Throne of Scars (Lost Kings MC 20)

“No! I love it. It’s exactly what I would’ve chosen if I knew something this pretty existed.” I tear my gaze away from the ring and meet his concerned eyes. “Really, I love it.” Forget the ring. “You really want to get married? To me?”

He glances around as if he might have misplaced his patience. “You see anyone else here carrying my kid?”

Of course. I’m having his baby. “Gray, we don’t have to—”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” he warns. “You said yes.”

I swallow my words and nod. “Wait a second, what are we doing here? Where are we?”

“Do you like the house?”

“I love it.”

“It’s about half an hour from the downstate clubhouse. Rooster’s place isn’t too far from here. About ninety minutes from upstate’s clubhouse. I thought it would be a good location. Although, if you end up taking that job in Union, it’s a good forty-five minutes away. Might be an annoying commute.”

I blink while I try to do all that travel math. “And?”

“I put in an offer on the house. But I’ve got three days to get out of it if you don’t want to live here.”

“What?” I jump out of my seat and scurry backward until the whole house comes into view. “How can…what are you talking about?”

Gray follows and grabs my arm to steady me. “Do you like it?”

“Like it? I love it. The room with all the windows.” I wave my hand toward the downstairs room with the great light and all the shelves, “And the,” I flap my other hand toward the little turret that I’m sure is the room above the bedroom. “Rapunzel room.”

Gray seems to understand my wild train of thought. “Yeah, the second I saw the room on the first floor, I thought it would be perfect for you to film your videos. You can make a great backdrop with those shelves.”

“You want to buy a house based on my side-hustle?”

He frowns. “That’s not the only reason.” He pulls me closer and leans down, nuzzling against my neck. “The bedroom is big enough to keep a crib in for the first few months, so little Lincoln can be close to us. And you can make yourself a library up there when you need an escape.”

“What about you? You’ve put all this thought into rooms that I’d like. What about what you want?”

“I want my wife to be happy.”

“I’m serious.”

He sighs and stares at the house. “I always wanted a fireplace like the one in the living room, but what I really want these days is to be outside as much as possible.” He tilts his head. “Besides, you still haven’t seen the garage, buttercup.”

I thought he meant the two-car garage attached to the house, but he means the matching building a couple hundred feet away from the house. He leads me to the backyard’s gate and onto the paved driveway. “Three garage bays? We don’t have that many vehicles.”

“Not yet.” He opens the side door and flips on a light. Pieces of an old Ford Mustang are in stages of reconstruction in one of the bays. Steel drawers and cabinets seem to be overflowing with tools. “I don’t think all the tools are staying. Shame, he’s got a nice collection. I’ll have enough room here to get back into welding and do some other stuff.”

“Is that what you did…before?” Why didn’t I know that?

“Yup. Made a decent living at it, too.”

I walk to the middle of the garage and spin in a slow circle. It’s so big, it almost has a warehouse quality to it. “This seems like the perfect place for us. Like it was made for Grayson and Serena.”

“I thought so. That’s why I jumped on it as soon as I saw it.” He steps up behind me and settles his hands on my hips. “But I want you to love it too.”

“I do. I really do.” I hesitate, knowing he won’t like my next question. “But can we afford this? I don’t have any savings to help with a down payment and the mortgage—”

“I have it covered.”

“Gray, I can’t—”

“Didn’t you just say yes to being my wife?”

“Yes.”

“Then trust me to take care of you.”

I can’t help opening my mouth to protest again. “You shouldn’t bear all the responsibility—”

He silences me with a finger against my lips. “Use your money to decorate your studio the way you want.”

“That’s it?”

“You’re going to be plenty busy in a few short months.”

I glance at the house again. “Can we be all moved in by the time the baby comes? I’d love to be able to set up a nursery and—”

“That’s my plan.” He nods to the disassembled car. “As you can see, they’re already partially moved out. They want a quick closing too. Nasty divorce or something.”

I hate the idea of benefiting from someone else’s unhappiness. “You think that’s bad luck?”