She huffed out a breath. “We’ve been careful.”
“Ask your brother about the success rate of condoms.” He wasn’t playing fair. Blake and Samantha conceived Eddie while using condoms. Neil knew damn well those condoms had been tampered with practically guaranteeing Eddie’s conception. Neil moved behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder.
She moved out of his reach and turned to him. “Not the same thing, Neil, and you know it.”
His hand fell. All his excuses, all his reasons fled and the truth made itself known. “I can’t function if I’m worried about you. Our enemy knows that, which is why he targeted you to begin with. If you’re safe I can do my job, Gwen.”
Blue eyes followed his with every blink. “What are you saying, Neil?”
What was he saying? “We just found each other.” He used her words. “And I want to see where that will go.” He stepped closer and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Please, Gwen. Marry me.”
Another tear fell from her soft blue eyes and she gave one slow nod.
Relief flooded him, and he dropped to his knees and held her. When her arms wrapped around him and stroked his head, he knew he’d found home.
Chapter Twenty-Four
They stood before the priest and Neil’s friends with their heads hung in prayer. Gwen reflected on what she was doing. Skepticism ran deep in her veins about why Neil decided marriage was the best way to move forward. She felt there was something he wasn’t telling her, yet his worry for her overshadowed everything and made her say yes. When he’d dropped to his knees, her heart had broken. She knew he had difficulty expressing his feelings. What man didn’t? With Neil, that male trait was amplified tenfold.
Dressed in slacks and a simple button-up cotton shirt not befitting a bride she held Neil’s hand and pledged herself to him. When he returned the sentiment, he placed a ring on her finger. The stunning square pink diamond sat among several smaller white diamonds in platinum. It was exactly the kind of ring she would have chosen…and Neil had managed it without one conversation. She couldn’t stop the smile from spreading over her. When she looked in Neil’s eyes, they sparkled.
When the priest pronounced them husband and wife, Neil took her into his arms and kissed the worry away.
After, Ruth and Chuck signed the certificate along with Neil and Gwen, finalizing their marriage.
They toasted along with the priest and accepted the congratulations of those in the room. Ruth snapped a couple of pictures with Neil’s cell phone so Gwen had something to remember the day.
“If we knew you were going to get married today, we could have bought you a dress,” Ruth said when she moved into the kitchen to help with the small meal they had planned.
“Neil didn’t want to wait. Besides, it’s a tradition in my family to marry the same person multiple times.” She’d convince Neil to do this the right way…maybe with Sam and Blake in Aruba.
“Really?”
“My brother and his wife remarry every year in a different location.”
Ruth sighed. “That’s so romantic.”
“It is.”
“Charles and I are going to stay at a friend’s home tonight. Give you two some privacy.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“Don’t be silly. Of course it is. We’ll have a nice dinner and leave until morning.”
Ruth was a very nice woman. Not the woman Gwen truly wanted to stand as a witness to her marriage. But Gwen couldn’t exactly invite Eliza, Sam, or Karen to the ceremony.
“Thank you, Ruth. You’ve been a gem.”
“My pleasure.”
They sat down for dinner a short time later and Gwen realized that at this time the next day, Neil, her husband, would be off in the woods to catch a killer. And she would be left to worry about his safety.
Suddenly she wasn’t very hungry.
“Where are you?”
He dropped his speed on the freeway and kept the phone close to his ear. “On the tail of our guy, sir.”
“Are you headed here?”
“Why would I be? He’s north.”
“You’d like to believe that, wouldn’t you, grunt. I told you he was the smart one. You’re going in the wrong direction. He’s here and setting up to catch you. Stop f**king around with the birds and get your ass here before you’re on my list of prey. Got that, soldier?”
“Yes, sir! On my way, sir. What about the girl? Do I need her to get to him?”
“Leave her to me.”
And then the call was disconnected.
Once their hosts left, Neil and Gwen sat outside on the back patio and watched the sun set. The mix of emotions rolled in and out of Gwen’s mind and was making her crazy. What happened when Neil walked away tomorrow? How would she manage to stay in this home with strangers? How long could she last without contacting her brother, her friends? What if Neil wanted this marriage to be temporary?
“What is my princess thinking about?” Neil interrupted her thoughts with his question.
“This isn’t how I pictured my wedding day.”
Neil moved closer to her and sat back down. He picked up her hand that held his ring. “I can top that,” he said. “I’ve never pictured a wedding day for me.”
“Well…women think of these things from the time they are old enough to understand fairy tales. I even have a wedding dress picked out.”
“What does it look like?”
“My wedding gown?”
He nodded.
“It’s white, of course, with a jeweled waist…slim fitting. Strapless. The train fans out below the waist.” She’d not only picked out the dress months ago, she knew who sold the dress in Los Angeles who could help her at a moment’s notice to pick it up. “It’s beautiful.”
“And what would I wear?”
She liked this game suddenly. “At first I thought black. Traditional. But I think gray is better. But this is silly. We’re already married.”
“Doesn’t mean we can’t do it again.”
Funny, she didn’t think she’d ever get him to marry her the first time. “In Aruba…with my brother and Samantha?”
He stroked her cheek with the backs of his knuckles. “Your hair will be back to its normal color by then.”
“A trip to the salon can fix that.”
“I’ll look forward to it. That is if you still want me after this is over.”