“No.” Stan was shaking his head as he cupped her cheeks, raised her face and gazed lovingly into her eyes. “It was a lot longer than that. I think I loved you all along. If Amy hadn’t been in the picture I’d have come to my senses sooner. It was your character, your sweetness, that had always appealed to me. I just got my feelings confused when you acted so reserved and she was so forward.”
“She threw herself at you, you mean.” Bethany couldn’t help grinning in spite of the terrible crashing noises outside and the whistling of the wind through the narrow crack the manager had left between the safe’s door and frame.
“I didn’t have to believe her,” Stan countered. “I should have realized long ago that I was confusing you two.” He paused to place a brief kiss on her trembling lips. “You looked so alike that I suppose I was combining your personalities, at least subconsciously. Now that Amy’s out of the picture I can see that her contribution to my dreams of the perfect wife was the only part that didn’t quite fit.”
Bethany blushed. “Wife? Did you just say what I think you did?”
Laughing and pulling her closer, Stan confirmed her conclusion. “Yes. Wife. Will you marry me, Bethany?”
“Yes,” she replied, clinging to him. “And you’d better see to it that we get out of this mess we’re in because I intend to become your bride just as soon as possible. It seems like I’ve loved you forever.”
“We’ll survive,” Stan vowed. “You’re not getting rid of me for at least the next fifty years.”
Rising on tiptoe, she kissed him soundly before she said, “That’ll make a good start.”
*
Originally published for Harlequin.com
ISBN: 9781459221208
THE COWBOY FATHER
Copyright © 2012 by Linda Ford
FIREWORKS
Copyright © 2009 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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