Page 98 of Protecting Kelli
“So, yeah. I was aggressive. Because I knew you weren’t going to touch me, since you were afraid to hurt me. But you’dneverhurt me. Ever. I know that down to my very marrow. I hope you don’t mind that I jumped you…because I have a feeling I’m gonna be doing that a lot.”
“Marry me.”
Kelli stared at Flash. He’d picked his head up when she’d begun talking, so he could look into her eyes—and she was momentarily speechless.
“I want all that too. I want to be the loudest person in the auditorium when you get your degree. I want to take pictures of you in your overalls and tool belt as you’re on top of a ladder, fixing shit. I want to come home to you after every mission, and after every day of work. I want to hang out with my SEAL buddies as we watch over our women, getting sloshed during a girls’ night out, then bring you home and fuck you drunk. I want to be a father, have babies that look exactly like you, teach them to be strong and confident, just like their mom.
“And you already know I love you too. I almost lost my mind when I walked into that room and saw Williams trying to stab you. Fuck anyone who thinks we won’t make it, because I intend to spend every day of my life making you happy. Proving I’m the man you think I am. Because the truth is, I’m kind of a dick. At least to people who annoy me. Marry me, Kelli. I’ll gladly have wild monkey sex with you when I’m eighty, although I might need some medical assistance to get it up by then.”
Kelli couldn’t help it. She laughed. This was a momentous occasion in her life, and she was giggling. Which made it all the more perfect. She didn’t need the grand gestures. Him going down on one knee. She just needed Flash.
“Yes.”
“Yes?” he asked, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d heard.
“Of course, yes. I love you,” she said simply.
In response, Flash’s head dipped, and Kelli knew he was trying to regain his composure. When he lifted his head again, she saw that his eyes were sparkling. Flash might think he was a dick, but not to her. Never to her.
“We’re going to be wedding’d out in the next few months, huh?” she asked. “With Remi and Josie marrying Kevlar and Blink, our own ceremony, my cousin’s and your sister’s…it’s going to be crazy.”
“We’re eloping,” Flash said without hesitation.
“What? Really?”
“That is, if you agree. I want my ring on your finger, and yours on mine, as soon as possible. I don’t have the patience to plan a big thing, and besides, the people who’ll be at Kevlar and Blink’s party at Aces are the same people we’d invite to our own reception. I’d rather put that money toward a down payment on a house.”
“Yes!” Kelli said happily. “But we might need to invite my mom to whatever ceremony we have. I think she’d be heartbroken to miss it.”
“How about Vegas? It’s a little cliché, but we can invite your family and mine, and have a party there on the Strip afterward.”
“Um…no offense, but after what happened to Bree in Vegas…no. Maybe we can just go to the courthouse here?” Kelli asked.
“Done. So we’re doing this?”
“This?”
“Getting married, buying a house, making babies, having wild monkey sex when we’re in our nineties.”
Kelli giggled again. The age of them having this crazy sex kept creeping up. “We are,” she confirmed.
Flash smiled, then got serious. “Thank you for not giving up,” he whispered.
“Never,” Kelli vowed. “Will your team be mad if they aren’t invited to our wedding? They certainly weren’t happy that they missed everything with Brant.”
“They weren’t happy because they knew you were in danger and scared. Because Smiley and I didn’t have them as backup. They won’t be upset if we go to the courthouse and get married. Promise.”
“Okay. Um…do you think maybe we can take a short honeymoon to that resort in New Mexico?”
“The Refuge?”
“Yeah.”
“They’re pretty booked up, but I can at least call them,” Flash said without hesitation.
That was reason number eight hundred and twenty-six why Kelli loved this man. “It’s just that I’d love to meet the woman who tried so hard to find Brant. But with him staying in that abandoned house, I’m thinking there’s no way she could’ve found him.”
“I think that’s a perfect idea. I’ve heard such great things about The Refuge. You know about Melba, right?”
