His grip tightened almost painfully for an instant, and then he let her go. “All right. Thanks for listening. I—Can I call you sometime?”
“I just meant you can come in—if you want.” She climbed the steps, trying not to care whether he would follow—and knowing by the way her body reacted that he was right behind her.
She unlocked the new deadbolt on her door. “I’ve got a microwave now, so I can heat water for coffee or tea.” She laid her diploma and mortarboard aside and unzipped the black gown, laying it carefully over the back of the futon sofa.
He shrugged. “Coffee, I guess. If you don’t mind the bother.”
At least it was something to do with her hands. She poured water from a carafe into two mugs and set them into the tiny microwave, watching from the corner of her eye as he walked across the room to the mantel.
Her little Christmas tree was long packed away, but in the center of the mantel sat Tux—the penguin mascot in skiing gear that he’d given her at Christmas.
She knew the instant Kurt saw the silver ornament, for he released a long, startled breath. “You kept him.” He turned to face her and his eyes held a new light. “You didn’t throw him away. Why, Lissa?”
“Because he’s silver.”
“Only plated. Not enough to be valuable. You should have jumped up and down on him, to get even with me.”
She took the mugs out and stirred instant coffee powder into the hot water. “It wasn’t Tux’s fault.”
“No,” he said softly. “It was mine. Every bit of it. You said a minute ago that it wasn’t a relief to find out you weren’t pregnant. Why, Lissa? Because you wanted a baby?”
Your baby. But something prevented her from saying it. If she admitted how much she cared about him and he didn’t return the feeling…. It seemed that he was telling her he cared, and yet….
Have you learned nothing at all? she asked herself. Wasn’t this exactly what they’d done six years ago? Then they’d both been afraid to be the first to speak, and so neither of them had said anything. Now—it might not make a difference, but at least she would know that she had done her best, that she had told the truth even if it caused her pain.
“I should have been relieved,” she said. “It would have been…very difficult. And yet…. I’ve tried to convince myself over the years that I couldn’t have been pregnant at all, that it was only my imagination, that there was nothing to mourn. But…I couldn’t forget.”
“The baby?”
She bit her lip. “No, Kurt. I couldn’t forget you.”
He didn’t move. Had she torn herself in two for nothing?
His voice was very soft. “You asked me once why, if so many women were after me, one of them hadn’t tripped me up yet. You’re the reason, Lissa. None of those women was you.”
Her nerves were jangling. “If you’re expecting me to believe that you’ve nursed some sort of crush on me for the last six years—”
“It’s true. That night in the cloakroom, even before I knew who you were, I was ready to punch out the jocks who were hanging around drooling over you. You were already mine, and somewhere deep in my gut I knew it.”
“Then I told you to get lost.”
“And even that didn’t stop me from wanting you. It wasn’t until you said you didn’t want to date me—”
She wiped up a few drops of coffee and dropped the paper napkin into the wastebasket. “What I was really saying was that I didn’t want to pretend.”
His eyes narrowed. Very slowly, he set his mug down, and then reached for hers and put it safely out of the way. “What about if it’s for real, Lissa? All of it?”
For real. Was he truly telling her what she had so longed to hear?
“Being raised by parents like mine doesn’t spawn much confidence in catchphrases like happily ever after and till death do us part,” he mused.
“I understand, Kurt—”
“But when I look at you, Lissa, I believe in those things. I love you.”
She wanted to cry, to laugh, to yell at him for keeping her in suspense so long.
“I know I haven’t done a very good job of showing it. I’ll make up for it, I swear—”
“Yes,” she said. “You certainly will. Starting now.”
He pulled her against him, and his mouth came down on hers with a hunger which told her more than words could say.
Eventually he let her go, still cupping his hands around her face, and just looked at her for a while. Then he draped an arm around her shoulders and said, “We’ve got a lot to talk about. But let’s not do it here. Would you like some real coffee? This stuff is cold.”
“That’s not my fault,” she pointed out. “Where are we going? Hannah’s place?”
“You’re kidding, right? Have you seen her new apartment? There’s no place for a guest, so I checked into a hotel.”
“That’s convenient,” she murmured.
“Very. They have excellent room service…. Then in a few days…” He sounded anxious. “You’ll come with me, Lissa? You’ll work with me? And you’ll marry me and take over all Gran’s china?”
A last doubt flared deep inside her. “I don’t know, Kurt. I love you, honestly I do—but I’m scared.”
His eyes were full of pain. “Because I wouldn’t listen to you. Because I wouldn’t believe you, or trust that you couldn’t do something so dreadful. It won’t happen again, I swear it. I know saying it doesn’t prove anything—so take as much time as you need to be sure. Just give me the right to convince you, Lissa. That’s all I’m asking for right now.”
Slowly, she nodded. He lifted her hand and kissed each fingertip as gently as the touch of a butterfly’s wing, and she relaxed, feeling safe in his arms. “Then—all right.”
“You mean all right you’ll marry me? Or all right I can start convincing you?” He didn’t wait for an answer. But a bit later he broke off the kiss and held her just a little distance from him. “And you’ll set up that tracking system for me?” He was suddenly all business.
Lissa had to laugh—for the abrupt shift from lover to businessman was somehow more convincing than any number of sweet words could have been. “You’re impossible, Kurt.”
“I’ll make you vice-president of marketing.”
“What is this? Nepotism?” It felt so good to be able to tease him.
“Of course not. I really do need that tracking system, you know—the sooner the better.”
“Is this afternoon quick enough?”
He frowned. “It can’t be that simple.”
“Of course it’s not. I’ve spent all semester writing it—it was my senior project.”
He rubbed his temple as if it hurt. “After all the pain I’ve caused you, you spent the whole semester trying to improve my business?”
“Sort of.” She didn’t look straight at him. “Though I never intended to give it to you. And I have to admit I started out to prove your business plan was badly thought out and you were going about it all wrong—”
He laughed and pulled her closer. “So that’s what you meant about your report card. You thought the dean told me about your senior project.”
“He was my adviser. I told you that he thinks Maximum Sports is the greatest. Besides, I know firsthand that you can be very persuasive when you’re determined to get what you want.”
“Well, yes,” he admitted. “But take all the time you need—tomorrow will be fine.”
Then he was kissing her again, and she quickly forgot about inventory tracking. “Kurt, about that incredible night we spent together….” Her voice was very small. “What if it isn’t so incredible now?”
He tucked her head under his chin and let his hand drift over her hair. Then he smiled down at her with mischief dancing in his eyes and said, “It will be. But I’ve got a surefire idea—let’s make it a bet. Then we can’t possibly go wrong.”
ISBN: 978-1-4603-6694-3
THE TYCOON’S PROPOSAL
First North American Pub
lication 2006.
Copyright © 2006 by Leigh Michaels.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.eHarlequin.com
The Tycoon's Proposal Page 18
