He hung up the phone and, with a cocky grin, threw it on the dash. “And that’s how it’s done.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Never had her mind drawn a blank. This combination of tactical ability and psy-ops had stunned her speechless.

“Nothing to say. Let’s go inside.” He opened his door, then turned back and caught her wrist. She slid hard into an embrace of ripped muscles and weaponry. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Trust me, and this will be over soon.”

She nodded.

“You trust me?”

“Yeah.”

“You love me?”

“I love you.” Sugar sucked in a deep breath, not wanting to leave the confines of his truck tucked under his arm. “Damn it, Jared, you act like this isn’t a big deal. You told me to stay alive, and you better do the same.”

He pulled back and leveled her with confidence that made his eyes twinkle. “Piece of cake.”

“I’m serious. You die, and I will never forgive you.”

He nodded, amused. “Baer doesn’t have a chance.”

“Come home to me.”

“Always.” The amusement was replaced by a fierceness and a promise.

Always. That sounded good, because if he didn’t, her sanity would shatter, never to be right again. “Promise me, Jared?”

His eyes intensified. An all-consuming force radiated from him. “You want a promise, Baby Cakes? How about this? Marry me. Crap timing, but there it is, Sugar. I’ll come back to you. Always. Forever. But you gotta tell me that it’s two ways.”

What the… She couldn’t comprehend the words he’d thrown down. They sounded familiar. They seemed logical, but as if she’d just looked at a simple word for too long, she was certain her understanding had to be wrong.

“Sugar?”

Dumbfounded, she shook her head. Jared had just proposed marriage while the countdown was on to kill Buck Baer. She didn’t have time to think about her screwed-up parents, their cheating and lying, and how they had tarnished her views on the matrimonial institution. She had no time to ponder how her folks had driven her away with their gambling and lies. They defined her view of marriage. And she’d never taken the time to correct that idea.

But then, she’d known Winters and Cash. They were good men. They had married women they loved, and their lives were all smiles and sunshine. Sugar’d had those thoughts about Jared, as terrifying and impossible as they seemed. They were illogical, absolutely incomprehensible, because she had no idea why she would want to get married, especially when her parents’ marriage had been so awful.

But now, marriage was offered up by an equal who respected her. He got her. He understood her mindset and liked her attitude.

She wasn’t anything like her parents. She and Jared were a team. He loved her, and she loved him. They didn’t fit into some Hallmark greeting card category, but they fit. Long term. Forever. Just like she wanted—