“Not even for me?”
He met my eyes, and I saw how hard it would be for him to actually say it. “I love you. You know I do.”
“But not enough.”
“Don’t say it like that.”
Sighing, I toppled forward onto him again, fitting myself against his body as tightly as possible. “I love you too. But I don’t know if I can live like this…I’ll be constantly worried about your safety, wondering if today’s the day your luck will run out.” I snaked my arms behind his lower back and ran my palms along his solid muscles.
His arms locked around me, and he brought his lips to my head as he squeezed me close. “Don’t give up on me. Please.”
I didn’t want to. Bridget said love was work, and I was willing to work hard at loving him. And I’d never felt as cherished as I did lying there in Joey’s arms—I knew he loved me too. But the fear that he could be taken from me at any moment on any average day was enough to give me pause. “Are you still going to work for Sam Scarfone?”
Joey’s body stiffened. “I don’t want to. But I have to tread carefully. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Angelo today, but he’s gonna be looking for me. If he goes to Sam—”
My eyes flew open. “I thought you said he wouldn’t!”
“I said I didn’t see how it would do him any good—but I don’t put anything past anyone, and you shouldn’t either.”
Biting my lip, I kept rubbing Joey’s back. Between Sam, Angelo, and Enzo, there were going to be a whole hell of a lot of gangsters unhappy with us. “And after that? Are you still going to Chicago?”
“I was planning on it. But that was before.”
“Before what?”
He kissed my head again. “Before I got your note.”
I couldn’t help smiling at the memory of that. “I’ll never forget the look on your face when you turned around.”
“I’ll bet it was something else.”
“It was.”
I felt him swallow. “Come with me. To Chicago.”
“I thought you said you wouldn’t ask me again,” I teased, but my heart was pounding.
“This is different. That was a stupid thing to do that night. I should have told you how I felt but I was mad and jealous and I didn’t know what to do. But now I do.”
“You do?”
“Yes.” He took me by the shoulders and held me away from away from him slightly. “Marry me, Tiny.”
My jaw fell open. “What?”
“Marry me. I love you, and I want us to live together.”
I stared at him with wide eyes. His hair was wet and disheveled, and his jaw was shadowed with whiskers, but his eyes were serious and I saw no sign of a teasing smile on his lips. But still, this was Joey. “Is this a joke?”
That brought a smile. “No! I’m serious. I’ve never been more serious. Will you marry me? Please?”
“Oh my God, Joey.” All I could do was stare at him in disbelief. He was proposing to me? In the tub?
He shimmied my shoulders lightly. “You’re starting to make me nervous here. I’ve asked three times now.”
“I’m sorry, I’m just so surprised—I never imagined—I mean, I love you, but—”
“But what? You think that will change?”