Burn Out (26 page)

Evan kissed her
hand before looking up into her eyes. “Everything makes sense with you in my
life, baby.” He shrugged. “Without you, I’m just goin’ through the motions.”

Tugging on his
hand, she pulled him forward, into the house. Closing the door behind them, she
leaned against it, needing the feel of something solid to ground her. “I
don’t-”

As though he
sensed her hesitation, he kissed her tenderly, making her body sway
involuntarily toward his. “Please, just let me finish. I need to say so many
things, things I should have had the sense to say years ago.”

“Okay,” she said,
anxious to hear every word.

“When we met, you
blew me away. You were so smart and sexy. You knew exactly where you wanted to
go and how you were going to get there.”

He was right about
her sense of purpose. She had wanted to be a veterinarian since she was a
little girl. For her, there was no question what she would do with her life.

“I loved your
drive and determination. Even more than that, I loved your attitude. You always
believed you could do anything you set your mind to.”

She knew she owed
that unwavering self-confidence to her parents. They’d always told her there
were no limitations as long as she was willing to work hard and persevere in
the face of setbacks.

“You believed you
could operate a successful business and be a good wife and mother.”

“That’s all I ever
wanted,” she said quietly. The ring still glittered between them, like a beacon
of light and hope in the shadow of darkness. “I wanted a family with you and I
wanted to do what I love, what I believe I was born to do.”

He smiled. “You
wanna know what I think I was born to do?”

That was a no
brainer. “Run Titan Records.”

“No. I was born to
love you.”

His quiet
conviction took her breath away. God help her, she loved this man more now than
ever, which made the risk even greater. If she let him walk away now, she would
always wonder if they could have had the life she had always dreamed of. But if
she accepted his proposal, she opened herself up to a world of hurt if it
didn’t work out.

“What’s changed?”
she asked. Praying he could make her see something she’d been blind to before,
she asked, “Why do you want to marry me now?”

“I’ve lived with
you and I’ve lived without you. Living without you isn’t living. It’s existing.
I can’t go on that way for the next fifty years, Erika. I
need
you.”

She needed him
too, more than she was willing to admit. “I’m scared,” she said, looking at the
box clenched tightly in his hand. “What if things go back to the way they
were?”

“I’m not a stupid
guy.”

She couldn’t argue
with that. He was the smartest, most capable man she’d ever known. “But…”

“Only an idiot
would make the mistake of taking you for granted twice in one lifetime. I did
it once. I won’t do it again.”

She thought about
her conversation with Brianna and Ryan. “I need to know that you want to make
these changes because it’s what
you
want, not because you think it’ll
make me happy.”

“I do want to make
you happy,” he said, stepping closer, flattening her back against the door.
“That’s the most important thing in the world to me. I’d buy a dozen houses,
adopt a hundred dogs, and work from home if that’s what made you happy.”

She caught her
breath when he traced a fingertip over the swell of her breast.

“If I’m guilty of
anything here, it’s of lovin’ you too much, baby. Did I make all these changes
for you?
Yes.
Would I do it again in a heartbeat? Hell, yeah. ‘Cause we
ended up exactly where I hoped we would.” He circled her waist with his free hand,
drawing her closer. “With you in my arms and our future right there for the
takin’. All you have to do is say yes.”

The future he
proposed was terrifying, but the prospect of facing the next fifty years
without him was even more terrifying. “Yes,” she whispered, smiling through her
tears. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

He roared, hauling
her into his arms and spinning her in a low circle until her head was thrown
back in laughter.

As Evan slipped
the three carat solitaire on her finger, he knew life didn’t get much better
than this. He was getting a second chance to make up for the biggest mistake
he’d ever made.

“Perfect,” he
whispered, bringing her hand to his lips.

She held her hand
back, trying to hide her smile. “Ev, it’s big. Really big.”

“The bigger, the better,
right?” he asked, nuzzling her neck.

“Not in my line of
work.”

“I beg to differ.
How the hell are your male clients gonna know you’re taken unless we advertise
it?”

She laughed as she
stood on her toes and looped her arms around his neck. “I think they’ll figure
it out when I change my name, don’t you?”

He grinned. “Dr.
Erika Spencer. God, I love the way that sounds.”

“It does have a
nice ring to it…” She tipped her head back, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“Unless of course I decide to keep my own name, for professional reasons.”

“Like hell you
will,” he growled. He wanted the entire world to know she was his wife.

She giggled,
smacking his shoulder. “I’m just teasing.”

“Speakin’ of
teasin’,” he said, sliding one of the thin silk straps off her shoulder. “I’m
surprised I was able to string two words together with you standin’ there
lookin’ so damn sexy.”

She rolled her
head back, inviting his exploration. “It’s not like I was expecting company.”

“You better not
have been. This…” he said, sliding the silk down over her curves, “is for my
eyes only.”

A soft moan
escaped her lips when he bent his knees, skimming his lips over her breasts.
“Ev…”

He scooped her up,
carrying her down the hall towards the bedrooms.

Chloe looked up
from her comfy cushion at the foot of the bed when they entered the room.

Setting Erika down
on the mattress, Evan grabbed Chloe’s favorite stuffed teddy bear and tossed it
out in the hall, closing the door firmly behind her when she thought he was
inviting her to play catch.

“She’s gonna make
you pay for that,” Erika said, smirking, as she leaned on her elbows and
watched him strip down to a pair of dark gray boxer briefs.

“I love her, but I
don’t think we need an audience, do we?”

She couldn’t
respond as she watched the last scrap of cotton fall to the floor.

Evan grinned when
a soft sigh escaped her lips. “You like, baby?”

“I
love
…” Her
eyes scanned his body hungrily. “Everything about you.”

“Same goes,” he
said, dropping kisses all the way up her body until their lips finally met.
With his mouth hovering just above hers, he said, “And I don’t ever intend to
let you forget it.” He didn’t give her a chance to respond before kissing her.
There was no need; he knew his actions would speak louder than his words ever
could.

She opened her
legs, silently beckoning him to a temptation he’d always been powerless to
resist. “Make love to me,” she whispered, her eyes fixed on his.

As he slid into
her, savoring ever second of their connection, he thought about the hundreds of
times they’d made love over the years and how different it felt now that he
could rest easy in the knowledge that she wasn’t going anywhere. He’d wake up
with her in the morning, fall asleep with her in his arms at night… He couldn’t
wait for the next phase of their lives to begin.

His thoughts
slipped away as he allowed their bodies to engage in the familiar ritual of
give and take. Kissing her passionately wasn’t enough as his body scaled the
crest and all of his thoughts became centered on their mutual satisfaction. It
may have been minutes or hours, he couldn’t tell, but every swipe of their
tongues, every tight, slick slide in and out of her body brought him closer to
the razor’s edge of sanity where the only thing that mattered was that elusive
release his body sought.

She cried out, his
name on her lips, as her body shuddered beneath his.

Once he felt the
impact of her surrender move through his body, he couldn’t beg, borrow, or buy
another second. His body raced to the finish line and there wasn’t a damn thing
he could do about it.

A guttural moan
moved through him, finally falling from his lips as she clenched him inside of
her, forcing him to ride out every last tremor in the safety of her arms.
“Jesus,” he whispered, trying to support his body on shaking arms so he
wouldn’t crush her. “You tryin’ to kill me before we get to take our vows,
girl?”

She grinned,
looking pleased with herself. “I just wanted to give you a taste of what you
can expect when I become your wife.”

He chuckled as he
summoned the strength to roll over to his side of the bed. “Damn. If that’s the
case, I may die young, but what a way to go.”

She threw her leg
over his, stretching her arm over his chest. “Don’t even joke about that,” she
said, looking up at him. “I expect you to be around long enough to dance with
me at our grandchildren’s weddings.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He
settled her head on his chest as he ran his hand through her hair. “Let’s talk
details,” he said. Now that she had agreed to be his wife, he didn’t want to
waste one more minute. “Startin’ with the date.”

Erika laughed as
she stretched her hand out to admire her ring in the dim light. “We just got
engaged and you already want to set a date for the wedding?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“These things take
time to plan. We can’t just decide to snap our fingers and make it happen.”

If she believed
that, she didn’t know him as well as he thought she did. He would give her the
wedding of her dreams on the date of her choosing. All she had to do was say
the words and he would make her fantasy their reality. “You wanna bet?”

She tipped her
head back to look at him, a smile hovering on her lips. “Is this the part where
my rich and powerful fiancée starts throwing his weight around?”

“Damn straight.
What’s the use of havin’ money if you can’t use it to make your woman happy?”

She reached up to
kiss him, her eyes glowing with emotion. “I love you. I love that you would do
anything to make me happy.”

He sensed she
needed to say more. “But?”

She shook her
head. “No buts. I was scared at first, when I realized you’d made all of these
changes for me, but then I thought about Liam and Alisa.”

“What about them?”

“He turned his
life upside down for her. I mean, he moved here, gave up his business…”

“He didn’t exactly
give it up. He just started delegatin’ more, not only for the sake of their
relationship, but also for his health. Not to mention his sanity. You think my
schedule is crazy, but he was literally travelin’ all over the world year after
year. That’s gotta takes its toll after a while.”

“Yeah, and I bet
he hasn’t regretted his decision for a single second. I mean, anyone can see
how much he loves being a husband and father.”

Evan couldn’t deny
his cousin and her husband seemed to have found the secret to a successful
marriage. “I can’t argue with that.” His hand drifted down her back. “Now, back
to us. I believe we were talkin’ about weddin’ dates.”

“Um, I don’t
know,” she said, sliding her hand over his chest. “Maybe we should wait until
Ryan and Brianna have set a date. They got engaged first. I don’t want to steal
their thunder.”

Evan knew she was
right, but he didn’t want to be reasonable. He wanted to marry her, and
tomorrow wouldn’t be soon enough. “Fine,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
“But if my brother drags his feet settin’ a date, all bets are off.”

She giggled before
kissing his chest. “Deal.”

Erika walked in to
the decked out ballroom on her fiancée’s arm, feeling that all was finally
right in her world. The fundraiser was a sell-out, they’d lined up an
impressive line-up of artists to entertain the crowd, and she and Evan had
never been closer.

They’d had no
choice but to share their news with close friends and family. She’d suggested
waiting to wear her engagement ring in public until the excitement surrounding
Brianna and Ryan’s engagement dimmed, but Evan shot that idea down without a
second thought. He claimed he wanted the world to know they were engaged, and
given the rough road they’d traveled, she couldn’t argue.

They greeted
guests and mingled with the crowd before finally taking their seats at the head
table. The only thing that would have made it more perfect was having her
parents in attendance. Unfortunately, her father was down with the flu, so they
had to back out at the last minute.

Luckily, she was
still surrounded by family, Evan’s family, on this special night. After
devoting most of her free time to this cause for the past decade, seeing so
many people show up in support of a cause that meant so much to her was
rewarding.