is not in our vocabulary,” he
said.
“Only because you
haven’t learned.”
“I wouldn’t know
where to begin,” he admitted, shaking his head.
She offered him a
warm smile as she looped her arms around his neck. “I can help you
— you start at the beginning. Start with, ‘I’m sorry’ and work your
way up from there.”
He liked the
feeling of her arms around him. “And what happens if it doesn’t work? Me and my
brothers…we have a lot of hard feelings to work through. And now there’s you.
My brothers still want you.” He tightened his grip around her waist. “And
unlike my twin brothers, I don’t like to share.”
Her grin
brightened and he thought he might drown in that beautiful smile. “Good thing
for you, I’ve decided one Buchanan is plenty.”
“Yeah?” He arched
his brow. “And which one is that?”
“You, you big
idiot. I want you.”
And suddenly, that
awful tightness in his chest dissipated like mist on the wind and he realized,
he’d been holding onto all the wrong stuff. This silly, yet sweet and drop-dead
gorgeous woman had shown him in the most shockingly simple way that life didn’t
have to be about conquests and annihilations and she gave him permission to
forgive himself and his brothers for their individual parts in Isabel’s death. It
was all too much to absorb in one sitting and he spiraled into some kind of
wonderful delirium as the first tender shoots of hope kindled in his heart. Maybe
Penny was right. Forgiveness was the answer to his salvation, not revenge. “I
want kids,” he blurted out and her eyes widened. “Lots of them. And I want to
marry you. Right now. Before you change your mind and realize that you’re
getting the worst end of the deal.”
She stared. “Did
you just ask me to marry you?”
Holy hell…yes. He
nodded, suddenly scared. “Will you marry me? Please say yes.”
Her eyes suddenly
glistened at the vulnerable quality of his voice and she nodded, pulling
herself deeper into his arms, shuddering as tears broke free. He held her tight
and wondered by what stroke of luck he’d managed to land the most amazing woman
in the world but he wasn’t going to question his good fortune — not
this time.
He’d spent half
his life paying for one prideful moment, now he would spend the second half of
his life, earning the privilege of loving a woman as amazing as his lovely, beautifully
curved Penny. He grinned suggestively down at her and said as he cupped her
generous, sweet ass, “Now about that shower…”
Epilogue
“I thought for
your wedding gift, we could have our previous contract with Penny framed,”
Nolan joked with Dillon as they enjoyed an after-dinner sherry together while
the girls were off spending gobs of money on bridal doo-dads, the likes of
which none of the Buchanan men wanted to know a thing about. Dillon shot Nolan
a dark look and he laughed. “No? I don’t know, it’s what brought you two
together. Some might consider that romantic.”
“Only an idiot
would consider that romantic,” Dillon countered with good humor. Three short
months ago, he’d wanted to destroy his brothers and anything they’d held dear.
Now they were laughing and giving each other a hard time as they had as boys
— and it felt good. It felt damn good.
Vince and Nolan
had since found nice, respectable young women to date and both were going to
stand beside Dillon at the wedding ceremony. Dillon had wanted a quick wedding
but Penny had wanted something a bit more…well, just more in general. And
because he’d do anything to see her smile, he’d caved quite naturally. Except,
time wasn’t exactly on their side.
“So, when do you
think Penny will start to show?” Vince asked.
“Just about the
time we come back from our honeymoon. And if I find you staring at her tits,
I’ll knock you the fuck out,” he warned Vince.
“No worries, big
brother. I have plenty to keep me interested at night. Besides, I don’t see
Penny that