Free Light Me Up by Cherrie Lynn

elope.”
    Amid the outrage that flared at his bombshell, Candace made out only one thing: Brian’s dad chuckling. “Smart kids.”
     
    *     *     *
     
    It was like a scene out of a movie, one she’d always wished her life resembled. Everyone sitting along a long dining table, an incredible spread of food, laughter, Christmas music playing faintly in the background. The man she loved more than anything at her side. And her family—whether from resignation or a true desire to make her happy—actually accepted him. Inked, pierced, metal-loving tattoo artist. Who loved her madly, to have put up with so much crap from his future in-laws. Maybe all of that was coming to an end.
    She should have known he would make everything right for her. He always did. He always made sacrifices and bit the bullet for her where her family was concerned, and she’d do her best to repay him for the rest of her life. Help him build his business to be the best it could be, help him build their life together so it would be beyond his wildest dreams.
    She would ask Brian later to pinch her, because she must be dreaming. He would enjoy that.
    Within a few minutes after his elopement announcement, everyone had thought he was joking, thankfully, but she dreaded the fallout when they figured out he’d been dead serious. They had plenty of time to worry about that, though. Right now, it was all a little too much for her to handle emotionally. She whispered to Brian that she was going to the bathroom and then excused herself from the table, heading directly for her old bedroom with its little bathroom—the one they’d steamed up a couple weeks before.
    There, she allowed herself to have a little freak-out. Not a cry, which had been a frequent occurrence in her life. Not a break to fume or brood so she could compose herself. She had a giddy, dizzy, oh-my-God-is-this-really-happening, genuine jumping-up-and-down-and-twirling outburst of joy.
    Then a deep breath and a quick fix in the mirror, during which she noticed a carefree sparkle in her eyes and a brightness to her smile that hadn’t been there in a while. Not because Brian didn’t make her happy all by himself—he did. It was simply that she’d always thought in the back of her mind that it might come down to having to choose him over her family, and while she’d known she was prepared to do so, it wasn’t what she wanted. And his actions had also put to rest the niggling little question that sometimes kept her up at night: Would he finally get tired of her parents’ bullshit and cut her loose because of it? There had been so many times she wouldn’t have blamed him. But he wanted to stick it out with her. Forever. She grinned down at her ring, the sight of it blurring as tears filled her eyes.
    Okay, so maybe she’d cry a little.
    Good God, she loved him, so what the hell was she doing up here having a sappy-happy explosion? Just as she turned for the door, however, he appeared, making her jump. She hadn’t heard him enter the bedroom.
    “Oh! You startled me.”
    His dark blue eyes glanced over her. “Are you all right?”
    “I’m fabulous. I’m perfect .”
    He grinned. “Yeah, you are. My mom just elbowed me and told me to go check on you. Not that I wouldn’t have on my own, but I figured you were all right.”
    Mrs. Ross probably had ulterior motives. The woman wanted grandchildren, and she wanted them now, after all. “Have I told you today that I love you?”
    He tilted his head, looking pensive and absolutely gorgeous. “I don’t think you have,” he lied.
    “Well. I love you, Brian Ross.”
    “And I love you, Candace soon-to-be Ross.”
    Her heart skipped a beat. She didn’t have to see herself in the mirror to know she beamed at him. “I love that too,” she said softly, moving to him and sliding her arms around his waist. She went up on her toes to kiss him, but he stopped her by cradling her face in his hands.
    “Remember when we were in here