Page 98 of Serve ’N’ Protect

Her eyes flew open, as did her mouth. He’d just said the three little words she’d hoped to hear, and she couldn’t form a single coherent sentence.

“Say something.” He gazed at her through worried, dark eyes, looking completely mortified. “I love you,” he repeated, then louder, “I love you.”

Vaguely, she realized that all conversation in the dining room had ceased. Still, she couldn’t say a damn word.

He reached for the paper bag then pulled out an elongated yellow and brown box. Cassidy’s jaw dropped, and she gasped. She tugged her other hand from beneath Ghost’s heavy paw and clapped it to her mouth.

Mallomars.

He held the box out to her. A tiny sob escaped her lips as she accepted his gift. Tears spilled from her eyes onto the shiny wrapper.

“If that’s not enough to convince you how much I love you, I have an entire case outside in my truck.”

A whole case? This was the most beautiful, wonderful gift he could have given her. “Where did you find them?” she whispered.

The corners of his mouth lifted. “Does it matter?”

No. It didn’t. All that mattered was that he was here, and he loved her. He loved her. Funny how a box of cookies sealed the deal.

“I love you, too.” She launched into his arms, crushing her mouth to his as he wrapped his arms around her.

Ghost insinuated his snout between them, forcing them to break off the kiss just as loud cheering and clapping erupted and her family joined them.

“Sorry,” she said, wiping tears—of joy, this time—from her eyes. “If I haven’t told you, we’re also a nosy bunch.”

The broad smile he gave her melted her heart. “I can live with that.”

Epilogue

Six months later

Heart palpitations. If Markus had any more of them, he’d pass out long before Cassidy arrived.

The sun was out, and a light breeze had picked up, rippling the surface of McIntosh Run, one of many inland waterways leading to the Potomac River. Soon, a white limousine would pull up on Washington Street, and Cassidy would walk down Leonardtown Wharf Park’s long stretch of brick. And become his wife.

The days he and Ghost still worked at the White House, Cassidy stayed with him at his Virginia house, conducting her growing accounting business on her laptop. When he was off-shift, they spent the time at her Craftsman, renovating it to be all that she’d ever dreamed of.

Good thing they’d chosen the waterfront for their wedding venue. Seemed like half the town had turned out. Guests lined the walkway leading to the sun dial mosaic where he and his friends stood. More people watched from the curved sidewalks surrounding the sun dial, spilling over into the nearby playground. There had to be three hundred people here, so many that the sounds of their talking and laughing made it hard to hear himself think. That and the three-piece string ensemble set up in the park to keep the crowd occupied.

To his right were Cassidy’s two sisters, her soon-to-be sister-in-law Cherisse, and three of her friends whom he’d met at their engagement party.

He glanced to his left, grateful that his friends were here. Kade stood next to him, followed by Matt, Dayne Andrews, Eric Miller, and Nick Houston. Wearing classic black tuxedos, they looked like a row of enormous penguins. Except for Ghost, who sat on Markus’s right and was lucky enough to wear only a black bow tie.

Close by were some of his Secret Service colleagues and the rest of Cassidy’s family, talking it up as always. Markus’s sister, Kelly, and her husband and kids were also here, along with John Freeman, who’d just returned from the Middle East and was thrilled to hear that his house had been instrumental in bringing Markus and Cassidy together. The only one not present was Jamie Pataglio, who was still MIA on an unofficially official matter, at an undisclosed location nobody would talk about. Wherever Jamie was, Markus hoped he was okay and not dodging bullets.

Although it was a cool, early June morning, sweat rolled down Markus’s temples and between his shoulder blades. Still no limousine. He looked at his watch then down Washington Street for the third time in the last two minutes.

“Nervous?” Kade held out a silver flask that Markus declined. “Don’t worry, man. She’ll show.”

“I don’t deserve her.” He stuck his fingers between his neck and shirt collar. The damn tuxedo was strangling him.

“Yeah, you do,” Kade countered. “She loves you. You love her. Just don’t fuck it up.”

That’s the one thing he didn’t worry about. He was the luckiest schmuck on the planet, and he knew it. Once Cassidy said I do, he planned to spend the rest of their lives making her happy because hell, he was also the happiest schmuck on the planet.

His old insecurities would always be there to some degree, but in the last six months, he’d said I love you so many times he’d lost count. And he’d meant it. Every single time.

Kade pulled his phone from his pocket, then his body went still. He didn’t take the call but waves of tension radiated from his friend like a summer storm front.