Chapter Fifty-Three
Two months later
Kurt
The wheels of the plane touched down on the tarmac. Since takeoff, Dylan and Sawyer had been sleeping soundly. Dylan was safely buckled in on the couch, in his carrier. Sawyer had her hand draped across his tummy. He was getting so big. Two months old. Hard to fucking believe it.
I texted Knoah.
Me: Landed. Be at the hotel in thirty.
Knoah: Great. Almost done.
Sawyer thought we were headed to Garrick and Knoah’s home in Utah for a weekend away with our friends before Knoah couldn’t fly anymore. However, we’d just landed in Vegas.
Her shoulder had healed nearly good as new. I knew it still bothered her at times, but she never complained. Fuckers. At least those assholes wouldn’t see the light of day any time soon. My girl was so strong. The police had found the PO box and something at the Colorado home. The information hadn’t been released yet as the investigation continued. They hadn’t broken her. Not at all.
Sawyer stretched. “Oh, we’re here. That went by fast.”
George walked up wearing a blue bow tie that matched Dylan’s outfit. Yeah, I lost that battle. Poor George would have to figure a way out of that on his own. I petted his head. “You’re a good boy.”
If it was possible, George was more protective of Dylan than he’d been of Sawyer. He stayed close to him, always watching. If Dylan cried, George ran to one of us whimpering. Best damn lap poodle I could ask for.
Life had settled down, and I had everything I wanted—except one thing. And she was killing me by denying me. Killing. Me. It had driven me to extreme measures. I’d plotted and planned something. What the actual fuck?
I nearly had a heart attack when I’d handed Knoah the blue sticky note.
The doors opened, and we made our way to the limo. Hopefully, I could keep Sawyer engaged enough in conversation so she didn’t notice where we were.
I changed Dylan’s diaper before the car started moving.
Sawyer giggled. “You’re getting better at this.”
“It’s a war zone.”
More times than not, I got peed on. I had to be superhero fast before Dylan’s hose would light me up. At home, I got a welder’s mask to use when I changed him. The pee pee shield did shit and only made a mess. If the little man was going to let it blow, it was going to go everywhere…except my mouth. Yeah, Sawyer thought that was fucking hilarious. At least I didn’t get piss in my mouth anymore.
“Let me nurse him. He’s going to be hungry in the next fifteen minutes. This will make the trip easier.”
Screaming baby wanting his mother’s tit—another nightmare. But I loved every second of it. Sawyer cooed at him. “You’ve been sleeping through the night for a week. Yes, you have. Your daddy and mommy are so glad.”
“And that means Daddy gets to fu—”
“Cuss muffs!” Sawyer had one eyebrow raised at me.
Leaning over, I put my hands over Dylan’s ears. Dylan swatted me with his hand. “As I was saying, that means Daddy gets to fuck Mommy.”
Sawyer grinned. “Yes. Yes, it does.”
Those six weeks of waiting were pure agony. I felt like some damn teenager, jacking off all the fucking time. This time around, we decided on the pill since the shot had been an ineffective barrier.
After fastening Dylan back into his car seat, Sawyer snuggled into my side. The limo drove off, and Sawyer dozed off again. That was easier than I thought. I should have figured it, though. Sawyer had insisted on doing all the night feedings because nursing was important to her. But it left her exhausted. She was still catching up on her sleep. And even though Dylan slept through the night now, we’d been making up for lost time.
I pulled out my phone to text my cohort.
Me: We’re on our way.
Knoah: Fabulous. Everything is set. Change for dinner. I’ve had clothes laid out on your bed. Tell Sawyer it’s part of the date night you arranged. Waldo will go up to your room after you leave to get George.
My manager took his dog godchild responsibilities to a whole new level. George was now in three monthly doggie clubs—dog biscuit of the month, dog toy of the month, bow tie of the month. Traitor.
Me: Do you think this is going to work?
Knoah: Yes! Stop being a pessimist. It worked for Hastings.
I sure as hell hoped so. With my fingers, I drummed a beat to help work out some of my nervous energy. Knoah’s brother had gone to Vegas to elope with Paulisa a few weeks ago.
Before I knew it, the limo driver pulled up the Wynn. “Hey, baby. We’re here.”
“Oh, I’m sorry I fell asleep. Someone kept me up last night, and it wasn’t the baby.”
“I don’t remember hearing any complaints.”
She kissed me. “You rocked my world for sure.” Looking out the window, she finally noticed we weren’t in Utah. “Wait, where are we?”
“Vegas. I thought before we went to Garrick and Knoah’s, we could have a weekend away. Just the three of us.”
Her eyes turned that soft, mushy color where the gold in them brightened. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.” I checked my watch, ready to get this show on the road. “We need to get checked in. We have dinner in forty-five minutes.”
Technically an hour, but she’d never know. Knoah might kill me for moving up the time-table.
We were escorted to our penthouse suite. To keep from cracking my knuckles, I drummed a quiet beat on the side of my leg.
“Wow, this view is amazing.”
Seeing her ass in those pants was amazing. The view was meh in comparison.
“Oh, hey, I told Knoah about my plans for the weekend. She arranged for some clothes to wear. Apparently, I needed an upgrade to my standard jeans and T-shirt.”
Pretending to look under the couch cushion, she said, “Kurt? Where are you? There’s a man here who said the word plan.”
“Oh, shut up and kiss me.”
“With pleasure.”
Standing up on her tiptoes, she pressed her lips to mine. I swatted her ass. “Now go get ready. I’ll change Dylan.”
“Thanks, Mr. Rockstar. I put your welder’s mask in the duffel bag.”
“You are a lifesaver. Now hurry. We can’t be late.”
“Wow, this must be fancy-schmancy. Let me go look.” Sawyer squealed. “Oh, Kurt! This dress is amazing. And these flowers.”
She came out of the bedroom holding a calla lily. Everything was going to plan. “These are my favorite flowers ever.”
“Mine, too.”
With a dreamy look in her eye, she twirled the flower. This woman was killing me. “Go get dressed. Hurry. We can’t be late.”
Mashing her lips together, Sawyer tried to contain a giggle and failed miserably.
“What?”
“I think I’ve rubbed off on you. Organization looks good on you. The sticky notes on your stomach worked.”
Shit. I picked up Dylan from his carrier, ignoring the comment. She had me and, from the laughter I heard, she knew it.
As promised, my mask was in the bag. Dylan waved little arms around as I changed him. Twice today I’d managed to come out unscathed. Yeah, I was becoming an expert diaper changer. I put on his clothes and laid him on a blanket on the floor with a rattle. George lay about a foot out of reach. Dylan loved to give his white fur a good yank.
Thirty minutes until go time.
Time was crawling like a fucking snail. I changed into my slacks and dress shirt. I refused to be in a monkey suit. Unable to tolerate the buttoned-up sleeves, I rolled them up instead.
The bathroom door was still closed.
I started pacing; Dylan watched me. “Come here, buddy.”
Together we paced the suite. Thirty minutes passed, and I thought I was going to come out of my skin as Dylan and I made our thousandth revolution. He was a happy baby and blew bubbles while I sang to him. Knoah had a custom suit made to match my outfit. Little guy was adorable, but his jacket and my shirt would be soaked through with slobber if we didn’t get a move on.
Time’s up.
We needed to go, or I was going to jump the gun and propose right here. Sawyer needed to see I was serious about this. It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing. “Sawyer?”
“Coming. I have one minute left.”
Of course, she did. My ever-punctual, planning woman.
Almost sixty seconds—which felt like an eternity—later, Sawyer came out of the bathroom. She was breathtaking. Heels that made her legs look like they went on for miles. My cock hardened. Down boy. Patience. A simple white dress that hugged the hell out of her curves. I was sure it had all sorts of fancy terms, but all I knew was it looked hella hot.
“You are stunning.”
“Thank you. I don’t think I’ve worn anything without puke or a milk stain in two months.”
“Exquisite.” And later I would pull it up and fuck her in it.
I held out my arm, snapping to it. “Shall we?”
“Absolutely. Do we need the carrier?”
“Nah, I don’t think so.”
Sawyer gave George a treat before we left. Poor guy looked a little pitiful sitting with his head cocked to the side, questions in his big brown eyes.
Don’t worry, George. Waldo is coming for you.
As we rode down in the elevator, my nerves rose to the surface. What if she says no? What do I do? There was no option; she had to say yes. The need to make her my wife consumed me. Sawyer Hendrix. It had to happen.
Sawyer asked, “Is everything okay? You seem nervous since we got off the plane.”
Of course she noticed. “No, I’m good. Just want today to be special for you.”
And for you to finally say yes.
Damn, I had brought up marriage a million times over the last two months, only to be thwarted by her every time. Yes, I’d made the condition. I never dreamed Sawyer would be this damned serious about not pressuring me to marry her.
“You make every day special.” She leaned into me, the smell of her perfume making me harder. Since the doctor had cleared her for sex, I’d been nearly rabid for her sweet pussy.
The elevator dinged. About damn time. I cracked my knuckle with my thumb and winced. Sawyer raised her eyebrow. “Are you sure everything is okay?”
Damn it. Think. I had to keep her going and not focus on me. My nerves were already shot to shit with what I was about to do. “Yeah…just, um…germs, you know?”
Germs? What the fuck? I suck at this shit.
“Germs?” Sawyer asked skeptically as she straightened Dylan’s jacket.
I kept walking, not giving her a chance to look in my eyes. “Yeah. Dinner is this way.”
We rounded the corner, and I knew this was the place from the pictures Knoah had sent me. Vases of flowers stood on pedestals, creating a walkway to the place I hoped we would become husband and wife. Rose petals were sprinkled on the floor and candles flickered. It turned out exactly as I wanted. Hopefully it was romantic enough. Knoah said it was. But I was terrible at this shit.
She touched one of the flowers absentmindedly and said, “Look, it’s our flower.”
“Sawyer?”
She turned my way and gave me a huge smile. “Yeah.”
“I love you. You know that, right?”
“Of course.” She dropped her hand and walked my way. “What’s wrong?”
I was supposed to say something romantic, but that shit left my brain.
Fuck it. Just kneel and something will come.
With Dylan in one arm, I kneeled in front of her and pulled out the ring that had been burning a hole in my pocket for two weeks. It was a huge-ass diamond ring with a ton of bullshit descriptions at the end of it. All I knew was that it cost me a fortune, which meant it had to be good. Right?
What do I say? Shit. Fuck. Blurt it out.
“Sawyer, I want you to be my wife. I’m not scared of hurting you because I love you so fucking much. Will you marry me? I want you to marry me—not for you, not for me, but for us.”
She stood there, stunned, and said nothing. It was time to play dirty. I would not be side-stepped again. I put my thumb underneath Dylan’s chin to move his lips and raised my voice. “Say yes to my daddy. He wants to marry you really bad. It’s all he talks to me about when he’s with me. Please, Mommy. Say yes. Put him and me out of our misery.”
Silence. I looked up at Sawyer, who had tears in her eyes. Her voice caught. “You really want this?”
“Fuck yes. If you say no, I may drag you in there and force you to. I mean it. I’m not doing this because I’m scared.”
Sawyer laughed. “Yes, Mr. Hendrix. I’ll marry you.”
I stood and brought her to me, feeling her body mold to mine. “Thank fuck.”
Then I kissed her hard. As the kiss ended, she murmured against my lips. “Cuss muffs.”
“I had a talk with Dylan. He’s making an exception.”
I felt her grin against my mouth.
Then I called out, “She said yes!”
Whoops and hollers filled the air. The guys from band, the Shaws, Mom, Cameron, Monica, Waldo, and George all came around the corner.
“Oh my gosh! Everyone is here!”
“They’re here to see us get hitched.”
Sawyer put her hand to her mouth and turned to me. “Now?”
“Yeah. I wanted to show you how serious I am about this. If you want to plan some big wedding, it can wait. We’ll make this one he—I mean one great engagement party.”
Shit, hell is on the cuss list. Those damn cuss muffs were going to be the death of me.
“I’m ready to marry you, Mr. Rockstar.”
I put my free hand to Dylan’s right side and brought his head to my chest, creating cuss muffs. “Thank fuck.”
Everyone laughed and cheered.
This was it. The last thing I would ever need in this life.