“The same way I forgave Daniela for entering my life under false pretenses,” Caleb said quietly.
When Solange looked up, her eyes searching his curiously, he shook his head. “It’s a long, complicated story that we can rehash another time. All I’ll say is that I almost made the biggest mistake of my life by letting Daniela go, simply because I couldn’t forgive her. I was miserable as hell without her, but I was bound and determined to make her pay for what she’d done.” A small, self-deprecating smile curved his mouth. “Do you know who finally talked some sense into me?”
Solange shook her head.
“My father, of all people. He told me that if I didn’t go and make things right with Daniela, I’d spend the rest of my life alone and bitter, or worse, I’d end up married to some woman I didn’t even love, and I’d spend my days and nights wondering about the one that got away.” Caleb paused, smiling sadly. “Now that you’ve met Tessa, I think you can understand the depths from which my father was speaking that day.”
Solange nodded, remembering the scene she’d stumbled upon in the courtyard. “I can’t imagine what it must be like to spend over half your life loving someone you’ve convinced yourself you can never have.”
“I don’t know. Fortunately,” Caleb said, giving her a meaningful look, “if you decide to forgive Dane, you’ll never have to know, either.”
Solange hesitated, her throat clogged with unshed tears. After another moment she nodded slowly, decisively. “You’re right.”
Caleb grinned, bumping her playfully on the shoulder. “Of course I’m right. I’m nine years older than you—I’ll always be right, baby girl.”
Solange gave a teary laugh, then suddenly groaned, slapping her hand to her forehead. “Oh, God. I just remembered something.”
“What?”
“The first time I met you, I thought you were a hottie. And now I find out you’re my uncle. Ewww.”
Caleb threw back his head and laughed.
At that moment Daniela appeared in the doorway with a pleased grin. “If you two are finished bonding, I’m starving and would like to have my dinner now. I’m eating for two, you know.”
“Yeah,” Caleb and Solange said in unison, “we all know.”
They looked at each other, then dissolved into another round of laughter.
Chapter 24
She found him just where she thought he’d be.
Shooting hoops alone at the old blacktop basketball court around the corner from his house. She stood quietly in the lengthening shadows of dusk, watching as he skillfully executed a series of layups and hook shots, the metal rim of the basket vibrating from the force of his hard dunks. He had discarded his shirt in the grass and wore a pair of long black sweat shorts that left his strong, toned calf muscles exposed to her admiring gaze. A fine sheen of sweat clung to his beautiful mahogany skin and made her remember what it was like to feel his body quiver beneath her touch, to brace her palms on the taut surface of his abdomen and ride him through one earth-shattering climax after another.
“Hey, you,” she called out before her imagination could take over.
Poised to shoot the basketball, Dane whipped around and saw her standing beneath the large oak tree that guarded the court. His eyes widened in surprise. “Solange?”
She stepped from the shadows and started toward him on legs that felt like rubber. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you it’s bad luck to be alone on Christmas Eve?”
Dane tucked the ball underneath one arm, watching her approach with an unreadable expression. “Never heard that one.”
“O-kay,” she said, drawing out the word. “How about the fact that it’s sixty degrees out here and you’re running around with no shirt on? Trying to catch your death of cold or something?”
“Or something,” he murmured. “What’re you doing here, Solange? It’s Christmas Eve. Why aren’t you having dinner at the ranch with the rest of the family?”
She came to a stop in front of him, and although she wore a pair of four-inch stiletto boots, he still had the superior vantage point. She angled her head slightly to look up at him, her heart drumming wildly from his sudden nearness, after four days of deprivation. “I was there, but then I left.”
“Why?”
“Because you weren’t there.”
When he said nothing, she continued, “I kept expecting you to show up, but every time the door opened, someone else walked through. And then Daniela mentioned that you might be leaving for Houston tonight to spend Christmas with your family. I rushed over here as fast as I could, and when I saw your truck still parked in the driveway, I nearly passed out with relief. I knew where to find you.”
Dane nodded slowly. “You found me.” Stepping back from her, he began dribbling the basketball in place, quiet and controlled.
So he wasn’t going to make this easy for her.
Solange took a deep breath and buried her moist palms inside the pockets of her belted leather trench. “Crandall says he owes you an apology for the way he mistreated you and interfered in our relationship. And he says it was his fault that you didn’t tell me the truth sooner. He says he practically begged you not to, and you took pity on him. He told me that’s when he finally realized what an extraordinary man you are. Not that I needed him to tell me what I’ve known all along.”
Dane remained silent, continuing to dribble in place. Up and down, down and up. Solange curled her hands into fists inside her pockets, resisting the urge to smack the ball away. “He’s really eager to make amends.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Dane said in a low, even voice. “I knew I was wrong for agreeing to keep his secret. I take full responsibility for my own actions.”
“Then why do I get the feeling you’re angry with me?” Solange asked, frustrated.
Dane caught the basketball in midair, palming it easily in his large hand. His dark, searing eyes met hers. “It’s been four days, Solange. Four days is like a damned eternity when you’re left wondering whether the woman you love will ever find it in her heart to forgive you for the stupid lapse in judgment you made. I called you twice, but you never answered the phone or returned my messages. Is that what you did to poor little Lamar before you finally put him out of his misery?”
“You’re not Lamar!” Solange cried out. “And I needed time, damn it! I needed time to sort through my feelings and wrap my mind around everything that had just happened. I never meant to hurt you by sending you away. I was so angry and confused. I felt betrayed by everyone in my life at that moment!” Her voice hitched, and she glanced quickly away before adding in a choked whisper, “Truth be told, I’ve been scared, just like you were, to tell you what I’ve known for a while.”
Dane grew very still. “What are you saying, Solange?”
She lifted her eyes, met the searching intensity of his gaze and took the final plunge. “I’m saying that I love you, Dane. It probably happened the very first time you called me Angel Eyes, the day we went horseback riding and had our first kiss. I was a goner after that, even though I knew it was risky to get involved with you.”
“Why?” he demanded, tossing aside the ball and stepping toward her. “Because you thought I wouldn’t be faithful to you?”
“No.” A soft smile trembled at the corner of her lips. “Because I thought any man who made me feel the way you do had to be too good to be true.”
His eyes traced her features in the fluorescent light that illuminated the basketball court at nighttime. “And now?” he prompted softly. “Do you still think I’m too good to be true?”
“You might be.” Her smile deepened. “But that’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“Atta girl,” he whispered, and bending his head, he covered her mouth with his. She reached up at once, curving her arms around his neck and kissing him back with all the love she felt in her heart.
At length Dane lifted his head, his heavy-lidded eyes roaming hungrily across her face. “Marry me, Solange,” he said husk
ily.
Her heart swam into her eyes, filling them with tears. She thought her ears were deceiving her. “Dane…?”
He lifted her hand to his warm lips. “Be my wife.”
An elated sob rose in her throat. Solange slid her arms around his neck, buried her face against his bare chest and held him fiercely to her.
Dane chuckled, nuzzling the top of her head. “Is that a yes?”
Laughing, Solange drew back to look at him. “Yes! One hundred percent yes!”
He touched his tongue to the tear that had rolled down her cheek, kissing it away. “I love you,” he said thickly. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Making love to you every night, waking up to the sight of you every morning. Meeting you for quickies during lunch, curling up on the sofa together to watch football games on lazy Sunday afternoons.”
“Hmmm, sounds good to me,” Solange murmured, grinning so hard her cheeks hurt. “But you have to become a Cowboys fan, or there’ll be no peace in our home.”
Dane chuckled dryly. “We’ll talk about that later.”
Solange leaned forward, covering his mouth fully with hers. They shared a deep, lingering kiss.
“Come on,” Dane whispered. “Let’s go back to the house before the nosy neighbors start talking.”
As they made their way back through the quiet, tree-lined neighborhood filled with old Victorian houses and quaint clapboards bedecked with holiday lights, Solange told Dane about her long, heartfelt conversation with Crandall and Tessa, and about Tessa’s momentous decision to finally leave her husband in order to be with Crandall, the only man she’d ever loved. She was willing to let go of the painful past and forgive him, even though he’d deceived her about how long he’d actually known about Solange, and about the fact that he was the one who’d sealed Solange’s birth records to keep her existence a secret from Tessa’s vengeful husband, who would have used the knowledge as a battering ram against her. In the end, Tessa had decided that if Crandall could forgive her for breaking his heart and marrying another man, she could forgive him for the terrible lies he’d perpetrated.
Love, she’d told Solange, is the great equalizer.
When Solange and Dane arrived at the little beige bungalow he’d been renting from Daniela, he unlocked the front door and gestured her inside. She glanced briefly around, taking in the dark, masculine furnishings arranged around the cozy living room, before turning back to him.
“You haven’t set up the little tree we bought.” They’d gotten sidetracked the last time, spending the rest of the romantic evening in bed, then in the shower—and then back in bed.
“I didn’t want to. Not without you.” His hand curved around her nape, sliding into her hair and tilting her face up to meet his smoldering gaze. “Nothing is the same without you, Solange.”
Her heart soared. She sighed in relief, closed her eyes and took a moment to savor his words. “I was so afraid you’d decide you never wanted to see me again.”
“Not a chance.” Dane scooped an arm around her waist and brought her firmly against him. Her eyes fluttered open, settling on the sensuous curve of his mouth. Her body stirred with hunger.
She wreathed her arms around his neck and leaned close, kissing him softly, tenderly. “We can decorate the tree tonight, if you’d like,” she whispered.
“Later, Angel Eyes,” he promised, his voice low and silky. He bent and swept her effortlessly into his arms. “We’ve got all night.”
Solange shook her head slowly. “Not just all night,” she corrected as he carried her toward the bedroom, his eyes never leaving hers. “We’ve got the rest of our lives.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-1397-9
A RISKY AFFAIR
Copyright © 2008 by Maureen Smith
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