Page 34 of Beneath the Scars

"What about, what about me?" He traces patterns on my arm as he looks down at me, his brows furrowed.

"Won't you need to be getting back to your office in Washington now that the case is solved?"

"You looking to get rid of me, beautiful?" He quirked an eyebrow at me, and I can't help but smile at the cocky look on his face.

"Not really. But I know you have an important job, and I don't want to get you in trouble or keep you from doing it."

Byron picks up a stray curl and twirls it around his finger, staring at the hair for a beat before letting it fall from his finger.

"This thing," he starts, looking me straight in the eye again. "It's new, fragile, and forged amid chaos and angst, but it feels real. And I want to see where it goes."

My heart skips a bloody beat, and my breathing increases at his words.

I'd been hoping he felt the same, but hearing it now is like a dream come true.

"What about your job? What about my job? We live five hours apart."

He smiles, taking my breath away. "Less than an hour on the plane. I can come here on weekends or when I'm off, or you can come to me."

My brain tries to work through all the scenarios, and even though I see huge holes and possible issues, none of them seem insurmountable when I look at Byron and the optimistic smile on his face.

"I mean, I know I travel a fair bit, and you'll have to consider that when you make your decision, but if this works out between us, I can ask for a transfer to the local office here, or you can look at getting a job in DC."

His words are everything I've been hoping he'd say, and it's almost impossible not to do a giddy dance in his arms.

"You're sure you wanna put up with my brand of crazy?"

He smiles before kissing the tip of my nose. "You sure you want to put up with my crap hours and even worse schedule?"

Instead of answering, I tip my face up and kiss him with everything I have.

Epilogue

Eighteen Months Later

"That'sthelastofit," Byron huffs as he puts the box he'd carried to the bedroom on the floor. "Holy shit, beautiful. I didn't think you owned this much shit. If I did, I might have thought twice about asking you to marry me and finally fucking move to DC."

I throw the pillow I'd been holding in front of me at his head, and he easily ducks to avoid it, letting the offending object sail past and hit the curtains behind him.

"Watch it, wise-ass, or I'll make you carry everything back to the truck and drive it back to Portland."

He clutches at his heart in mock misery, falling to his knees. "You wound me, mistress. I jest, and you stick a lance straight through my heart in response."

My laughter floods the room at his antics before I get off the bed and go to him. He quickly pulls me down on top of him, and we lose ourselves in a tender kiss.

It's been a challenging year and a half, with a lot of traveling between us. Finding time when both of us were off at the same time was near impossible, and more often than not, when one of us was visiting, we were left to laze around the other's home, waiting for the other to finish work.

But no matter how little time we got together or how infrequent it was, each time proved without a doubt that it was worth the effort and the longing when we were apart.

I also haven’t heard Becky’s voice in a very long time. It’s like the ghost of my sister has seen I’m in a better place and felt ready to move on.

I would have moved sooner, but shortly after the debacle with Jayne, I was offered a promotion at the hospital to take over from my boss, who felt like it was finally time to retire. Turning it down so early in our relationship would have been stupid, and Byron had encouraged me to take it. It was a valuable experience and a great thing to have on my resume.

And if I loved it, he would put in for a transfer like he'd promised.

At the end of the day, though, it was more of the same. People still treated me like I was the odd kid out, and other than Karl, I had no one in Portland.

Karl had since asked his girlfriend to marry him, and they were working on starting their own family. He would miss me but was glad I was moving on to more important things.

I was offered a position at the bureau. Yes, my fiance had pulled some strings, but I knew they were lucky to have me, too, so I could live with having him call in a favor to get me the interview.

And Jayne? She was serving multiple consecutive life sentences. She kept sending me letters that I kept throwing away, and when Byron had popped the question, she'd sent us a huge bouquet of dying roses.

Fuck knows how she managed that, but after we received them, Byron had reached out to the warden at the prison she was kept at, and they'd put her into solitary for a stint.

Byron will still work as a profiler on the huge, scary serial killer cases, and I don't foresee his traveling getting better any time soon. Still, at least we're living under the same roof now, and we can finally get the rest of our life started.

On that thought, I smile at the secret I've been keeping from Byron. My hand cups my belly as I lose myself to his kiss. There will be time enough later to share, but I am very excited for our family to grow. And I know he will be too.

It's time for our happily ever after. And I can't wait.