Hidden Betrayal, page 24
She fought to keep the tears at bay, to push back on the emotions as she always did. But, like at the cabin, something about him broke past her barriers. Tears clogged her throat. “No.” Her throat felt ragged. “I can’t love you. It will kill me.”
He swept a thumb across her cheek, wiping away tears. “Too late. You already love me.”
She shook her head vigorously. “You could have died trying to save me. Three times. Donny could have killed you in that cabin. And Hector nearly did kill you.”
She gave a mighty sniffle, then reached past Linc for a paper towel. She pressed it into her eyes.
Finally, she drew in a deep breath, the paper towel clenched in her fist. The kettle whistled and Linc reached over to shut off the flame. He turned back to her, his big hands framing her face.
“Sweetheart.” His expression had her gulping air. “There are no guarantees. Your father died protecting you. I know that has made you guard your heart extra tight. My dad left me, but in a different way. There are risks with my profession, but honestly? Most of the time, my job is pretty mundane.”
“It doesn’t seem mundane.”
He grinned. “You caught me at a busy time.”
She set aside the crumpled towel, raising a hand to his chest when he leaned forward. If he kissed her, she was sunk.
“I’m a coward, I know that. But I don’t think I’d survive if anything happened to you.”
“That’s bullshit about you being a coward. But more importantly, why wouldn’t you survive if anything happened to me?”
She stared at him, heart hammering, knowing what he was asking.
“I need the words too, Mikayla. Once I know for sure, we can take care of anything that comes our way.”
She sighed, unable to deny the truth. Since he’d walked in the door, her house had lost the feeling of emptiness. He was her home, her heart.
Looking into his eyes, she pushed back on the fear so she could free herself for something better. She placed her hands on either side of his face. Taking a steadying breath, she said, “I love you, Lincoln Jameson. I am completely, totally, helplessly in love with you.”
Light filled his eyes, and he leaned forward to capture her lips with his. Heat and emotions swelled, sweeping them together in a maelstrom of sensation. His tongue slid into her mouth, hot and potent.
Where moments before her hands had been pushing him back, now she gripped his shirt to pull him closer. The kiss spun out, and he took his time, like he was savoring a feast.
Finally freeing her lips, he shifted to nibble on the soft skin on the underside of her jaw, hands caressing her side, thumbs rubbing against her breasts. She breathed in his warm scent, shifting to run her lips along the column of his throat. When she reached the strong muscle above his collarbone, she bit softly, and when he groaned, she stroked the sensitive spot with her tongue.
He pulled her tight against him, his hard length nestled firm against her belly. Warm, open-mouthed kisses to the sensitive skin beneath her ear had her turning her head to give him better access.
“Is there a bed around here someplace?”
She shivered. “Uh-huh.” Her brain was so addled she could hardly form a coherent thought.
He hitched her up and she tightened her legs around his waist.
His sharply sucked-in breath made her remember his injury. “Sorry. Sorry. I forgot.”
He dropped her on the counter and tipped his head onto her shoulder as he breathed through the pain. “I’m fine, it only hurts when I pick up my girl.”
She rubbed his back. “You sure you’re up for this?”
Humor replaced the pain in his eyes. “In more ways than one.”
She scooted off the counter, rubbing against him until her toes touched the floor. She gripped his hand. “Follow me. All you’ll have to do is sit back and enjoy yourself.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
***
Forty minutes later, satiated and lying on his back with Mikayla snuggled against his uninjured side, Linc didn’t think he’d ever felt more content. He ran his fingers lightly up and down the smooth skin of her naked back, then brushed back a curl of auburn hair from her cheek.
Her hand lazily raked through his chest hair, staying away from the bandaged wound. Her brows lowered slightly, and he rubbed the furrow between them with the pad of his thumb. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
Her shoulder hitched in a shrug. “WITSEC. I know I’ll have to do it. I only hope the trial is over quickly.”
“You won’t need to go into WITSEC.”
She lifted her head abruptly, eyes wide. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. Both Hector and Donny are taking a plea bargain. In exchange for lighter sentences, they’ll give up whatever they have about the cartel in general, and Paco Zecena in particular.”
“Sheesh, there really is no honor among thieves.”
“None whatsoever.”
“I thought the marshals were concerned there might be other cartel members, loyal cartel members, who would try to get to me before I can testify.”
He traced a finger down the side of her face, suddenly nervous. “While remote at this point, it’s still a possibility. But I, ah, convinced them you’d be safe. With me.”
“With you? What do you mean with you?”
“I mean, you’d be safe if you moved in with me. Or I moved in with you.”
“So basically WITSEC, but in my own home, or yours. And with my own personal marshal?”
“Kind of, but not exactly.”
“How not exactly?”
“Hang on a second.” Before he lost his nerve, he got out of bed to fish the small box out of his jeans pocket, then pulled on the jeans because damned if he was going to do this buck naked.
“Look, I know we haven’t talked about this, and it might be too soon.” He stood looking at her. She’d rolled onto her back, auburn hair a tumble around her head, eyes a deep dark green. His breath backed up in his throat.
This was what he wanted. She was what he wanted. He wasn’t going to stumble around about it.
“Marry me.”
She jerked upright, bringing the sheet up to cover her breasts. “Linc.”
If she was going to look at him like he’d proposed hijacking a plane and flying to Cuba, he might as well go all in. He opened the box, stared at the contents for a long moment, then handed it to her. “Here.”
Donny pulling a gun on him hadn’t scared him this much.
Her mouth formed a perfect O as she studied the ring.
“You said you didn’t like diamonds, so I thought you might like an emerald. This one matches your eyes. But if you don’t like it, we can take it back. To Las Vegas. I stopped on my way here, figured if any city would have a jewelry store open on a Sunday, it would be Vegas.”
His gut clenched into a tight knot when she handed the box back to him. He stared at the box in his hand.
“Right. So that’s a no.”
Could he have fucked it up any worse? He should have been patient. Taken her out to a fancy dinner, given her some romance. If the dead fiancé had been able to put together a proposal on a harbor cruise on New Year’s Eve, Linc should have at least attempted to do something special. Something to show how much he loved her. Instead, he’d acted like an idiot, practically throwing the box at her.
“Yes.”
He jerked his head up. Sitting on the edge of the bed with the sheet wrapped around her, she held out her left hand.
“Yes?”
“My answer is yes, Linc. I will marry you.” She fluttered her fingers. “You have to put the ring on my finger.”
His heart felt like it would burst out of his chest, and he couldn’t help what he was sure was a stupid grin from splitting his face.
The ring felt warm in his hand as he slipped it onto the fourth finger of her left hand. When it slid home, he lifted his gaze to find her blinking rapidly against tearing eyes. Dropping to one knee in front of her, he lifted her palm to his lips, closing his eyes when she tilted her head over his, encircling his neck with her other hand.
After a long moment, he lifted his head, his gaze seeking hers. “I did it all wrong. I love you, and I should have proposed in a way that shows how much I love you.”
She laid a finger across his lips. “You were perfect, Linc. The ring is perfect. You’re what I want.”
He vowed then and there to show her every day how much he loved her.
They lay back on the pillows, nose to nose. He brought her ring finger up to his lips and kissed her knuckle above the emerald.
He pulled her closer, and when she snuggled into his arms, for the first time ever, he felt like he had found his home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
National Readers’ Choice Award winner for her novel, Solitary Man, Diane Benefiel has been an avid reader all her life. She enjoys a wide range of genres, from westerns to fantasy to mysteries, but romance has always been a favorite. She writes what she loves best to read – emotional, heart-gripping romantic suspense novels. She likes writing romantic suspense because she can put the hero and heroine in all sorts of predicaments that they have to work together to overcome.
A native Southern Californian, Diane enjoys nothing better than summer. For a high school history teacher, summer means a break from teenagers, and summer allows her to spend her early mornings immersed in her current writing project. With both kids living out of the house, in addition to writing, she enjoys camping and gardening with her husband.
Diane loves hearing from her readers.
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Diane Benefiel, Hidden Betrayal
