Page 302 of Silent Target

“You bought ten cushions.”

“The place was a cry for help.”

His laugh breaks out, low and rough. Then he looks at me again, and the humor disappears.

“You changed me, Juliette.”

My breath catches.

“I knew that first night I wasn’t letting anything happen to you. By morning, I knew sending you away was going to hurt.” His voice roughens. “And somewhere in there, before I had any business feeling it, I knew.”

Tears spill over before I can stop them. Holt reaches up and catches one with his thumb.

“I love you,” he says. “Not because you need me. You don’t. You proved that before I ever met you. I love you because every room is better when you’re in it. Because you talk to Six like he’s a person and steal my shirts even though you have an entire closet. Because you fill my house with things I didn’t know it was missing.”

He takes a breath. “Because you filled me with things I didn’t know I was missing.”

Oh God.

“Holt.”

“You know I’ll protect you until I die. That’s not news. I’m asking you to let me love you for the rest of my life.”

Tears stream down my face.

“I want whatever comes next…wherever you want to go. I just want to be the man beside you when you get there.” His thumb strokes over my knuckles. “You spent too long having other people tell you what your life was supposed to look like. I won’t ever do that. So this is your choice too, sweetheart.”

He holds up the ring.

“Juliette, will you marry me?”

Eight months ago, I stood in a wedding dress and couldn’t breathe. I had a church full of people waiting for me, flowers I’d never chosen, a man I’d never loved, and a future that felt like a door slamming shut behind me.

Now I’m standing on top of a mountain in muddy boots, with a dog drooling on my leg and the man I love kneeling in the dirt.

And I’ve never felt freer.

I laugh through my tears. “Yes. Obviously yes.”

He stands and then lunges for me.

I squeal as he catches me around the waist, and then I’m off the ground, arms around his neck, his mouth crashing into mine, Six barking joyfully in the background.

He kisses me like he did that first night, like eight months haven’t dulled a single thing, like he still can’t quite believe I’m here.

Eventually he puts me down, although only far enough to slide the ring onto my finger. It fits perfectly.

“Oh, Holt.”

He cups my face. “You’re mine, Juliette.”

I throw myself at him. Six barks.

“She’s mine,” Holt informs the dog over my shoulder.

I grin as his hand slides around the back of my neck.

“And I’m yours,” he says.