Surrender: A Little Harmless Military Romance (13 page)

“She’ll be pissed if she finds out you did this.”

They both knew who he was talking about. Amanda held so much in, tried to hide so much that he knew she would be pissed that her brother had shared so much. The fact that she didn’t tell him until he upset her meant she hadn’t wanted anyone to know.

“Yeah, well, in the end, I expect a nephew with my name.”

That stopped him for a second. The idea of marriage, babies, and more importantly, Amanda in his bed every night sunk in.

Her brother nodded “Ah, he finally gets it. I’m calling Addy. You get your friend ready. If I don’t help you fix this, my mother would probably kill me.”

Mal stood up but the room tilted again as there was a knock at the door. He sat down. “Maybe I need to eat that food.”

“Then get your woman?” Kade asked.

He smiled. “Yes, definitely get my woman.”

Amanda pulled on the little leather black skirt she had worn the first time she’d gone to Capital Punishment. Had it been less than a month ago? God, it seemed like it had been a lifetime since she had challenged Mal that night.

“I think we need to stay home tonight," Addy said as she leaned against the doorjamb. "There is something telling me that this is not a good idea."

She glanced at her friend. She'd dressed in all black, except her hair was now pink. Amanda had sensed there was something else going on with Addy, but she couldn't figure it out. She had been so self-involved that she hadn't questioned her weird mood the last few days.

"Is there another reason?"

Addy fidgeted and avoided the question, which was not like her at all.

"Does this have to do with Walton?"

Her face flushed. "Not really."

"No?"

She shook her head but wouldn't meet Amanda's gaze. Another weird thing that had been happening.

"So, this guy you aren't that interested in--"

"I am not interested in him at all. I told you, I found him attractive, that was it."

Ah, so that was it. "Okay, anyway, he lets us get in, but you don't want to go because you have a bad feeling? Or maybe you're a little too tempted by him."

Addy’s hands fisted by her sides, and she looked madder than a hornet. "Take that back."

Amanda laughed for the first time in days. "Oh. My. God. You're really attracted to him."

"I am not. Well, yes I am. I admitted that before. He's...well, you saw him." Amanda nodded. "But he's totally wrong for me. Worse, he keeps me off balance. I thought he would use my father to pressure me to date him, but he hasn't. And I know now he won't."

And to Amanda, he sounded perfect for Addy, but she wasn't going to say that to her. She might get a smack to the back of the head for it.

"But don't think you’re getting out of the discussion. I don't think we can go to CP tonight. You're not in the right frame of mind."

She shrugged and walked to the bathroom to run a brush through her hair. "I’m not really in the mood, but I figured Walton wanted you there. Plus, it would get my mind off the problems with Mal."

Addy followed her and watched her brush her hair before answering. "Sweetie, there's a reason he hasn't called."

"Yeah, I think he saw what I had to offer and walked away."

Addy shook her head. “No. I think you both need some time, then you will get it straightened out."

She opened her mouth to respond, but the doorbell rang. Amanda frowned.

"Who could that be?"

"Hey, I'll get it, and then we'll decide about CP."

Amanda nodded but she had made up her mind. Amanda looked at herself in the mirror, realizing she had spent so much time mourning what she thought she'd had with Kyle that she had wasted her life. It was too short to worry about things that wouldn't be.

And feeling like shit wasn't going to help her. She needed people, needed a break from the pain she’d dealt with every day that Mal hadn't called.

Even as she thought it, tears filled her eyes. Dammit, she didn't need this, didn't need to deal with the pain of his decision. She had left it up to him. And he had decided. She grabbed a lipstick and started to put it on as she listened to the low murmur of voices. She couldn't make out what was being said, but she could tell that Addy knew whoever it was. Then the door shut and silence followed.

"Amanda, get your ass out here."

Mal
.

She couldn't move. First of all, her brain just would not cooperate. Fear, joy, excitement wound through her system.
What was he doing here?

"Amanda, I am not in the mood for games. I ordered you out here, and I want you out her now."

Irritation chased away all the other feelings. Wasn't that just like a man? He goes days without communicating, then shows up and expects her to hop to it.

She stomped out into the living room and was stopped by the sight of Mal in his full dress whites. He had his hat under one arm, and he didn’t look happy. In fact, from the expression in his eyes, he was beyond pissed. Dammit, he looked good enough to eat.

No, Amanda, don't get sidetracked.

She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "What are you doing here?"

"You said to come get you if I changed my mind. I decided to listen to the first half of the sentence and ignore the last part."

"I guess it’s a man’s prerogative to ignore what he wants.” She snorted. “Of course you do. All men are that way.”

"I’m pretty sure your brothers and your father would disagree with you. And do not compare me to the men you've been with in the past." He ground out every word, his temper lashing at her.

She couldn't say anything to that. He might look calm, but she could feel the barely suppressed anger simmering beneath the surface.

"I came here to take you. You're mine, so I choose to keep you."

She opened her mouth once, but no words came out. Really, she didn’t know what to say to that. She counted backwards from ten...twice.

"You choose? You choose?" she asked, nearly shouting.

"I believe I said that."

His calm voice had her own temper soaring. "Just what the hell do you think you get to decide?"

"I decide that I love you, and I am not going to stop trying to convince you to marry me."

Her heart did a little jig, but she ignored it. She couldn’t deal with this, with love thrown about like it was some kind of appeasement for her pride. Every man before him had done that to her, and she couldn't let him just be another man like that. He was too special in her heart.

"That will not work with me."

“What?"

"Telling me that you love me. I am not going to melt down into a gooey pool of lust for you."

“Really?” He let one eyebrow rise. “You think you're easy like that?"

"It's worked in the past."

"I don’t know what you were like, but you must have changed if you used to be an easy mark for men."

"What do you mean?"

"Any man these days who tries that shit on you should know better. You might have been a doormat in the past, but you aren’t one now. And woman, I swear to God, you compare me to those idiots one more time, I will take you over my knee and smack your ass red.”

She tried to ignore her response. Of course her body reacted to the threat. Knowing Mal the way she did, she knew he did it on purpose. He knew how much she liked it.

“I wasn’t comparing you to them.”

“No? Then maybe you’re just a coward.”

That had her temper flaring higher, and she itched to pick something up to throw at him. From the look on his face, it would be a mistake.

“I am not a coward.”

“I would have never thought so. But here you are, allowing a bastard who didn’t understand your worth hold you down.”

“That doesn’t make me a coward.”

“No? I think so. You’re too afraid to even give me a chance. I wish I had known Kyle had been a bastard when he’d been alive because I definitely would have done something about it, but letting him fuck with the rest of your life is stupid.”

“What is wrong with what we had?”

“Because I want more, and dammit, you deserve more.”

She was stunned by the vehemence in his voice, and she couldn’t stop the tears from filling her eyes.

“Oh God, don’t cry,” he said, panic threading his voice.

“I can’t help it.”

“I order you to quit crying.”

Her mouth hung open for a second then she snapped it shut. “You can’t order me to do that.”

“Well, stop it.”

That made her cry even more. “I can’t. If you keep yelling at me like that, I can’t stop crying.”

“I am not yelling,” he said in a shout.

“What do you expect me to do? You say something beyond sweet to me—the nicest thing a man has ever said to me—and then you yell at me. Of course I am going to cry.”

He hesitated for a second as if trying to make up his mind, then he stepped forward, grabbed ahold of her arms and pulled her against him.

“I’m sorry,
chéri
. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just…wait, you said the sweetest thing?”

She looked up at him, and she knew she was a mess. Her face was soaking wet from crying, and she was always an ugly crier.

“Yeah.”

“I told you the other day that I loved you.”

He didn’t understand that saying the words meant little to her. She had heard them so many times that she didn’t trust them. Three words didn’t hold water to what he thought of her.

“No, it’s that you said I deserved more. I don’t think I have ever met a man who thought that, and I know they never said it.”

He studied her, his gaze roaming over his face, then he laughed and pulled her back against him. “Well, darlin’, I would say that you’ve been hanging out with the wrong men.”

She chuckled.

“And I take back the coward remark.”

“No, it was true.” He opened his mouth to argue but she shook her head. “I
was
afraid. I love you so much, Mal, I just don’t think I could bear it if you turned out like a lot of the men I had dated, and hell, the one I married. None of them meant what you mean to me and if I drove you to it, I would have broken.”

“You didn’t drive anyone to it. They were weak men who couldn’t handle having a strong woman love them. I have no problem with that.” He pulled her back and studied her face. “You
will
marry me.”

He didn’t ask, and how like him to do just that. “On one condition.”

“What?”

“That we have a real wedding. I want it to be real this time. No running off to Vegas. No quickie ceremony. I want our families there as we say our vows.”

He seemed to let out a breath. “Agreed.” Then he kissed her, sweet with just a drop of heat in it.

“Where do you want to get married?”

“I don’t care. Anywhere as long as we have friends there for the ceremony, and I want my dad to give me away this time.”

“Yeah. I like that.” Then his smile dimmed. “You sure you want to be a military wife? I mean, I know losing Kyle was bad even with your problems. Moving around, dealing with the crap that comes with it…I know it isn’t easy.”

“I’m not marrying the military, I’m marrying you. I know the drill, the issues we are going to deal with. And I know better than you that your time in the field is going to dwindle. They don’t tap trained Seals to be over at the Pentagon for no reason. As long as we do it together, I can do it.”

One side of his mouth kicked up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, although, I would like a real proposal, a ring, and I think our audience standing outside the door is irritated with waiting.”

He laughed, then surprised her by dropping to one knee. The breath clogged in her throat as she stared down at him. He pulled a box out of his pocket, opened it, and retrieved a ring. His smile faded, and he took one of her hands.

“I know you don’t like convention all the time, but…you deserve romance. All the hearts and flowers, and I want to spend the rest of my life giving them to you.”

Tears welled up in her eyes again. “Oh, Malachai.”

“I’m taking that as a yes,” he said, slipping the ring on her finger. Then he rose and kissed her, his tongue darting out to trace the seam of her lips. She opened her mouth and let him steal inside. By the time he pulled back, her heart was beating out of control and they were both breathing heavily.

She held out her hand and looked at the ring. It was a solid white gold band with a solitaire diamond.

“It’s simple, but it was my grandmother’s ring.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I thought you would like it because you have a soft heart.”

“Oh, I do. I really do.” The fact that he understood that meant more to her than almost anything else. No man had ever realized that she had a romantic streak, which was funny because she was a florist. Until Mal. She slipped her hand around to the back of his head and pulled him down for a kiss.