “Sure. What’s up?”

“Come on.”

She led him toward the door and then outside while the rest of the team gathered around them. In the parking lot, the guys she’d been told were SEALs stood in a row, blocking what she wanted Chase to see. She turned to him.

“I told you I’d fix everything I broke, Chase,” she said, and his eyes gleamed as he caught her close.

“You already fixed everything, baby. You fixed me.”

Her heart thumped when he said stuff like that. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

She turned to the guys, and they parted like she was Moses and they were the Red Sea. Behind them, a shiny midnight-blue Corvette with a white stripe sat on the pavement, looking badass and, well, shiny.

Her heart hammered as she waited for Chase’s reaction.

“It’s a C3 model, like yours,” she said.

He’d had his pulled out of the brush, but it was trashed pretty badly. And since it was made of fiberglass, it took more time and money to repair than the worth of the car.

“Holy shit,” Chase breathed. “Sophie, what did you do?”

She shrugged, happy and embarrassed. Around them, his teammates and their women grinned huge grins.

“I said I’d buy you a new one. Well, it’s technically not new, but it’s a good one. I had Matt check it out for me, and I did a deal with the guy.”

She had enough money in the bank to buy a new one, but since she wasn’t going to take money from her mother and Tyler anymore, she felt like saving it for her and Chase was the right thing to do while they built a life together. Chase had agreed, which was why he looked so surprised now.

Matt walked over with the keys and held them up. Chase took them, and she breathed a little easier. But he still hadn’t said much.

Then he turned to her, his eyes shining with so much love it hurt. He picked her up, even as she squeaked, and spun her in a circle.

“You are amazing, Sophie Nash. Marry me, because I’m never letting you go.”

Sophie’s eyes filled with tears. “Marry you? We don’t even know if we can live together without killing each other yet.”

“Yeah, I know—but say yes now and then one day, when it’s right, we’ll do it.”

Sophie sucked in a breath. And then she threw her head back and laughed. He was crazy, but she loved his brand of crazy. Because it was all for her.

“Yes, Chase. Absolutely, yes.”

He put her down and kissed her hard. Then he led her to the car and opened the door for her. When she was settled, he kissed her again, then went around and got in the driver’s seat.

The car roared to life and Chase shook his head at the throaty growl. “Damn, that’s enough to make a man get a hard-on.” He smiled at her, his eyes crinkling. “You ready to go for a ride?”

“With you, always.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much the way I feel too.” He leaned over and kissed her. “This is the second-best present you ever gave me.”