Retrieval (The Retrieval Duet #1)

“Oh God. Oh God. Oh God,” I replied.

Then I chilled out because his hand slid into the back of my hair and he tipped my head back so his mouth could cover mine.

I moaned as his other hand made it down to my ass.

He kissed me just long enough for me to forget my potatoes, but not his family. Therefore, when he released my mouth, I only said, “Oh God,” once.

“Baby,” he started. A man like Roman Leblanc did not roll his eyes, but right then, I could sense that he was fighting the urge. “I’ll go to the store and buy some more fucking potatoes.”

“It’s Thanksgiving, Roman. Nowhere is going to be open.”

“Then I’ll find a fucking field and dig ’em up myself. Just calm the hell down, Lis.”

“Screw the potatoes. Your family is coming over!” I gripped the front of his T-shirt.

Yeah, Roman was back to his old uniform. I hadn’t seen him in a suit since that day at the police station. Albeit his old uniform had gotten a seriously pricey overhaul, but they were still jeans and T-shirts, so I could deal with it. My man was sexy all the time, but something about him in washed-out denim did it for me.

He eyed me skeptically. “That’s usually what happens after you invite family over and then spend a week hashing out the details of who is bringing what.”

I scowled as his lips twitched with humor. “I know this, Roman. But I haven’t seen your family in years.”

“You saw Kristen yesterday.”

“Yes, but—”

“And I know you’ve seen my mom semi-recently. She loves to rub that shit in my face every time she sees you.”

“She rubs it in your face?”

He nodded. “Lis, I’ve been in love with you for years. Moms have a knack for reading between the bullshit. She loved you and made no secret of the fact that she wanted us back together. So yeah—every single time she saw you, I got a phone call the next day telling me how beautiful and happy you looked. And how you did whatever-the-fuck nice thing you happened to do while she was with you. And, because she’s my mother, I couldn’t even hang up on her.”

I giggled. I loved Cathy Leblanc. And I loved that she loved me enough to punish her own son for being a dumbass. “Your mom is amazing.”

He grinned. “So, basically, you’re worried about my dad?”

“No. Rome has always loved me.”

And he had. He hadn’t batted an eye when he’d found out Roman and I were already married when he first met me, which was only approximately forty-eight hours after I’d met Roman. He’d just slapped his son on the back and congratulated him for recognizing a good woman when he’d found one. Simple as that.

“Okay, baby, I don’t have any long-lost brothers you don’t know about. Kristen, Mom, and Dad are the only ones coming over. And you’ve already admitted that you love them all. Care to let me in on what exactly you’re flipping your shit about?”

“It’s not just Kristen. Or Cathy. Or Rome. It’s all of them. At the same time. And I don’t even know what the current state of our relationship is.”

His eyebrows furrowed together as he frowned. “Okay, now, we have a problem. What in the ever-loving hell do you mean you don’t even know ‘the current state of our relationship’?”

Yep. He totally tossed me a pair of air quotes.

I rolled my eyes. “I mean…how are we presenting this to them? Am I your ex-wife? Girlfriend? Wife?”

He stared at me blankly before grunting, “Yes.”

“Yes. What?” I threw my hands out to the sides in frustration.

I was up off the floor before I knew it. My ass landed on the counter, Roman wedged between my legs, his hands on my hips.

“Was I inside you last night?”

He had been. And we both knew it.

“Jesus, Roman.” I glanced around to make sure Devon and Alex weren’t in earshot.

I guessed he took that as my answer, because he continued. “You love me?”

“Of course,” I replied immediately.

“You planning to make a life with me?”

“I…I…” I stuttered in surprise.

He arched an eyebrow.

“I mean…yeah. I was kinda hoping to.” I began chewing on my bottom lip.

We hadn’t talked about the future yet. Though it was kind of a given.

He smiled and moved his hands to the counter, one on either side of me, and kissed me—hard.

My body responded immediately, my nipples tingling, my toes curling, sparks igniting.

Ya know, the usual when it came to Roman.

I slid a hand around his neck and slanted my head to take it deeper. His tongue glided with mine as I shimmied to the edge of the counter and locked my legs around his hips.

He continued to kiss me, but I became vaguely aware of him digging something out of his back pocket.

My stomach fluttered in the best possible way.

Oh. God. This was it.

He was going to propose again.

I was actually impressed he’d made it nearly two weeks.

My heart pounded in my chest as I asked, “W-what are you doing?”