Kiss by Kiss (Riggins Brothers 3)

Dad pulls out his guitar, and to my surprise, Stanley does the same. We spend the next hour requesting songs, singing along, and just being together.

“I’m going to get a drink from the cooler. You need anything?” Grant asks me.

“No, thanks.”

He stands and bends to kiss my lips before making his way to the other side of the fire where the cooler is sitting. I watch him as he stops and chats with our fathers for a few minutes. The three of them are wearing matching smiles. My heart is full, and the butterflies are in full swing.

Speaking of butterflies, I have a surprise for Grant later tonight. With the help of his brothers, I found out who did his tattoo and got the same exact one, swapping his name for mine. It’s on my hip, and it hurt like hell. It’s been hard to not wince when he touches me, and thankfully we’ve both been busy this week so that we could take off for this trip. What that means is that no naked time, so hiding it has been easy.

Grant comes back and places his bottle of water on the ground by my chair, and holds his hand out for me. “Let’s take a walk.”

Placing my hand in his, we stroll toward the edge of the mountain. The final remnants of the setting sun are disappearing beyond the horizon. “It’s beautiful here,” I say as Grant wraps his arms around me from behind.

“You’re beautiful.” He kisses the top of my head. “Can you see it? Us spending holidays here. Our kids running and playing with their cousins?”

“I can see it,” I say, turning in his arms. “I have a surprise for you later.”

“Yeah? Does that mean you’re sleeping in my room tonight?”

“That’s where all of my things are.”

He nods. “Good. I wasn’t looking forward to not having you next to me.”

“You know in your arms is my favorite place to be.”

“I’m glad you think that,” he says, pressing a kiss to my lips. Pulling back, he raises his hand in the air, and before I can ask him what he was doing, the song that our fathers were playing changes.

“This is it,” he says.

“Yeah, I love this song.” Scotty McCreery definitely has a hit on his hands with this one.

He takes a step back and drops to one knee. “No, Rory. This is it. This is our moment.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ring box. I watch as his hands tremble, opening the box and pulling the ring from inside.

My hand covers my mouth, and tears are already welling in my eyes. “Grant,” I breathe.

“This is our moment. The one where we decide to spend the rest of our lives loving one another. The one where the dreams of our kids growing up vacationing here with their cousins comes true. My dream of one day calling you my wife and making you an official member of my crazy family.” He pauses, wiping at his eyes. That’s when I realize he’s emotional too. “Aurora Steele, will you make my dreams come true? Will to me the incredible honor of being my wife? Will you marry me?”

“Yes.”

No hesitation.

No second thoughts.

No fear.

“Yes, I’ll marry you.” I offer him my hand, and he slides the ring that feels way too heavy and is sparkling from the light of the moon and the fire onto my finger.

Behind us, our families cheer and clap, and all I can do is hang onto him. I jump, and he catches me as I lock my legs around his waist. He’s always going to catch me, and I know that deep in my soul. My tears are falling, and my smile can’t be contained as I feel the first set of arms wrap around us. Before I know it, they’re all there, hugging us together, because neither of us are willing to let go.

Not now. Not ever.

“Are you happy?” he asks once it’s just us again.

“Butterflies,” I tell him. “Kiss by Kiss, you brought me back to life.”

“I own all your kisses,” he counters, pressing his lips to mine.