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No mother could resist praise for her offspring. “He is pretty amazing,” she said smugly. The she sobered. “I was terrified to let him go off on his own, but what choice did we have?”
“He took me right to you. He was a trooper.”
The room fell silent. She was tremblingly aware of the fact that Trent stroked the back of her hand, almost absentmindedly.
He stood and reached forward to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear…then kissed her cheek. “Why did you turn down my marriage proposal, Bryn?” He propped one arm on the bed rail and stared at her intently.
She plucked at her IV nervously, unable to meet his eyes. “I’m able to provide for my son.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
She slanted him a sideways gaze. “I didn’t want to be an obligation to you…a wrong you have to right.”
He frowned. “That doesn’t even make sense. I offered to make you my wife.”
“Like a business merger.” She heard the petulance in her own voice and winced inwardly.
A smile began to draw up the corners of Trent’s sensual mouth. “I may be good at a lot of things,” he muttered, “but that was my first proposal. It possibly lacked finesse.”
She pouted. “It lacked something.”
He grinned fully now, picking up her hand and kissing each scrape. “Would it have helped if I told you I adore you…that I’ve loved you since you were a little girl in ragged shorts and scabbed-up knees. That what I felt for you changed over the years into something far deeper. But that I was too much of a self-centered, ego-driven jerk to recognize what I had before I lost it. That I need you so much it hurts, and I didn’t even know there was anything missing in my life until you showed up in Wyoming.”
Bryn lay, openmouthed, and thought her heart might break. For Trent, the self-contained, tightly controlled man that he was, to humble himself in such a way was a gift she had never expected. She was speechless.
His smile was wry. “Is that a second no?”
She gulped. “No. I mean yes. Oh, Trent, I don’t know what to say.” She sniffed, blinking rapidly.
He shook his head and wiped her cheeks tenderly with the edge of the sheet. “You’re killing me, little one. Any kind of answer would be appreciated. A man can only stand so much suspense.”
She grabbed his hand in hers and squeezed. “Are you sure?” She couldn’t bear it if he was confusing affection with love.
He kissed her again. Harder this time. With echoes of the passion they had shared. “Do I strike you as indecisive, Brynnie? Yes—I love you. And I promise you I’m not going to change my mind in five minutes or fifty years. So you might as well get used to it.”
She tugged him closer. “Sit on the bed.”
He lowered the bed rail and complied, but he pretended to look toward the hall with apprehension. “I’m scared of that nurse. Please don’t get me in trouble.”
She wanted to laugh, but her chest was a huge bubble of happiness that made it hard to breathe.
He put an arm around her shoulders and settled her against his chest, her cheek over his beating heart. She decided there and then that a broken ankle was a small price to pay.
“Yes,” she said with a soft sigh.
He kissed her temple. “Yes to what?”
“To everything. To laughter. To forever. I love you, Trent.”
He stretched his long legs out on the mattress, one ankle propped over the other. “Are you sure?”
He was mocking her, but she was too happy to care. “I’m sure,” she said, grinning uncontrollably. “So kiss your calm, ordered life goodbye.”
He nuzzled the top of her head and sighed from deep in his chest. “I can’t wait, Brynnie. I can’t wait.”
