Page 79 of Dare to Love
“I stood in the pawnshop and decided right then to go to you, so we could figure out what to do together. But when I walked out, my father was there, demanding the cash, and you know the rest.”
Yeah. He knew. “Riley, you have to know you’re worth everything to me. You make me a better man. And I’m so damned sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me afterward.”
Her eyes filled, and his heart squeezed tightly. He hated causing her any kind of pain.
“You’re here now.”
“And I’m not going anywhere ever.” He’d been without her, and he wasn’t going back to that empty place again. “Which reminds me. The reason I called you in here in the first place. Scoot over.”
She slid off him, and he headed to his desk, coming back with two boxes. He handed her the long one first.
She opened it and squealed with delight. “My necklace!”
“I called the police and managed to convince them to return it to me after your father pleaded guilty.”
“The district attorney called me to approve the deal.”
“You’re okay with the five years?”
She nodded. “As long as he’s behind bars and I get a restraining order when he gets out, I’m okay.”
Ian wouldn’t let the man anywhere near her, but it was a discussion for far in the future.
He was more interested in focusing on the present. He lifted the necklace, and she raised her hair so he could replace it on her neck, where it belonged.
“I had the clasp fixed, and they cleaned it too.”
She turned and kissed him. “Thank you.” She touched the pendant. “I feel like you’re always with me when I wear it.”
“Then I hope you’ll feel the same way about its mate.”
She narrowed her gaze, wrinkling her nose in curiosity as he handed her the small box. “Ian?” she asked, her voice trembling.
He understood because his insides were a quaking mess.
Her hands shook as she lifted the top off the box, revealing the match to the pendant in ring form. A pear-shaped diamond that was too big, he knew, but he didn’t care.
Corny as it was, he dropped to one knee. “Marry me,” he said as she stared openmouthed at the ring.
“Was that a question or a demand?” she asked, half laughing, half crying.
He grinned. “Still working on that part of me.”
She met his gaze, her expression solemn. “I don’t want to change you completely. I just need—”
He grasped her wrist. “I know what you need, and I want to be the one to give it to you.”
“Tell me that includes you keeping control in the bedroom, because there are places I really don’t mind you taking over.”
“Is that a yes to my proposal?” he asked, his heart still hammering hard in his chest.
She wriggled her fingers in front of him. “Yes. Yes!”
He slid the ring onto her finger, grateful his sister had guessed her finger size correctly.
He rose and settled back on the couch, pulling her into his arms.
She sighed and snuggled close.