“Are you kidding me?” Cade pulled the dishes out of her hands and turned her to face him. “Kylie, I love you. I love you more and more each day.”
Her smile was soft, rueful. “I know. Just old insecurities popping up.” She’d been gaining a lot of confidence by being with Cade, but seeing Daphne tonight had made certain things rise to the surface. “She was so happy tonight.”
“She is happy, and I’m happy for her,” Cade agreed, holding Kylie against him. “But I can’t imagine dating Daphne now. Old Daphne or New Daphne, she doesn’t hold a candle to Kylie. And Kylie’s the one I love with all my heart.”
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tugged him down for a kiss. “I love you, too, babe.”
They kissed for a long moment, and then he broke it with a chuckle, pulling away. “You know, I was going to give you this tomorrow when we met for lunch, but it seems appropriate now.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny pale blue box.
Tiffany’s.
Kylie’s eyes went wide. “W-what?”
“Now I suppose I have to call off the marching band that’s due to appear tomorrow,” he said. Since she wasn’t moving, he popped open the box and showed Kylie the new ring. Big. Sparkly. Ornate. Huge diamond, oval cut. “Marry me again? For real this time? Not Vegas, but a real, honest-to-goodness ceremony?”
Kylie’s squeal of happiness was all the response he got.
“I take it that’s a yes?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” Kylie said, covering his face with kisses. “A hundred thousand times yes.”
Cade’s smile was brilliant. “You know I’d marry you over and over again, Kylie Daniels?”
She knew. Oh, she knew. It was in every touch, every glance, every caress. And as she flung her arms around his neck again and dragged him to the floor for a spontaneous round of lovemaking, she felt silly for ever pushing him away.
A burden was never a burden as long as there was love. And she loved Cade so much that she’d have followed him anywhere, done anything for him. Because that, she’d realized at some point, was love. It wasn’t fear. Wasn’t regret.
It was pure happiness.
It was Cade Archer, her husband.