He squeezed her hands and tried to forget that more than a hundred people were watching them. “This day was six years in the making.” Nick hoped he could get through this without embarrassing himself. “From the first instant I ever laid eyes on you, Samantha, I knew you were the one for me. It took far longer to get here than it should have, but all that matters is that we’re finally here. Since I already promised all the most important things, I thought I’d throw in a few things that I know are important to you.”

Sam’s smile warmed his heart and gave him the courage to continue.

“So I promise to be a little less freakishly neat—”

That drew a laugh from his bride.

“—and slightly less obsessed with your safety.” He paused for another laugh from her. “You’re not supposed to find all of this funny.”

Sam tried—and failed—to wipe the grin from her face.

“I promise not to let my phone ring more than twice, to do my best not to constantly clean up after you and to let you be you—even when you drive me crazy.” He stepped closer and leaned his forehead against hers. “I promise I’ll always love you and put you and our family first in my life because there’s nowhere else in the world I’d rather be than with you.”

Sam looked up at him with bottomless eyes full of tears.

“That works out rather well,” she said, “since there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than with you. I had the same plan—to offer you a few things I thought you would appreciate.”

Smiling, Nick raised his head to give her some space.

“I promise to try not to leave my shoes all over the place, to hang my coat in the closet rather than tossing it over the sofa where it belongs, to make the bed once in a while and to stop rearranging your desk every time I sit there.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it.”

Smiling back at him, Sam brought their joined hands to her lips. “I promise to try very hard to not protect you by keeping things from you. And even though it may sometimes seem that my job and the case of the moment are more important to me than you, I promise you they are not. I’ve loved you for as long as you’ve loved me, and I always will.”

Overwhelmed, Nick took a deep, shuddering breath and accepted the rings from Graham. After they were in place, the pastor uttered the words Nick had often wondered if he would ever hear: “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

“At last,” Nick whispered as he drew her in close to him.

Sam linked her arms around his neck and slipped him some tongue, making his blood race.