He paused their dance, and she stilled in his arms. “I’ll show you later. But I have to ask you something first.”
“What is it?”
“Can I kiss you? Here, in front of everyone you know in New York?” He could feel the vibration of her heartbeat, matching his, against his chest. “I don’t want to hide this, Jessie. I want everyone here to know that…”
Before he could finish, she stood on her tiptoes, tightened her grip around his neck and covered his mouth with a long, sensuous kiss that sent firecrackers through his body. And from the few gasps he heard in the crowd, a few sparklers hit the audience, too.
“You want everyone to know what, Cade?” she asked as she broke the kiss with a triumphant smile.
“That I love you,” he whispered.
Her smile froze.
“I love you,” he said again, a little louder.
Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
“I love you.” This time, everyone on the dance floor heard.
The music stopped, and everyone turned to look at them.
And in the one second that the room was suspended in silence, he lifted her off her feet, twirled her around and let everyone in the room know the truth. “I love you, Jessie Clayton!”
All around them, the room erupted in clapping and gasps and the “oohs” and “aaahs” from the crowd while the band started the next song, but the only sound Cade could hear was that beautiful wind chime laugh that he had grown to love.
“Come with me,” he whispered in her ear. “I have one more surprise for you.”
With only a quick glance back to where Fin stood watching them, Jessie slid her hand into Cade’s much stronger one and let him guide her to the rotunda and down the first elevator.
“Where are we going?” she asked, her heart still battering so hard that she was breathless. And longing for the chance to tell him she loved him, too. But he didn’t wait, didn’t pause.
Through the lobby, onto the street, he slipped out of his tuxedo jacket and put it over her bare shoulders. “It’s a little chilly, but worth it, I promise.”
She curled into the silky fabric, happy for the warmth against the cool September air, but completely bewildered. “Why are we leaving my party?”
“Because you need some wide open spaces and horses.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
Even at night, the street bustled with pedestrians and tourists, and taxis plowed along at well over the safe speed limit. But her attention was caught by a cluster of hansom cabs, lined up and waiting to take a lucky couple a romantic ride.
“There he is.”
“Who?” she asked.
Cade flashed her a smile as they walked, pausing when they arrived at one particularly beautiful carriage painted a brilliant white and decorated with two massive bouquets of…
“Lilacs.” She let out a soft laugh and curled into Cade’s arm. “You’re crazy, you know that?”
As they settled into the back of the fairy-tale carriage, the horse’s hooves clopped steadily along the concrete and a nearly full moon peeked out from a cloud.
“This is perfect,” Jessie pronounced, falling back against the cool black leather. “Everyone is going to wonder where we went, but I don’t care.”
“We’ll tell them,” he said, wrapping his arm around her.
“Because this isn’t secret anymore.”
She looked up at him and held his gaze. “Can I please say what I’ve been wanting to say since that dance ended?”
“No,” he responded. “Not yet.”
She opened her mouth in protest. “Cade, don’t you want to know that I—”
He put one hand over her mouth and reached in his pocket with the other. Frozen, all Jessie could move was her eyes, and she looked down at the black box in Cade’s hand.
“All I want you to say is yes.”
When he opened the box, the princess-cut diamond caught the light of the moon. Jessie stared at the engagement ring, too speechless and stunned to move.
Finally, she lifted her gaze to meet his.
“Jessie, this is not an affair. This is not a brief romance and this is not a secret.” His gray eyes burned with the need to make her believe him. “This is real. This is love. Will you marry me?”
A little laugh, mixed with a sob, caught in her throat. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I will.”
Cade took the ring out of the box and slid it on her finger, his own hands shaking just a bit.
“Now,” he said with a half smile, “what did you want to tell me?”
She leaned her head against his shoulder and let the horse’s steady trot jostle her into him.
“I’ll tell you later,” she said. “And every day for the rest of our lives.”
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Roxanne St. Claire for her contribution to THE ELLIOTTS miniseries.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7389-8
THE INTERN AFFAIR
Copyright © 2006 by Harlequin S.A.
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