“God.” Knox hung his head. Why hadn’t Colin spoken to him of any of this? “God, what a damn stubborn cuss.”
“Failing of the gender,” Cass said.
“We had a falling out. And I thought…well, at the time he made it clear he was convinced I would squander my time. My life.”
“He knew you didn’t.”
Bands tightened around Knox’s chest. Damn stubborn cuss! “Why wouldn’t he just tell me?” Couldn’t he have apologized? Though, no, Colin Brannigan never liked to admit he was wrong about anything.
Cass shrugged, then slid his hands into his coverall pockets. “A lot of men find it hard to open up their hearts and say exactly what they mean.”
Knox gave a short laugh. “That sums up Colin Brannigan—at least when it comes to talking to me.”
“You should learn from his mistakes.”
“Right. When I want to leave a message for a son someday, I’ll write a damn letter and put a stamp on it.” Knox narrowed his eyes at Cass. “I could have ridden out of here without learning the truth.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think you’d get away so easily.”
Suspicion tickled the edges of Knox’s mind. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know…” Cass said, tilting his head to peer at the bike over Knox’s shoulder, “Indian made a sidecar to go with that model. I’ve been trying to find you one. Getting close.”
His assistant Jolly wandered out of the office as Cass mused, almost to himself, “I thought we could milk the need to work on those points for another day or two, but Jolly’s a lousy fibber.”
With a sudden guilty expression, his assistant spun around and disappeared again.
Knox’s jaw dropped and he aimed accusing eyes at Cass. “What? Are you saying the points were fine?”
“Well…” The older man rocked back on his heels.
“You lied to me, you forced me to stick around, so I could get a sidecar?”
“Simmer down, son.”
Steam surely burst from Knox’s ears. “Simmer down—”
“I saw the way you looked at my daughter. I saw the way she looked at you. Maybe I thought I could help by giving it a little bit of time to…bloom.”
Knox put a hand to his head, trying to rub away the pain there.
“She’s lonely,” Cass said. “I can see that. And she works too hard so I worry. I made sure you were a decent man once I could tell she liked you.”
“Not enough,” Knox said, more pain piercing his head. “She doesn’t like me enough. I told her…”
He blinked, then started again. “I told her…” But had he really told her anything?
His mind returned to the night before. Her room. Her bed.
He’d whispered his feelings for her, spilling them like a shameful secret instead of making an honest declaration. Instead of opening up his heart and saying exactly what he meant.
Instead of telling her what he wanted. Who.
Like Colin, maybe, protecting himself from rejection and hurt.
You should learn from his mistakes.
“God.” Closing his eyes, he pushed the heels of his hands against his temples, hope sluicing over the pain. “I’ve got to make a plan. I’ve got to do this right.”
For the first time in his life, Knox Brannigan was going to have to convince a woman his intentions were serious.
Chapter 12
Per her usual custome, Erin stood at the open door of her studio, saying goodbye to her students.
“See you next time!” she said to Connie and Debbie, two of the last to exit.
Then it was only irascible Earl Baker and his wife, Fran. Once she saw them on their way, she could go upstairs to strip her bed and wash the linens. Then they’d smell like dryer sheets instead of Knox’s irresistible scent.
Surely that would make it easier for her to forget him.
“What’s with the long face?” Earl demanded, pausing at the threshold before she had a chance to wish him a good day. “Isn’t yoga about finding inner peace and harmony? You look like inside you is one big belly ache.”
“Earl!” Fran said, shaking her head.
“What? I thought class was supposed to make us feel better.”
“How’s your back now, after our fifty minutes?” Erin asked, hoping to divert him. “You seem to be moving less stiffly than when you came in.”
“She’s ignoring my question,” Earl said to his wife. “You see that she’s ignoring my question.”
Fran rolled her eyes and wrapped her hand around his elbow to pull him out the door. “Give the girl some peace.”
Lifting her hand to wave them on their way, Erin could only wonder if “the girl” was ever going to find some peace, now that Knox had gone. It didn’t seem fair that she’d become attached to him so quickly.
Your dad and mom married after knowing each other two days.
And look how that turned out.
Just as she moved to shut the studio’s door, familiar cars pulled into the parking lot. Her Fiat, with her dad behind the wheel, followed by Jolly’s rusted old beater.
Okay. She blew out a long breath, then plastered on a smile as she crossed the blacktop to meet Cass. Happy face, happy feelings, she told herself.
And if that failed, then she could at least make an effort to hide her misery.
“Hey, Dad,” she said as he climbed out of the driver’s side. “Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to do this.”
“Not a problem.” He passed over the key fob. “Your friend paid me and Jolly extra to bring it back.”
She tried to pretend a nonchalance she didn’t feel. “He’s on his way then?”
“Gone and back and gone again.”
“Oh. Well.” Gone was the operative word, right? That’s that, she thought, mentally brushing her palms together. This time the goodbye stuck.
“You okay, honey?”
“Fab!” she said, trying to pick up the corners of her mouth. “Just feeling a little letdown after all the baby excitement yesterday.”
“Marissa and daughter doing well?”
“I called and they’re both great. Tom sounded exhausted, however.”
Cass chuckled. “I remember when you were born. I couldn’t figure out how such a scrap of a thing could make so much noise. Your mom, however, said you were quieter than a cat. Guess motherhood made her more tolerant of that infant screeching.”
Her dad always said Erin had been born with the loudest pair of lungs in Central California. But maybe not the sharpest brain, because she heard herself asking about Suzie Cassidy, even though she already knew the answer.
“You haven’t heard from her, Dad?”
“Ah, Erin.” He shook his head. “No birthday card this year?”
She half-smiled. “You know me so well.”
“I do. I can see when you’re sad. I can see too, when you’re brimming with happy—like yesterday.”
“It was special, with Elizabeth Erin coming to town.”
“Is that all? What about the other newcomer to the area? He seemed to put stars in your eyes.”
Erin glanced away. “It doesn’t matter. Like you said, he’s gone.” Proving once again how easy she was to leave behind.
“Really?” Cass cocked his head. “I think I recognize the purr of that engine.”
Then she heard it too, the thrum of a motorcycle. Her eyes widened as Knox turned in, his black and chrome Indian glinting in the sun. He came to a stop, his booted feet braced on the blacktop as he unclipped his helmet. Then he was combing a hand through his disordered hair, his gaze never leaving hers.
Her body flashed hot, cold, hot.
She swallowed, trying to ease her dry mouth as he hung the helmet on his handlebars and started toward her. Game face, she told herself, get your game face on.
“I didn’t expect to see you!” she called out as he approached. Ever again. Her gaze dropped from his dark eyes to his powerful torso, the hard, sculpted mus
cles that she’d run her hands over the night before.
She tucked her arms close to her sides to make sure she didn’t forget herself and reach for him again. “What, uh, brings you here?”
Instead of answering, he nodded at her dad. “Cass. I didn’t think I’d see you again quite so soon.”
“I didn’t think I’d see you again at all,” Erin muttered. How many more goodbyes could she take without completely losing it?
Knox turned to her. “What’s that, darlin’?”
“I’m only wondering about your latest reappearance.” She glanced at him, but then had to look away. He was studying her with an intensity she found unnerving. “I can’t think why you’ve turned up here.”
Gah. She sounded as grumpy as old Earl.
“I left something undone,” Knox said.
Her gaze flew to his face. “Not that stupid wall again.”
He grimaced. “The wall’s for another time. Now I’m here because…” He rubbed the back of his neck in seeming frustration. “Hell, I never have trouble with words. Then you came along, Erin, and upended me.”
She blinked. Because he’d upended her, too. Her life had been disciplined, ordered, safe for six long years. Until meeting him.
It was getting behind Knox for that motorcycle ride, she decided, that had been the turning point. Yes, she’d found the experience exhilarating at the time, but the serenity she’d felt sitting behind him had been deceptive. Erin had given up control that day.
She’d been holding onto him instead of having her own hands on the steering wheel of her life.
Now he shot a look at Cass, before redirecting his gaze to her. “Maybe we could go inside…”
“Don’t mind me,” her father said, jovial as all get out.
Knox let out a short laugh. “I thought I’d been vetted,” he said, mysteriously. Then he blew out a breath and shifted to address Erin again. “Okay. Here’s the thing…”
He seemed to go speechless once more. And maybe a touch uncertain, which was an unusual state of being for mai tai-making, ladies-of-all-sizes-pleasing Knox Brannigan. His hand shoved through his hair again, and when he let it drop, she didn’t think. She picked it up and inspected his injuries from the utility knife.
“You took off the bandages,” she said, frowning at the cuts, which appeared to be healing.
He curled his fingers around hers. “Erin, I came back to tell you I’m in love with you.”
She froze, her gaze on their joined hands. “I…what?”
“I’ve fallen in love with you.”
Her head lifted, and she glanced around, wondering if she’d been transported to some other world. But there was her studio behind her, and Cass, and Jolly, and Knox Brannigan, looking at her without a trace of his usual good humor or charm.
He was sincere.
She tried pulling away from him. His hold tightened.
“You can’t,” she said.
Now he half-smiled. “Turns out I can. Took me a while to recognize it myself.” He brought their hands to his mouth and kissed her fingers.
“It fills me up, Erin. I’m overflowing with it.”
There was a high whine in her ears. She looked at her dad, the only anchor she’d ever known. The only one who’d loved her enough to never leave her.
“I can’t…” Pressure built behind the back of her eyes. “How do I know…”
“I’m aware I have a reputation for not taking things seriously—”
“Of course you take things seriously,” she snapped.
That earned her another little smile. “And I said I was all fun-and-games.”
“You’re so much more than that.”
“Then can I hope…” He inhaled a deep breath. “Then can I hope you’re in love with me, too?”
She stared at him a moment before the answer boomed in her head.
Yes.
The knowledge of it was just…there, lodged inside her heart like a precious treasure waiting to be found. Yes. She put her free hand over her eyes. Gah! Did she have no sense of self-preservation at all?
When had she been so foolish as to fall in love with Knox Brannigan?
Probably at first sight, she thought miserably. Her birthday night at the Moonstone Café when, wearing that devilish smile and oozing confident charm, he’d invited her to sit down.
Even though she’d already pegged him as the type who would never get tied down.
“Baby,” he whispered now. “You’re killing me here.”
And he looked in pain, she thought, as she took her hand from her eyes.
“I…I am in love with you,” she said, because she found she never, ever wanted to cause him hurt.
“God.” He yanked her into his arms and buried his face in her hair. She could feel him tremble against her. “You don’t know how glad I am to hear you say that.”
“But I don’t know…” A hot tear ran down her face. “I still don’t know…”
“What, baby?” He set her away from him and looked into her eyes. “What’s got you worried?”
“How can we know that it’s really real? That it will last?”
He brushed her hair off her forehead and then erased the lone tear with the edge of his thumb. “Well, when I talked about you to my brother Luke, he said—”
“Wait. You told your brother about me?” It shot a thrill of secret pleasure through her.
“I did.” Knox cupped her face between his big hands. “And he told me to believe in myself. To trust my own judgment.”
Erin thought of her mother’s defection, of the big blunder that had been Wylie. She couldn’t afford to make another mistake. Being left again would hurt. Being left by Knox Brannigan would crush her. “I don’t know that I can do that. Trust myself.”
“Oh, baby.” He leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead. “I understand.”
And she thought he probably did. Another tear ran down her cheek, and he caught this one too and rubbed it into her hot skin. “Luke’s fiancée says something else.”
“What?”
“She says you have to trust and believe in the other person,” Knox said. “So…”
“So…” Erin echoed.
He inhaled a long breath. “Can you do that? Can you trust and believe in me?”
She stared into his face, made even more impossibly handsome by the tenderness of his intent expression. It said, clear as day, that he would make her his world if she let him.
And love for him expanded inside her, filling her up too, filling her from the bottom of her toes to the top of her head, to then overflow in another pair of tears. Yes, she could trust. Yes, she could believe.
She could be Knox Brannigan’s love, and he could be hers.
“Okay,” she said. “Yes. I can do that. I can do that for sure.”
“In that case…” He withdrew his phone.
“You’re going to make a call?” A kiss to seal the deal would be better.
He grinned at her. “I’m going to call in some of the troops.”
Before she could fathom what he was getting at, another vehicle pulled into her parking area. Tom’s huge truck, with Tom driving and Deanne riding shotgun. They must have been waiting nearby for Knox’s text.
“What’s going on?” Erin asked.
Taking her hand, he drew her toward the big vehicle. “Now close your eyes.”
“What?”
“Just do it!” Deanne yelled through her open window.
“Trust me,” Knox whispered in her ear.
“All right.” She obediently let her lashes drift down.
“She’ll peek,” Deanne yelled again.
Chuckling, Knox covered Erin’s eyes with his palm.
Mysterious sounds came from the direction of the truck. She heard a grunt or two and footsteps—her dad and Jolly she guessed—but Knox didn’t leave her side.
Erin found herself smiling, even in the dark as she was, because charming, handsome, wonderful Knox Brannigan
was her man! She leaned against him, and he kissed the top of her head.
“Just another moment or two.”
“I’m trying to be patient.”
He kissed her again. “Okay. Now I’m just going to tell you, darlin’, that tickets to Paris or even a pony would have been much easier.” Then he lifted his hand away.
Standing in front of Erin was an old-fashioned claw-foot tub. And inside the tub were flowers. Dozens and dozens and dozens arranged in vases that completely packed the space so that it was brimming with tulips and roses and daffodils and daisies. Their perfume reached her on the next gust of breeze.
A bathtub filled with flowers.
“Where did you get all these?” she asked, reaching out to touch a delicate curled petal.
“The Cinnabar, California florists are now my new best friends,” he said lightly, but he was looking at her with that tender-solemn gaze once again.
She was vaguely aware that the others were ranged around them—Deanne definitely wouldn’t want to miss this show—but Erin only saw the beautiful display and the man she loved.
“I…what exactly is this, Knox?”
“Remember how you told me I give people their dreams? You’re the most important person whose dream I want to fulfill.”
“Me.” Her heart started beating faster and faster.
“You,” he said. “So here’s the bathtub, and the flowers, and…” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box and popped open the top. “The ring.”
Erin heard Deanne gasp, but she only looked away from the beautiful gem to gaze into Knox’s face. “It’s a moonstone,” she said.
“Surrounded by diamonds that shine like your eyes. It will always remind me of the night we met.”
“The night we fell in love.”
His huge smile heated her like the sun. “Will you marry me, Erin?”
She threw herself into his arms. “Only like a thousand million times.”
Laughing, he swung her around, but she was already dizzy with love and joy. “I’ll take that,” he said. “And I’m taking you and keeping you for the rest of our lives.”
Epilogue
Erin slipped through the front door of the bar known as The Wake in Santa Monica, California. Helium-filled heart-shaped balloons kissed the ceiling. The floor was strewn with red, white, and silver confetti. Cupids of red foil cardboard hung over the tables and a big banner strung over the bar wished the customers a Very Happy Valentine’s Day!
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