Deciding tojust do it, he pulled the little turquoise box from his jacket pocket and handed it to her.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
She really didn’t expect this.Damn.Why didn’t I wait?Well, it was too late now. The cat was out of the bag—or the box was out of his pocket, as it were.
She opened the top and gasped at the sight of a two-carat diamond solitaire in a gold setting.
“Holy crap!” she exclaimed. Then she clapped a hand over her mouth and giggled. “Sorry. That wasn’t a very romantic response, was it?”
He laughed, grateful that she’d broken the tension. “I was kind of hoping for a yes or no, but if you need time…”
She shook her head but didn’t say anything.
He waited with his heart in his throat. If she said yes, he’d tell her. If she said no, there’d be no need to.
She smiled. “Well, what I mean is, I don’t need time to make up my mind. I don’t want to put you through that. But I’d like time to get to know each other for a while before…” She stared at the ring but didn’t take it out of the box.
“Is that a yes?”
“Can it be a maybe?”
“No.”
Her eyebrows arched.
“The anticipation is killing me.”
He hadn’t planned to push her, but as it turned out, he had to. A yes meant he had more to say before they told her family. A maybe meant he had to decide, again, whether or not to tell her the rest, andmaybeshift in front of her if she didn’t believe him. Although the decision could be made for him. He could feel the stress building and his hands gripped the steering wheel more tightly.
“I guess if you’re okay with a long engagement…”
“I was hoping to take you to Florida with me in February when I go to spring training, and we’ll have to be married to live together.”
She gasped.
“Well, if we want to keep my image squeaky clean. You know how role models have to avoid controversy. It’s a, you know, kind of moral thing to some people.”Geez, Jason. You’re babbling. Get a grip.
“Oh.” Now she seemed even more stunned. “I, um… That’s so fast. Are you sure? I mean, how long is spring training? A couple of weeks?”
“No. A couple of months.”
She groaned. “Damn. That’s a long time to be apart. I’d miss you like crazy.”
“Tell me about it.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes.”
She giggled, but it sounded like a nervous giggle. Now what should he do? Maybe it was a sign. If she couldn’t handle a fast wedding, maybe she wasn’t ready for the rest of it.
“I guess you need time to think, after all.” He reached for the ring.
She swiveled away from him, holding the box out of reach.
“Oh, no you don’t. No Indian gimmees.”
He laughed. “Well, are we going to sit in this car all day, or are you going to put it on?”
