Layla exhaled in a rush, her hand lowering to touch the gorgeous ring. “Your job ... ?”
He pulled the ring free of its velvet box and slid it onto her finger. “I’ve got money socked away from the sale of the house and the past five years of doing nothing but working. You’ll get through school, then we’ll start our own security firm. I can’t imagine anything that would make me happier.”
She cupped his cheek. Her lower lip quivered.
“Well?” he prompted. “I’m dying here.”
“Shh.”
His brows rose.
“If you wake me up,” she warned, “I’m going to kick your ass.”
His laughter broke through the chill she’d felt all day. “No more dreaming, baby. I want the real deal.”
“What are the odds that we’d get this second chance?”
“Slim to none. Don’t blow it.”
Layla leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his. “I won’t.”
“Is that a yes?”
“That’s a hell yes.”
Brian stood and pulled her up with him, lifting her into the air.
“It won’t be easy,” she warned, remembering vividly how hard it was for her in the beginning of the program.
“I can take the heat.”
Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, Layla seized what she wanted. “Take me instead,” she purred.
“’Til death do us part,” he vowed, carrying her to the door.
Coming Summer 2012
Hot in Handcuffs
(with Shayla Black and Shiloh Walker)
About the Author
Sylvia Day
is the national bestselling author of more than a dozen novels. A wife and mother of two, she is a former Russian linguist for the U.S. Army Military Intelligence. Sylvia’s work has been called an “exhilarating adventure” by
Publishers Weekly
and “wickedly entertaining” by
Booklist
. Her stories have been translated into Russian, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Czech, Italian, and Thai. She’s been honored with the
Romantic Times
Reviewers’ Choice Award, the EPPIE award, the National Readers’ Choice Award, the Readers’ Crown, and multiple finalist nominations for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA
®
Award of Excellence.