SEALed With Love (DiCarlo Brides book 2) (The DiCarlo Brides) (30 page)

Joel hung up after talking to a detective about Mick. They had gotten a warrant for his place and his electronics, to try to match him to the stalking, and they were on their way to the house now. It was a small department with limited staff, so it would be a while before they had answers. That made him itchy, wanting answers now. He wanted to put it behind them for everyone’s peace of mind.

He watched Sage laughing with Jonquil about something. The footage on the video camera wasn’t clear enough for him to be able to lip read, and the angle was all wrong, anyway.  This one didn’t have a microphone, which he told himself was good, since she was entitled to some privacy, after all.

In the past six months their lives had entwined more than he ever could have anticipated. Now the danger was past, he expected that would change. He’d promised Sage that when her stalker was behind bars, they would re-evaluate the living arrangement. He always figured that meant while she would always appreciate what he’d done for her—she was that kind of woman—her newly regained freedom would prompt her to look in other directions. To someone who wasn’t steeped in violence.

After all, she still thought veggie burgers were an acceptable substitute for a nice, rare steak, and she had left the handgun he’d bought for her on her nightstand that morning. She was all Mother Earth and he was a SEAL to his core. It wasn’t like they had a real future.

He thought of the way she’d clung to him the previous night—the way they had held to each other when they’d gotten home. She’d been sweet and passionate and fallen asleep in his arms, but she never said she loved him. It had been an emotional response to the situation, as all of hers had been so far. Once she started to regain ground emotionally from her ordeal, she would pull away and do her own thing.

She’d be better off without him, anyway. All he’d do was hold her back. He was darkness and she was light.

Sage laughed again, and tipped her head toward the camera, throwing him a kiss, then mouthed ‘I know you’re watching. Thank you.’ Joel’s hands fisted on his lap and he stared at her as warmth spread in his chest. She was his whole world now—he’d do anything for her. He thought about her moving back with her sisters again and shuddered with emptiness.

Oh, no, he couldn’t just let her go. He could never watch her start dating other men and say nothing. Joel stood from his desk and hurried out the door, pausing only long enough to check that his office was locked behind him.

He was glad their offices were close as he limped purposefully along the hall to the spa. He found Sage and Jonquil still chatting at the counter.

“Oh, have you been doing rounds?” Sage asked in surprise.

“No, I was in the office. Watching.” He smiled to let her know he’d caught her message.

She blushed and he came around the counter, taking her hand. “You’ll excuse us, won’t you?” he asked Jonquil, then turned to the spa employees without giving her a chance to answer. “Sage is taking a break for a few minutes.” He pulled her into her office and shut the door between them and everyone else, then lowered the blinds she never bothered to use.

“What’s going on? That was rude!” But Sage didn’t look angry, she looked curious.

Joel released her hand and started to pace. “I’m not letting you go.”

 “Sorry to break it to you, but you just did.” Her voice was mildly amused.

“No, not that. I know I told you we’d re-evaluate, but I can’t let you walk away. I thought I could, that it would even be best, but it isn’t. You belong with me now, and if you don’t agree, then, well, that’s too bad.” He was making a mess of this, but the words were tumbling out faster than his brain could process.

Sage crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him for a long moment. “You were going to let me leave without a word to ask me stay. But now I don’t have any choice?”

“No.” No choice—that would simplify things for him. “Or, yes—that’s right. And what’s more, you’re going to marry me. We should be married, it’s a good institution and your dad wanted it too, so I don’t even have to ask his permission. Which I guess is good, since I can’t.” He cringed at the way that came out, but didn’t get a chance to try again because she interrupted.

“You’re saying I have no choice, and that you expect me to marry you. And because Dad wanted it, it’s a good thing, and I should go along quietly with it and not put up a fuss.”

“Right, or wait, no, that’s not what I meant.” Joel tried to figure out where he went wrong as she stood and walked toward him, her eyes flashing with anger.

“The little woman has to put up with whatever you want and you’re going to keep dictating to me, even though you don’t have to worry about my safety anymore. Because the fact that I’ve been sleeping with you gives you control?”

“No?” Joel stood his ground, trying to remind himself he was twice her weight and nearly a foot taller, so why was he suddenly scared of her? Surely he hadn’t said it like that, had he? “Now hold on. That’s not what I meant at all.”

“Really? It’s what I heard. How about if you try to explain yourself again?” She stopped a foot away and folded her arms over her chest, tapping her toe on the floor. Her eyes glittered with anger and her face was flushed with indignation. He’d never seen her look more beautiful.

Come on, idiot, you’re supposed to be good under pressure.
Twelve years in the Navy—most of those as a SEAL, and he’d been in plenty of intimidating situations, but he had the feeling that he’d never encountered anything as dangerous as this. “Let me start over. See, I know I’m not good enough for you. I never could be, no matter what I do, and I know that part of why you’re with me is because you feel like you should. I’ve been protecting you, so you think you owe me something, or you’ve tricked yourself into thinking that you have feelings for me. It’s not like you spend any time with other guys.”

“Is that right?” Her voice said he wasn’t making much headway.

Joel waved his hands. “Please, I know I’m screwing this up somehow, just let me try to get it out. See my grandma took care of me because she had to—family obligation—and she loved me in her way, but it was like you love a dog or a horse.” Thankfully he stopped himself before he said cat—she really didn’t need the reminder. “But no one really loved me when I was growing up, not like your mom and brother love you. No one took care of me, the way you take care of me. I guess I thought I didn’t really deserve it, that there was a reason no one really loved me, and I was okay with that. I could live alone, get together with my SEAL buddies once or twice a year for camaraderie, and I’d be fine.” He would have been, until he’d met her and realized what he was missing.

He felt the sweat slide down his bald head and hit his eyebrow. He lifted his fingers and wiped the moisture away, brushing it onto his pants. “But then I met you and it was like the sun burst out of the clouds and I had something real, someone so good and sweet to believe in. I love everything about you, Sage, from your wild curls to your obsessive talk about fate and ghosts, to the funny things you eat. I love how you try with your sisters and want to protect everyone, and how you’re feisty when someone ticks you off.” He sucked in a breath and plunged forward, no point holding back now, was there? “I just love you, baby. I can’t imagine living without you ever again. There’s nothing better than being with you, even if you’re just sitting nearby.”

Sage’s expression had changed from anger to curiosity to something he couldn’t read, but it was soft and a bit disbelieving. That had to be a good thing, right?

He took her hands in his and gave them a squeeze, finding hers cool to the touch. “Marry me? Please don’t leave me alone. I love you.” He’d never said those three words before, not to anyone, and was surprised at how easy it was to say them now. It should have been much harder.

She looked at him cautiously, studying his face. “So you proposed because you want to be with me, and you love me, not because you think you should, or because it’s the right thing to do or what my dad wanted?”

Joel felt the breath he’d been holding rush out in relief when she restated it. “Yeah. To be honest, everyone else could go hang themselves—I don’t care what they think. I just want to be with you. Always.”

“Well, that leaves me with only one answer.” Her face was inscrutable, making his stomach clench in worry and his mind jump ahead to what he might say next to convince her, what he might do if she refused.

A smile blossomed on her face. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”

Joel felt the rest of his tension rush out of him. “Really?”

“Yes, really. But you still have to get me a ring.”

“We’ll get one tomorrow.” He moved in on her, desperate for a kiss to seal the deal.

“Okay.” Sage loosed her hands from his to throw them around his neck. His slid to her waist, cupping her narrow curves. Drawing her close, he kissed her with everything he had, bending to meet her lips, though he knew she was stretching onto her toes to reach him. In the kiss, he could feel her passion, love, excitement and the pure joy that he felt being mirrored back to him as she molded her body to his.

“Really, really?” he asked when the kiss ended, hardly believing his luck.

“Yes,” she said with a laugh.

Would she change her mind? An urgency inside him demanded they finalize things, to make sure she couldn’t get away. He knew how she felt about commitments and how she would do everything in her power to make it work once he had ring on her finger. Making it official was the only thing on his mind. “Maybe while we’re heading out of town anyway, we should book a flight to Vegas and get married right away—tomorrow night.” He sat back on the edge of her desk and pulled her between his knees so they were closer to the same height. “No need for frills. What do you say?”

“And we can be married in one of those boats shaped like swans in the tunnel of love and have a fake Elvis seal the deal,” she said in a super cheery voice, before reverting to her own. “Not gonna happen.”

He started nibbling on her ear. “Why not? It would be much less fuss than what Cami’s going through. Do you really want a huge white wedding with hundreds of people in attendance?” He slid his bands up her back, trailing lightly over her spine.

She squirmed slightly, causing his lips to curve against her neck, then he kissed a trail up the side and along her jaw to her mouth.

“No, I don’t need everyone there,” she said, a bit breathily against his lips. “But I do want my mom, Harrison and my sisters there.”

“Come on, this would be way easier.” He took her mouth with his again and was setting about persuading her when the door opened.

“Hey, Sage, your two-o’clock ...”

Joel looked up and saw Wendy’s mouth hanging open and several of the employees standing behind her, staring at them. He looked her right in the eye. “Shut the door. She’ll be out in a moment.”

Sage buried her face in his chest before the door shut. “I can’t believe everyone saw us making out.” She pushed against him, but he didn’t let her go.

“Are you afraid they’ll know that you like me before you start wearing my ring? If we’re going to run to Vegas tomorrow—”

“We’re not going to Vegas to get married.” Sage protested as she continued to push against him, though her efforts were weakening as he started kissing the hollow spot in her neck again.

“Where do you prefer? Reno? Atlantic City?”

“Here, in the hotel. Joel, I have to go. I have an appointment.” Her protest was feeble, though.

“They can wait.” He kissed her once more for a long moment, then reluctantly released her. “Fine, we can marry at your sisters’ house, with everyone important there. In a week. It’ll be tight, but I’d like to give my SEAL buddies a chance to come before they ship out if we’re going to do the whole family thing. Is that too soon? Because I need to do this, to know that you’re really not going anywhere.”

She breathed heavily for a moment, studying him, then shook her head. “I can do a week. If it’s that important to you.”

He grinned in relief. “Good. I guess I ought to get back to work.” But he wished he could whisk her to his place instead to finish what they started. “I’ll pick you up after. Maybe we can run to Denver for that ring tonight.”

She shook her head. “You have poker with the guys tonight, remember? Cami said you were joining them.”

Joel cursed. “They can do without me. You don’t have to have four to hold a game.”

“But we’re doing a cake tasting and planning the menu for Cami’s wedding tonight, and I said I’d be there.” She pressed her hand to his cheek and rubbed her thumb over his bottom lip, weakening his resolve to leave her to return to work. “We’ll go tomorrow. I promise.”

“All right.” He stole one more quick kiss, then opened the office door and hobbled out of the spa with only a nod at Wendy. He glanced back over his shoulder to see Sage emerging, straightening her polo shirt while Wendy fanned herself with one of the brochures from the counter.

“That was seriously hot. You must be doing something right!” Wendy said.

Joel adjusted his suit jacket and returned back to his office to cool off before starting rounds. He was getting married next weekend and contrary to what he’d always expected, all he felt was happiness.