She swallows hard and nods her head. “Yes.” She wraps her arms around my neck and holds tight as she whispers yes again against my skin. “We do deserve each other, Morrison. We deserve this. We deserve to be happy. You make me happy, so happy. I’m not settling; I am getting you. And that’s more than I ever thought was possible.”
“I need to put this on you, little momma. Make it official.” I slip it on her shaking finger. “Wow, the ring looks even more beautiful now.”
She holds it out and looks at it and smiles. Then she leans in to give me a kiss.
“Mommy?” We hear a sleepy voice coming from the hallway, and Hailey sits up. “You crying?”
“I’m fine.” She wipes her eyes and laughs. “Come here.”
Marisa walks over to her, and Hailey picks her up and hugs her.
“I have to pee-pee.”
“Okay, little one, let’s go.”
Hailey looks at me and smiles as she gets up.
I blow out the candles and put the glasses in the sink.
“What is that?” I hear Marisa ask her mother as they walk out, holding hands.
“Morrison asked me to marry him.”
“Is that why you crying? ’Cause if he makes you sad, you should—”
“No, not sad. Very, very happy.”
Marisa stops and looks at her. I am expecting her to laugh, to say something that sounds an awful lot like “Congratulations” but probably not quite.
“I know what I want for Christmas now.”
“You do?” Hailey has been asking her, and Marisa’s response so far has been, “Nuffin’.”
“A princess wedding, like in the books.” She yawns again. “I’m tired. We can pick my dress tomorrow.”
I finish cleaning up and decide to get comfortable, so I take off my shirt and socks, then unbuckle my belt.
Hailey is backing out of Marisa’s room when I quietly walk up to her. She turns around and scowls at me.
“What’s wrong?”
An eyebrow creeps up.
“Oh, shit, my bad,” I say. “But she likes it. She likes it a lot.”
“Last big purchase?” She holds up her ring finger.
“Baby, no fighting tonight.” She shakes her head. “The only F-word I am interested in is—” I stop when she starts coming at me.
She is in front of me almost instantly, and I hold my hand out to stop her.
“Promise—no fighting tonight at all.”
“Fine. I give you tonight.” As she smiles, I pick her up, and she wraps her legs around me. “Take me to bed.”
I open the door and kiss her hard, keeping her attention where it belongs—on me. I walk toward the bed, knowing Hailey is a woman of her word. She may grumble, but to her a promise is a promise.
As soon as her back hits our new bed, her eyes pop open and she looks around. Then her head swings back, her eyes focused on me.
“You promised,” I remind her as I lift her shirt and kiss down her belly while unbuttoning her pants.
“Manipulative.”
“No, little momma—sick of the backache on Thursday, sick of my woman sleeping on a fucking air mattress, sick of fucking on an air mattress.” I pull her pants and thong down. “Platinum * deserves, at the very least, a real bed.”
“You owe me.” Her breath hitches as I blow on the bare skin between her legs.
“That I do.”
My mouth covers her as I spread my girl wide on a bed fit for a queen—my Queen of Hearts who owns my everything, with a * that’s better than platinum.
Epilogue
“Rings?” I ask as I pace back and forth in Hendrix’s office.
“Check,” Jagger says as he holds them up.
“I can’t believe Jared talked her into marrying us,” I grumble.
Hendrix laughs. “Man’s got a way with words.”
“I swear to fuck, I just want him to say, ‘You are now husband and wife.’ I’m sick of living apart, sick of waking up hard and not having the cause of the hard-on to impale,” I say, making my brothers laugh, but I don’t. “Shit’s not funny. She’s gonna walk funny for months, maybe years.”
“Like on Thursdays?” Jagger smirks.
“What the hell are you talking?” I stop and shake my head as it hits me. “Just like Thursdays.”
For the past few months, I only stay over on Wednesday and Sunday nights. Those nights, I borderline abuse that little momma. She not only takes it, but she asks for more. Then I slip out before Marisa wakes up.
That’s the thing about having a little chick to worry about. We both agreed Marisa didn’t need to see me in the morning, not until we’re married. She’s got enough to overcome, like having a shitbag father who will surely someday come up in conversation. Someday, she’ll know her old man was in the big house. Someday, she’ll realize what he did to her mother. But someday, she’ll also realize her momma wanted better and got the hell out. And she’ll realize that if a man loves you, he’ll treasure you. I’ve been working on that for a few months now, and it’s been working like a charm.
“Place is packed, man,” Jagger informs.
The door to the office opens, and I see her belly before I see her.
“Livi’s belly is here.” Jagger laughs.
Hendrix lets out a growl. “Sexy as hell.”
“That’s kind of fucked up, man.” I laugh at him as she walks in.
“Hey, baby, you okay?” Hendrix asks as he gives her a kiss and then holds her belly in his hands.