She smiled when she felt his hand slip under her shirt. “Which you knock down or ignore.”
“Which I love to knock down because you don’t need any barriers from me, Naya. I won’t hurt you.”
“We’ll argue.”
“Yes,” he told her softly. “We’ll argue because you are a strong, intelligent woman with opinions of your own.”
“And you’re an arrogant, obnoxious man who is brilliant and sexy and wonderful,” she said, ending with a breathless voice since he shifted against her and she could feel how her words were affecting him.
“We’re engaged, Naya,” he told her, and kissed her so that she couldn’t argue. A moment later, he carried her into her bedroom and had his wicked way with her, making sure she couldn’t argue about being engaged, or anything else, for a long time.
Epilogue
“You are being a pain in the butt, Luke!” she told him, her teeth grinding together as she glared up at him.
“And you’re just being stubborn!” he came right back. “You know I’m right!”
She shook her head, her heart pounding in her chest with both fear and fury. “I’m not!”
He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his massive chest. “If you’re so sure, then find out! Prove me wrong.”
Naya shook her head. “No. I know I’m right. You’ll just have to accept my answer.”
Luke realized she was terrified more than angry, and that terror was causing her to dig her heels in.
He switched tactics.
They were standing in the kitchen of their house, the huge windows looking out over Puget Sound. Yesterday was their third anniversary and it had been the most incredible three years of his life. “You know I love you, right?” he started off.
Naya pulled back, instantly wary of this new tone of voice. “We’re fighting. Don’t change the subject.”
He laughed and she ground her teeth with frustration.
“We have a difference of opinion about how to answer the question. This isn’t an argument.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re trying to steamroll me, Luke.”
He shook his head and moved closer to her, careful not to move too quickly, because she would bolt. After three years of marriage, he knew how she worked. She didn’t like to argue with him, so she walked away when she was angry, not wanting to say anything to hurt his feelings.
When she had calmed down, only then would she approach him to talk about whatever was bothering her.
Damn, he loved this woman! He loved her more every day. She was smart, ambitious, sexy, and…hopefully….
“I need a cup of coffee,” he announced.
Naya blinked at his statement. Then swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Coffee?” she asked, her voice weak and her hands dropping from the stubborn stance she’d been trying to maintain. Instead, they dangled around her hips and she tried very hard to keep them from fluttering around her stomach. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working. Just the thought of coffee, the smell, made her sick.
“Don’t…” she begged, backing up from the kitchen, a room she loved. It was big and airy, and was often filled with laughter and good-hearted arguments. Sometimes between herself and Luke, and sometimes with all of his brothers when they came over with their families for a cookout or game days. She loved every moment, all of it. She loved listening to the four enormous men taunt each other and she loved standing off to the side with their wives as the four of them looked on, wagering on what would happen next. The past three years had been the happiest of her life!
Now, he wanted to change that!
He knew what he was doing to her! The rat! He knew it and he wasn’t backing down!
“Take the test, or I’m brewing French roast.”
She gasped, her face paling with the threat. “You wouldn’t!”
“I would,” he returned immediately.
He would! She knew that he would. Her shoulders sagged in defeat. “I can’t.”
Luke saw the fear and moved over to her. Normally, he would simply toss her over his shoulder and carry her off to their bedroom to make love to her. Or he might just lay her out on the kitchen table and make love to her there. He wasn’t particular about where. In fact, just about every room in their house had seen their passion in one way or another.