Alpha One (Shadow Agents #1)(50)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“Is that what you see now?”

“No.” But he wasn’t sure…

“I read the reports about my mom’s accident. Her death wasn’t your fault. I know you tried to save her.”

It hadn’t been enough. It would never be enough.

“You aren’t your father. You aren’t like him.” Her lips pulled down. “And I’m not like mine.” Her breath whispered out in a sad sigh. “Maybe things could have been different for them, too, but now it’s too late.”

Too late for their fathers. But… “What about us?”

Her lashes lowered. “What do you want from me, Logan?”

Everything. “A chance. Just give me a chance, Juliana, to show you what I can be.”

“I already know what you are.”

The pain in his chest burned worse than the stitches. “No, you—”

“You’re the man that I love.” Her lashes swept up. “I’ve known that since the first time you kissed me.”

Hope could be a vicious beast. It bit and tore inside of him, ripping past the fear and driving him to pull her ever closer.

Her legs bumped against the bed. Her lips were just inches from his. “Juliana, don’t say it unless…”

“Unless I mean it? But I do mean it.” Her left hand lifted and pressed lightly against the line of his jaw. “Logan, I love you.”

He kissed her. His mouth took hers, rough, hungry, because he couldn’t hold back. He needed her too much. Always had.

The pain of his wounds didn’t matter. The pain of the past years—being without her—didn’t matter. She was with him now. In his arms.

He pulled her even closer. She stumbled against the bed and laughed against his mouth. That laugh was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

He wanted to spend the rest of his life making her happy, hearing her laugh and seeing the light in her dark eyes.

He wanted forever with her.

His tongue slid past her lips and tasted that laughter. So sweet. Just like her.

“Logan…” she whispered as she pulled her lips from his. “We can’t. You’ll get hurt…”

“The only thing that can hurt me is being away from you.” That had gutted him before. Hell, this wasn’t the time. Not the place. But… “Marry me.”

Her eyes widened. She tried to pull away. He wouldn’t let her.

“Logan, you just asked for a chance, and now you want forever?”

He smiled, and for the first time in longer than he could remember, it was a real smile. His chest didn’t burn anymore. He didn’t feel as if he’d lost a part of himself.

She’s right here.

“I’m a greedy bastard,” he confessed.

An answering smile, slow and sexy, tilted her lips.

“Besides, I’ve had your ring since you were twenty years old.” He’d kept it, not able to let it go. “And I’d like to start making up for lost time.”

“You had a ring…all this time?”

Because maybe he hadn’t ever given up hope. Maybe he’d thought…one day.

That day was today.

“Let me make you happy.” He had to make up for all the pain. The grief. The anger. He could do it. “I will make you happy. I swear.”

This time she kissed him. Her head dipped toward him. Her mouth, wet, hot, open, found his. She kissed him with a passion that had his body tensing and wondering just how much privacy they’d be able to get. Because he was tempted…so tempted.

By her.

“You do make me happy,” she told him. Her eyes searched his. “And yes, I’ll marry you. I just want to be with you.”

That was what he wanted. To spend his nights with her. To wake up in the morning and see her beside him. Every day. Always.

“I love you.” He had to say the words again.

The hospital door opened behind Juliana.

Jaw clenching—not now—Logan glanced at the door. Jasper stood there with his brows raised.

“Guess you’re going to be all right,” Jasper said, his lips twitching.

“I’m going to be better than all right….” Logan laughed. “Man, I’m going to be married!”

Jasper’s jaw dropped.

Before his friend could say anything else, Logan turned back to Juliana. His Julie. The angel who’d been in his heart for so long.

The woman he’d love until he died.

“Thank you,” he told her as his forehead pressed against hers.

“About time,” Jasper said as his feet shuffled across the floor. “If I’d had to spend another day watching you moon over her…” The door swooshed as he left the room.

“What do you have to thank me for?” Juliana asked him.

“For loving me.”

“It’s not going to be easy, you know,” she said. “We’ll have to adjust, both of us. You have your job, I have mine. You’re not perfect…”

He laughed at that. “No, but you are.”

Her grin flashed. “And when the kids come…”

Yes. “I can’t wait.” For the dream he’d wanted. For the life that he’d thought was long gone.

He’d fight for that dream, every damn day. Just as he’d fight for her.

The woman he loved.

His mission. His job.

His life.