Wicked Games: The Complete Wicked Games Series Box Set
Page 92
“Everybody to the table! Dinner’s on!” Darcy hollers at her normal, eardrum-shattering level.
We walk into the dining room, everyone oohing and aahing over the extravagant place settings and crystal, and take our seats while Darcy and Kai proceed to bring out enough food to feed an army. I’m happy when I see the turkey, golden brown and traditional, and even happier when I see fluffy white dinner rolls appear, wrapped up snug in a linen napkin in a basket.
“Oh, baby, turn off the TV, would you?” says Darcy to Kai.
His hands are full, so I offer to get it. I rise and amble into the living room, pick up the remote from the coffee table, and am about to hit the power button when something the perky blonde newscaster is saying stops me cold.
“—haven’t yet apprehended the perpetrators who broke into the store yesterday afternoon after it had closed early for the Thanksgiving holiday, but the theft is being called ‘incredibly well planned and executed’ by the police, who wouldn’t answer many of our specific questions, citing the ongoing investigation. One thing of interest they did share with the press, however, was the unusual method the thieves used to gain entrance to the flagship Harry Winston store on Fifth Avenue. Apparently, they came in through the air-conditioning vents.”
I turn slowly, the remote control in a death grip in my hand, and look at Mariana. “Angel?”
Radiant, she glances up at me with an expectant smile. “Yes?”
I gaze at the diamond studs glittering in her earlobes. “Are those new earrings?”
She says innocently, “These? Oh, they’re just a little something I picked up in my travels.”
“Your travels,” I repeat flatly. I fold my arms across my chest. “You got somethin’ you wanna confess?” I growl.
Her smile glows as brilliant as the sun. “Only that I love you, sweetie!”
When I growl again, she bursts into laughter. She pushes her chair back from the table and comes to me, her eyes shining, that brilliant smile lighting up her whole face. She puts her arms around my shoulders and rises up on her toes to give me a kiss.
“You’re too easy to wind up, honey. I wouldn’t risk the bean or my future with you for a pair of earrings.” Then she whispers into my ear, “By the way, the answer to the other question you haven’t asked yet is yes.”
“Other question?” I say gruffly, holding her tight and inhaling her scent, pepper and clover and something sweet that’s all her. “What other question?”
She presses another kiss to my lips. Then she lifts her left hand next to her face and wiggles her fingers.
The big diamond on her ring finger sparkles with rainbow prisms that catch the light.
Shocked, I shove my hand into the pocket where I’d put the ring box before we left the house, and find the little velvet box gone.
“I can spot jewelry hidden in clothing at fifty paces, cowboy,” says my love, smiling that heartbreaker smile.
My heart going a million miles per hour, I say gruffly, “The answer is yes?”
“The thought of you having any other woman in your abnormally large bed makes me want to break every bone in your body, so I figure that’s a pretty good indicator that I should keep you around.”
I take her face in my hands. “The answer is yes?”
“Yes,” she replies, staring deep into my eyes. “I love you with every cell of my heart and soul, and I’ll be so proud to be your wife.”
I throw my arms around her and squeeze her tight, my laugh part groan, my hands shaking. Then I kiss her with everything I have until we’re both breathless.
From behind us comes a teasing shout. “Get a room!”
I flip Connor the bird over Mariana’s shoulder, not even bothering to open my eyes.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my editor, Linda Ingmanson, for catching all my gaffes.
As always, my deepest gratitude to Jay, without whom nothing I do is possible. Being married to my best friend is so much more fun than any fairy tale could promise.
Finally, big thanks to all my readers and the members of my Facebook group, Geissinger’s Gang, for making this job so fun and rewarding. I so appreciate you!
During research for Mariana’s character, I read many heartbreaking tales from victims of human trafficking. UNICEF estimates more than twenty million people are trafficked around the world, the majority of them women and children who are forced into prostitution. These victims suffer unimaginable violence, exploitation, and abuse. To learn more, please visit the US Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at www.state.gov.
Also by J.T. Geissinger
The Dangerous Beauty Series
Dangerous Beauty
Dangerous Desires
Dangerous Games
The Slow Burn Series
Burn For You
Melt For You
Ache For You
The Bad Habit Series
Sweet As Sin
Make Me Sin
Sin With Me
Hot As Sin
About the Author
J.T. Geissinger is a bestselling author of emotionally charged romance and women’s fiction. Ranging from funny, feisty romcoms to intense, edgy suspense, her books have sold more than one million copies and been translated into several languages.
She is the recipient of the Prism Award for Best First Book, the Golden Quill Award for Best Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, and is a two-time finalist for the RITA® Award from the Romance Writers of America®. She has also been a finalist in the Booksellers’ Best, National Readers’ Choice, and Daphne du Maurier Awards.
Her first novel was published in 2012. Since then she’s written twenty more. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, drinking bourbon, surfing the internet, and daydreaming about all the things she’s going to be when she grows up. She lives near the beach in Los Angeles with her husband and deaf rescue kitty, Ginger.
Join her reader newsletter to find out more information about works in progress, have access to exclusive excerpts and contests, and a chance to get advance reader copies of her new releases.