Heartbreaker
Page 17
“Not good enough. I want you with me every day. I want to fall asleep with you in my arms, wake with you in my bed. I want to think about children and whether we should try for one or adopt one a couple of years from now.”
“You are so stubborn,” she accused, seeing only darkness ahead if he wouldn’t agree to her terms.
“Yeah, I am. Just like someone else I know. This is a hell of a note, isn’t it? You want limited involvement and no commitment. I want it all.” He sighed. “Let’s go.”
Panic seized her. “No! Give me time to think.” She pressed fingertips to her temples. “You’re a doctor. You know everything.”
He snorted at this.
“Everything about me,” she clarified. “And you still want marriage?
He nodded.
A hum started inside her, spreading outward like the vibrating notes of the violins denoting the change of mood at a tense moment in a ballet.
“I could die,” she said.
Silence.
“I don’t want to be a burden. I’d hate that.”
Silence.
“Can’t you just sweep me off my feet and override all my worries and objections?” she cried.
Silence.
She huffed out a breath and took a step forward. Then another one. “You could help, you know,” she told him.
He raised his eyebrows in that lofty, arrogant way she loved. Her heart pounded fiercely.
Another step. There was only one left between them. She stopped and looked into his eyes. She saw laughter and warmth and delight. She saw tenderness and caring and nurturing. She saw love.
“I love you,” she said, giving in to it. “Marriage it is, but if you’re ever sorry, don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”
He threw back his head and laughed. Then he swept her into his arms. Her evening slippers fell off. He kicked them out of the way as he turned toward the hall.
She snuggled her head on his shoulder and kissed his neck and jaw and cheek as far as she could reach. He strode the length of the house to the master bedroom.
Stopping in the middle of the floor, where moonlight flooded the carpet in a silver square of enchantment, she felt as if they had walked into a new world, a place made for them and their love.
“As long as we’re here,” she murmured, “in this magic place of love, we’ll be safe.”
“You’ll always be safe with me,” he promised huskily. “We’re going to be so content, each moment will seem like a special forever, created just for us.”
She believed him.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Laurie Paige for her contribution to the LONE STAR COUNTRY CLUB series.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7203-7
HEARTBREAKER
Copyright © 2002 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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