Rumor Has It
Page 17
He had his spies though. He knew she was hurting just as much as he was. He knew she had doubts about the decision she'd made on his behalf. He knew she loved him.
What he didn't know was whether or not she was ready to give in, to give up her stubborn resolve to set him free. He had to hope she was, because he was ready to play his ace. More than once he had berated Katie for thinking in terms of all or nothing. Tonight that was exactly what he was going for—all or nothing.
Before he stepped out of his office and into the kitchen, Nick cast his gaze heavenward. “Hey, St. Vincent, put in a good word for me, will you?”
Nick's Restaurant looked exactly as Katie had pictured it, exactly as she had sketched it way back when Nick had first asked her to do the interior design. The dining room was simple but elegant with its white walls and long hunter- green drapes. The walls were lined with the old hats and walking sticks and store displays Nick had discovered in the attic. They created a wonderful, dapper, masculine atmosphere. It was perfect.
She felt her heart swell with pride for Nick. He'd worked so hard. She could remember how the place had looked the day Maggie had goaded her into checking out the mysterious new man in town.
Katie felt every eye in the room on her as she entered. She knew everyone present. Nick had planned the evening as the run- through for the staff, a trial run before the restaurant officially opened. He had invited all his new friends, who were also friends of hers. Like everyone else in Briarwood, they were well aware of the change in circumstances between her and Nick.
As she followed Ry and Maggie to the table where the Baylors sat, Katie wondered how she was ever going to be able to eat a bite of food. What was Nick going to think when he saw her? Would he be able to see how much she still loved him? Would he see the second thoughts she was having about her decision to give him up? Or had he decided by now to finally give up on her? Her friends chatted around her while she sat staring at her silverware.
The kitchen door swung open, and Katie looked up into Nick's face as he crossed the room. She felt as if her heart and her stomach were all wound up into one big knot. Nick's gaze never wavered from her face. He looked wonderful. And terrible—tired and thinner but so handsome in pleated black trousers and a crisp white shirt. She wondered if he knew the tie he was wearing was dark green.
“Katie,” he said softly, handing her a menu. He set a small basket of dinner rolls near her plate. It was all he could do to keep from scooping her up into his arms. She looked so small and vulnerable. “I wasn't sure you'd come.”
She offered him a hesitant smile. “I hear the food here is pretty good.”
A hint of his crooked grin moved his lips, and Katie felt her heart roll over.
He had a feeling—and wanted to believe—food wasn't the only reason she'd shown up. He'd find out one way or the other soon enough, he told himself as he forced his legs to carry him back to the kitchen, knowing Katie's gaze followed him every step of the way.
“I'll have one of everything,” Ry said, perusing his menu.
Maggie frowned at him.
“Everything sounds delicious,” Zoe said. “What would you recommend, Katie?”
Katie opened her menu. The list included all of Nick's specialties—petto di pollo al champagne, arrosto di vitello, fresh brook trout sauté meu-niere. Before she could make a recommendation, however, an evening special caught her eye. It was carefully printed on a separate card and attached to her menu with a paper clip.
Nick Leone's Heart on a Platter
Softhearted Italian restaurateur
Very much in love with you
Will stay with you forever on your terms
Katie's eyes brimmed with tears. She knew people were staring at her, but she was beyond caring. The flood of emotions and questions and fears swirled around in her head until she felt dizzy. She needed a minute alone to catch her suddenly scarce breath and to try to calm her sudden sense of panic.
“Excuse me for just a minute, will you?” she said to no one in particular. She nearly trampled a waitress on her way to the ladies’ room.
Maggie started to go after her, but Ry caught her wrist. “Let her be alone for a few minutes,” he said. “Maybe she'll figure out once and for all she doesn't want to stay that way for the rest of her life.”
While Maggie and Zoe discussed the wisdom of leaving Katie alone, Ry eyed the basket of rolls at one end of the table, then reached instead for one out of the basket near Katie's plate. Without bothering to tear it in two he sank his teeth into the small golden roll.
“Ouch!”
The women broke off their conversation to stare at Rylan as he examined a small diamond ring.
“Damnation! Would you look at this?” He held the tiny ring up between his thumb and forefinger. The soft light in the room turned the diamond into a prism of brilliant color. Ry scowled at it. “Jeepers cripes, I could've chipped a tooth!”
Maggie smacked his arm. “You idiot!” she said under her breath. “That's for Katie.”
“What the Sam Hill was it doin’ in a dinner roll then?”
“She was supposed to tear the roll open and find the ring. It's romantic, you big moron.”
“What am I supposed to do with it now?”
“Put it somewhere else she'll find it by accident, and be quick about it—here she comes.”
He dropped the ring into Katie's water glass, then sat back quickly.
Zoe reached out and touched Katie's arm as she sat down. “Are you all right?”
Managing to smile she nodded as she glanced around at the other dinner guests. “I'm fine.”
She was anything but fine. She didn't feel any steadier now than she had when she'd read her special menu item. What was she supposed to do? She had been certain of her motives for breaking up with Nick. Now she didn't know what to think. She wanted him back, but what if that wasn't the right thing? All her life she'd been sure of herself, of her decisions. Now she couldn't even pick out what she wanted for dinner without having second thoughts.
Nearly beside herself with nerves she reached for her water glass and lifted it to her lips, only to have it yanked away from her. Water sloshed onto the dark green tablecloth.
“Rylan, what on earth?” She stared at her brother as he stuck two fingers into her glass of water and dug out a diamond ring.
“Criminey, would you look at this?” His voice boomed across the dining room as he held up the ring. He turned toward the kitchen and bellowed, “Hey, Leone, get on out here!”
Nick emerged from the kitchen, concern knitting his brows. Then he caught sight of the flash of light off the diamond, and his stomach did a free fall to his knees.
Ry stuck the ring in Nick's face. “Just look at that. Just look at what somehow got into my sister's glass of water. Gosh almighty, she could have choked. What do you make of it?”
Nick stared at the ring and tried to swallow down the ball of sandpaper that seemed to be lodged in his throat. Every person in the room was staring directly at him. He'd never felt as naked when he'd been working as a stripper.
“Ah—gee—ah—it looks like an engagement ring,” he stammered. What the hell had happened? he wondered. The plan had been for Katie to read the note in the menu, find the ring, and then, after dinner—when all the other guests were gone—they would talk, and she would give him her answer. He sure as hell hadn't planned on proposing to her in front of half the town. What was he supposed to do now?
Ry pressed the ring into Nick's hand and made the decision for him. “Hadn't you better get down on one knee?”
It sounded like the only logical thing to do, since he didn't think his legs were going to hold him up much longer anyway. He dropped to one knee beside Katie's chair and took her limp hand in his. She stared down at him, looking utterly stunned by the turn of events. He took a deep breath and focused only on her.
“Katie, I love you. I've been so lost without you, so empty. Nothing in my life has meaning if I can'
t share it with you.” He tugged his lower lip between his teeth for an instant, never taking his sincere, dark gaze from her face. “I want you to be my wife.”
“Oh, Nick,” she whispered. The rest of the people in the room faded from her view. There was only Nick. “I don't know. I don't know what to do. I love you so much, but I don't know what the right thing is anymore. I don't want to hurt you.”
“Being away from you hurts me. I told you once, if I don't have you, I don't have anything. You're the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, Katie. Everything else I'm willing to compromise on but not that. I need you.”
With her free hand, she tried to brush away the tears that clung to her lashes. “I want you to be happy. I want you to have a family, but I'm just not sure I can—”
He lifted two fingers to her trembling lips. “Shhhh. We can work it out. Together. If you decide you can't make a compromise, I can live with that—”
“But—”
He silenced her again. “Listen to me. When you let me go because you thought it was best for me, that was an act of unselfish love. Do you think I'm not capable of loving you so unselfishly as to give up something that's important to me?
“I know you're afraid, kitten. And I can't make guarantees. You know as well as I do, life doesn't come with a guarantee. But I can promise you one thing: No one will ever love you the way I do.”
His words were no more than the truth, no less than her heart had longed to hear. She looked down into Nick's dark eyes and handsome face, and knew with a certainty that went soul deep, she would never love any other man the way she loved him, she would never again have the chance at happiness he was offering her now.
“Do you love me, Katie?” he asked softly.
“With all my heart.”
“Do you trust me?”
“With my life.”
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
The next instant he was on his feet and she was in his arms, exactly where she wanted to stay for the next fifty or sixty years.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes, I'm sure. Rumor has it you're a pretty neat guy. I'd be the world's biggest fool to let you go.”
The sounds of women sniffling and men clearing their throats penetrated their little world. From the corner of her eye Katie could see a lot of familiar faces staring at them with soft expressions and gentle smiles.
Nick brushed stray tears from her cheek with the pad of his thumb and smiled his crooked smile. “I dare you to kiss me in front of all these people.”
With a reckless grin she raised up on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You're on, Yankee.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TAMI HOAG'S novels have appeared regularly on national bestseller lists since the publication of her first book in 1988. She lives in Los Angeles.
RUMOR HAS IT
A Bantam Book
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Loveswept edition published January 1989
Bantam mass market edition / February 2009
All rights reserved
Copyright © 1988 by Tami Hoag
Bantam Books and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
eISBN: 978-0-553-90611-0
www.bantamdell.com
v3.0
Table of Contents
Cover
Other Books By This Author
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Copyright