“Every day, Martin. We would see each other every day,” she said calmly.
“How? On Skype?”
She had the audacity to giggle. The woman just didn’t get the fact that major barriers stood between them and a future together. “Not on Skype,” she replied. “Right here in Meadow Springs.”
“But what about your life in Kansas City? What about Burns, Logan and Grant and that partnership you’re working toward?”
She shrugged. “They’ll manage just fine without me.”
Hope infused him in a powerful rush. “You mean… You mean?” He couldn’t make himself finish the question. What if that wasn’t what Liza meant, at all?
She stepped into his arms and toyed with the top button on his shirt. “I mean that if we decide to get serious about our relationship, I’ll scout around Meadow Springs for office space. Then I’ll give my notice at the law firm, and we’ll see what develops between us.”
“You’d do that for me?” He held his breath as he waited for her answer.
“No. But I’d do it for us.”
“Is there an ‘us?’”
“Yes, there is. If you want there to be.”
Did ducks swim? Did dogs bury their bones?
He pulled Liza close. As he prepared to kiss her, he said, “I do want there to be an ‘us’, sweet Liza. A forever-and-ever us.”
She giggled again. The woman had morphed from a manipulative control freak into a hyped-up teenager. There was only way to stop those giggles and that was to kiss her.
So he did.
They shared their very first kiss as a real couple instead of a fraudulent one. And that kiss nearly knocked his socks off.
When they pulled apart, Liza’s dreamy expression told him he’d knocked her socks off, too.
He fumbled in his pocket for the ring she’d returned to him. “Liza O’Malley? Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
The giggles stopped and tears glazed her lovely green eyes. “Of course, I’ll marry you, Martin Landsburg. I thought you’d never ask!”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marilyn Shank worked as a legal secretary, office manager, editor, and proofreader before discovering her true passion: writing fiction. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, speaks fluent German, and often teaches writing workshops in public schools and libraries. When she’s not writing, Marilyn enjoys reading, amateur radio operation, and she loves to travel with her husband. Originally from Chicago, she now lives in Independence, Missouri.
Website: www.marilynshank.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Gina Ardito, my Editor
Judi Fennell, my Formatter
Karen Troeh and Lauren Parks,
my Beta Readers
You’re wonderful!
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Bride by Chance Page 18
