Now, this I wasn’t expecting.
“Keep talking.”
“I have no desire to do the long-distance relationship thing with you, Starla. I’ll be here, working the job, and you’ll be . . . where? All over the world. And I won’t know if you’re safe. The guys you’ve had working for you are incompetent at best. I can protect you better than anyone else. And be with you in the process.”
I nod, considering it. I would absolutely feel better if Levi were in charge of my safety.
“So, how would we do this?” I ask. “You’d be with me as my employee?”
He licks his lips and leans in to kiss my cheek. “I’d be with you as your confidant.” Kisses my nose. “As your lover.” Kisses my chin. “As your friend.”
He kisses my lips now, long and slow. We haven’t been intimate since I was shot, and I miss him so much it hurts.
But when I reach for him, he pulls back far enough to look into my eyes.
“And I’d be with you as your husband, if you’ll have me.”
The breath leaves my lungs. “What?”
He reaches into the bedside table and comes back with a gorgeous, simple diamond ring.
“Marry me, sweetheart. And not just because I need to protect you, but because I need you. Your love, your humor, your light. You make me a better man in a million little ways, Starla, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you. I want a life with you. Whether that life is here in Seattle, in Montana, or on the road three hundred days a year, I don’t care, as long as I’m with you.”
I cup his cheek and smile into his sweet brown eyes. “You are the greatest man I’ve ever known in my life, Levi Crawford, and it would be my honor to be your wife.”
He slides the ring on my finger and kisses the breath out of me.
“I guess I’ll be changing my name again,” I say as I stare at the beautiful ring.
“What do you mean?”
“Starla Crawford.”
“But you’re just Starla.”
“If people know what’s good for them, they’ll call me Mrs. Crawford.”
He laughs and kisses my hand, just above the ring.
“You’re such a diva, darling.”
“No, I’m territorial.”