Irresistible Stranger

Epilogue

Ten Days Later

“All right, you.” Lily slid open the shower door, put her hands on her hips. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“I had to get some work done.”

“Yeah, right. In the shower.”

He looked up guiltily from his laptop. “I admit, I never tried setting up an office in the shower before. But your sisters are a little…”

“Petrifying?”

“They’re adorable,” he assured her. “And I like their choice of men. Both of them, more than good guys. Interesting, bright. But your sisters-”

“Come on. I know you like them.”

“I do. I do. It’s just that the grilling is nonstop. So are the orders. You can’t live in a hot climate. Anyone who hurts you will endure a not-very-pretty death. Expect high phone bills, you three talk every week. You’ve all been through hell, but they both say you were hurt the worst. A lifetime of my pampering you isn’t enough or close to enough. Jewels aren’t enough-”

“Okay. I get the picture.” Truthfully, she’d primarily tracked him down to empathize. She knew what her sisters had put him through. He’d been a brick. But she needed some time alone with Griff, and totally understood how he felt.

“Your oldest sister-Cate-hey, she should be in Special Forces, particularly in interrogation. She would have followed me into the bathroom if I’d let her. When she wants to know something, she just doesn’t let up. And then there’s Sophie-she flashes those big, soft eyes and you think she’s sweet. She’s not. She’s a pit bull with a soft voice.”

“You poor baby.”

“At least they like my ice cream. But a locked door doesn’t keep Cate out of anything, does it? Nor Sophie. Neither of them have ever heard of privacy.”

Lily winced. “Not where I’m concerned, I’m afraid.” Of course, he was the one who’d invited both her sisters-and their husbands. And insisted that everyone stay at his place. Lily was willing to feel a little sorry for him, but not too much. Particularly when he was hamming up the long-suffering tone. “I had to search you out for a reason.”

“Because you wanted to take a shower with me?”

“You know I do. But not right this minute.” She took a breath. “Two calls came in. One from the district attorney. The other from Sheriff Conner.”

Griff immediately closed down his laptop and stood up, all teasing gone from his voice. “What’s the news?”

“No trial.”

“What? Don’t tell me they’re letting her get off scot-free-”

“Now, Griff. Don’t let your temper get away from you-”

“I have no temper. I’ve told you a zillion times.”

He had no temper he’d vent on her. She had no doubt about that whatsoever. She put a hand on his chest, hoping to calm his suddenly galloping heartbeat. “I was happy with this, Griff. There’s been enough loss and hardship. She has two young daughters. What happens to them is part of this picture. So she’ll plead guilty and do a plea bargain. There’ll have to be some time done, but possibly locally. And she’ll have to participate in several years of intensive counseling, do community service for more years than that.”

She felt his eyes on her face, searching, trying to read her. “You sure you’re all right with this?”

“I’m not sure there is an ‘all right’ for this kind of thing. She’s to blame for our parents dying. That’s not easy to let go of, even if she never dreamed that could happen. But her intent does matter. She was young. She was messed up. She’d never figured out the loss of her sister, why she went looking for love in the wrong places, what all that anger of hers was about. But she stopped at the salon, Griff. She heard her daughter’s voice on the phone, felt that love for her daughter, and she stopped.”

Griff wasn’t ready to be so forgiving. “The whole place could still have blown up-”

“Yes. And that’s still on her head. But I don’t see how it solves anything to wipe the floor with her. I want there to be a penalty, yes. Costs, yes. But nothing’s going to really change until she understands how those screws got loose. She’s got a daughter, a father, siblings. I’ll be darned if I want to be part of separating another family, Griff.”

“And is that what your sisters think?”

“I haven’t told them. I told you first. I was hoping you’d come with me to share it all.”

“Sure.”

“Even if you don’t agree with me, I want you to agree with me,” she said firmly.

He shook his head. “The fact that I understand what you just said is frightening. I think it’s a sign we should get married, Lily.”

It was her turn for her heart to stop. “Is that a proposal?”

“Good grief no. You’re not getting a formal question until your sisters are long, long gone. Just for the record, I did happen to pick out a ring. But it’s a box that I’m afraid you can’t open until we’re in Vancouver.”

Odd, how her heart not only restarted, but suddenly picked up a luscious, sweet speed. “Vancouver?”

“Yeah. I don’t know if you’ll want to live there, But doing the proposal there would give us a good excuse to check it out. It’s nice and cool. Your kind of climate. I know a place…high up. Overlooking the water. Big white feather beds and giant Adirondack chairs on the balcony. Lobster for lunch. Love for dinner. How does that sound so far?”

She took his hands, looked up at him. It was still hard for her to accept it, to believe it-the love in his eyes, the absolute sureness. Griff was so un-self-aware. He really believed he was laid-back, when he wasn’t remotely. She loved everything about him, from the way he was with kids, to how hard he fought to repress any hint of temper, to his dedication in everything he took on, to everything he did…

He’d be a good man to hunker down with, she knew. On a cold winter night, setting a fire with him was the best dream she could imagine. Not the kind of fire that hurt.

But the kind of fire that burned, from the inside out. The kind of fire that came from the heart. The kind of fire that made babies, that made a family, that protected and sealed and warmed.

“Lily,” he murmured. “You’re scaring me to death. Could I have an answer?”

“Yes!” she said clearly. “Yes, to everything. Yes to loving you, Griff. Yes to being with you all the days of our lives. Yes to-”

His kiss interrupted all the yesses she was about to offer him.

She’d have to get the rest in just a wee bit later.