There’s nothing in the world I want more than to drive Cate back to my hotel room and fuck her all day and night, stopping only to eat and maybe shower…then fuck her in the shower…then kiss her, then spend several hours telling her how magnificent she is, how she is the only one for me, how I will never take her for granted, not for one day, not for one minute, not for one second.

I can tell she wants to go back there, too.

But there’s one more thing I need to do.

I make a right-hand turn at the next block after the storefront and turn around, heading back the way we came, back toward Bee’s house.

“The hotel is the other way. Did you get turned around?”

“No.”

“Where are we going?”

“Are you always this impatient?”

“Yes! Tell me where we’re going.”

“There’s one more thing I need to do at your sister’s house.”

“Pick up the flowers you got for me?”

“That, and something else.”

Every time I glance over at Cate during the drive, she’s grinning, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, her cheeks blushed and happy.

When we pull up to the house, her eyes widen. There are several vehicles parked by the curb, and people are coming and going, carrying packages and pieces of furniture.

“What is this?” She looks at me, not quite believing it.

“A baby gift for your sister and her husband.”

“That’s way more than one gift.”

“You’re right.” Looking at the constant flow of people and things now, I think it might be a bit much. “They’re not obligated to keep any of it, if they don’t want it or need it.”

“Are you kidding? Bee’s probably in heaven right now. The babies were born before they could plan a shower, so they’re having to buy everything as they go.”

Relief. I’m not going to come off looking like a total asshole, then.

“Let’s go in.”

“Okay…”

Cate’s voice is still a little wary, but she follows me in through the door. Bee, wearing one of the babies in a wrap close to her chest, comes to greet us, squealing with excitement.

“Jax—tell me right now. Did you send us all this stuff?”

“I did.”

“Thank you!” Bee pulls my face toward her and kisses me on the cheek. “Thank you. Cate must have told you that we didn’t get a chance to have a baby shower.”

“She didn’t, actually…but I’m glad I didn’t send a truckload of things you already had.”

Bee’s eyes widen. “You sent all this even though—” She stops herself. “Never mind. We can talk about all this later. Dex?”

Dex appears from down the hallway. “They’re almost done setting up the two cribs in the nursery.” He has the other baby cradled over his arm. It looks odd to me, holding a baby that way, but what the hell do I know? Not a thing.

“Hey, Jax. Heard this was from you. Can’t thank you enough, man.”

“You’re more than welcome.” I look back toward Bee. “Are they here?”

“Is who here?” says Cate, looking suspiciously between the three of us.

“They’re here,” Bee says, her smile lighting up her face. “In the backyard garden. Come on.”

Bee leads the way through the house and out the backdoor, where there’s a beautifully maintained lawn and garden.

“Wow, Bee,” I say. “You’ve spent a lot of time on this.”

She wrinkles her nose. “We pay a guy. I hate bugs.”

“Well, he’s done a great job.”

Now I’m wasting time. After the amazing fuck, how can I still be nervous? I can guarantee the outcome.

Almost.

Bee and Cate’s parents are sitting on two lawn chairs near an outdoor fireplace, and they both stand up as we approach. Cate’s father shakes my hand again, his eyes twinkling. I may have let them in on what could be happening today—if Cate decided she wanted to be with me after all.

“Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad,” Cate says, hugging them both. “This is my boyfriend, Jax.”

“We’ve met,” says her Dad, then guffaws loudly.

“What?”

“This morning.”

“Why—?”

I clear my throat, and Cate’s family steps back a couple of paces, all of them smiling almost freakishly large smiles, and she crosses her arms, looking at all of their faces, then back to me.

“Catherine Schaffer,” I begin. “From the moment I saw you, I knew you were someone I had to have in my life.” My throat tightens with emotion. “And I know we haven’t known each other a very long time, but—” I say, my love for her crashing into me again. Cate’s family bursts into laughter, and Bee covers the ears of the baby in her wrap.

“Language, language,” she scolds playfully.

I wipe a stray tear from my eyelashes and continue. “I didn’t need to know you for a long time to know that I wanted to be with you always. So…” I get down to my knee, and Cate clasps her hands in front of her, her face glowing with delight, her eyes shining with tears. “Cate, will you marry me?”

“Yes!” she shrieks, barreling into me so fast I almost fall over.

“You haven’t seen the ring yet!”

“I don’t care about the ring!” she shouts into my ear, and her entire family roars with laughter. She kisses the side of my neck and hugs me so hard that I start to tip over again, and her Dad comes over, offering me a hand to get up.

Once we’re both standing, Cate still giddy with happiness, I pull the ring box from my pocket. I had my personal jeweler come to the penthouse at three in the morning the day before I was supposed to leave so I could select it. It’s not the most ostentatious diamond—I didn’t think she’d like that—but the band is intricate, the details stunning.

She gasps, then claps her hands when she sees it, her calm and collected self slipping away.

Once I’ve slipped the ring onto her finger, Cate throws her arms around my neck, kissing me hard, and her family looks away, giving us a moment to ourselves.

“You had this the entire time?” she whispers in my ear. “Even when you didn’t know what I would say?”

“I hoped you would still love me. I hoped you would say yes.”

“I’ll always say yes. Every single day. I love you, Mr. Hunter.”

The light in her eyes says it all.