“Well, go ahead and look around. I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t touch anything!” Merry added.
Matt clasped his hands behind his back and wandered across the open expanse to the balcony. Merry couldn’t wait to get rid of him so she and Jason could talk.
She had stewed all the way back from Rhode Island. Why hadn’t he told her the truth earlier? Why was he rushing her into marriage? How on earth could she know what marrying awhatever he waswould be like?
Not to be selfish, but this would impact her life in a big way. If she married him, she’d be faithful. She knew that about herself. That meant giving up her brand new freedom for the rest of her life. He had to be “the one,” or she was screwed. They certainly had a lot to talk about.
Jason returned a few moments later with a baseball glove and a magic marker. Matt rushed over to him.
“Is that yours?”
“It’s a prototype of a lefty mitt I’m supposed to endorse. See? It has my name on it already, but if you want, I’ll sign it to you.”
Matt looked as if he might keel over. “Jeez, yeah! That would be totally cool.”
Jason wrote,To my buddy, Mattand scrawled his signature. “There. You have the very first one. They aren’t even for sale yet.”
“Wow,” Matt handled the glove like it was made of glass. “Thanks, man!”
“You’re welcome, and thanks for understanding if I keepyour sister here when you decide to go home.”
Merry steered Matt toward the elevator. “He’s already decided. He was just leaving.”
“I was?”
“Yes,” she said, firmly. “You were.”
“Okay. Okay. I’ll see you later, Jason.”
“Any time, pal.”
Merry groaned.
Chapter 12
Merry swiveled back to talk to the man who wanted to marry her. He was striding toward her as if she might escape.
“That was very nice of you to mmmuphmm…”
Jason had grabbed and kissed her before she could finish her sentence.Oh well, he probably knew what I was going to say.She draped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. He tilted his head and deepened it.
Sometimes Merry felt as if she lost her balance with his kisses. It was as if time stopped and the whole world fell away. At that moment, she felt as if she had found herself and come home. Whatever little oddities she had to adapt to, it couldn’t be worse than learning to live with a hole in her heart where Jason should be.
When they finally pulled apart, he cupped her cheek and stared directly into her eyes. “Does this mean you still love me?”
“You scared me. We need to talk, but I’m willing to hear what you have to say.”
“Good. I’ll get you a glass of wine.”
“No thanks. I want to be sure I hear every word and won’t wonder tomorrow morning if I made up the whole thing in a drunken stupor.”
He chuckled, then led her over to his “comfy chair,” as she called it. He sat down and patted his lap. Merry sat atop a nice-sized bulge and did a little wiggle.
He groaned. “If you want to talk, you’d better not startthat. I’ll get completely sidetracked and you deserve a good, thorough explanation.”
“You’re right. I’ll try to behave myself, so you can tell me everything.”
