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Her lowered gaze raised to his.
“I’m never going to leave you.”
He saw the hope buried deep in her eyes. “I know that,” she admitted. “I know you.”
“I know you’re upset that he didn’t call when he was in town.”
She nodded slowly. “I can’t understand why…” She shrugged one shoulder. “I always thought he stopped visiting, stopped calling because he didn’t want to deal with my mom, but…”
Colm lifted her head with his finger under her chin. “I’m sorry.”
She shook off the heaviness, smiling at him. If there was one thing about Kelli, the woman had a heck of a rebound. “It’s okay. I sort of secretly stole your dad and made him mine years ago anyway.”
“Not sure that was much of a secret,” he joked. “You know, Dad would have kept having kids, would have kept going until he had a little girl—he said he always wanted a daughter—but Mom claimed chasing hellion twin boys broke her. You filled that void for him too.”
He knew he’d found the words to make her feel better when her face lit up. “You think so?”
He nodded.
“I’d give you my mom too, but I think you’re covered in that area,” he added.
Kelli gave him a rueful grin. “Yeah. I think I have enough mother’s love to last me until the end of time. I know I bitch about Barb a lot—”
“What?” Colm pretended to be shocked. “No.”
“She doubled-down on the insane snowplow parenting after my dad left. I’m starting to understand why.”
“Overcompensating?” he asked.
“Over-everything. But I know what my mom does is out of love for me. Sometimes I worry…” She didn’t finish the thought, but he knew where her fears were leading.
“Genetics are not insurmountable, you know. You can be any kind of mother you want to be.”
“I know. It’s just…what if I go too far the other way? What if, in my attempt to not be crazy overbearing like my mom, I don’t do enough for my kids?”
“That’s what I’m here for. I’ll keep you on the straight and narrow. And you’ll do the same for me. We’re in this together.”
“Together,” she repeated, as if she was trying out the sound of it. He and Kelli had both spent too many years as single units, independent people who answered only to themselves. It would probably take both of them some time to get a little less set in their ways. He couldn’t wait to start.
In fact…
He gripped her waist and pulled her hips to his, loving the way she swung one leg over him. “Marry me.”
She lifted her head from the pillow. “Was that a question or a demand?”
Colm moved his hand from her waist to her ass, gripping it tightly, holding her even closer. “Both,” he murmured against her lips, kissing her. “I need you to marry me, Kelli. Need you to be my wife. I need it more than air.”
She kissed him back. “You know, somehow you’ve managed to do all of this backwards. Lovers to friends, living together to dating, babies to marriage. You’ve made a mess of the whole thing, hotshot,” she teased.
“Oh, I did, did I? Just me. Alone. Thanks for clarifying that.” He tickled her until she cried uncle, then gave her another kiss. He was addicted to her lips. When he pulled away, he realized she hadn’t responded. “You still haven’t answered my question.”
“I still haven’t heard a question.”
He playfully bit her shoulder. “You love to make me work for shit, don’t you?”
“It’s what makes life worth living.”
“Will you marry me, Kelli? Have my babies, share my bed, and drive me crazy for the rest of my life?”
