Perfect Fit: Book 4 of the Fated Hearts Series (37 page)

“Welcome home, Bones.”

“You’re my home, Jag. Wherever you are is where my home will be. I love this house because it’s ours together.” Hearing those sweet words touched me in ways I wasn’t able to verbally express at the moment because there was a ball of emotion stuck in my throat. I cleared my throat in attempt to dislodge it but was unsuccessful. I would need my kiss and gift to speak for me.

I poured everything I felt for him into my kiss. Every breath we took was shared, every sigh expressed was captured by the other, and every touch felt like it was the first time all over again. It felt as if we were starting over and in a way we were in a new home with kids that were legally Miller’s and I hoped someday they’d be mine as well.

Once we were showered and dressed, I took Miller back into the kitchen. We decided to eat leftover pizza for dinner so I went outside to get my surprise while he reheated pizza. I set out candles on the dining room table and hurriedly lit them. I placed his large gift box on the table and took my seat to wait for him.

“What’s all this?” Miller asked when he walked into the room with two plates in his hand.

“It’s our Valentine’s Day dinner.”

“You don’t do Valentine’s Day. I remember you saying something about greeting card companies and swindling.” He tilted his head slightly as if he was searching for a memory.

“None of your gifts were purchased from one of them. This gift is unique for only you.” I said with a sniff of superiority.

“Good. I got you something too, but I was afraid you didn’t get me anything and would feel bad.” Miller set the plates down on the table and ran out of the room. He returned with a box he must’ve hidden somewhere in the house. He placed it on the table with exaggerated fan fair and I couldn’t help but be curious about his gift. “Eat first,” he demanded.

Our first romantic dinner in our new house was lukewarm pizza on paper plates by candlelight. It was absolutely perfect for the two of us. We wore ridiculous grins while we consumed our pizza and drank an ice cold beer. I had to admit, beer had never tasted so good.

“You first,” Miller insisted once we were done eating. He slid my gift to me.

I removed the wrapping paper and opened the box. Inside was a framed picture of the four of us at the Brexler’s Christmas party the previous year. Lily was sitting in my lap while Lucas was standing on the couch behind Miller with his arms wrapped around Miller’s neck in one of his favorite wrestling moves. The look of sheer happiness on all of our faces made my eyes tear up. The photo had been taken just a few weeks before Lucas and Lily lost their parents and I could only hope to see that unbridled happiness on their faces again someday.

The coolest thing about the picture was that it had been printed and cut like a jigsaw puzzle, which was our thing. It was Miller’s way of reminding me that we still fit even though the picture had changed and the puzzle was now bigger, but it was no less beautiful to me.

“I love this, Bones. It’s the best gift I’ve ever received.” I leaned over and kissed him, but he pulled back before I could deepen the kiss too much.

“My turn!” He pulled the heavy box toward him and I think he knew it was going to be another excavating activity. The wide grin on his face told me he was really looking forward to digging out his gift. I had put a lot of time and thought into it and I wanted him to take his time unearthing all the clues. “I love these gifts,” he said.

“Go easy,” I told him. There were some pieces that were slightly delicate and I didn’t want him to break them or it would ruin it.

Miller looked up at me and gave me a gleeful smile as he slowly started to dig through some sort of sugar that looked like sand. I had edible things inside and I didn’t want it to get ruined by real sand. Chrissy from Adam and Steve’s Bakery came through for me big time. She seemed genuinely happy to help me plan this surprise. I swore her to secrecy, because Miller frequently went there on Saturday mornings for donuts and pastries.

Chrissy baked and iced cookies to look like candy hearts. Then she cut them in jagged halves so that they could be pulled apart and put back together again to look like a puzzle. Miller pulled one out and of course only saw half of the message. He raised it to his mouth like he was going to eat it until he saw my glare.

“Not until all the pieces have been found.”

“Spoilsport.” Next, Miller dug out a plastic groom that one would expect to see on top of a wedding cake. This groom was blond and resembled the man I loved more than life itself. His eyes jerked up and he swallowed hard. “Jag.” His voice sounded breathless.

“Keep excavating, Bones.”

He dug up several more cookie pieces and set them aside as he carefully dug through the sand. He pulled out a bottle of champagne and then two plastic wine glasses. His eyes connected to mine after every item he pulled out. I could only describe the look in his eyes as hopeful. There were only two remaining items left for him to find and I didn’t want him to discover the last one until he formed his puzzles. So, I stopped him from digging further when he pulled out the plastic groom that had the same coloring as me.

“Put your puzzle pieces together, Bones.” It wouldn’t take him long, because each cookie was iced in a different color. All he had to do was match up the halves in the same color. I held my breath as he put the pieces together until he had four hearts that read:

His sweet, happy laugh was music to my ears. I saw the answer in his eyes, but before he could speak I pointed back to the sandbox. “You’re not done yet. There’s one more thing for you to find.”

He didn’t move for several seconds, but then he slowly began to scrape away the sugary sand until he saw the Tiffany blue box waiting for him at the bottom. “Oh my.” Those were his only words and they were spoken with a voice that shook with emotion. He gently removed the ring box and held it in front of him. He looked at me with such love in his eyes. I nodded my head and he opened the box.

It was a moment I thought I’d never share with another person. I never thought I’d want to tie myself to another for as long as I lived, but that was before I met Miller. That was before I discovered what it meant to love someone more than food, water, or air. That was before I found the piece of me that I didn’t know was missing.

“What do you say, Bones? Will you marry me?” I bit my bottom lip to keep it from trembling.

“I will.” I took the ring out of the box and slipped it on his finger. “This is even better than the red cock ring,” he said as he looked at the platinum band on his finger. Bless Miller for making highly charged emotional moments easier for me. “Where’s yours?”

“Hidden amongst my underwear,” I answered him. “I’d kept them locked in my desk once we returned from vacation.” His eyes widened and I realized what I had let slip out.

“You were going to ask me on vacation?” I nodded. “Why did you wait?”

“I was waiting for the right time to ask you and had planned out a special night, but then we found out about Darryl and Destiny. It wasn’t the right time to ask you to make such a commitment. Then I thought it was probably better that I had waited so that you’d know I want all of you to be mine forever. I needed you to know that I would commit myself to loving Lucas and Lily as if they were my own too. That was something you needed to see with your own eyes.”

Tears leaked out of Miller’s eyes and rolled down his face. He grabbed me by the hand and pulled me up the stairs to our bedroom. “Get it out. I want to see it.”

“Wellllll,” I said, deliberately misunderstanding what he said. I began to unzip my pants. “I like the way you celebrate, Bones.”

“Yeah, yeah. Later.” He waved away my attempt at being sexy. “I want to put the ring on your finger too.”

“Engaged for less than five minutes and sex is already being put on the backburner.” I sighed dramatically and dug out the ring that matched his from the bottom of my undies drawer. I handed it to him and he removed the ring from the box. I held out my hand and he slid the ring on my finger while looking into my eyes.

I placed my hand on his neck and pulled him in slowly for a kiss. I loved all of the kisses we shared, but that one felt different as did the love we made to seal our engagement. Gone was the frantic urge to fuck in the shower and in its place was the need to touch and kiss every part of one another before Miller slid inside me. Our hands were entwined over my head just as tightly as the hold Miller had on my heart.

“I love you, Bones.”

“I love you too, Jag.”

It wasn’t until much later that I remembered to tell him about the inscription on the inside our rings. I had the words
Perfect Fit
engraved on the inside of both bands to represent our unconventional love.