Northern Lights

Nate. I'm selfish and contrary and . . . I was going to say inconsiderate, but I don't see why it's inconsiderate to live your life the way you want. I'm mean when I want to be, I don't care about rules unless they're mine, and I'm here, I'm still here in this place, because I'm half crazy."
    "I know. Don't change."
    "I knew there was going to be trouble with you, New Year's Eve, when I went with that stupid impulse and brought you out to see the northern lights."
    "You wore a red dress."
    "You think I'm such a girl I'll go all squishy because you remember what color dress I wore?"
    "You love me."
    "Yeah." She blew out a long breath, wiped her hands over her wet cheeks. "Yeah, I do. What a damn mess."
    "Marry me, Meg."
    "You're just going to keep saying that, aren't you?"
    "Until I get an answer."
    "What if the answer's no?"
    "Then I'll wait, work on you a little at a time and ask you again. Giving up doesn't work for me, so I'm done with it."
    "You didn't give up. You were just hibernating."
    He smiled again. "Look at you, standing there. I could look at you forever."
    "Jesus, Nate." Her heart ached, literally ached so she had to rub the heel of her hand over it. And that ache, she realized, sweet at the center, smothered out the panic. "You kill me."
    "Marry me, Meg."
    "Oh well." She sighed. Then she laughed because the sweetness spread through everything else. "What the hell. I'll give it a shot." She took a running leap that would've knocked him flat if he hadn't had his back to the counter. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her mouth crushed down on his. "This goes south, it's on your head."
    "Goes without saying."
    "I'll be a terrible wife." She rained kisses over his face, his throat. "I'll irritate you and make you crazy half the time. I'll fight dirty and I'll stay pissed off when you win, which will be rarely." She leaned back, framed his face with her hands. "But I won't lie to you. I won't cheat. And I'll never let you down when it matters."
    "It'll work for us." He rested his cheek on hers and just breathed her in. "We'll make it work. I don't have a ring."
    "You'll need to rectify that, ASAP. And spare no expense."
    "Okay."
    Laughing, she leaned back, way back so he had to shift his stance to keep a hold on her. "This is just crazy enough to be right." She reared back up, locked her arms around his neck. "I think it's time we went upstairs and had insane engagement sex."
    "I was counting on that." He hitched her up a bit and carried her out of the room. When she nipped her teeth into his throat, he took a shaky breath. "Does it have to be upstairs? How about on the stairs. Or just on the floor right here. Then later, we could . . . Damn it."
    The dogs ran barking to the door, and an instant later, he saw the glare of headlights cross the window.
    "Lock all the doors," Meg murmured dreamily, still working on his throat. "Turn out all the lights. We'll hide. We'll get naked and hide."
    "Too late. But we're going to remember where we were, and after we get rid of whoever that is—even if we have to kill them—we'll pick it up again."
    "Deal." She hopped down. "Hold!" she ordered the dogs, who sat, quivering at the door. She opened it, recognized the man who got out of the car. "Friend," she told the dogs, then lifted a hand in greeting. "Hey, Steven."
    "Hey, Meg." He bent to pet the dogs. "Hi, guys, hi. How's it going? Ah, I saw Peter, and he said Chief Burke was out here. I wanted to see him a minute, if that's okay."
    "Sure. Come on in. Outside, boys, time for a run."
    "Hi, Steven, how're you doing?"
    "Chief." He shook hands with Nate. "A lot better than the last time you saw me. I wanted to thank you again, in person and when I was a little more with it, for what you did for me. For us. You, too, Meg."
    "Heard you kept all your digits."
    "Ten fingers, ten toes. Well, nine and a half toes. Really lucky. All of us were. I'm sorry to bother you at home . . . I mean when you're off duty."
    "It's no problem."
    "Go ahead and sit down," Meg invited. "You want some wine? A beer?"
    "He's underage," Nate said even as Steven started to accept. "And he's driving."
    "Cops," Meg grumbled. "Always pooping on the party."
    "Maybe a Coke or something if you've got it handy."
    "Sure."
    Steven sat, drummed his fingers on his knees. "I'm home for a couple of days. Spring break. I wanted to come sooner, but I've got a lot of stuff to catch up on. Missed a lot of classes when I was out, you know."
    "You making them