Page 283 of The Defiant Curse

When he broke the kiss, Ethan stared into her eyes to stay connected.

“I have a way to remember that promise.”

She waited.

When he reached into his pocket, he pulled out the necklace box for her.

“I saw this, and thought of you,” he admitted. “This is the promise so we can see it and remember.”

When she smiled, it made his heart happy. He missed buying his girl things.

As she flipped it open, she gasped.

“Oh, Ethan, it’s so pretty,” she admitted, touching the glittering stones.

“Red and gold,” he said. “Your two favorite colors. I figure when you wear it, you’ll think of our children, and maybe me.”

She stared up at him.

“I think about you all the time,” she admitted. “We built this world on our backs with effort. How could I not think about you every day?”

He helped her take it out of the box.

“Just keep thinking about me. Just remember that under everything, you were the person who saved me. Without you, Elizabeth, this man wouldn’t be here. When Gene and I broke up, I was destroyed. I’d put all my faith in that relationship and swore I’d never love again. Then, you came into my world, and I fell in love with your charm, sweetness, and protectiveness.”

And she’d fallen in love with his heart.

Ethan had a big one.

He protected it because it was fragile, but if you got past the wall, you saw the beauty of it all.

“I promise that I’ll always think about you.”

And Blackhawk knew if his wife made a promise, she always kept it.

No.

Doubt.

“Then my other wish came true. I wished I could win you back, and I did.”

She smiled at him.

“You absolutely did.”

Ethan helped her clasp the necklace, and it hung beside Callen’s rosary, and Ceit’s ‘heart’.

“What do you say to a few drinks?”

She laughed.

“A few? Oh, Ethan, I’m going to get shitfaced, fall-down drunk. That’s why we’re not the designated drivers. It’s been a long time coming since I was tipsy, and I feel like getting that and then some tonight.”

He grinned.

“Want a partner? I haven’t gotten schnockered in a lonnnnnnnng time.”

She snorted.