It wasn’t long before the gossip magazines picked up on the fact that Jericho was now dating the same woman longer than a week. They ran the pictures from their time at the Gala from their first week together, and as Annie peered over one at the kitchen table the next morning, she couldn’t help but run a critical eye over the shot of them on the cover. She looked stiff and awkward, but Jericho still looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman on the planet. She had no idea how she had won him over; it wasn’t as though she had been trying to. She had hoped to hate him for the rest of her life but she found that that plan completely backfired.

Instead, she had fallen in love with him.

“I like that shot of us,” he said from behind her, surprising her at his ability to sneak up on her without a sound.

“You’re looking at me like I’m something otherworldly,” Annie murmured, pushing the paper aside and taking the offered mug of coffee from his hands without even looking up. How was it that they hadn’t been together for a month and somehow they had fallen into a comfortable routine while also still maintaining the passion they had for each other. That was the dream, wasn’t it? To be comfortable and lustful simultaneously?

“Because you are,” he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. He slid at his usual seat across from her, wearing a sleeveless muscle shirt that clung to his long torso and revealed his broad shoulders and muscled arms. He wore sweatpants that clung to his ankles and, as usual, bare feet. Jericho didn’t wear socks unless he absolutely had to. He brought his own mug to his lips and took a long sip of coffee, black.

“Are you okay with this?” she asked skeptically, perking her brows. “I just, I know you’re a private guy and the fact that you seem serious with me means they have a lot more stuff to talk about.”

“First off,” Jericho said, keeping his eyes on her even though his hand was on his newspaper. “I am serious about you. I would marry you tomorrow if I thought you’d say yes.”

“Excuse me?” she asked, flabbergasted. “You would marry me?”

“Of course,” he said.

“But… why?” This made no sense to her. “You barely know me.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I know enough,” he said. “You’re an educated accountant with lawyer friends and you graduated with honors from the University of Seattle. Your parents are dead and you have an older brother who’s good at his job but somewhat misguided. Your greatest fear is being alone and you bite the inside of your bottom lip when you’re worried. Unlike most people, you get quiet when you’re nervous and you make decisions based on your rationalizations rather than your emotions, which is practical. Except when it comes to this house.” He bit his lip as a smile broke out on his face. “This house is incredibly dear to you. It was my only bargaining chip to persuade you to open up to me. I know your favorite position is underneath me, when I have all of the control and you especially love when I hurt you just a little bit. Maybe leave a mark on you, spank you.” His eyes darkened just talking about it and Annie felt the inside of her thighs start to moisten. “And I know for a fact you would look absolutely sexy with my child growing in your stomach.”

Annie clenched her jaw. She wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, but she had a feeling Jericho could read her thoughts, her body language.

“You looked absolutely amazing last night,” he said, his voice dropping an octave and causing a shiver to tingle throughout her body. “If I didn’t have to kill that man for touching you, I would have fucked you in my office.”

“You killed that guy?” Annie asked, surprised. It was strange to find her insides completely used to a statement like this. There was no resistance in it, not even a swirl of guilt. She was frustrated, but for a completely different reason. “Were you careless?”

“Do you even have to ask?” he asked. “No one is allowed to touch you, Annie. Everyone needs to realize the consequences of their actions.”

“You’re not going to blame me for my outfit?” she asked, quirking a curious brow.

“Why would I blame you for your outfit?” he asked, as though the question itself was ridiculous. “You looked stunning last night. You look stunning always but last night… Jesus. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of you. And neither could anyone else.” He reached out and curled an errant strand of hair, tucking it behind her ear. He clenched his jaw, anger lighting the pale green. “I’m not sure who you dated before but I want to make it clear to me that you are allowed to wear whatever you want when you go out with me or your friends or by yourself. If any man touches because he doesn’t understand that you don’t want to him to touch you, that is on him and not you. Do you understand?”

Annie bit her bottom lip and nodded. Immediately, his eyes were drawn to that lip and he couldn’t help but stare at it.

“We should,” she said slowly, just as he reached out to touch her bottom lip. It was like he was obsessed with it. And maybe he was. That wasn’t a big deal, was it? Why would it be? But she needed to focus on the task at hand, even if his touch was distracting. And tempting. “We should talk.”

Instead of making a snarky comment about how those words said in tandem could never mean anything good, he picked his eyes up so they would lock with hers.

“Probably a good idea,” he agreed. His voice still had that husk to it. Her body was still covered in goosebumps.

“What are we?” she asked, deciding to be direct rather than dance around it. She didn’t think they were simply friends. There was more to their relationship, a dark attraction that wasn’t exactly typical, that rested between them. And she wanted to figure out what they were to the best of her abilities so they could get on the same page.

She knew they had discussed this the other day as well. Briefly, before he distracted her with pleasure and perfect words. She had been asking, at the time, because she was scared. Now, she wasn’t scared anymore. Now, she was confident in herself and in Jericho and what it meant to be with him. Still, she wanted to label it because, like the majority of society, labeling something came with a set of expectations.

“That depends,” he told her. “Are you going to marry me?”

She laughed. “Now?” she asked. “Um, are you being serious?”

“Why wouldn’t I be serious?” he asked softly, tilting his head to the side at that awkward angle. “Marriage is not to be taken lightly. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t mean it.”

Annie thought about it. Did she want to marry Jericho? She had never thought about it. She liked being his, she liked the fact that she was the only one who belonged to him. Marriage would solidify that bond. It wouldn’t – shouldn’t – change anything. It would just make things legal between them.

“I’m sure you want to put together a prenup before we get married,” she said slowly. She couldn’t believe she was actually considering his offer. She was crazy. Yeah, she was crazy for him as well. She just wasn’t as comfortable admitting that out loud the way he was.

“Actually, I don’t,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “You can leave me and get my riches. Hell, I’ll throw your house into it as well, if you really want that. I just don’t think you’ll leave me.”

“And why do you think that?” she asked, arching a playful but challenging brow.

He cocked his lips into a smile. “Because,” he told her, his voice low. Just above a whisper. “You’re just as crazy as I am.”

“So, you would marry me, a stranger, with no prenup,” she said slowly. “Why would you do that?”

“I already plan to spend the rest of my life with you anyway,” Jericho said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “What’s the difference between a piece of paper and not having that piece of paper.”

“Uh, health benefits, for one,” Annie pointed out. “I could also stay by your side in the hospital. Filing together might ding our taxes since our combined income would be even more, although that might not really matter to you.”

He chuckled. “You are so logical, do you realize that?” he asked. “It’s something I love about you.”

“I like to think I’m practical,” she murmured. “It helps me keep a cool head. I don’t know.” She shrugged. “It calms me down.”

“But those things would benefit you, you know,” Jericho said slowly. “You would never have to worry about anything again. I would put the deed to your house back in your name so if you ever did decide to leave me, you would have somewhere to go. Not that I’m trying to buy your agreement or anything, but…” He shrugged and a light blush caressed his sharp cheekbones.

“Are you blushing?” Annie asked with wide eyes.

“Well, I’m not sure how to react,” he told her. “It’s not like I’ve asked anyone else to marry me before.”

Annie smiled, running her fingers through his hair. “I still don’t understand why you picked me,” she murmured. “I’m not trying to fish for compliments or to throw myself a pity party. But, to be honest, I don’t understand why, out of all the beautiful, intelligent women you’ve been with, why you decided to settle with me.”

He furrowed his brows. “I wouldn’t be settling with you,” he corrected. “I wish I could tell you. I mean, I could list all of your amazing qualities but I don’t think that’s what you want to hear. You want to know why you’re worthy of my hand in marriage when, in reality, I should be the one questioning my worth to you. The love I have for you can’t be measured in character traits, Annie. You’re the complete package and I admire you, respect you, and trust you. Marriage might be an extreme step, and I completely understand your hesitation. I would wait for however long you want to wait until you finally gave me the honor of becoming my wife. But I would tell you the same thing then that I know now: I know you’re the one, Annie.”

Annie smiled and shook her head. It was exactly what she wanted to hear. It was almost too perfect, if she was being honest.

“May I ask you a question?” she asked.

He nodded. “You can ask me anything,” he told her sincerely.

“Before me,” she said and she nearly rolled her eyes at the fact that she was cause for change in him. It sounded too cheesy. “Before me, you hadn’t been reported to be steady with anyone. Why is that?” Immediately, she looked away. “I know it’s none of my business. Your past is your past and I respect that. But I still want to know why you’re jumping from being single to suddenly wanting to get married to me.” She added quickly, “I do believe you love me. I’m not questioning that. And even though it’s a strange concept for me to wrap my head around, I’m open to believing you and I were destiny. Or fate. Or soul mates. Or whatever you want to call it. But why the extreme jump?”

“Don’t you think if I had found someone I wanted to settle down with, I would have?” he asked without malice in his tone. “I’ve always been the type of guy who wants to be with someone. I’ve been alone practically my whole life, Annie. You know this. I’ve told you this. But no one has given me a reason to want to settle down.”

Supermodels are pretty, sure, and they're great to have on my arm as arm candy. But that doesn't mean I want to settle down with them. And I definitely don't want to be with someone who's after my money."

Annie shot him a teasing smile. "And how do you know I'm not after your money?" she asked with a raised brow. "I am, after all, a lowly accountant and I still sometimes live paycheck to paycheck. You would be the solution to my problem."

He smiled, a slow thing that crawled onto his face and looked mischievous, like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.

"Because," he told her slowly. "I know you. I remember the night we met. Do you?" He quirked a brow.

"How could I forget?" she asked.

"Right, well, once it was decided that I would get ownership of your parents' house, you told me you would be willing to pay me rent so you could get it in your name," he told her. "No games. No manipulation. You could have batted your eyelashes or flirted with me to try to get your way. Granted, it wouldn't have worked. But you didn't even try. And that was how I knew you didn't give a shit about my money."

"Hmm," she murmured, more to herself than to Jericho. "I completely forgot about that."

"Of course you would," he told her, his eyes bright. "Because something like that is who you are so it's nothing to remember. But to me, I'm constantly surrounded by people who want money, people who are grown and fully capable of working hard and earning a living, who seem to think the world owes them something."

Annie snorted. "That sounds like Bruce," she muttered, shaking her head.

She hadn't given much thought to her brother in the past couple of weeks, since she last spoke to him. There was a shot to her heart, a dull ache she had been able to ignore for the past couple of weeks thanks to Jericho's ability to distract her from all the bad things without even knowing it. Now, however, she couldn't simply ignore the fact that she missed her brother. Yeah, she told him never to talk to her again, but now that she calmed down, even she realized that she could talk a big game but she got over it quick.

"Bruce isn't that bad, Annie," Jericho said in a gentle voice. "He asks about you since he knows I've been at your place. He's a hard worker and he's shown me all the receipts. He is investing in that property." He paused, hesitating, and then, "Maybe you should call him."

Annie looked at Jericho’s face and she could tell he was being genuine.  He wasn’t trying to meddle.  Still, she felt herself get a tad defensive at his suggestion.  The wound was still fresh, still raw, and it hurt particularly when Jericho was the one with dripping salt.

“I told him not to make me ask you for the money,” she decided to explain.  Her voice was tight but controlled.  Perhaps if he heard her side of things, maybe he would understand where she was coming from.  Hell, he might even agree with her and retract that statement.  “I told him I didn’t want to.  I told him what that would mean.  It felt like he was choosing that cabin over my feelings.  He was putting me in an awkward situation, asking you.  We barely knew each other.”

“Yeah, but he must have known I would have done anything for you,” he said.

“You would have done anything for me?” Annie asked, deadpan.  She cocked her head to the side.  “We barely knew each other.”

He shrugged.  “So?” he asked, cocking his head at that odd angle.  “I knew I loved you the minute I saw you.  Certainly you know that.  I’ve told you that.”

“I do,” she agreed with a nod.  “I do.  It’s just… it’s just hard for me to wrap my head around that.”  She looked into those pale green eyes and he tucked a strand behind her ear.  “And anyway, there’s no way that Bruce would have known that.  When Bruce gets something in his head, all logic goes out the window.  That’s how it’s always been for him.  He wanted me to ask you because he knew there was no way he could pay you back.”

Jericho nodded.  It seemed as though he was taking in her words, letting them sink in, and thinking carefully before he decided to respond.

“I know,” he told her.

“And I told him, I said if he made me do this, I didn’t want anything to do with him,” she told him, her eyes wide and serious.  “I warned him.”

“Maybe he didn’t think-“

“I know,” Annie aid, interrupting him.  “He probably didn’t take me seriously.  But that’s not my problem.  And now, if I want him to take me seriously again, I can’t…”  She let her voice trail off, biting her bottom lip to say anything.

“If you follow through, it won’t matter if he takes you seriously or not,” he pointed out gently.

Annie opened her mouth but stopped.  She wanted to react, she wanted to defend herself, but she allowed his words to sink in and slowly let them spill over her.  Maybe… maybe Jericho was right.  Maybe she should give him a chance.

“Look, he’s your brother,” Jericho continued.  “I understand your frustration with him and I can’t imagine how hurt you were when he still made you ask me for money, knowing he could potentially lose you.  But I also understand having a dream and being stubborn about it. I was the same way and there were tons of friends I lost in the process because they didn’t understand and I wasn’t about to stop my progress to make them feel better about themselves.”

“Yeah,” Annie said, taking what Jericho said into consideration. “But the thing is, he’s never mentioned it before. He has one dream one day but never follows through. That’s the story of Bruce’s life. And it’s frustrating because he puts all that time and effort into it and then once work gets hard, he gives up. It’s really frustrating and it just really upset me that I told him I didn’t want to do that. I told him and-“

“I know,” he said, gently cutting her off. “I know. But try to look at it from his perspective. Don’t you think he knows people don’t have high expectations for him? I’m sure he knows exactly what you’re thinking when he tells you he borrowed fifty grand and never paid me back. That he had to resort giving me your house as a way to pay off his debt. As a man, that really hits her pride, especially knowing what happened to your parents.”

“What does that have anything to do with it?” Annie asked, cocking her head to the side.

“He’s your older brother,” Jericho said as though it was obvious but not intending to make her feel stupid. “You guys don’t have any other family. I’m pretty sure he feels responsible for you. And giving up your house, to him, means letting you down.”

“Well, why even put himself in that situation?” Annie asked. She didn’t mean to sound so defensive but she couldn’t help it. The fact of the matter was that Bruce had made his choice. And it wasn’t her. And that hurt. “Why even put me in that situation when all he needed to do was talk to me about his dream? We could have worked something out. I’m an accountant, for goodness’ sake.”

“Okay, I get where you’re coming from,” Jericho said, and he did sound sincere. “But look at it from his point of view. If he did as you claim you want and came to you, looking for some support about another dream he had, are you telling me you would have taken him seriously? Or would you have written him off again? And I’m not here to judge you, Annie. I have no idea what I would do if I was in your position, to be honest. But you would probably have written him off as one of his schemes, you would have said no, and then he would have been in the same position as he was before. I’m not trying to say he’s right and you’re wrong but I do kind of know where he’s coming from.”

“Personal experience?” she asked, quirking a brow.

“Something like that,” he replied. “Maybe not with family but with friends. I was never taken seriously because people assumed I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, which meant people either kissed my ass or they hated me for no apparent reason. My degree says I’m a lot smarter than I really am because the professors knew if I graduated with honors, my father would donate a new building. Suffice to say, the majority of my fellow students hated me, which was understandable.”

“That’s not understandable,” Annie said. “Why is it okay to hate someone just because of their circumstances? I’m sure if anyone had the opportunity to switch lives with you, they would have.”

Jericho shrugged. “That’s okay,” he told her, his tone serious. “Here’s the thing. It helped shaped me into who I am today. I know I’m not perfect at all. I have my flaws. But it’s made me fiercely loyal to those I care about, and I don’t particularly care about a lot of people. I would kill for those I love, whether to protect them or to prevent something from happening. I’m not afraid to do what I need to do in order to ensure you’re safe.” His eyes darkened as he looked at her, a primal look tainting the pale green.

Annie swallowed. She recognized that look. It showed hunger and desire and something darker, something almost inhuman. Somehow, that look caused her pelvis to throb and she squeezed her walls together to keep from giving herself away even though he couldn’t see and probably couldn’t tell.

“This is an important thing about me, Annie,” he told her seriously. “And I need you to know it before we get more serious. I’m not like your other boyfriends. I don’t tend to get serious about the girls I date but I’m definitely serious about you. When I tell you I would kill for you, I mean it. When I tell you I would do anything to ensure your happiness, I mean it. I guess people might say I’m intense. People confuse my intensity with me being controlling and that’s not true. There’s a difference. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Annie nodded because she couldn’t do anything else. She wasn’t able to speak at the moment.

“If you don’t want to be with me anymore, I will let you go,” Jericho told her. “Why would I want to be with someone who doesn’t want to be with me? It makes no sense for me to waste my time, my energy, and my money on someone who doesn’t want to be with me? You can wear whatever you want and do whatever you want. You can see your friends as often as you want and work for whatever job you choose. My job isn’t to tell you what I think is good for you, it’s bringing out the best that’s already inside you out. I’m here to help you reach your full potential.

“If a guy looks at you or hits on you or asks for your number, I’m not going to get mad at you or even at him,” Jericho continued. “I can’t really blame the guy for trying when you’re so fucking gorgeous. But if a guy doesn’t understand what no means, if he touches you or demeans you or insults you – especially if he has the balls to do so in front of me – I can promise you I will beat the shit out of him if I don’t kill him first. No one disrespects you to me. I will not tolerate that behavior.

If anyone in your past has hurt you or betrayed you or taken something from you, I will make them pay for it. I will make them regret the day they hurt you. You are mine to protect. Does this change the way you feel about me?”

Annie shook her head. “No,” she told him.

Jericho clenched his jaw. “Good,” he told her. “That’s very good news. I suppose now that I have your blessing, I can finally marry you.”

Annie felt herself start to laugh, even though it wasn’t exactly funny. The awkwardness reigned over her body and she just reacted instead of thinking too much about how she was being perceived.

“Why are you laughing?” Jericho asked, raising his brow. His face was serious but not offended. He was just looking at her with a peculiar look on his face, wrinkling his brow and causing her to lose her breath. He was so perfect, so beautiful, it hurt to look at him sometimes. If he told her to walk through fire, she probably would.

Truth be told, she had no idea how she got here, what happened to get her to this point in her life. She remembered the Annie before Jericho and couldn’t believe she had survived so long being so blind. She had been closed-minded, she thought she knew everything about everything, and she had hated Jericho without fully understanding who he was and why he did the things he did. Before she really understood him, she had been merely surviving. Just getting by. She thought she had been happy, but that wasn’t the case at all. Now she understood.

Being with Jericho changed everything, from the way she viewed things to the values she thoughts she held so dear. The justice system she had believed so much in was something skewed and wrong now. Nobody seemed to care about why things were done the way they were done. No one questioned why something was deemed right or acceptable while other things were labeled as wrong.

Jericho was the best man she had the pleasure of knowing. He was kind and honest and sweet. He took care of her and promoted a variety of charities which he donated to on a regular basis. He was one of the best bosses she knew and a lot of that came from her brother, who worked for him. He scheduled meetings with his employees and spoke to them personally about any ideas they had and how they liked their job. More than that, he actually cared about what they had to say. He took them seriously. What other boss did that? None she knew.

“It’s just,” she began, shaking her head. “Marriage, Jericho? Are you sure?”

“I’ve been sure about you the minute I saw you in my club, giving me a dirty look and trying not to look afraid of my bodyguards,” he told her. “I’ve told you this many, many times you know. Why would you be surprised that I would want to marry you?”

“Because marriage is serious,” she told him as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Marriage changes things.”

“It’s not supposed to,” Jericho told her, his tone serious.

Annie shot him a look. “How can you say that?” she asked. “Of course marriage changes things.”

“What I’m saying is that it shouldn’t,” he said. “Hear me out. Everyone thinks that marriage is just a piece of paper, right?”

Annie shrugged. “I guess some do,” she allowed, “but I’m not one of those people. Marriage isn’t just a piece of paper to me. I believe in the system and people take it for granted and shit on it every day. Love isn’t just a feeling, it’s a lifestyle. You can’t just say the words and think they’re true, you have to mean them. You have to show them. Getting married should be done because two people love each other, not because two people have something to prove or are going to have a baby or something else. There should be no other reason to get married than to get married.”

“I completely agree with everything you’re saying,” Jericho pointed out. “I don’t think you’re wrong about any of this.”

“Okay, so we’re on the same page,” Annie said.

Jericho’s lips curled up into an amused smile. “Not quite,” he told her. “If you have a great relationship with someone, marriage isn’t going to make it worse. If you have a shitty relationship, marriage isn’t going to make it better. Can we at least agree on that?”

“Of course,” Annie said, playfully rolling her eyes.

“Good,” Jericho continued. “So marriage isn’t going to change things one way or another. You just admitted it.” He smirked. “You and I, when we get married, our relationship is still going to continue to thrive. One piece of paper isn’t going to change that. Obviously there are plenty of legal reasons why marriage is beneficial to both parties, but quite honestly, I don’t care about stuff like that. I’m going to marry you regardless of all of that.”

“Really?” She raised a brow. “You realize you haven’t even asked me yet, right?”

“I will,” he told her. “I just want you to be prepared, so it isn’t a shock to you.”

Annie laughed. “Isn’t that what a marriage proposal is?” she asked.

“I suppose,” he said. “But not for me. I want you to know that I intend to marry you someday. Probably soon.”

“Soon?”

“Soon,” he told her. “Maybe in a week.”

“A week?”

“A week.”

“And where do you propose we get married?” Annie asked, deciding to humor him. “A courthouse?”

“Absolutely not,” he told her. “There’s a meadow I know, just out of the city. I could put a deposit today. You could go shopping for your dress. We could get a recording crew, a photographer. You could invite everyone you know.”

“Or we could elope,” Annie murmured.

“Elope?” he asked. He sounded surprised that she would even humor him in the first place. “Just you and me?”

“Just you and me,” she agreed.

“You would marry me then?”

Annie stopped to really consider. This whole relationship was still new and it was scary and awesome and wonderful. Marriage was a serious commitment. Would she be taking it seriously if she married a man she only knew for a couple months?

But she didn’t care.

“Yes,” she said with a small smile. “I’ll marry you.”