Unfinished Business(74)

She brought her lips to his. Yes, more than yesterday, she realized. For this was richer, deeper, but with all the energy and hope of youth.

“Ask me again,” she whispered. “Please.”

He was having trouble letting her go, even far enough that he could look down into her eyes. “Ask you what?”

“Damn you, Brady.”

His lips were curved as they brushed through her hair. “A few minutes ago, I was mad at you.”

“I know.” Her sigh vibrated with satisfaction. “I could always wrap you around my little finger.”

“Yeah.” He hoped she’d keep doing it for the next fifty or sixty years. “I love you, Van.”

“I love you, too. Now ask me.”

With his hands on her shoulders, he drew her back. “I want to do it right this time. There’s no dim light, no music.”

“We’ll stand in the shade, and I’ll hum.”

“Anxious, aren’t you?” He laughed and gave her another bruising kiss. “I still don’t have a ring.”

“Yes, you do.” She’d come, armed and ready. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a ring with a tiny emerald. She watched Brady’s face change when he saw it, recognized it.

“You kept it,” he murmured before he lifted his gaze to hers. Every emotion he was feeling had suddenly doubled.

“Always.” She set it in the palm of his hand. “It worked before. Why don’t you try it again?”

His hand wasn’t steady. It hadn’t been before. He looked at her. There was a promise in her eyes that spanned more than a decade. And that was absolutely new.

“Will you marry me, Van?”

“Yes.” She laughed and blinked away tears. “Oh, yes.”

He slipped the ring on her finger. It still fit.