Her Perfect Proposal

by Lynne Marshall

  “Frankly, judging by your enjoyment at the time, I’m surprised I have to remind you—” He raised his palm. “One moment you were kissing me like you meant it and after I come back with more wine, you’re making these little purring sounds. At first I thought it was my cat, then I realized you were out cold.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “I swear. Want me to cross my heart?”

  “And that’s all we did?”

  “Honey, if I made a move on you, you’d remember every detail. I guarantee.”

  She started to breathe again, shook her head and finally picked up the fork, then played around with the eggs. He sat on the edge of the bed.

  “I stayed up really late Thursday night covering the fire, then worked all day yesterday.”

  “Unlike me who got the day off so I could sleep?”

  “You said it, not me.”

  “Gee, thanks, now I don’t feel like such a failure putting you to sleep with my kisses.”

  “Oh, God. I hope you don’t get the wrong impression, but, honestly, I’m not usually like that.”

  “A narcoleptic kisser?” Her list of titles kept growing—jaywalker, Tipsy Tina, narcoleptic kisser.

  Her eyes nearly doubled in size. “How embarrassing.” She shoved another bite of eggs into her mouth and chewed quickly. Her cheeks went pink and her ears lit up again.

  “How’d I get in here?”

  “I carried you.”

  Now she ate like she’d been doing gymnastics all night. Stuffing food into her mouth and avoiding his gaze.

  His face must have given half of his thoughts away because Lilly suddenly looked suspicious as all hell. “The thing is, I don’t remember anyone else in the bed…”

  “I slept on the couch.”

  The tiny worry line between her brows softened. “Thank you for not undressing me.”

  “I have to admit I thought about it, only so you’d be more comfortable, you see, but even then it seemed too cheesy.” He stretched out beside her on the bed, crossed his ankles and leaned on one elbow, took half of her toasted muffin and crunched into it. He stared at her making a silent promise that the first time they got undressed together would be something neither of them would ever forget.

  Avoiding his gaze, and after a few more deliberate bites of breakfast, Lilly pushed the tray away. “Oh, man, this is embarrassing,” she said. With her sudden move, Wolverine scrambled off the bed and headed for the living room.

  Gunnar took her delicate hand and kissed the back of it. “No it isn’t. You’re an amazing woman, and if you were going to conk out anywhere in Heartlandia, I’m glad it happened at my house.”

  He put out a special unspoken invitation through his gaze, hoping she’d pick up on the meaning. If she felt like sticking around, the morning was young and the bed, which they just happened to be laying on, was ready for the taking. That is, if she was interested, now that she’d had a good night’s sleep…

  Instead, she hopped out from beneath the covers, suddenly all business, smoothing out her wrinkled clothes, searching for her shoes. “I’m pretty sure the hotel evacuation is all clear by now.”

  Disappointment hit like a punch to the solar plexus. He wasn’t used to a lady being so hard to get. They’d had a nice date last night, called a truce on their argument, he’d brought her home so she didn’t have to hang out in the cold on the street for who knew how many hours, and now this sudden need to get out of here.

  Now that she was awake he’d had high hopes about his day off, but he was a man of honor, and if she wanted to go home, he’d take her there. Not the place he’d had in mind, but that’s how life played out sometimes.

  “Do you have to work today?” she asked.

  “Not until the evening shift.”

  “Once I go home and shower and dress, would you mind taking me to see that guesthouse?”

  “I’ll give Leif a call. If he’s around, then sure.”

  It wasn’t the ideal way for his day to go, after seeing the vision of Morning Lilly in the middle of his bed, but he wasn’t complaining about the chance to spend part of his day with a lady who’d rolled into town and held his undivided interest for going on two weeks.

  Heck, in Gunnar’s world, it was almost a new record.

  Chapter Seven

  Gunnar called Leif Andersen from the cell phone in his car while Lilly ran into the Heritage to shower and change clothes. He explained how Lilly was the new reporter in town and that she was looking for a permanent place to live. Surprisingly, Leif was available and not opposed to renting out his guesthouse, and agreed to meet Lilly and Gunnar at noon.

  While he waited he thought how different Lilly was from his usual ladies. She was big city, big university, big cash—from her well-to-do parents—everything about her was big except her. Chitcha. She was petite and sweet when she let down her facade of urban tough chick. The more he got to know about her childhood disappointments and her tough-as-nails father, he liked her vulnerable side—she was someone he could relate to, someone who could understand him.

  He liked helping her get settled in town, too, but most of all, he liked how it’d felt holding her in his arms last night and carrying her to his bed. If he got lucky, and they got to know each other better, if they trusted each other more that is, maybe the next time he carried her to his bed she’d be naked.

  Once Lilly came barreling out of the hotel in jeans and yet another bright-colored sweater, this one kelly green, she caught him midgrin. To cover for his naughty thoughts, he scratched the corner of his mouth and suggested they take a drive out to the Ringmuren. The famous wall had been built by the Native Americans and the Scandinavian fishermen over three hundred years ago.

  Once there, the photogenic wall gave her a spectacular view of the Columbia River, the Heartlandia basin, and also gave him a chance to spout a little history lesson he’d learned about the Chinook and his Scandinavian forefathers from his bookworm college professor sister, Elke.

  “The Chinook people nursed the shipwrecked sailors back to health and taught them the secrets of hunting and fishing these waters. Back then, I guess the Columbia River could get really treacherous. In thanks, the Scandinavians, now calling themselves fisherman instead of sailors and who’d been bringing their families over from the homeland, helped the Chinook build the wall.” Since he had her rapt attention he continued. “The purpose was to delineate the sacred Chinook burial ground for thousands of souls from the outer edge of town. And to this day, we still respect their land. The barrier has always been honored.”

  “This is amazing!” Lilly affirmed with her arms out, twirling around as if starring in her own version of The Sound of Music.

  “I told you you’d like it up here.”

  “I’d like to do a column on Ringmuren.”

  “The city would love it.”

  Suddenly still and serious, she connected with his gaze. “Thank you for bringing me here. I can almost feel the ancient souls in the air. Look, I’m getting goose bumps.” She pushed up one of her sweater sleeves to show proof.

  Gunnar loved coming here, but he’d never gotten any woo-woo feelings from it, just a deep sense of tranquility and renewed respect for the beauty of his hometown. Lilly’s gooseflesh made him feel like an underachiever.

  Truth was she’d gotten him all worked up with her display of feelings, and since he only knew one way to process heady reactions like that, he went the physical route and cupped her face, looked deeply into her eyes, then dropped a simple kiss of appreciation on her lips.

  Bam, there it was again, a kiss riding a zip line straight through the electrical grid in his body. What was it about Chitcha that got to him so quickly?

  After he ended the kiss, she gazed up at him all dewy-eyed with gratitude, and maybe with a little heat in the depths of those dark brown eyes.

  Instead of pushing for more, like he really wanted to, he stepped back, letting her soak in the display of affection, and to trust that he was
n’t a single-minded guy. Though, for the record she was certainly doing her part to turn him into a single-minded guy. Only so she wouldn’t get the wrong idea, he’d fight off that part at every turn.

  Luckily the honorable side of him, the side that set him apart from his father, wanted Lilly to understand that he knew how to take things slow, and how to be a companion and a friend first. A damn good companion, too, especially when it came to showing people around his hometown.

  They stood there watching each other for a few more moments, Gunnar admiring her porcelain-like complexion and wanting to touch her more. The lingering morning might have taken a different route if he hadn’t glanced at his watch. It was twenty to twelve, and Leif lived on the other side of this mountain at the opposite end of town.

  He grabbed Lilly’s hand. “We’ve got to run if we want to make it to the house on time.” Like a track star, Lilly, having worn far more sensible shoes today, kept up with his trot back to the car, and Gunnar only wished he’d parked a little farther away so he’d have the excuse to hold her hand longer.

  At one minute to noon Gunnar pulled into the circular driveway of the most opulent house in Heartlandia.

  The Andersen contracting company had been established by Leif’s father fifty years ago. When his father developed debilitating arthritis and his parents moved to Sedona, Arizona, twenty years ago, Leif, a mere twenty-two years old at the time, had taken over the business with the help of his father’s trusted foreman, who had since retired. Leif rode the wave of his father’s success and doubled it, stepping into the twenty-first century as a competitive construction force to be reckoned with.

  A hands-on guy, Leif had also found himself in the middle of the incident that had spawned the secret committee sorting through the contents of a buried trunk from an infamous sea captain, after he’d discovered it while breaking ground for the city college.

  Lilly nearly gasped when they drove up the long and winding drive to the main house. “This is unbelievable!”

  “Oh, it’s real, Chitcha, all four thousand square feet of it.”

  “I can’t wait to see the guesthouse.” She clapped like an excited kid.

  Gunnar had watched this house being built twelve years ago just before Leif got married. Most people started small and worked up to having their spectacular homes, but being in construction, he built the house of his wife’s dreams right off.

  A half-room-size bay window pushed out from the front of the two-story, gray-and-white-painted contemporary house. Matching gables bookended the main house, with large windows everywhere, and balconies for every bedroom, of which there were four or five, Gunnar wasn’t sure.

  He had only been inside a few times, but was struck by the wide-open floor plan and pristine craftsmanship. The guy knew how to build top-notch homes.

  Leif met them at the door dressed more like a contractor than a comfortably rich man. He wore jeans and a blue polo shirt that had seen better days with a misshapen collar half up and half folded at the back of his neck, like he’d just grabbed it out of the dryer and thrown it on. Trim as ever, his tanned arms wore the muscles earned from hard work when he reached for Gunnar’s hand for a shake.

  Leif’s nearly white brows gave him the appearance of being world-weary, and his piercing blue eyes made Gunnar feel the guy was reading him, even the parts he wanted to keep hidden. But that must have been the skills a man picked up who’d lost all of the most precious people in his life—first his father, then his mother and then his beautiful wife.

  “This must be Lilly,” Leif said, offering his hand and giving a worked-at, dutiful smile.

  “Hi.” She stepped forward and gave a firm handshake, and to her credit Leif was an imposing figure.

  “I hear you’re looking for a place to call home?”

  “Yes. I want to make Heartlandia home for now, and living in a hotel gets old really fast.”

  “Well, I don’t know if this guesthouse will be convenient enough for you, it’s a bit of a drive to downtown, and I’m fairly secluded up here.”

  She smiled. “I’ve commuted in San Francisco all my life, a winding drive through the hills is a piece of cake, and I like the idea of peace and quiet.”

  “Well, let me show you the place, then.”

  They followed Leif through his entryway and grand room and straight out French doors to a professionally landscaped yard beside a swimming pool complete with a mini waterfall. There was an overgrowth of gorgeous plants and flowers beside the pool, and the interlocking pavement pattern lead to a cozy path and a picture-perfect cottage.

  This time, Lilly didn’t hold back her gasp. “Oh, this is beautiful.”

  “It’s completely furnished, but if the furniture doesn’t suit you and you’d like to use your own, we can store it in the garage.”

  “I don’t have any furniture, so that’s great, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to afford this cottage. What do you usually charge?”

  “I’ve never rented it before, but money isn’t an issue. We can work something out, all I’d ask is that you pay the utilities.”

  Lilly grabbed Gunnar’s forearm and squeezed hard, her excitement radiating through her fingers. “What do you think is a fair price?”

  “Just throw in a few extra bucks.”

  “Why so cheap?”

  “You’re a friend of Gunnar’s. We Swedes stick together.” For the first time, Leif gave an honest-to-goodness smile before winking at Gunnar.

  Lilly smiled back. “I’ll throw in the same amount I’m paying monthly at the Heritage, how’s that?”

  “Whatever that is, cut it in half.” Case closed. Leif had spoken.

  Lilly raised her brows, but being on the winning side of the decision like any smart person would do, she didn’t argue. She accepted his kindness in stride by keeping her mouth closed and protests to herself, other than saying, “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He’d studied Lilly like he’d looked at Gunnar earlier, sizing her up and most likely deciding she’d passed his character test.

  What wasn’t to like about Lilly?

  “By the way, I enjoyed that piece you wrote about animal services. My dogs have always come from shelters.”

  She looked flabbergasted that the man had read one of her articles. As she thanked him, Gunnar noticed Leif’s comment was about the human interest story, not the headline news about the recent fire.

  He was also stunned by the great deal Lilly was getting, and feeling pretty damn good about leading her to it. “Is there a side entrance?” Back to practicality, Gunnar was curious if he’d be able to come and go without Leif always seeing him. That is, if Lilly let him visit, which he seriously hoped would be the case. Often.

  “Yes. She’ll have her own private entrance and parking spot.” Leif pointed to the right. “Over there.” He unlocked the door and they entered a homey cottage with top-of-the-line amenities from ten years back—wood floors, granite countertops and upgraded appliances in the kitchen, and a doorless shower in the bathroom alongside a soaking tub. There was an abundance of windows throughout the four rooms with views of foliage, hillsides and even a glimpse of the Columbia River in the distance from over the sink in the kitchen.

  “Sold. I’d like to rent this on the spot,” Lilly said.

  “But you haven’t even seen the bedroom.” Gunnar couldn’t think of anything practical to say, he just wanted to make sure Lilly wasn’t making too snap of a decision. Though, as far as he was concerned, he was right there with her on the sold part. The place was perfect for a single lady. Thinking like a cop though, there were things to consider, like would she feel safe here all secluded and alone? And on other fronts, would the winding hillside commute get old? Would she feel out of the pulse of the city, and wasn’t that important for a journalist?

  Maybe when they were alone she’d want to bounce some of those issues off him. Get his feedback, but unless asked, Gunnar would leave the decision completely up to her.

 
Leif opened the double doors to the single bedroom and Lilly emitted another gasp.

  “How did you know what my dream bedroom was?” There she went again, acting as if the hills were alive with the sound of music.

  It wasn’t a huge room, but spacious enough for a queen-size bed, a desk, a loveseat and chaise lounge, and French doors out to a private patio complete with a small wrought-iron table and chairs, and a trellis overrun with morning glories.

  “This is heaven!”

  “You’ll have to arrange for cable TV and internet access. We get good cell phone reception out here, though.”

  “Mr. Andersen, if you are willing to rent this to me, I would love to move in right away.”

  “Sure. Let me get my cleaning staff in today, and as far as I’m concerned it’s yours tomorrow.”

  “Don’t I need to sign anything?”

  “Gunnar’s vouching for you. That’s all I need.”

  And that was that.

  Gunnar had to fight off all of Lilly’s hugs and kisses as they drove back down the hill, and he loved every second of it. She squealed like a teenager meeting a rock star, and thanked him over and over again for suggesting the place. He grinned and laughed all the way back to the Heritage, quickly forgetting his concerns. Surely Leif had state-of-the-art surveillance for his home, she’d be safe up there secluded and cut off from the rest of the city.

  “I’ve got to get to work, but how about I meet you around ten tomorrow, and we can load up all of your stuff and move you in?”

  Once they were out of the car and on the sidewalk, she rushed him like a contestant on a shopping-contest show. Her arms encircled him and held him tight. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Gunnar. You’re a prince. I’ve never been more excited about living somewhere in my life.”

  He laughed, receiving a contact high from her joy mixed with a few typical guy-type reactions stirring inside whenever touched by the pretty lady. “Every once in a while I come up with great ideas. I’m glad I could help.”

  Her arms moved upward from his middle to around his neck. She pulled him down to connect with her mouth, and without another thought, they both showed how glad they were to know each other with some major lip gymnastics and tongue contortions. She kissed great under normal circumstances, but wow, right now flying high from renting her new place, she made out phenomenally, working his blood from simmering to nearly boiling in record time.