The Pairing (The Proposition #3)(76)

As he sat with his arm draped over the back of Megan’s chair, Pesh enjoyed listening to the lively conversation around him. Occasionally one of Aidan’s sisters would ask him a question or his opinion. He had always been naturally quiet, and when he got in the midst of such a lively bunch, he tended to be even quieter. He realized if he was going to truly fit in, he was going to have to speak up more.

Their conversation was interrupted by a shriek that came from the living room followed by a loud wail. Aidan was out of his chair in a flash while Megan was close on his heels. Mason came running into the dining room. “What happened?” Pesh asked.

“Noah got hurted.”

Aidan reappeared in the dining room with Noah in his arms. “He’s fine. He just fell down.” Taking Noah’s hand, Aidan said, “Here Daddy will kiss the booboos away, okay?”

Noah sniffled and bobbed his head. Once Aidan finish with his hand, Noah stuck out his leg. Aidan smiled. “Okay.” Once he bent down to Noah’s leg and kissed it, he asked, “Are you Daddy’s boy?”

“Uh-huh.”

Angie chuckled. “That’s not fair to do that when Emma isn’t here.”

As the others laughed, Pesh glanced at Mason. He was staring at Aidan and Noah with a contemplative look on his face. Never in a million years could he have imagined what he would do next. Mason crawled up into his lap and patted Pesh’s chest. “Esh Mace’s daddy. Mace Daddy’s boy.”

Conversation in the dining room silenced. Without even looking up, Pesh felt his skin singing under the burn of everyone staring at him and Mason. There was no way he could deny the boy when he wore such an expression of happiness. “Yes, you’re Daddy’s boy.”

A strangled cry caused him to snap his gaze from Mason over to Megan. Wide-eyed and open mouthed, she blinked a few times as if she were trying to believe that what she was seeing was real. Then without another word, she bolted from her chair and fled the room. Pesh sat in a shocked silence for a few seconds trying to decide what to do. Bending over, he whispered into Mason’s ear, “Will you go back and play with the others? I need to check on Mommy.”

When Mason nodded, Pesh gently sat him back down on the floor. After he raced out of the dining room, Pesh finally glanced at the others. “Excuse me,” he said, before rising out of his chair. He made his way down the hallway. He didn’t have to look hard for Megan—she was in the one bedroom with the door closed. He rapped lightly on the wood. When she didn’t answer, he went ahead and opened the door.

He found her sitting on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands. He went over and sat down next to her. Tentatively, he put his hand on her back. “I’m sorry for not setting Mason straight and telling him I wasn’t his daddy. He looked so happy, and I didn’t want to hurt him.”

With her elbows braced on her knees, Megan turned her head to look at him. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “You think I’m angry at you?” He nodded his head. She hiccupped a cry. “Oh Pesh, you’re so naïve sometimes!”

He jerked back at her words. “Excuse me?”

“Just when I think I can’t love you more, you go and do something like that.” Before he could process her words, she threw herself at him, kissing his cheeks and mouth. She straddled his lap and brought her hands around his neck. “You really love Mason, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.”

“You could see yourself really being a father to him?”

“Yes, I could. But what—”

She silenced him with a kiss. It was one that was laced with desperate emotions. He wrapped his hands around her waist and drew her closer to him. Just as he was about to deepen the kiss, she pulled away. “You love me too, don’t you?”

“You should have no doubts on that one.”

“You love me enough to be a husband to me?”

Her question caused him to suck in a harsh breath. He felt like he had been kicked in the gut. “Yes, I could—I always have.”

She tilted her head at him and smiled. “Then marry me.”

“Excuse me?”

Bringing her lips to his, she murmured against his mouth, “Marry me. Make me your wife.”

At that moment, he thanked God he was sitting down because if he hadn’t been, he was pretty sure he would’ve done something totally emasculating like fainting. He also questioned both his hearing and his sanity. Had Megan just proposed to him? Surely, he was hallucinating.

“Did you just ask me to marry you?” he questioned lamely.

Giggling, Megan nodded her head. “I wish you could see your face right now. I should be insulted.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just you surprised me.”

She cupped his face in her hands. “I’m sorry I don’t have a ring, and I didn’t get down on one knee,” she lovingly teased.

He brought his hands up to touch hers. “You’re really serious?”

“Yes, I am.”

Bowing his head, he tenderly kissed the tops of her hands. “I love you so much, Megan, and I want nothing more than to make you my wife.”

“So is that a yes?”

“I just want to make sure you know what you’re saying. One minute you’re in the dining room, laughing with your family, and then the next you’re in here weeping and then proposing to me. And let’s not forget how adamant you have been the entire time I’ve known you about being too young to get married.”