Page 204 of The Defiant Curse

She opened her eyes.

“Okay, EJ. What do you need?” she asked.

He told her.

“Every year, for a week, I want to come back here with you. I want to spend our anniversary here until the day we die.”

Her heart hitched in her chest.

“Really?”

He nodded.

“I want to see my bonny lass run through the flowers, and smile at the goats. Can we make that a thing? Can we do that to reconnect after a year of cases, spouses, and children? Just us? Just the two of us?”

She smiled.

“Absolutely. I’ll put it in my calendar for every year until…well, as far out as the calendar goes.”

He kissed her.

Then, he was honest.

“I’m also going to tell you right now, that when I go back, I’m buying into this castle. I’m going to give Callen and Chris money to be a part owner. I was stupid not to want to do this because I thought you’d hate it. I was wrong, and both Callen and Chris were right. This place was a good gift, not only for you, but for me too.”

Tears filled her eyes.

“Yes, Ethan. I’d love this to be a gift from you too. I know what it’s like to be wrong. I thought I’d hate it, but I kind of love it here. This place makes me feel…safe. Like nothing can get me here. I think I love Scotland.”

He did too.

“So, it’s a date?” he asked.

She hesitated.

“What?”

She went there.

“On one condition.”

He lifted a brow.

“What?”

So, she told him.

“We leave the tech behind, and we just come here and be…us. I want this back. I want the people we were once upon a time. I want the Ethan who laughed hard, and the Lyzee who loved harder.”

He smiled.

“That would be beautiful,” he admitted. “Deal.”

Then, he sealed it with a kiss.

Diving in, he found her mouth, and drove the heat up in the room with just that kiss.

He plumbed.