by Heidi Betts
“Your things are all where you left them,” he said, walking backwards ahead of her as he gestured toward the den. A slight blush tinged his cheeks. “I was sort of hoping you’d come back to work so I wouldn’t have to gather them up at all.”
She held his gaze for a split second, then looked away, studying the oriental design on the red and beige runner that covered the hardwood floor.
“Actually,” she ventured, steeling her spine and forcing her chin up, “I didn’t come only to collect my belongings. I also wanted to talk. About us.”
She saw his chest hitch as he sucked in a breath, and her hopes flagged. Oh, God, this wasn’t going well at all. He hadn’t changed his mind. He didn’t want her back—at least not as anything more than his assistant. Her pulse pounded in her ears and she wanted to turn and run, except her feet wouldn’t seem to move.
And then Peter reached out and wrapped his warm, strong fingers around her wrist, sending a shock of electricity skittering along her nerve endings.
“Wait here,” he told her. “I’ll be right back.”
Part of her wondered why she was just standing there, rooted to the spot. She should leave, or at least begin clearing her desk.
But Peter bounded up the stairs, returning less than a minute later carrying his brown leather briefcase. He grabbed her hand on the way past and dragged her into the study.
“Sit,” he ordered, taking the chair beside her desk and setting the briefcase down on top to open.
Lucy bristled slightly at his perfunctory tone and she locked her knees rather than doing as he’d instructed.
“I don’t need to sit,” she said, finding a bit of her courage in the annoyance he’d stirred up. Funny how she could still love him and be ready to spill her guts about it even after he’d rubbed her the wrong way. “But there is something I need to say to you.”
He raised his head, green eyes washing over her like a cool breeze over a meadow. A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I need to say something to you, too,” he said softly, though his voice was strained.
He probably wanted to beg her to come back to work, but she couldn’t do that, given the way things stood at the moment.
“Please,” she murmured. “Let me go first.” She had to get this out before she exploded, and hearing Peter ask her to resume her position as his assistant would only weaken her resolve.
The sinews of his neck contracted and released as he swallowed, but he inclined his head for her to continue. Inhaling deeply, she tried to get her thoughts in order and figure out where to begin. She took a seat, finally, before her legs gave out and she ended up on the floor.
“I’m sorry about running off that night at the hotel,” she admitted. “I didn’t mean to worry or upset you, but I just couldn’t handle what was happening between us and had to get out of there.”
She laid her hand atop his where it rested on the edge of the briefcase. The heat from his skin soaked through to her bones, comforting her more than she’d expected.
“The fact is, Peter, I have feelings for you. You’ve probably figured that out already,” she added with a touch of a smile, “but what you don’t know is that I’ve felt this way for the past two years, ever since I started working for you.”
Panic raced through Peter’s veins, causing his eyes to go wide and fear to clog his windpipe. “Wait, wait, wait!” he all but shouted. “Don’t say anything else.”
He leapt to his feet, shaking his head and digging frantically through the papers in his briefcase. She was about to say she loved him, he could sense it. And while he wanted to hear those three little words from her mouth almost more than he wanted to draw his next breath, he needed to be the one to say them first. He’d fought this for so long, put her through so much, he wanted her to know how he felt about her before she said any more.
Finding what he was searching for, he dropped back onto the seat of his chair and turned to face Lucy once again. She looked startled and confused by his sudden outburst, and he didn’t blame her one bit.
Pulling his chair a few inches closer, he braced his knees on either side of her closed legs, lifting her hands from her lap and cradling them in his own. The paper rattled in his tight hold, but he ignored it.
“I’m the one who should be apologizing to you, Lucy,” he said solemnly. “You’re so good to me…you always have been. And as hard as it may be for you to believe, you’ve meant more to me from the very beginning, too. You’re a great assistant, and I’d do just about anything to have you back on the payroll, but there’s something I want from you even more than your exceptional secretarial skills.”
He brushed long strands of ebony hair over her shoulder, caressing her cool cheek with his fingertips on the return trip. “I want you to be with me, Lucy. Stay with me, live with me, marry me…love me.”
A flood of emotions flashed across her face, not the least of which were incredulity and wariness. Fear squeezed him low in the solar plexus. He’d known this wouldn’t be easy, known she would doubt him after all his talk about never tying himself to a wife and family, never letting his personal life interfere with his business plans.
“Hear me out. Please,” he said, his hand clutching hers even more tightly. “When I got back to the hotel room and found you gone, I didn’t know what to do or think or feel. I’d gotten it into my head that everything was great. We could be lovers without strings, have a good time together without it ever meaning anything more. But when I realized you’d left and weren’t coming back, I was faced with the fact that you needed more.”
He lowered his gaze for a brief second, still somewhat unsure of the narrow path he was traversing. “It was one of those life-altering moments,” he admitted. “I knew I had to make some serious decisions or risk losing you forever. I don’t want to lose you, Luce. I love you.”
The admission passed his lips quickly, and then he realized they hadn’t been as difficult or as painful to utter as he’d anticipated.
“I love you,” he said again, louder this time, with more conviction, even as he watched her mouth turn down with skepticism.
“I know that has to be hard for you to believe, given everything I’ve said in the past, but I swear on my life and the future of Reyware that it’s the absolute truth. You’re a part of me, Lucy, permeating every cell of my being.
“I love your hair and your eyes and the full swell of your bottom lip. I love the way you laugh and smile and take such good care of me. I love that you know what I’m thinking almost before I know myself and are as familiar with the inner workings of Reyware and Games of PRey as I am.”
Licking his dry lips, he went on, willing her to trust him. “You’re my inspiration, Lucy. When I got home from New York, I told myself you had been just a fling, that I could always find another assistant and certainly other lovers, and I tried to get back to work.”
He chuckled shortly. “I might as well have been building a space shuttle in my basement. I couldn’t think, couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t remember codes I’d learned as a teenager. Without you here, in my life, I’m helpless. Hopeless.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but he stopped her with an index finger pressed to her lips. He was afraid she would shoot him down before he’d told her everything he needed her to hear.
“No, don’t say anything. Not yet. I know I’m making it sound like I want you back just so I can work again, but that’s not true. Don’t you see? You’re what makes my world go ’round. You’re the one person who makes me want to get out of bed each morning to face the day…to see you and be with you. But actions speak louder than words, so I have a proposition for you.”
Peter sat up straighter, smoothing the paper he’d been clutching and shoving it into her hands.
Lucy’s fingers closed around the page automatically, but her head was swimming, her eyesight blurry with unshed tears. She wanted so badly for Peter to mean what he was saying, wanted so badly to believe he actually loved her even a fraction as much as she lo
ved him. But he’d been so determined to distance himself, keep himself separate from any woman who might require a commitment, that she was afraid he was only saying what he thought she wanted to hear.
“I want you to come back to work for me,” he continued before she could begin to make sense of things. “Whatever Ethan is paying you, I’ll double it. Whatever perks he’s giving you, I’ll beat them. And this…” He tapped the paper she was holding. “I’m making you a full partner in the company. We’ll share everything, fifty-fifty—the designs, the profits, the decision-making process, everything. There’s only one catch.”
His voice dropped to a near hush and he pushed his chair back, falling to one knee in front of her. His palm cupped the curve of her knee while the other covered the hand that held the business agreement. His gaze locked with hers, the sincerity in his dark eyes turning her resolve to mush, even as her vision swam and she had trouble making out the details of his beautiful face.
“Marry me, Lucy. Put me out of this misery of being without you. Give me a chance to show you that I can be a good husband and father and still keep my company above water.”
His lips tipped up with wry humor. “I know I said it couldn’t be done, but I’m willing to give it a shot. And even if I fail, even if Reyware goes under and we end up living in a cardboard box down by the river, I’d rather be in that cardboard box with you than in the most lavish mansion in the world without you.”
She swallowed hard, struggling to regain her voice as her heart pounded furiously enough to burst from her chest. Twin streaks of dampness trailed down her cheeks and she blinked several times to bring Peter back into focus.
“I don’t care about the money or the company. I never did,” she told him quietly, tracing smooth line of his jaw and running her thumb around the alluring shape of his mouth.
“I didn’t come here today just to collect my things, either. I came because Ethan warned me that if I didn’t lay myself on the line and let you know how much I love you, and give you the chance to share your feelings in return, that I’d regret it for the rest of my life.
“But you do love me,” she whispered, still awed by his confession and the depth of her own reciprocal feelings. “And I love you, too. So much. But, Peter, are you sure? You were so dead-set against all of this…are you sure you’re really ready to get married and start a family?”
“I am totally ready,” he swore with conviction. “I want to be with you for the rest of my life, Lucy Grainger. I want to watch you walk down the aisle and slip a ring on your finger that marks you as mine for all time. I want to have babies with you. I’m especially looking forward to the ‘making babies’ part,” he said with a Groucho-like wiggle of his arched brows that made her laugh.
“I want to do my very best to be the father I never had, to be the best damn father this country has ever seen. But I’ll admit, I may need your help. I need you to keep me on track, Lucy. Tell me when I’m working too hard or missing out on precious time with you or our kids. Smack me around, if you need to, but know that you come first and I really do want to make this work.”
She leaned closer, until their noses almost touched. “Then we will,” she told him. “We’ll make it work.”
And then she ran her fingers through his hair, messing up the neat style he’d probably struggled half the morning to achieve. “Just think. If I hadn’t come here today, I might never have known you felt this way.”
“Oh, you’d have known. Ethan told me pretty much the same thing he told you—that I needed to figure out what I wanted before it was too late. And once I knew, I’d have tracked you down to the ends of the earth to tell you what you mean to me.”
Fresh tears flooded her eyes again as his words seeped through her, filling every nook and cranny of her spirit with pure contentment.
“Thank God for Ethan,” she confided. “Your friend is a very smart man.”
“Tell me about it,” Peter said on a heartfelt sigh, drawing her down to the floor with him and into his arms. “Because his friend hasn’t been acting very bright lately.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She toyed with the fringe of hair at the nape of his neck, pressing a firm kiss to his warm lips. “It seems like you came to your senses in time.”
“Just in the nick of time. I don’t know what I’d have done if my stubbornness and stupidity had caused me to lose you.”
“You’ll never need to find out,” she promised. “Now that I’ve got you, I’m not letting you go.”
“Does that mean you’ll marry me? You never did answer me before.”
“Of course I will. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
A grin as wide as the Potomac split his face. “Me, too, although it took me a while longer to figure it out. Good thing you’re a patient woman.”
“Very patient.”
He was loath to let go of her, now that he had her wrapped safely in the circle of his arms again, but there was one last thing he needed to do. Pulling back a little, he reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and removed a small, black velvet box. “This is for you.”
He tipped open the lid and held it out to her, absorbing the look of startlement and happiness that filled her eyes as she took in the huge, marquis-cut diamond and fancy gold setting. Once he’d realized how much he loved her and decided to propose, he’d gone all out, buying the biggest, shiniest, most expensive engagement ring he thought she would accept without a fuss.
“Oh, my lord,” she breathed. “It’s beautiful.”
Taking the ring from its satin bed, he set the box aside and slipped the band on her finger. She admired it for several moments, turning her hand this way and that so the diamond could catch the light from the window at her back. And then she turned that blazingly joyful expression on him, zapping him right down to his toes.
“What do you think?” she asked. “Should we go show Ethan and let him know his advice worked?”
Curling his hands around her waist, he waggled his brows and nuzzled the sensitive flesh just beneath her ear. “Actually, I thought maybe we could go upstairs and celebrate, make up for lost time.”
“Mmm, that sounds like fun, too.” Her blue eyes flashed with amusement as her arms slipped up to wind around his neck. “But afterward, we really should thank Ethan and let him know I won’t be coming in to work anymore.”
“We will.” Peter scooped Lucy into his arms and got to his feet, heading for the stairs. “And I want to ask him to be my best man at the wedding.”
“That’s nice,” she said, her fingers already loosening the buttons at the front of his starched white shirt. “He’s your best friend, after all, and he did play the part of an unlikely matchmaker there toward the end, didn’t he?”
“Yeah,” he answered, taking the stairs two at a time. “But we have the blackout to thank for our start.”
Epilogue
Peter scrubbed a hand over his dry, tired eyes as the last of his latest program processed across the computer screen. Stifling a yawn, he turned just as his wife tiptoed into the room.
God, he loved that word: wife. But he loved her even more.
She wore the same long, sapphire blue satin negligee as when they’d gone to bed several hours ago. Of course, he’d systematically stripped the gown from her body so he could make soft, sweet love to her for about an hour and a half. She must have put it back on sometime after he’d slipped away to his office.
He still worked best in the wee hours of the night, but Lucy didn’t seem to mind a bit. She simply drifted over when she thought he’d been gone too long or started to miss him, and lured him back to the bedroom.
Now, she crossed the carpeted floor in her bare feet and came to stand behind his chair, running her hands over his shoulders and across the worn cotton T-shirt covering his chest.
“How’s it coming along?” she asked, her voice raspy with sleep.
He caught her fingers and folded them inside his own, holding them close above his heart. “All d
one. I’m just waiting for these sequences to run before I shut down.”
“Think this one will be as popular as Soldiers of Misfortune?”
“It’s hard to tell, but I hope so.”
She sighed, resting her face against his temple where her warm breath stirred through his hair. “I’ll bet it will. And then I can say ‘I told you so’ because you managed to design a brand new game and still be a wonderful husband, all at the same time. Amazing.”
He grinned at her teasing tone and tipped his head back to meet her loving gaze. “Hey, when you’re right, you’re right. And this happens to be one of the few times I’m pleased to admit I was wrong, wrong, wrong.”
“Me, too,” she said softly, punctuating the response with a kiss.
And then she straightened, pulling him to his feet as she tapped a few keys on his keyboard to turn off the system. Walking backward, she tugged him in the direction of their bedroom.
“I’m also pleased you have this penchant for being up at all hours. It will make things much easier on me down the road.”
His brows knit in confusion at her cryptic statement and the sly smile curving her lips. “What are you talking about?”
“You know. Midnight feedings and 2:00 a.m. diaper changes. I’ll leave those to you so I can sleep through the night.”
He blinked, his bare feet dragging along the carpet. “Midnight feedings? Diaper…?”
Her meaning registered in his sluggish brain and he froze in his tracks. “You mean…Are you…?” He couldn’t seem to form a complete sentence. But then, with Lucy, he didn’t need to.
Her grin widened and she nodded her head. “We’re going to have a baby,” she confirmed.
With a loud whoop, he wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her off the ground and spun her in circles. Before they could get too dizzy, he set her back down, but didn’t let go.
Through her laughter, she said, “I take it you’re happy about this.”
“Are you kidding? I’m ecstatic. I can’t wait.” He took a minute to catch his breath and then asked, “When?”