Page 106 of Sins of Innocence

Especially since we're not physically connected with his libido engaged. My gaze flicks down to check. I can't help myself.

Oh, lord. There's a bulge. His kneeling position would hide it from everyone else, but I see it. Thinking of being my husband is turning him on. Maybe it's just the sex. He does like my curves and he's made no secret of the fact he wants to touch them again.

"When those boys went after Sadie, I wanted to be her dad. I wanted the right to protect her." His jaw tightens fractionally. "I wanted to call Neeve my daughter in that classroom yesterday."

The girls have all moved closer so they're standing beside Kieran, like they're supporting him, just willing me to say yes.

"I need to be your husband."

Every word is true. I know it. The reality behind them isn't candlelight and roses. It's mob politics, a dead husband's betrayal and a twelve-year-old girl in a school locker room. It is not, by any reasonable definition, romantic.

Tell that to my silly, squishy, completely unmanageable heart, though. Because it hears I need to be your husband and just melts.

"Okay," I say.

Kieran's brow lifts, the barest fraction.

"Yes," I clarify, offering my left hand. "The answer is yes."

He takes it and slides a dazzling platinum engagement ring on my finger, with a central round diamond that is at least five carats. The clusters of tiny diamonds on either side of it sparkle just as brilliantly as the center stone.

Kieran lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses my finger right below the ring. "Mine."

His. Oh, my gosh. I soak my panties. His. Yes, screams my inner hussy. And my heart? Reminds me that he's mine. Or as near as.

He rises in one fluid movement, pulling me into his big body and lifting me right off my feet so he can kiss me. I lose myself in the feeling of his lips against mine for several seconds.

Lifting his head, he whispers, "Soon, baby girl. Soon."

Baby girl again. Pardon me while I swoon.

He slowly lowers me down his body, my skirt catching a little on his slacks and Sadie jumps forward to yank it down. When my feet touch the ground, I turn to see how my girls are reacting to what just happened.

They're all grinning. Joy, who's vibrating at a frequency only dogs can hear, detonates. "You're getting married?!"

If this was a text, there would be about thirty exclamation points, mind blown, and question mark emojis after her question.

"Yes." I nod hard, my throat tight with inexplicable tears.

"Does that mean you're our dad now?" Joy demands of Kieran.

"Working on it," he says.

"Yes," Neeve says at the same time and then, my quiet girl throws her arms around Kieran's middle and hugs him. "You can be my dad."

"Thank you, petal." He rests his hand on her hair.

Joy joins in the hug and yells at full volume, "You can be my daddy too!"

Sadie stays where she is, her arms folded across her chest, watching her sisters with Kieran. When she sees me looking, she scrubs quickly at her cheek with the back of her hand.

"I'm happy," she says defensively.

I nod. "I'm glad." Then I reach for my preteen and hug her tight. "It's okay to have lots of feels about this, right? You remember your dad better than your little sisters. Do you want to talk about it?"

Sadie hugs me back. "Is it okay if I want Kieran to be my dad too? Would daddy be mad?"

Daddy. Troy. Would he be mad that I'm moving on? Probably. He thought my world should begin and end with him and the girls. Would he be angry his daughters are calling another man dad? Yes.