by Susan Crosby
She was still confused. “What about this overseas job? What’s that about?”
“How’d you hear about that?”
“We live in Chance City, Joe.”
He smiled a little. “Yeah. Well, David lined it up for me.”
“David Falcon?”
“He’s been doing a lot of business in Tumari, which is a small, oil-rich country near Dubai, although not quite as extravagantly wealthy. The sultan wants to create eco-friendly landscaping, especially since they often have water shortage problems.”
“That sounds like something you’d love to do.”
He cupped her face. “You’re something I’d love to do.”
She laughed, a little breathlessly, her stress starting to dissipate as she was also starting to believe what he was saying.
“Your business is brand-new, Dixie,” he said. “I wouldn’t ask you to leave it. There’ll be other opportunities for me closer to home.”
“I want to go with you.”
“What? No. You can’t. You’re just getting started.”
It was her turn to hold on to him, to get him to see she was serious. “I want to see the world, too. With you. This would be our chance, before we start having children. I want you to take the job. I want to go with you. We could take short trips other places from there, right? See more of the world? And I could fly home every so often, check how everything is doing here. Maybe Shana would like to manage the salon. Maybe I’d need to find someone else. But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” She wrapped her arms around him. “I love you, too, Joey. I never stopped. Yes, I’ll marry you. Take me to Tumari for a long honeymoon, please.”
“I can’t believe I’m so lucky,” he said, cupping her face. “We wasted so much time.”
“No, we didn’t. We had to be apart to find each other again, because this time it’ll be even stronger and more secure. We had to become separate in order to become a couple again. There’s no one else for me.” She kissed him then pulled back a little. “I only heard this morning that you were supposed to be leaving. What happened since then?”
“You happened.” He brushed her hair with his hands. “I came to tell you about the deal, so that you wouldn’t hear it from someone else. Then I saw you holding up that wedding dress in front of you, and the look on your face, and I knew it was what I wanted, too. Needed. It didn’t matter anymore that I go places and do things. I just want to be with you. But thank you for figuring out a way for both of those things to happen.”
“Home is where the heart is,” she said.
“I was just thinking that. Now,” he said, taking a step back, slipping his hand into his pocket and bringing out an engagement ring. He got onto one knee. “I love you with everything I have, everything I am, Dixie Callahan. I want to marry you and raise children together and watch their children grow.”
She knelt, too. “It would be my honor.”
He slid the ring on her finger and kissed it, then her lips.
Tomorrow they would gather the clan for a party, she thought, but for tonight they would cherish what they’d rediscovered, and look to the future.
At long last, she would be his bride.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5517-7
AT LONG LAST, A BRIDE
Copyright © 2010 by Susan Bova Crosby
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 editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
For questions and comments about the quality of this book please contact us at [email protected].
® and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Books S.A., used under license. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
Visit Silhouette Books at www.eHarlequin.com
*Wives for Hire
**Back in Business
*Wives for Hire
*Wives for Hire
††The McCoys of Chance City
††The McCoys of Chance City
‡The Baby Chase
††The McCoys of Chance City
†Behind Closed Doors
†Behind Closed Doors
†Behind Closed Doors
†Behind Closed Doors
†Behind Closed Doors
†Behind Closed Doors
