Page 280 of Hidden Tide
“Sorry.”
He laughs softly before his expression turns serious again.
“I can promise I will always fight my way home to you. I will love your sisters, protect your mother and argue with you every time you try to do something dangerous without me.”
“That last part isn’t romantic.”
“It’s realistic.”
I smile through my tears.
Ben takes my hand.
“Calle Sinclair, will you marry me?”
For years, I believed loving someone meant waiting for the day I would lose him.
Ben taught me something different.
Love isn’t the fear that someone might not come home.
It is giving them a home worth returning to.
“Yes.”
The word has barely left my mouth before my family erupts.
My sisters scream.
The SEALs cheer.
Thomas pounds one hand against the table.
Mom covers her mouth as tears fill her eyes.
Ben slides the ring onto my finger and rises.
I throw my arms around his neck.
He lifts me from the deck and kisses me.
Everyone disappears.
There is only Ben.
The warmth of his mouth.
The strength of his arms.
The steady beating of his heart against mine.
When he finally lowers me, I rest my forehead against his.
“You planned this with my sisters?”
“I asked their permission.”
“All four of them?”
