“Oh my God! I didn’t tell you!” I gave him all the details of Posy’s last-minute change to carrying a bouquet of candy while Champ absolutely shook with laughter.

“Somewhere in the world, a flock of coral emus is extremely pissed off that they went to all that effort for nothing,” he gasped, his breath warm against my neck.

I hugged him tighter and laughed along with him because when I held him in my arms, a tension I hadn’t known I’d been carrying all week slid away.

Everything was simply better when he was there.

“So, Posy’s happily married for now,” I said once our laughter subsided. “Part of me thinks I should start thinking up ideas for her next wedding, but…”

“But?”

“I dunno.” I shrugged. “I’m thinking… maybe this one will last.”

Champ pulled back far enough to grin down at me. “You’re becoming a romantic finally?”

“Maybe,” I allowed. “A little. Oh, and speaking of romantic. What if you and I take a romantic getaway in November? If I can plan a week with no brides, can you plan a week with no jobs? I mean, we’ve already been fake-engaged, right? And we’ve attended ten weddings this year, even if we haven’t done the vows,” I teased. “I feel like we deserve a honeymoon.”

Champ froze against me, and his eyes went wide.

“Problem? If not November, we could—”

“No! What? No. November sounds great.” He pushed himself off me and rolled to the side of the bed. “I just forgot Hercules.”

It had been a long while since I’d heard Champ say those words, and I almost made a smart-ass comment… But I realized I’d forgotten the poor mutt too, so I quickly sat up.

“Shoot. Poor boy. Let me clean up, and we can take him for a walk.” I began cleaning myself with some wipes from the nightstand.

“No! Noooo. Nope. Not necessary. I walked him already, and he was eating when I came up here,” Champ said. He was already pulling his pants on, dressing nearly as quickly as he’d undressed. “You, uh… You just stay here.”

I paused with a pair of shorts in my hand and peered across the bed at him. “But if you already fed and walked him, what’s the hurry?”

“No hurry. I just have a…”

He paused at the sound of four happy feet running up the stairs, and his eyes widened in panic as Herc bounded in the room and up onto the bed.

“Aw, see?” I grabbed his sweet, fluffy head with both hands and ruffled his fur. “Here’s my good, patient boy. He—”

I broke off instantly when my hands slipped over the place where Herc’s collar should have been and instead found a wide, red satin ribbon that had been threaded through a shiny platinum band studded with diamonds.

I cut my eyes to Champ. “I don’t… I, uh…” I cleared my throat. “What?”

Champ shut his eyes briefly, shook his head once, and sighed. “I had a plan.” Then his eyes popped open, and he grinned at me, wide and warm. “But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that my plan didn’t quite work out, should I? That’s par for the course now.”

I gaped at him. I had zero words. None. For maybe the first time in my whole existence.

He made his way around the big bed without breaking eye contact, like he worried I might bolt. He reached out his two hands for mine.

“Quinn Taffet, when I met you, I had a decent life. A house. A dog.” He nodded at Hercules. “My own business. A solid team of men and women behind me.”

I swallowed hard, and my breathing accelerated.

Champ cradled my jaw in both his large hands. “But even though I had all of those things, I wasn’t happy. Somewhere along the way, my priorities had gotten out of whack. I didn’t appreciate any of the things I had. But you…” He ran his thumb over my cheek. “You came along, and you were…”

Champ broke off and shook his head.

I waited a second, but when it seemed he wasn’t going to speak, I prompted, “I was…?”

He snorted. “You were feisty. And funny. And totally unwilling to settle for less than you deserved. You threw my careful life into chaos. You drove me insane. You made me re-evaluate every priority. You made me happier than I’d ever thought I could be.”

“Oh.” I sniffled just a little, because… wow.

Was there anything better than hearing the person who was the center of your world tell you that you were the center of his? There couldn’t possibly be.

“So. My plan was to ask you to marry me. To be a family with me and Herc. To be my fiancé for real this time.” Champ pulled the bow off Herc’s neck and slid the ring free, then held it out to me. “Maybe we can have a ceremony and a honeymoon by November, since we’ve already established that taking a whole year to plan is for slackers.” He grinned. “We can do it however you want. Elegant at my mother’s country club in Nashville, some kind of Shakespearean-costumed extravaganza here in the Thicket. Whatever kind of wedding you’ve always dreamed of. Tell me what you want, and I’ll provide the glitter piñatas. If you’re happy, I’m happy. Just say you’ll—”

Tags: Lucy Lennox Licking Thicket - Horn of Glory Romance
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