Free Wicked: Whispering Cove, Book 3 by Nikki Duncan Page B

jumped with the burn of hope spreading through the shrinking cavity of her chest. “What are you saying, Braydon?”
    “You need me to spell it out for you?”
    “Yes.” Because a misunderstanding could shatter her.
    “Fine.” The word snapped like a brittle bone, but then he softened. The tender and kind Braydon resurfaced. “I want to be with you.”
    “Until your vacation is over?”
    “No.”
    “How long?”
    He closed the distance between them, dropping her bag to the grass with a clatter of the equipment inside, and pulled her flush against his body. “Until you’re tired of me.”
    She opened her mouth, but words wouldn’t come.
    “I’ll still travel for work.” He went on. “But I want you to either come with me or be waiting when I get back.” He kissed the right corner of her mouth. “I want you to only be with me. No more Hauk.” He kissed the left corner. “I want us to be an us exclusively.”
    Her knees would’ve buckled if he hadn’t held her so close. Her panties were dampening as quickly as her resolve was melting. “Braydon.”
    “I watched you reading last night and ached to be back at your side.” His calloused hands explored her back and incited tingles of arousal along her spine.
    He’d spied on her.
    “I saw you cozied up with Hauk this morning, and aside from wanting to rip his limbs apart one by one, I wanted to be the one touching you.” He pulled her pelvis against his so she felt his erection. “I wanted to be inside you.”
    Her belly rolled. She couldn’t argue with the sentiment.
    “I’ve always been fond of wintergreen. I wanted to be close enough to smell your scent.” He buried his face in her hair and inhaled deeply. “And every time someone made you smile or laugh, I wanted to be that person. I wanted to hear your happiness.”
    She tucked her head beneath his chin to hide her smile. It came through in her voice though. “You followed me? All day?”
    “You turned me into a stalking, peeping Tom.”
    His rough accusation whispered through her with a voyeur’s wicked thrill. All the times she’d watched him. Now he’d watched her. “Really?”
    “Yes.”
    Assured he wasn’t going to turn away, she rested her hands at his waist, itching to slip her palms beneath his shirt to feel his skin against hers.
    “I couldn’t stop watching you while you read my article and then that novel. And when you left home I followed.”
    “And found me with Hauk.” The irony of the flipped tables putting the popular boy in the situation she’d spent years in didn’t escape her. Hell, it thrilled her.
    His hand fisted at her back briefly. “Yes.”
    Indulging desire, she worked her hands beneath his shirt. His muscles twitched. “You were jealous.”
    “No.”
    “Yes.” She glided her hands farther up and grinned. “You were jealous of another man touching me.”
    “I don’t like that word, but fine.” He pulled back enough to meet her gaze. His eyes sparkled in the moonlight. “I was jealous. Next time I’ll kick his ass. Now, are you going to change your mind and spend your life with me?”
    “Wait. You’re talking life?” She leaned back and cocked a brow dramatically. “I don’t know if I can stand you that long.”
    He sucked in a breath and after a long moment began to smile. “You’re going to be trouble.”
    She shrugged.
    “Marry me, Danica.”
    “You’re asking for something I’ve…” With her dream being realized, breathing—hell, thinking—shut down. Concentrating, she pulled oxygen deep into her lungs and blew it out slowly in an attempt to gather herself. Braydon didn’t breathe. “Something I’ve wanted for the last eighteen years or so.”
    “So you’ll do it? You’ll marry me and travel with me sometimes and have my babies?”
    She kissed the bottom side of his jaw near his pulse. “That’s not a traditional proposal, and I think you left something out, but yes, Braydon. I’ll marry you.”
    With a whoop, he