Page 109 of Second Act

Aidan rolled his eyes. “Text alert, remember?”

Jessica gave a laugh that turned into a cough. Aidan peered at her. “Maybe you should put the oxygen mask back on.”

“Nope. Hugh’s the one who got a lungful of smoke.” She leaned away to inspect him once again. “You should let the EMT check out your chest,” she said to Hugh.

He waved a grimy hand in dismissal. “My knees are killing me, but otherwise I’m good.”

“Mine, too!” She massaged her battered kneecaps. “Crawling is a lot harder than it looks.”

Aidan blew out an exasperated breath. “I don’t understand why you guys broke up when you’re so much alike.”

Jessica gave Hugh a searching look. Even after what he’d just done, she didn’t know where they stood. “Are we broken up?”

He gazed at her for a long moment without answering. “Let’s step down from the ambulance,” he said, pulling her up with him as he stood. He jumped down onto the street before he put his hands around her waist to lift her down, setting her feet on the pavement as carefully as though she were a porcelain statue.

Then in an abrupt movement, he dropped to one knee, his breath hissing out in a grunt of pain as he made contact with the pavement.

Her heart started to imitate Geode banging into the walls of his cat carrier.

Taking her dirt-smeared hand in his equally filthy one, Hugh turned his smudged face up to her, his eyes blazing in the madly dancing light of the fire. “Jess, you showed me—in a terrifying way—how to have the courage to love. You convinced me—with more drama than was comfortable—you would never abandon someone you care about.” The lines of his face seemed to soften, and his voice became a caress. “I want you in my world. And I want to be part of your world. I think tonight proved that we can make that work. Will you marry me?”

Joy flared through her, brighter than the fire. “Yes! Yes, I will!”

He rose with only a slight wince, but he didn’t pull her into him, even though she tugged at his pleated shirt. “I should have fought for you eight years ago,” he said, sadness shadowing his face. “I feel like I’ve wasted so much time.”

“Well, we’re just going to have to make up for it, aren’t we?” she said and yanked on his shirt harder.

This time he took the hint and enfolded her in his arms. “Starting right now.” He lowered his mouth to hers and sealed his proposal with a scorching-hot kiss.