Liberty squinted at the check and then her eyes got wide. “Another hundred K?”

“Yep. That oughta help you get the home of your dreams. But the reason I’m here is because I was hoping we’d look for a home of our dreams in Denver.”

“You’re moving here?”

“Yes. Let me make this perfectly clear. I love you. I want us to make a life together—I don’t care where. I want to make a home with you that’s not on a damn tour bus or fifteen hundred miles away from our families.” He touched her cheek. “On the road we started bein’ an everyday part of each other’s lives. I want that for longer than four months, Liberty. I want that forever.”

Dammit. She started to cry again.

“Lord, woman, I don’t know what to do with your tears. You didn’t cry this much after you were shot.” He hauled her against him and kissed the top of her head.

“But what about your life in Nashville?”

“I don’t have a life in Nashville; I have a house. No one ever said I have to live there. Sure, I’ll have to be there once in a while, but I don’t need a big house that I’m never in. I put my house on the market the day after I left LA.”

“So do you really see us living together? Here?”

“I know it’s important for you to buy this place yourself, so I won’t offer to buy it outright as a gift for you.”

This was really happening. She could have Devin and this awesome condo. “Hang on a second. Let me do a quick calculation.”

Devin snatched the sales sheet out of her hand. “I’m not bein’ flip when I say makin’ this decision about our life together can’t be about money. I’ll match the amount of your bonus as a down payment, even if my name ain’t on the mortgage. I’ll pay half the utilities. Hell, I’ll even take out the garbage.”

She laughed.

“There’s something else you oughta know.”

“What?”

A sheepish look crossed his face. “I already bought the other unit on this floor that was for sale.”

Another jaw-dropping moment in a day filled with them. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I knew you’d love this place. As your new neighbor, I planned to wear you down, one way or another. Come over and borrow a cup of sugar. Fuck you until you agreed to be my woman forever. That sort of annoying neighbor thing.”

She laughed again. “So you’ll live there and I’ll live here?”

He brought her against his body. Hard. “No f**kin’ way will we ever have separate houses. We’ll live here. Because of my celebrity, I have certain security requirements, and this building more than meets my safety standards—and yours, I would imagine. I figured it’d be safer if we owned the whole floor.”

“Really? You’re playing the safety card now?”

He turned serious. “I need somewhere private to work on my music, so part of the space can be a studio. Plus, we’ll have a place for our families and friends, and my bandmates to stay when they visit us.” Devin rested his forehead to hers. “I want our lives entwined together on every level. So you know this isn’t a temporary thing for me.”

“I know. I thought it was all too good to be true, so I didn’t believe in it—in us. For that, I’m sorry. I love you, and we will make this work or we’ll die trying.”

He smiled.

“I have something to tell you too.” She tried to step back, but Devin wasn’t having any of it. He kept them face-to-face.

“What?”

“I had a talk with Garrett. I told him I didn’t want to permanently upgrade to full-time fieldwork.”

“Which means what?”

“No more being assigned as a bodyguard. For anyone.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. Getting shot is not my idea of fun, and that’s happened twice now. So I’ll be in a supervisory and training role for GSC. Garrett is actually thrilled because he wanted to get back into the field and away from his desk.”

Devin frowned. “You’re takin’ desk duty? Baby, are you sure you want that?”

“I’ll still get to kick asses in the training room on a daily basis. You’re making big changes to be with me; it’s only fair I meet you halfway. When I have my evaluation, I also planned on telling him that as long as you’re still touring, I’ll spend a month on the road with you.” Liberty looked into his eyes. “Not as your bodyguard. But as the woman who loves you and wants to take care of you.”

“You’ll be my permanent—my only—groupie, otherwise known as my wife.” He kissed her before her mouth could fall open.

“That’s a big step for a man who claimed he wasn’t attracted to me.”

“You’re never gonna let me forget that, are you?”

Liberty twined her arms around him. “Nope. But I’m sure we’ll still be talking about it until we’re old and gray.”

“Baby, I can’t wait.”

Epilogue

Two months later

Devin sorted through the stack of mail as he rode the elevator to their apartment. After a long day of setting up temporary studio space until his studio was finished, all he wanted was a quiet night. But as he shuffled through bills, one magazine in particular caught his eye and he flipped to the back page. His grin widened as he read the text.