She blinks fast looking down like I’ve said something she didn’t expect. My stomach sinks, and I feel like maybe we all got it wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time I was out in left field with her. A spear of pain slices through my stomach, and damn, I don’t want to end this with her yet, not yet.

  Before I can start to backpedal, her pretty eyes meet mine again. “Hana is a real part of my life, a permanent one. How do you feel about that? I’m not her mom, but we’ve never had good parents.”

  My lips part, and shit, I was not expecting her to say that. Of course I knew Hana was a big part of her life, but it never occurred to me she might be as worried about her sister as I am about Pepper.

  Sliding my thumb across her fingers, I lift her hands to my lips, kissing her knuckles. For a moment I study her slim fingers, then I just fucking say it.

  “I love you, Blake.” Lifting my eyes, I’m surprised to see her blinking fast, like she might cry. What the hell? “Is that okay?”

  I start to apologize if I said too much, but she’s nodding before I finish my sentence.

  Sliding out of my seat, I go to where she’s perched on the tall chair and put my arms around her waist. She leans closer, resting her chin on my shoulder, and it’s kind of perfect. The music is loud, and the crowd is having a good time dancing and enjoying the night. But in each other’s arms, it’s just the two of us.

  “Your uncle said something to me the other day, and I get it now.” She lifts her head to meet my eyes. “He said, we all take care of each other. It’s what families do. There are always hazards in life, shit’s always getting fucked up, but you have me, and I have you… and we have Dirk and Hugh and Lurlene and Carmen and hell, we even have Hana and Scar and Pepper.”

  Blake snorts a little laugh through her nose, dropping her chin. “That’s a big group.”

  Reaching out I cup her chin with my finger and lift her face to mine. “Last night you thanked me for helping you, but I’ve always wanted to be your hero, Blake. Even when you hated me, I wanted to be there for you.” I hesitate, and my brow furrows.“You’re my lady.”

  She blinks quickly, her gorgeous face softening with a smile, and she slides her hand over my cheek, leaning closer to speak in my ear. “I love you, Hutch Winston.”

  Damn, if a little earthquake doesn’t move through my chest.

  “Come here.” I lift her off the stool so she’s standing in front of me, her cute head only reaching the center of my chest.

  Lowering to one knee, I look up at her pretty face, watching her eyes go wide.

  “Stop the music!” Carmen’s voice rings through the crowd. “Something about to happen!”

  The jukebox dies–I guess somebody unplugged it–and I notice the tone of the crowd has shifted. People are turning to see what’s happening.

  It’s not really a celebrity event, but most of these people know me pretty well. They call at all hours of the night snitching on each other. It's one of those situations where they’ll all be talking about us tomorrow.

  Reaching into my pocket, I fish out the small pouch, fumbling with the strings holding it closed. The ring is a modest, two-carat, pear-shaped stone with little yellow diamonds around it like a starburst.

  Holding Blake’s hand, I decide I want to kiss it as much as anything, so I do. I press my lips to the top of her knuckles, and before I’m even done, she’s fallen to her knees in front of me, sliding her hand through my hair and pressing her lips to my cheek.

  “Are we really doing this?” she asks, meeting my eyes like she trusts me to know the right answer all the time. God, I hope I never let her down.

  “Yeah, baby.” I show her the ring. “My mom told me to give this ring to the person I’d always be faithful to, to the person I couldn’t live without, to the person I’d love as deeply as my own soul. That person is you, Blake. Will you be my wife?”

  She’s nodding before I even finish my sentence, and I slide the slim band on her finger. “I love you so much. I’d love to be your wife.”

  I kiss her lips, but more than that, I pull her body to mine, wrapping her in my arms as the room explodes with cheering and clapping and the whole damn town acts like it’s the Fourth of July.

  Her arms are around my neck, and I feel her breathing fast. I feel her body shaking like she’s crying, and I just want to hold her. I want to take her home and hold her in my arms all night, kiss her lips, smooth my hands in her hair, and feel her skin against mine.

  “Let’s dance!” she cries instead, hopping to her feet and pulling my hands so hard, I have to laugh.

  So much for my sentimental shit, but we’ve got plenty of time for that.

  “You want to learn to shag?” I’m ready to start our first lesson when Carmen pushes in between us.

  “I knew it! I knew it at the donut shop! This is the biggest news to hit this town since…” She looks around, thinking. “Since ever!”

  She’s hugging my fiancée, and I’m leaning back with my arms crossed feeling pretty proud of myself. Hugh was right–this is a good plan.

  Somebody restarts the jukebox, and up first is an old Christina song, the one about a genie in a bottle, and my beautiful sex kitten shimmies out onto the floor curling her fingers at me like she wants me to join her.

  Old timers close in around her in pairs, doing their dance to whatever rhythm they can find, but Blake isn’t paying attention to them. Her eyes are hot, and she does a little hip-shaking dance, when I reach her, she turns, moving that sexy little ass against my dick. Like I need a reason to crave her more.

  I’m behind her, moving my hips with hers, and she leans back against my chest, pressing her lips to my neck. I turn her around, and when our eyes meet, it’s pure fire.

  She smiles, rising onto her tiptoes. “I can’t wait to be your wife.”

  She’s so hot, I’m ready to throw her over my shoulder. “Let’s go home. I’ll teach you that old dance tomorrow.”

  Our fingers lace, and I take my credit card out, leaving it on the table. We’ll work out the bill tomorrow as well. So much time has gotten away from us, I don’t want to lose another minute.

  Her lips are at my ear, kissing my neck, whispering hot words to me the entire drive back to the house. We slip in the back way, and I’m thankful Pepper’s spending night with a friend, because we’re about to get loud.

  I take her to the place where it all started, my bedroom. She’s in my arms, in my bed, and I’m tracing my lips over every inch of skin I can find, rocking our bodies to the heights of ecstasy.

  We’re made for each other, and as I hold her in my arms, drifting to sleep, I know I’ll always be her knight. I wasn’t able to be a shiny, white one like in the fairytales. I’m flawed and not perfect, as much as I want to be.

  What I am is a man who loves her, who’s willing to put down his life for her. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe, and what’s crazy is she wants to do the same for me.

  Holding her sweet face against my chest, I stroke her soft hair as I press my lips against her forehead. We’ve faced our demons, and we've come out on top.

  We’ve always been fearless, but before we were two halves of a perfect whole. Now we’re titanium, creating something new and unstoppable. That’s how it’s going to be, the two of us, and our family, all of them, forever.

  EPILOGUE

  Blake

  “Oh em gee, check it out!” Carmen is lying on the floor of my bedroom, swiping through wedding dresses on my oversized iPad pro. “This is the one–it even has a cute little cheerleader style skirt. When you guys disappear from the reception, everyone will know why.”

  “Let me see.” I temporarily leave my own preparations to see what she’s found. “That’s hot. But would it be appropriate for the groom to be sporting a woody in front of all our friends and family?”

  “Who knew Mr. Tall, Dark, and Stubborn was so into cheerleaders?”

  “Have you ever met a guy who wasn’t into cheerleaders?” I swipe a little more, pausing on a short, white dress with a deep, V-neck and flowing sleeves. “Oh, I love this one. This might be the one.”

  “Yes! With your hair all gathered up in a messy bun with tendrils and a long, white veil.” Carmen falls back, holding her chest. “It’ll be breathtaking. We should do it out at the beach, barefoot. The breeze blowing, the waves crashing–”

  “We’ve got plenty of time to plan. The wedding is six months away. Hana’s birthday is this weekend. Would you focus?”

  “Okay.” She sits up, putting the iPad on my bed and immediately picking up a book I forgot to put away. “Don’t tell me you played it?”

  Her lips press together, and she’s on the verge of bursting into laughter. It’s the board book with a giant hole in the center, and the title Penis Pokey in a bright red banner across the top.

  My face flames red, and I grab it out of her hands. “What’s that doing out? Pepper might find it.”

  “Oh, no, you’re not getting off that easy. Did you play it? I want all the details.”

  I give the hall a quick glance before closing the door and turning back with a snort. “Nobody got off easy. It was awful. He’s too big for the hole!”

  Her eyes widen comically, and she squeals, pointing to the book. “Bigger than that? Holy shit.”

  “I mean, not at first, but once we got going…” Covering my face with my hands, I shriek, “It got stuck, and we couldn’t get it off. It’s a freaking board book.”

  “What did you do?” She bounces onto her knees.

  Leaning back, I give her a smug grin. “I mean, I couldn’t leave him like that. I had to help him finish with my mouth.”

  “Ew!” She throws the book at me, and I catch it fast, laughing more.

  “It’s not dirty. I swallowed!”

  “I swear to God, you are too good for him.” She shakes her head, going to the desk, where I have my plans for Hana’s party on my laptop. “Hutch Winston was the most uptight, controlled, never crack a smile… hard ass. You’re shaking that up for sure.”

  Sliding the book in my drawer, I remember that first night I walked in to find him in the shower moaning my name. “He shook me up pretty good, too. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”

  “Now you’re just gloating.” She waves me away. “Let’s get back to Hana’s birthday before I go home and have a pity party.”

  “We’ll find you a man, don't worry.” I pat her back. “Maybe he’ll be shagging at the party.”

  “Maybe I’ll shag him at the party.” She cocks an eyebrow, and I wave her away.

  “Not until after we cut the cake. Now, what do you think about this design?”

  I show her a top hat cake with sparklers on top and tiny champagne bottles lining the sides.

  “These are so cute.” She leans closer. “I’ve never seen bedazzled champagne bottles.”

  “This service will come and decorate the main house with iridescent beaded curtains and black lights. They’ll even use these iridescent balloons, so the whole thing will be like bubbles and celebration. I want to have her name and Happy Birthday spelled out in pink roses. They’re her favorite, and I love these camera party favors. Read the tags.”

  Carmen lifts the pink card attached to the camera. “Help me remember tonight. I love it. This is going to be the talk of Hamiltown. Everybody and their sister are going to be copying what you’ve done here.”

  “I hope she likes it.” Leaning back, I pick up my phone. “Hana’s had enough sadness in her life, and I don’t know if she even remembers half her birthdays. I want this one to be memorable–in the best way.”

  “What are you getting her?”

  My chest squeezes, and I grab Carmen’s hands, pulling her to the bed to sit across from me. “It’s a big surprise. Can you keep a secret?”

  “Nope.” She shakes her head, frowning. “But tell me, and I’ll avoid Hana like the plague until her birthday.”

  That makes me snort, but I can’t keep a secret either. “I have a friend, Erin, she’s a curator at the Milo gallery in New York. I sent her some of Hana’s photographs, and she’s going to arrange for her to have a show there pretty much whenever she chooses. Erin thinks she can get a lot of buzz going for it, especially with our family connections and all.”

  I stop to breathe, and I feel the flush in my cheeks. Carmen’s eyes are wide, and she chews her lip. “That’s a good thing, right?”

  “Yes!” I cry. “It’s a great thing. It’s her introduction to the art world.”

  “I’m sorry!” Carmen covers her eyes. “I don’t know anything about the art world. I don’t know how it works.”

  “It’s a really good thing. It usually takes a long time for artists to get a show, and then they have to have built some kind of buzz or know somebody…”

  “Sounds like Hana knows the perfect somebody.” Carmen pets my arm. “Her awesome big sister!”

  “Stop it.” I give her a little nudge with my shoulder. “What did you get her?”

  “I found the cutest little camera bag. I know she doesn’t need it, but I only know one thing she really wants. Besides your thing, of course.”

  My brow furrows, and I feel like I missed something. “What?”

  “Seriously? You don’t know the one thing your sister wants for her birthday?”

  Shaking my head, I’m at a loss until Carmen levels her dark brown eyes on mine. “I’ll give you a hint. He’s six-foot-four, solid muscle, scary as fuck, so fucking hot it’s scary.”

  “Oh,” I exhale a nervous laugh. “Hutch said he would tell Scar about the party. Then he told me Scar’s not much for parties. I don’t know if that means he’s not coming or if he’ll come and scowl the whole time.”

  “Shocker,” Carmen deadpans. “I’m certain he’ll be there, though. Your little sister has that beast wrapped around her pixie finger.”

  “I guess it’s okay. He’s just–he’s Hutch’s age, and Hutch is five years older than me.”

  “She’s legal now, friend. The little bird is going to fly.”

  “Trust me, I know.” Picking up my phone, I tap in the number for the party service. “She’s been flying a long time.”

  The oversized dogtrot between the main house and the carriage house is lined in an array of iridescent streamers, balloons, black lights, and sparklers, and party music drifts outside on the breeze. Uncle Hugh is inside with Carmen and her mother and the entire softball team.

  Several girls from town who’ve posed for Hana are here, and I’m outside in the breezeway, waiting for my sister to come down from the main house when Hutch’s warm voice greets me from behind.

  “I think you get sexier every time I see you.” Warm hands span my waist, and I turn as a swirl of butterflies fills my stomach.

  “Hey, handsome, how was your day?” Sliding my arms around his neck, I meet his lips with mine, kissing him briefly before gazing up at his gorgeous face.

  “Sheesh–I’m going inside.” Pepper dashes through the door at the end of the alley, through an arch of pale pink roses and past by a wall of more pale pink roses reading Happy Birthday, Hana.

  My nose wrinkles and I return to kiss my fiancé once more. “I might’ve gone a little overboard with the roses.”

  “It does look a little like the Rose Bowl parade.” He chuckles, kissing me back. “But it’s her favorite flower.”

  “True.” Sliding my hands down his arms, I lace our fingers. “Maybe she can use them in her work. She’s been taking pictures nonstop since I gave her my gift. I think it might have freaked her out a little bit.”

  “I have an idea. She could take some pictures of you in that white cheerleader skirt, nothing else, these roses.” He squints one eye and puckers his lips in a way that makes my core squeeze. “Hot.”

  Rising onto my toes, I kiss him again. “We don’t need Hana to create that scene. I can steal some of these tonight.”

  “How long did you say we have to stay at this party?”

  My nose wrinkles, and I laugh. “I told Carmen she has to stay until the cake is cut.”

  “Let’s get cutting.”

  I’m about to tell him to stop when the heavy thump of boots on the wood floor interrupts us. “There’s a bunch of little girls inside.”

  Turning, I take a step away, pressing my back to Hutch’s chest. “Scar, hey, um, yeah, the softball girls wanted to come. They’ve all gotten really close from Hana taking their pictures at the games and stuff. They won’t stay long.”

  “I won’t stay long.” He blinks down at me with those icy, wolf eyes. “Where’s Hana?”

  “Is somebody looking for me?” My sister’s voice is high and clear.

  She skips up in an ivory Chanel shorts set. The shorts are all the way up her slim thighs, and she’s wearing a matching cardigan in the same color over her matching tube top. Her long, spiral curls fall behind her shoulders, and her cheeks are pink and full. She looks really good, and healthy, and I see the smolder in Scar’s eyes when he looks down at her.

  She’s only gotten stronger as the months have passed in Hamiltown. “I thought you were still in New York.” Hana walks straight to him, holding out her hand.

  He takes it in both his large ones before leaning down to kiss her cheek. “Happy birthday, baby girl.”

  My stomach tightens, and I pull Hutch’s arms around my shoulders. He keeps telling me Scar won’t hurt her, and I can only trust him.

  For Hana’s part, she’s completely unfazed by his size or appearance. “I don’t think you heard. I’m twenty-one now. I’m not a baby anymore.”

  Scar’s brow relaxes, and he almost smiles. “You’ve still got a lot of living to do.”

  She slides both her hands in the crook of his arm, and a hint of sadness touches her voice. “I’ve done a lot of living already.” It’s gone just as fast, and she smiles, shouting, “Take me to the party–I want a glass of champagne. I can finally, legally have a drink!”

  “Finally,” I laugh, slipping my hand in her arm and pulling her to me for a brief kiss. “Happy birthday, sis. I’m so proud of you.”