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Rashmi wiped some condensation off her beer bottle, glancing at Liam. His legs dangled over the edge of a cliff on Meridian, although the steep drop to the Hyperion below wasn’t the reason for her sour stomach. She had faced worse: Kett, Architects, being sucked out of a shuttle on Habitat-7. Sorry, Ryder-1. So what was her problem? All she wanted was confirmation, yet finding the right words for her questions left her with a headache.
Perhaps she was overthinking things. No, she definitely was; SAM had said so himself. Still…
‘After all the bad that’s happened, I think a part of me is scared to hope. How ironic.’ The young woman sighed then swallowed a swig of her cold beer.
“Hey, Kosta,” she said, gaze set on the horizon.
“Yeah?” Liam answered.
“Were you serious?”
“Uh,” the Brit leaned back, “you’ll need to be a little more specific.”
“After the fight, you—“ Rash paused; Liam had already assured her that his hint at matrimony was genuine, yet the proposal felt less like reality and more like a concept. “You said you meant it. Marriage. A future. Everything.”
“What? Don’t believe me?”
“You mentioned kids.”
“Not really. You’re the one who jumped to conclusions.”
“But it’s your fault I even thought about them.”
“So am I in trouble?” Liam smirked against the rim of his beer bottle and chuckled, albeit stiffly.
Rash watched the man down his drink in a few gulps. “I just want you to be…”
“Sure?” Liam settled his empty bottle between his thighs then met the Pathfinder with a smile that both enraptured her and left her uneasy. “You think I’ll take it all back? Come on. I can be impulsive, but I’m not that impulsive. Or cruel.”
Rashmi sucked in air, almost trembling when Liam’s large hand cupped her neck. Damn, did his callous skin feel good.
“I could’ve bailed long ago if I wanted,” he said. “Before the Archon. Before you helped me fix my screw up. Hell, before Eos. We’ve had plenty of chances to just walk away from this. We didn’t. You stood by me, which anyone can applaud you for. Just ask Vetra or Gill.”
Rash snorted at the thought and bit her lip as Liam’s smile grew.
“Rashmi,” he whispered, “this is what I want. More than anything. I want you. I want a future with you. And all you’ve done is thank me.”
Shit. Liam had a point, didn't he? Even after she had time to process his proposal, the best the Pathfinder could come up with was “Thanks for asking.” Seriously? Ugh.
‘Pathfinder?’ SAM spoke through his and Rash’s private line. ‘I believe Mister Kosta seeks a yes or no answer to his marriage proposal.’
“I know, SAM,” Rash said in an undertone.
‘If I connect to the Nexus database, perhaps I could pull a guide that would—’
Rashmi slapped a palm against her face, speaking into it. “I don’t need a ‘How To’ guide to get engaged, SAM.”
“You don’t need what?”
Rash ignored the AI, looked up, and swallowed thickly before addressing the Brit. “Liam?”
“Uh, yeah?”
“I’ll do it. I’ll marry you.”
For a moment, the man looked taken aback. But as soon as Rashmi smiled, he scooted closer to her along the cliffside and gathered her into his lap until she straddled him. “I knew you’d come around.”
“Really?” Rash buried her fingers into his afro. “Because to me, you seemed scared.”
“Me? Scared? Never.”
“Don’t lie, Mister Kosta. I know you better than that.”
“Guess I shouldn’t expect anything less from the future Misses Kosta, eh?”
“Damn straight.”
Liam smirked, his brown eyes half-closed, and Rashmi mirrored his chuckle—right up until his mouth met hers.