by Sara Orwig
She couldn’t get her voice, and the longing to throw her arms around his neck intensified.
“You decided to come home,” she finally managed to say.
“Yeah, I did. I wanted to see you. I’ve missed you.”
They stared at each other and her heartbeat raced.
“Oh, hell, Jessie,” he said. “I know I promised I wouldn’t touch you.” He stepped forward and wrapped her in his embrace. “But I missed you so damn much.”
She closed her eyes and hugged him. “I missed you, too, Ryan.”
Her heart continued to pound, and longing made her cling tightly to him in spite of all the times she had said to herself that she wouldn’t again. He felt so good, smelled so good. How was she going to resist him, even if he only wanted an affair and then he would be gone?
“Ryan.” She leaned away to look up at him.
“Let’s go into the house.”
He slid an arm across her shoulders and walked with her into the house, closing the door behind them. When he lowered his arm from her shoulders, she walked away, turning to look at him.
“Let’s go in the family room, where it’s comfortable,” he said. She still wanted to walk back into his arms. She loved him and couldn’t keep from being glad to see him, happy to be with him again.
“I didn’t know you were coming home,” she said, smoothing her cutoffs. “I would have dressed better,” she added, not even thinking about what she was saying to him.
“I don’t care what you’re wearing. You look gorgeous to me,” he said. His voice was a deep rasp and desire burned in the depths of his dark eyes. Her heartbeat hadn’t slowed. Resisting the urge to hug him continued to be an inner battle for her.
They entered the family room and he turned to her. “I wasn’t coming home this weekend, but then I missed you. I had to see you.”
“I’m glad you did. I’ve missed you, Ryan.”
“Do you want me to go back to Houston next week?”
His question hung in the air. She knew he was asking about more than Houston.
“Ryan, I can’t have an affair. I just can’t do it.” She couldn’t keep the tears from spilling over and running down her cheeks. “I’m in love with you. I’ll get over it because people do, but—”
He stepped close to slip an arm around her waist while he put his finger gently on her mouth. “Shh. Don’t. Just let me talk a minute. I’ve been thinking about us.”
“Ryan, there isn’t an ‘us.’”
“I think there is. Or at least there can be.” He tilted her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “I missed you every day, every hour I’ve been gone. I want you in my life, Jessie. All the time. I want to come home to you. I don’t think it’ll be home without you.”
“Oh, Ryan,” she said, her heart breaking because his words were wonderful but what he was saying couldn’t be. “I can’t do it, Ryan. I’ve told you, I cannot have an affair.”
“Jessie, let me talk. I’ve missed you more than I thought possible. And I’ve given a lot of thought to us.” He framed her face with his hands. “I have never told a woman ‘I love you.’ Those words are for you. This is a first. I love you.”
“Ryan,” she whispered, hurting more than ever. His declaration made her heart ache, when she had wanted to avoid this and thought she was going to. “Ryan, we just can’t.”
“I love you,” he repeated, gazing into her eyes. “Will you marry me?”
Startled, she stared at him. Never had she expected or thought about a proposal from Ryan. He had been so happy-go-lucky about everyone in his life.
“Marry you?”
“I want you to be my wife. I don’t know how we’ll work it out, but if we love each other, there should be a way.”
She blinked, still unable to fathom a proposal. “You want to marry me?” she whispered again. “But you’re not the marrying type.”
“You’re not getting it. I love you. I have never been in love before,” he said, slowly and distinctly.
She blinked as she stared at him. Suddenly, she hurt more than she ever thought possible. “And I love you. I’ve been in love with you almost since that first week. But we can’t marry. I’m going home to Tennessee and you’re going to live out here. I can’t live on this ranch the rest of my life.”
A muscle worked in his jaw and he stared at her. Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around her and drew her to him. “Dammit, I love you and I want to marry you. We’ve got to be able to work something out if you love me.”
“We can’t,” she cried, swiping her hand at her eyes, hot tears still running down her cheeks.
He leaned down to kiss her. She could taste the salty tears, his mouth on hers. Her heart slammed against her ribs. She clung to him, tossing aside the worries for the moment while she kissed him hungrily, pouring out the love and longing she had for him.
Ryan was in her arms, holding her, telling her he loved her. She held him tightly, as if she knew she would lose him when she let him go. For right now he was in her arms for her to love and be loved by. At the moment that was all she wanted. The problems were insurmountable as far as she could see, but she wanted his kisses right now.
Finally, she pushed slightly against his chest to lean away and look up at him. “Ryan, we can’t marry.”
“We love each other. That’s what’s important. That’s the most important thing. The other we should be able to work out some way. You want to live in Tennessee. I want to live here. Can we compromise some way? Let’s think of possibilities. Can we live part of the time one place, part another?”
She shook her head, tears starting again. “We can’t do this. You won’t be happy away from your ranch. When the honeymoon is over and real life sets in, you’ll want—you’ll need—this ranch. And I’m that way about Tennessee.”
“Jessie, I don’t want to lose you. You’re more important than this ranch,” he said solemnly, his words bringing a fresh burst of tears to her eyes.
She swiped at them. “I can’t keep from crying. I love you, but I don’t see how we can work this out.”
“I’ve been thinking about it,” he said. “What if I open an office in Dallas and you open your restaurant there?”
When she started to speak, he held up his hand for her to wait. “I can get to the ranch from Dallas and we could spend some time here off and on. If I retire here, I can commute to Dallas. What if we build a home in Memphis or Nashville, whichever you prefer, and have it like a summer home or a vacation home and just live there some of the time? I know that’s not exactly what you planned on, but could you live with that, Jess? I just can’t see moving my office to Tennessee.”
She stared at him while she thought about what he proposed. Live in Dallas most of the time. Open a restaurant there. A summer home in Tennessee.
How deeply did she love Ryan?
She looked into his dark brown eyes and had no doubt about the love he had declared for her, because it showed in his expression. Right now she felt his love enveloping her.
“I’m thinking about this, Ryan. That’s a huge change. I’ve just always thought I’d spend my life in Tennessee.”
“You can still spend some of it there and I’ll spend some of mine there, too.”
She thought about his proposal. Could she give up living all her life in Nashville? Would she be happy with what he suggested? She gazed into his eyes and considered his declaration of love. So many things all at once.
He leaned
forward to wrap his arms around her. “I love you, Jessie. Really love you. I want to marry you. I want to be with you. This won’t work if you don’t want the same thing and if you don’t love me, too.”
“Ryan, I love you. I’ve been miserable without you.” She gazed at him intently. “Yes, I’ll marry you and we’ll work it out and live in Dallas and sometimes here and sometimes in Tennessee. How’s that?”
He swept her into his embrace to kiss her hard. She felt his heart pounding with hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss him as deeply as she could.
“I love you so,” she whispered, crying and kissing him at the same time.
“I love you, darlin’. With all my heart.”
She leaned back. “Ryan, the doctor said he thought I can have children, but he didn’t give me a guarantee.”
“If you can’t, it sounds as if we have enough nieces and nephews between us that we can find some kid substitutes.”
“You really can live with it if I can’t give you a baby?”
“I can live with it. Ah, darlin’, I want you. You’re just right for me the way you are. We’ll be together on this, whatever happens.”
“You have to be the greatest, sexiest, most handsome guy ever,” she said before she kissed him.
After a few minutes he stopped. “We have a lot of family to tell between yours and mine, but there’s one call I have to make first. I need to call your dad and ask for your hand in marriage.”
She giggled. “That seems incredibly old-fashioned.”
“So do your folks, if you don’t mind my saying so. I’m asking him before we call anyone else. Then you can tell your mom. Ah, Jessie,” he said, “wait a minute. Don’t go anywhere.”
He left and came back shortly. He had his phone in hand and two small boxes.
“We can call in just a minute. First, this is for you.” He handed her the larger of the two boxes. “I got it before I decided to propose marriage to you,” he said, handing her a plain box tied with a pink silk ribbon.
She looked at him and then back at the box, taking it and untying the ribbon to open it. The diamonds dazzled her and she lifted out the necklace with the gold filigree and the diamonds.
“Ryan, this is gorgeous. This is too beautiful to wear.”
“Well, I hope you’ll wear it, because that’s why I bought it. It’s because I love you and you mean everything to me.”
She held the necklace in her hand, turning it so light caught the diamonds and they sparkled. “Thank you.” She threw her arms around his neck to hug and kiss him. His arm went around her waist and he pulled her tightly to him to kiss her in return.
She finally moved away to look at the necklace again. “This is so beautiful. Thank you.”
“This is what I got after I decided to propose to you.” He handed her the smaller box tied with a yellow silk ribbon. She opened the box to remove another black velvet box and opened it. The ring—an eight-carat diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds—glittered in the light. She gasped, looking up at him in surprise and flung her arms around his neck again. He held her close while they kissed.
When she raised her head, they both gasped for breath. “I love you, Ryan, with all my heart.”
He took the ring from her and held her hand, slipping the ring on her finger. “This is forever, Jessie. As long as we both live.”
They kissed, another long kiss that left them breathless.
“Let’s have this wedding soon.”
“I don’t want a giant wedding, Ryan, because I had one. And no destination wedding. I just want a small ceremony, just us. Will that upset you?”
He grinned as he shook his head. “Not at all. We don’t have to have anyone except immediate family. Of course, that’s still a lot of people on both sides. And we can have the wedding wherever you want. Let’s let the family know. I want to call your dad.”
She took the phone to put in the number and call. She talked briefly to her mother, then asked for her dad and told him that Ryan wanted to talk to him.
Looking at her ring, she listened to him ask to marry her. A silly tradition, but it would please her parents. And she felt sure that they liked Ryan and their only worry would be her living in Texas.
“Yes, sir,” Ryan said. “We plan to live in Dallas. I’ll open an office there or move the whole thing. Whatever I do, I’ll work in Dallas. We’ll build a home in Tennessee so we can live there part of the year and we’ll stay on the ranch part of the time.”
She listened while Ryan continued to talk and finally gave the phone to her to speak to her mother, who had listened to the conversation on her end of the line while the men had talked.
It was another ten minutes before she finally told her mother goodbye, promising to call back later in the evening after they had told the rest of the family.
“They’re happy, Ryan. You impressed them, which I knew the minute you met them and invited them to the ranch.”
He smiled. “Before we tell one more person, there’s something else we’ve got to do. Come here. I’ve waited long enough.” Then he picked her up and carried her to her bedroom.
Epilogue
They married in a chapel in Dallas with only relatives and close friends present. Will, Garrett and Jared were groomsmen, and Zach was the best man.
She wore a floor-length ice-blue dress with spaghetti straps, a straight skirt and plain lines. Her veil was suspended from a glittery headband. Around her neck she wore the necklace Ryan had given her.
As she started down the aisle on her father’s arm, she felt overwhelmed with happiness. Her handsome fiancé waited, his gaze locked with hers. She couldn’t see anyone else for looking at Ryan.
She repeated vows that she meant with all her heart and intended to keep the rest of her life. The love she had for Ryan seemed limitless and she just prayed they could have a baby.
They were pronounced husband and wife and introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Delaney.
They had pictures taken and finally were at a Dallas country club for the reception, to which many more guests had been invited.
The first dance was with Ryan and she stepped into his arms, smiling at him.
“You take my breath, you’re so gorgeous, Jessie.”
“You take my breath, as well, you handsome man.”
He grinned. “The limo is ready. The plane is ready and we’ll be in a New York penthouse tonight and Switzerland tomorrow.”
“I don’t care where I am if I’m with you,” she said, squeezing his hand.
“Can the groom kiss the bride while we dance?”
“Why don’t you save that for when we’re alone?”
“I’ll try, but I won’t like it,” he said. “This is wonderful, Jessie. You’ve made me the happiest man on this earth today.”
She laughed. “A big Texas exaggeration.”
“I’m the happiest and I’ve married the most beautiful woman.”
“Whoo, that is a whopper,” she said, smiling at him. “I can’t wait until we’re alone.”
“Then let’s escape this shindig soon. All these people know how to party.”
“I have to dance with all the brothers—my brothers, your brothers, my brother-in-law, your brother-in-law. That’s going to take a while.”
“Wave at me when you’re ready to go. I told you, the limo is ready.”
It was three hours later when she waved across the room at him. In less than two minutes he was at her side, getting her out of a conversation with a group of her relatives.
They slippe
d out and dashed for the limo. As they turned onto the highway for the airport, Ryan pulled her into his arms. “I love you, darlin’. I’m the luckiest man ever.”
“I love you, Ryan. I am so happy.”
“I want to always keep you that way,” he said, drawing her into his embrace as he leaned forward to kiss her.
Jessie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him in return. Her heart was filled to overflowing with joy and love for this tall man who was her wonderful Texas cowboy.
* * * * *
If you loved Ryan’s story, don’t miss a single novel in the LONE STAR LEGACY series from USA TODAY bestselling author Sara Orwig:
RELENTLESS PURSUIT
THE RELUCTANT HEIRESS
MIDNIGHT UNDER THE MISTLETOE
ONE TEXAS NIGHT...
All available now from Harlequin Desire!
Keep reading for an excerpt from WHAT A RANCHER WANTS by Sarah Anderson.
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One
“¡Dios mío!” Gabriella del Toro hissed under her breath. Blood welled up from the cut she’d inflicted upon herself with the can opener. She sighed. As if anything else could have gone wrong.
From his seat at the breakfast table, Joaquin, her bodyguard, looked up from his tablet. “I’m fine,” she said, answering his unspoken question. “Just a cut.”
