Starting with the Unexpected (24 page)

“If we weren’t, we would be now,” Marcus yelled back with a roll of his eyes, making me chuckle. “Welcome home.”

“Thanks. Can you tell me why perfectly good chocolate sauce has been left sitting open on the coffee table?”

“Foreplay,” I yelled back. “I recommend staying off of the couch until we’ve broken out the steam cleaner.”

Marcus shook with laughter when Jordan bellowed in disgust. His footsteps stomped down the hall, and a minute later we heard his shower start.

“He must have sat down before we could warn him,” I said and gave Marcus an innocent look. “Whoops.”

“Behave,” he scolded with a laugh. Then he pressed his lips to mine in a soft kiss. “He should have guessed the couch might not be safe, though. The entire living room probably still has a distinct odor to it.”

The grin on my face slid into a more serious expression as I looked into his face and reached up to run my fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry I left you here alone yesterday.”

“You made up for it,” he assured, rewarding me with a devilish grin. “I may have to be kind of careful how I sit down for the next couple of days.”

I felt the exact same way, but I still winced. I hadn’t wanted to hurt him. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he answered with a snort. “As I recall, I was the one who kept insisting ‘harder’ and ‘faster.’”

I opted to not make an issue of it and leaned in for another kiss instead. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”

“Enough to finally ask that question your mom’s been hinting you should ask?” he teased.

I went still and just watched him as my heart hammered in my chest. “Are you ready for that?”

Marcus brushed his fingers along my cheek and his grin softened to a tender smile so full of love, it made me want to weep for joy. “Once the sun’s up, call your parents and ask them to meet us for lunch,” he said. “Then you and I can go ring shopping, and you can think about what you’re going to say when you propose to me in front of them. I promise you’ll like my answer.”

A
NDI
V
AN
is a foul-mouthed troublemaker who lives near San Diego with a small fluffy thing named Koi, a baseball bat that’s forever being used for things other than baseball, and a fondness for rum and caffeine (though not necessarily together).

Andi is fluent in three languages (English, sarcasm, and profanity), and takes pride in a highly developed—if somewhat bizarre—sense of humor.

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: http://www.andivan.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/defiantandi

Twitter: @DefiantAndi

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