Page 10 of The Impossible

When he was upright, he pulled my body into his, looking down at me. “I’m not a patient man, Nic, and I think you know that. Either way, this between us ain’t no pretend union. When we say I do, everything about this is real to me and I want it to be that for you as well. I’ma give you time though, as much as I can.”

I grinned. “Which is not any time because I can tell by the way you’re looking at me you wanna kiss me.”

“Can I?”

My heartbeat was in my throat, but I spoke through it. I had to. “A quick peck, because you did propose, but anything other than that, no⁠—”

He lowered his head and lifted my chin. His lips weren’t far from mine when he spoke.

“I’ma let you think you’re running shit, but you ain’t, Nic.”

I was about to say something slick, but his lips mashed against mine before I could respond. And damn they felt good, pillow soft and inviting.

When we finally parted, I was dazed and thrown off. Because why on earth did that moment feel good? Like it belonged when nothing about this was normal nor did it belong.

But why did it feel like it?

When he let me go, he created some space, never taking his eyes from me. “Why aren’t you at work?”

“Summoned here to be told something you could have told me while I was in your home Friday.”

He laughed. “You wouldn’t have taken it this well. And I told you why I didn’t.”

“Who says I’m taking it well? I’m actually contemplating running away and changing my name.”

He laughed.

“There is nowhere you could go that I wouldn’t find you, Nicolette. So don’t even waste your or my time. And if you’re thinking about going to see your sister, tell P I said what’s up. The flight from Chicago to Boston is two hours, right?”

I shook my head. “How do you know my sister is in Boston?”

He shrugged. “I know everything I need to know.”

I studied him for a moment. He was so calm, nothing about him was out of place, like this was a normal Monday for him.

“Can I ask you something?” I glanced around the garden, my eyes landing on my father standing on the patio, my guess watching our interaction.

“Shoot.”

“Why me?”

He grinned. “Why not you, Nic?”

I tilted my head to the side, eyes on the very serious being in front of me.

“You ate today?” he asked, neglecting to answer my damn question.

“Hondo.”

“Yo, find some cute shit to call me. You know, like I mean something to you even with the circumstances. Now let’s go eat.”

His request had me laughing as we now both walked up the path back to the house. It was easy to laugh at the fact that he had literally just requested a nickname, instead of thinking about the fact that I was now to be married to him.

My ring finger was now weighted and I was engaged to Hondo Carter at the insistence of Shamus and Titan. While reminding me that nowhere was far enough, they had given me an out. It was at this moment that I realized why Paige had gone no contact with my father and grandfather.

After an extremely brief goodbye to my father and grandfather, I was ushered to Hondo’s vehicle and we left the estate. His father had gotten into a different car, leaving us alone.

“So, you gonna run on me and I have to track you down or you gonna make this easy for me?” His voice made me turn from the window and look at him.