Page 91 of The Commander

The sun hangs heavy in the late afternoon sky. It’s hot and balmy, and the heat kisses our skin. I settle beside her on the blanket and listen to her chatter away.

“Jeannie can’t wait to meet you. Carl is cool. I’m sure you will hit it off. Not that it matters.”

I smile and stare out across the water.

Fuck I’m happy.

“Don’t let Jeannie push you into fatherhood. It will happen when it happens.” Quinn continues and rips off the lid of the strawberries. “She almost burst my eardrums when I told her we were together.”

She hands me one.

I pop it in my mouth.

She does the same, and suddenly all my patience is gone. I can’t keep my hands off this woman.

I push her down on the blanket, smiling as she giggles, swallowing the strawberry.

Then I kiss her.

“I don’t think you listen to a word I say, Noah Jenkins. You just wait to find a gap to kiss me.”

“Correct,” I rasp, then kiss her again to prove her right.

They say that’s the trick to a happy marriage; kissing and letting your wife think she’s always right.

She hasn’t left my side since leaving the BHS training compound, staying with me after taking extended leave.

We’re working out where to live so that neither of us is too far from our workplaces. It’s tricky, but at least she’s stationed in the same state. I may ask Josh if I can work full-time at the training compound, which will solve that problem. We will see.

First things first, I need to put a ring on it.

Officially.

I lean back on my haunches and smile down at my beautiful fiancée. “I will never tire of your gorgeous face...or your tits.” I grin.

“Rude.”

“You love it.”

She blushes.

I reach into my cargo shorts and pull out the velvet bag, and her eyes follow.

“What is that?” she asks, her voice breathy.

I tug out the gold diamond ring. The stone isn’t large and flashy, because my wife isn’t. But the brilliance of the gem is the highest quality, and I see her eyes sparkle in response.

“Oh,” she gasps, sitting and looking me in the eye.

I take her hand and slide it to the knuckle.

“When my mother left me as a little boy, she took a piece of me with her. It broke my father, and I have always thought I’d end up like him.”

“Noah.” Compassion and love pour from her.

“Then you walked into my life, and it was as if you were the missing jigsaw piece she stole. I can’t explain it, but I knew you were mine the moment I stared into these pretty blue eyes, Quinn.”

“I already said yes.” Her glossy eyes roam my face as her palm cups my cheek. “Remember.”