“You’re catching on.” He pulls me into him.
“I’m sorry I got you into this mess.” I rest my hands on his chest.
“I’m not. This is what brought you into my life. I’ll forever be grateful for that.” My heart melts at his words. My tears escape. “Don’t cry. You know that kills me.” He reaches his hand up to wipe my tears away.
“They’re happy tears, War. I came here because I was so lost. I needed something. I thought revenge would heal me, but I was wrong. You healed me.”
“I told you. I’ll always take care of you.”
I stand on my tiptoes to kiss him. “How much was the life insurance policy worth?” Curiosity gets the best of me.
“Ten million.” My mouth falls open. “Not that you need it.” I’m guessing he means because I’ll never want for anything as long as he has a say in it.
“Put it in a trust or something for our children. You want a whole football team, after all.” He lifts me off my feet.
“I love you so damn much.” I don’t know how I got so lucky. Fate brought me to him when I needed him the most.
“I love you too. Now take me home so we can work on that football team.” I don’t have to ask him twice.
I know I’ll always be a bad girl. War’s punishments are too tempting for me not to be. Only now he owns every part of me. I’m his bad girl.
Epilogue
Warren
“It’s gonna hail, sweetheart. You need to sit that sweet ass down and make plans for tomorrow when the weather’s better.”
“Dottie has a new puppy and needs some sleep.”
“Dottie wouldn’t be able to live with herself if you got into an accident on the way to her house.” I sign the last title document and shove it into my briefcase for work on Monday.
Leila peeks out the window. “It’s only a little cloudy. If I leave now, I could beat the hail back.”
“No.”
“You’re being difficult.” She screws up her pretty nose. “What if Dottie and I meet halfway at a park?”
“Why can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
Leila lets out a frustrated sigh. “I’m bored. The kids are gone to summer camp and I thought I would enjoy this time alone, but I have too much time on my hands.” She splays her fingers wide. “I should be doing something.”
“Something should not include danger.” I lean back in my chair and run my eyes over her curvy frame. It’s been nearly twenty years, but she’s still beautiful, still sexy as hell. Her hips are rounder after the two kids, but they emphasize her small waist. The sunlight filters through her golden strands like fairy dust. The angels set one of their own amongst us, and I got lucky enough to capture her heart.
“If you wanted someone who just sat home all the time, you should’ve married someone else.”
She turns and tries to flounce from the room, but I grab her waist and drag her down on my lap. “You trying to leave me? That’s not allowed.”
“I can if I want.” She juts her chin out.
“You’re sounding kinda bratty, Leila. You know what happens to little bratty girls, don’t you?” I push my thumb under her chin.
She pulls her head away from my touch. “I’m not five, War. You can’t punish me for having my own thoughts.”
“I can if they’re wrong-headed. We both know that if I wasn’t going to marry you, I’d be single this very moment. I don’t want anyone else. I won’t ever want anyone else. That said, you do need to keep this pretty ass right in this house.”
“Or else what? You’re going to lock me up? You and what army?”
“Just me, darling. It’s always just me.” I move quickly, widening my legs so she loses her balance and then, as she reaches to steady herself, using her momentum to flip her over on her stomach.
“Are you going to spank me?” She tries to sound outraged, but the tremor of desire is clearly audible in her voice.
“I’m only doing what you’ve been asking for—maybe not in so many words, but by your actions.”
I jerk down her pants just enough so that her butt cheeks show. I wait for her safe word—zucchini—which is ridiculous but also something she’d never say during sex which is why it’s safe.
“Don’t you dare hit me,” she says while wiggling her ass in front of my nose.
“You’ve been giving me a lot of lip, saying that you’re going to leave me.”
“I never said I was leaving you,” she protests and wiggles again, desperate for my touch. “I said you should’ve married someone else.”
No mention of vegetables. I bring my hand down sharply. She yelps in surprise.
“I can say what I want.” Her body tenses, anticipating the next strike, but I don’t give in. Instead, I draw my hand along her strong thighs and pause at the soft skin behind her knees. “Did you hear me?”