Unbreak My Heart (Rough Riders Legacy #1)(117)

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not letting you back out.”

I filled my lungs with cold air. “You don’t get to decide that! So many women base their career decisions on what the man in their life wants, instead of what they want. I swore I’d never do that.”

“Sierra, you’re basing this decision on fear, not what you want, not even what I want. You’re afraid I’ll get lonely and take up with someone else?” He got in my face even more. “Woman. Are you f*cking serious? When will you get it through that stubborn McKay head that you’re it for me? I’ve been waiting for you for seven years. You, being gone for one year for an amazing career opportunity? I’ll stand beside you, wait for you, support you…that’s what people in love do. There are no damn conditions or time constraints.”

My belly fluttered. “You promise?”

“Yes.” He rested his forehead to mine. “I will miss the f*ck out of you. Every minute, of every hour, of every day. I’d rather deal with loneliness for a short time than your resentment for a lifetime. And keep in mind, I’m career military. This is the first separation for us, but it won’t be the last. You don’t have to choose, Sierra. You already have me. Take the damn job.”

“Okay.” Excitement and fear started a tug of war inside me. Could I really be lucky enough to have the dream guy and the dream job?

“Just…please don’t tell me that you’re leaving for Switzerland in the morning.” He groaned. “Although, that’d be karma biting me in the ass for how much notice I gave you.”

I laughed. “No. I have a month or so.”

“Good. Because there is one guaranteed way to make sure you believe this is forever.”

Those brown eyes shone with so much love I was nearly blinded by it. “How?”

“Marry me.”

Holy crap. Do not ask him if he’s serious. My mouth had gone as dry as the desert. I swallowed hard and attempted to keep a light tone. “If I said yes, would you stop calling me McKay?”

He shrugged. “I’ll probably still call you that when we’re at home, screwing around and stuff, because it’s a habit. But I would expect you, as my wife, to share my last name.”

My heart felt like it might pound out of my chest. “If I said yes, could we have a small wedding with just my dad and Ree, my grandparents, Rory and Dalton, with Lu and Raj standing up for us?” I frowned. “But the McKay-kateers would be ticked if they didn’t get invited.”

“No more than that,” he warned. “I’d be thrilled if we didn’t have a spectacle with the rest of the McKay family.”

“Would you wear your dress uniform?”

Boone grinned. “Like that, do you?”

“You know I love it. You know when I see you in it I’m so…proud of the boy who left everything behind to make his life on his own terms.”

His eyes softened. “Will you please say yes to becoming my wife?”

“Sierra West sounds pretty awesome, actually. But maybe you should talk to my dad first.”

He leveled me with that I’ve-got-a-secret-smile. “I already did.”

“When?”

“When I signed that damn stalking contract. I told him I was gonna marry you.”

Cocky bastard. “What did he say?”

“He said, ‘Son, I knew when you left her you had no choice. I also knew you’d be back for her someday. Guess that day is here.’”

My dad. Such an insightful, sentimental, awesome dork.

I felt my smile fade.

Boone was right there. “What?”

“It’s going to be hard giving Dad my notice for DPM.”

“It’s going to be hard giving the CEO notice because he’ll have a helluva hard time replacing his top executive and he knows it. Your dad will be so damn proud of his daughter for the impressive opportunity she’s earned.” He kissed me. “Keeping that distinction will make it easier for you.”

“You’re probably right.” I grinned at him. “This is a much better outcome than the last time we were in this clearing.”

“Agreed.” Boone’s eyes took on a wicked gleam. “But I would like to revisit that idea about f*cking you in the wildflowers under a moonlit sky sometime.”

I whapped him on the chest. “I believe I stated that much more romantically.”

“You were a virgin. Now you know that down and dirty can be just as romantic as slow and sweet. I’ll give you a detailed reminder of both ways later.”

I shivered.

Boone rubbed his hands up and down the outsides of my arms. “It’s getting dark. We should go.”

“I’ll meet you at my dad’s house.”

“Hold on.” He crushed me to his chest and brushed his mouth across my ear. “I love you, Sierra McKay. I couldn’t have said that to you seven years ago because I didn’t know what it meant. Now I do. All because of you. So will you please agree to marry me before I lose my f*cking mind?”

“Yes.”

He smiled against my cheek. “A McKay marrying a West. That’ll be an interesting twist for us to detail in the family archives.”