She tilted her head again, just so she could see those dark velvet eyes and the way they looked at her. “I didn’t say yes, you know.”
“Huh?”
Finally, he took his attention off her neck.
“You’ve been making an awful lot of assumptions ever since you proposed in the courthouse. I mean, I never exactly said yes. In fact, you haven’t mentioned a single thing about marriage since yesterday.”
“Hey, have we had a single second alone since yesterday? Any possible occasion when I might have been able to spring for champagne, something that sparkles for your finger, a little…wooing?”
“I like all those ideas,” she said, “but you could have changed your mind.”
“Not in this life.”
She poked him, gently, between shirt buttons. “I’m just not sure you know what you’re getting into. I’ve been known to get lost.”
“I’ve heard this,” he said gravely.
“I’ve also been known to leave the dishes in the sink overnight. And I’m into rituals, Jack. Like waxing and mud wraps on Sunday night. I think of shopping on a par with vitamins, necessary for regular health. And inside…” She took a breath. “There’s still some anger. Not a lot of it. But what’s there has been stored up since my mother left. I didn’t realize it until Charlie. But I just have to warn you, it probably won’t be pretty when it gets out.”
“Is this the worst you can scare me with?” he demanded.
“It’s good for starters. The relevant issue, though, is whether you’re actually going to ask me that infamous question, when no one else is around, and it’s just you and me.”
“Ah, Merry…” He eased down beside her on the couch. It was probably not a great idea for the kids to find them prone together, but for that moment, Jack seemed to need—really need—the closeness. To touch as much of her as he could. To be absolutely face to face. “To be honest, I was hoping that it would help if I gave you some time to get used to the idea. That some time might up my odds of your saying yes.”
“You were really afraid I’d say no?”
But she could see the answer on his face. Her foolish, foolish man, she mused. In a world with so few heroes, Jack was one of the rare ones. An extraordinarily sexy good man. He was an outstanding dad. The kind of man who stood up for his country, for his kids, for anyone who needed him without expecting thanks or even notice. And he was unquestionably a man who protected those he loved.
Especially the woman he loved.
She knew because that woman happened to be her. And how much he loved her, she could feel right down to her soul. He’d been hurt, she was well aware…but those wounds and experiences only increased his capacity to love.
She knew what she had. “Yes, Jack,” she whispered. “Yes, times ten. Yes, times a thousand.” She wound her arms around his neck and pulled him closer for a deep, soft kiss…a kiss full of promise, full of hope, full of love.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-0514-0
BLAME IT ON CUPID
Copyright © 2007 by Alison Hart
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