Once Kruze stuffed the damp, shredded tissue into his pants pocket, the preacher proceeded with the ceremony. Kruze licked his lips while he hugged his baby girl. At the precise moment, just like they’d practiced, Robin reached for Kruze’s hand and asked, “Ready, Daddy?”
“You bet.” Bree didn’t know this was coming, but she’d had her surprise. Well, he had his, too. Kruze meant to do everything right this time. He signaled the preacher and said clearly, so all would know, “Robin Banks. Will you be my baby girl for the rest of my life? Will you promise to grow up to be just like your mommy? Will you be smart and wise and kind like I know you already are? Will you promise to love me and your mom until the end of forever?”
Man, he could hardly see through his blurry eyes. He just hadn’t expected Robin to get emotional, too. She hadn’t when they’d rehearsed their little secret before. Of course, her father hadn’t been an emotional wreck then. But the look on her face now… Her bottom lip quivered and tears streamed down her chubby cheeks. She sniffed and whispered, “I love you so much, Daddy, and I promise to be a good girl forever and ever. Do you promise to always love me back and never leave me and Mommy again?”
He choked. Man, this little girl was so damned sharp. They hadn’t rehearsed that question.
Kruze tugged a much smaller gold ring out of his pocket and slipped it onto Robin’s ring finger. She was already wearing the chain around her neck where the ring would go after the wedding. “Yes, baby girl, I promise to never leave you and Mommy again.” Blinking like crazy, he sealed the promise with a kiss to her forehead.
Bree was outright sobbing, but trying not to mess up her make-up. Lark shoved a handkerchief at her, and Bree passed her small bouquet to her mother. Wiping her face and dabbing her eyes, she leaned into Kruze and Robin, kissed them both soundly and whispered, “You two surprised me. How very thoughtful.”
“I know, Mommy,” Robin cried. “I love Daddy a lot. Do you love him, too?”
The cords in Bree’s slender neck tightened when she choked, “Oh, sweetheart, I’ve loved your daddy for a long, long time.”
Which humbled the hell out of Kruze. “We’re a family now,” he told the two loves of his life.
Kruze set Robin on her feet and took both Bree’s hands. His tears ceased. He knew precisely what he was doing. Drawing in a deep breath, he slid the diamond ring onto Bree’s finger and announced his vows. “Brianna Banks, I love you more than I can say. Yes, I’ve put you through bad times and hard times. You, more than anyone else, know I’m a long ways from perfect. You told me once that you couldn’t hate me, because every time you looked at the little girl we created, you saw me looking back at you.” He winked at Robin, then turned back to Bree. “This is me, sugar, a thoughtless, reckless man, looking straight back at you. I owe you Paris, but I also owe you the moon. Most of all, I owe you my soul. You saved it the day you danced with me on those cobblestone streets of Paris. You’re the sun in my mornings and the stars in all my nights. You’re right, things do happen for a reason, and here we are again. Together, like we were meant to be. Until the end of forever, I vow to be your best friend, your lover, your most valiant protector, and your adoring, faithful husband.” He took another cleansing breath and whispered, “Amen, sugar.”
Some woman in the audience sighed. Kruze grabbed the chance and ran a finger under his leakiest eye. Bree’s lush breasts heaved beneath her stunning gown. If there was ever a more beautiful bride, Kruze didn’t know it.
She licked her bottom lip, slipped his ring back onto his finger and told him, “I’ve loved you since Paris, Kruze Sinclair. Yes, there have been hard times, but we’ve had lots of good, good times, too. And here we are, still head-over-heels in love and very much enamored with each other. From this moment forward, I give you everything I have, my heart, my soul, my mind, and my body. I give you my aspirations and dreams, my mornings, noons, and night times. I vow to work beside you, laugh with you, and make more babies with you. I don’t need New York or Paris, sweetheart. I’ve only always just needed you.”
The preacher announced Kruze and Bree as husband and wife. Robin squealed and clapped. And Kruze finally had what he’d avoided all of his life, even as he’d unwittingly searched the world for it. He had his family. All of them. The only one missing was his mom.
While Lark picked Robin up off the floor, Kruze swept Bree into his arms and sealed their vows with a kiss that turned needy and passionate, on its way to X-rated. Until the preacher cleared his throat. Man, get that guy a throat lozenge!
Kruze took the hint and ended the kiss, but then he lifted Bree’s hand high over her head and announced to the world, “We’re expecting another baby!”
Adorable little Robin clapped. She’d already been told she was going to be a big sister. But with those words, Kruze’s heart cracked wide-open. While the surprised audience clapped, murmured, and watched, he pulled Bree into his arms again, and put her back to all those friends. He needed the audience to disappear for a moment. Bree was his world, his everything. He buried his face in her hair, needing the scent of her in his nose and her arms around his neck.
“I will never let you down again. I promise,” he whispered, his heart stuck so high in his throat he could barely speak. “I was an idiot the last time you were pregnant. I missed everything with Robin. Never again. I can be a better man because of you. I will be. I love you so much. I do.”
“Scarlett was right,” Bree whispered in his ear. “Once we understood the difference between just living and living passionately, everything else came easy. Smile, honey. This is the first day of the rest of our lives, and it’s going to be spectacular.”
Not fair, reminding him that the woman he’d loved first wasn’t there. Yet Scarlett most certainly was. Kruze nodded, not sure he could face everyone yet. Ignoring his friends and family, he lifted his chin to the rafters, not seeing her, but knowing damned well that Scarlett was looking down on him and his brothers. “I just married my best friend, Mom,” he told her. “I miss you and I love you, but I’m going to be okay now.”
“Amen brother,” Chance murmured gruffly from behind Kruze.
Dropping his chin, Kruze looked into his true love’s pale-blue eyes, her face framed by all those lush, red curls. Bree was smiling up at him. He was smiling down at her. The girl he fell in love with in Paris was back. “Ready, set, go?” he asked, clutching her hand in his.
She grinned. “With you? Always.” And together they ran down the aisle into their happily-ever-after.
Everyone laughed in surprise, but Kruze knew better. This was no silly, wedding day stunt. This was real. Finally, because of Bree, he wasn’t the damned loser of the Sinclair family. In fact, he wasn’t damned at all, and he wasn’t running.
He was flying.
THE END
Thank you for reading Kruze and Bree’s story
If you enjoyed this book, be sure to check out the sexy guys and gals of Irish Winters’ military romance series, In the Company of Snipers.
Other Irish Winters’ books:
SOBs: Angel, Assassin, and Vaquero
Deuces Wild: King of Hearts, Joker Joker, One-Eyed Jack, and Ace
Hearts and Ashes: Smoke and Ash
Coming soon
Shane, In the Company of Snipers, #24
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About the Author
Irish Winters…
…is a best-selling author who, when she isn’t writing, dabbles in poetry, grandchildren, and rarely (as in extremely rarely) the kitchen. More prone to be outdoors than i
n, she grew up the quintessential tomboy on a dairy farm in rural Wisconsin, spent her teenage years in the Pacific Northwest, but calls the Wasatch Mountains of Northern Utah, home. For now.
She believes in making every day count for something, and follows the wise admonition of her mother to, “Look out the window and see something!”
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Damned (SOBs Book 4) Page 32
