Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
He gave her a ‘what now’ look.
“I’d like to tell you I’ll kill you if you hurt her,” Maven brushed an invisible piece of lint off Gable’s shoulder. “But you’ve already proven that you’ll come back for her no matter what.”
Gable winked. “I’ll make her happy, Maven.”
She nodded. “See that you do. Or else.”
Maven left, leaving Gable and I alone.
“Athena.”
I looked at Gable, my eyes taking in his chest tube, the bullet holes in his chest, and the beard that was getting perilously close to his collar bone, before finally gaining the courage to look into his eyes.
“Will you marry me?” he asked. “It might be a while before I can get on my knee. And I want you to say it now.”
I brushed some of the hair off his forehead before saying, “You didn’t even have to ask. It was a done deal.”
He snorted. “Athena.”
I leaned forward, pressing my lips to his. “Yeah?”
“I’m going to say this, and don’t take it the wrong way,” he murmured.
I pulled back, heart pounding.
“Yeah?”
“You stink. You should really go home and take a shower.”
I threw my head back and laughed.
He was right.
I did stink.
I didn’t go home to take a shower, though.
I took one in the bathroom made for kids, squatting down the entire time so I could fit under the shower head.
When I got back out, a nurse was there with a tub and a couple of rags.
“Your turn,” my eyes gleamed.
Make coffee. Not war.
—Gable to Athena
GABLE
Seven and a half weeks later
“Hey there, partner.” I caught Cam up in my arms, snuggling him into my chest and causing him to giggle.
His little knee hit me where I’d been shot, but the pain didn’t show.
Thank God.
I was tired of being in pain.
It was not something I ever wanted to experience again.
“Quaid,” I called out. “You have a loose one.”
Quaid came out of the house with a frown on his face. “I thought you were with your mother?”
Cam giggled, and Quaid caught him up in his arms.
I straightened my bowtie and jacket, then once again turned to stare at the door.
“Patience is a virtue.”
I looked over at Garrett. “Patience is hard to come by when you’ve been waiting for seven weeks to have se…”
“Don’t you dare,” my mother hissed.
I smiled.
“Born again virgin,” Garrett whispered.
Upon the marriage proposal, Athena had thoroughly enjoyed torturing me with her body.
For two weeks, I’d gotten sponge baths from her.
When I got home, still the sex didn’t come.
It was only after I begged like a desperate man that she said, “I want to wait until we’re married.”
I reluctantly agreed to the asinine request, and today was the day.
The day I married the woman I loved.
And fucked the hell out of her.
The song started, and I couldn’t help the chuckle that burst from my lips.
When Maven had asked Athena what song she’d wanted to walk down the aisle to, ignoring the request to be done for the day, Athena had responded with the first song she could think of.
“Great Balls of Fire.”
And of course, that was what Maven put on as Athena stepped from my parents’ back door.
Athena was laughing as she walked toward me.
A vision in white.
The dress she was wearing was tight and strapless with a train that trailed four feet behind her.
I could tell without looking that she was barefoot—Athena detested heels, and only wore them on rare occasions.
Her makeup was subtle and her hair was in a low updo at the base of her neck.
Her engagement ring flashed in the harsh overhead light.
Today, I’d add a wedding band to that engagement ring—something else she’d never take off.
She didn’t have anyone to walk her down the aisle.
Garrett and my father had offered, but she’d given them a sad smile and said, “But I won’t be alone. They’re with me.”
On one wrist, she had a bracelet that Gavrel had worn. And on the other hand, she had her father’s dog tags dangling.
She was right.
She wasn’t alone.
When she finally got to me, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her.
“You’re supposed to wait for the preacher to say you can kiss me,” she teased.
I scoffed.
“Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Garrett teased under his breath.
Athena giggled. “I do.”
“Then I pronounce you husband and wife,” Garrett pronounced. “You may kiss the bride.”
“What about him?” Athena stepped farther into me. “Are you not going to ask him?”
“Nah,” Garrett said. “We already know his answer.”
Damn right they did.
“No talking shop at my wedding,” Athena muttered as she came up to me and wrapped her arms around my middle.
“I’m not,” I lied.
We totally were.
The last two months had been spent trying to find the man who had put the hit out on my brother—the same man who had gotten me shot.
“Liar, liar, pants on fire,” she said as she moved so that her back was to my front.