Page 176

“Are we doing this?” he asked belligerently.

Amy’s gut clenched.

“Doing what?” she asked tentatively.

“It’s been six weeks since you met me at the Hotel Monaco and I rejected no-strings sex and you rejected a relationship. We were at an impasse then, which at the time, was fine by me. I’m a patient sort of guy, I was pretty sure I could convince you of what a good thing we had going, and you’d see.”

“See what?” she asked softly.

“You’d see that we were meant for one another. The whole nine yards. A lifetime commitment. But then you go and introduce me to Valentina as your friend. Not your boyfriend. Not even your ‘special’ friend. Nope, I’m just lumped in there as your friend. You kiss like a dream, you’re smart, funny, and intelligent. But I refuse to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, Amy. Do we have a shot or don’t we?”

She appreciated the fact that he stayed over near the TV and wasn’t looming over her. But still, his presence, his energy dominated the room. She looked into his eyes, and more than the want and hope, this time she saw his pain. It matched her own. A pain that had been etched on her soul from the first time her mother had chosen a bottle over her.

Was that what she was doing? Was she choosing safety over Ryker? Was he feeling the same pain that she had felt as a child? She never meant for that to happen. The only thing she’d ever wanted for the man was what was best for him, and she just never thought it was her.

“How did I get in front of you?” she whispered the question when she found herself standing inches from him.

“You floated across the room,” he whispered back.

“I don’t mean to hurt you,” she told him.

“Then stop doing it.”

“I love you. I love everything about you, and I want everything I can possibly have with you, all the strings and duct tape. I want to tie us together,” she breathed out the words.

“In that case.” Ryker smiled. His hand slid into the inside pocket of his leather coat and he pulled out a small blue box. He opened the lid, and Amy stared at her future.

“You’re willing to tie yourself to me? Really?”

“Lady, of course I’m tying you to me. I’m a sailor; I know knots and you’re never getting loose!”

She looked back down at the princess-cut diamond with emeralds on either side. It was beautiful.

He pulled it out of the box, then threw the box over his shoulder. He lifted her left hand. “Amy Linden, I love you. You’re who I think of when I go to sleep at night, yours is the face I want to wake up to each morning. Will you marry me?”

“Yes. A million times yes! I love you, Ryker!”

He slipped the ring on her finger and she burst into tears. He gathered her into his arms and kissed her.

He didn’t care that he was going to miss out on birthday and Christmas presents for the next hundred years. That was the deal he’d struck with the powers that be if he could have just one thing instead, and it was worth it. He’d gotten the best present in the world—Amy Linden in his arms, finally admitting that she loved him and that she wanted to have a real relationship with him.

Wanting to marry him.

He swooped her up into his arms and carried her over to the couch and nestled her onto his lap.

“This isn’t my bedroom,” she teased shyly.

“Stick with me for a few minutes, would you?”

She nodded her head, then wrapped her arm around his neck and stroked her other hand in his hair. “Right now, for just this moment, I want… No, I need a kiss. A deep kiss that I’ll remember forever. Can I have one of those?”

“Oh yes.”

He tilted her chin and brushed her lower lip down with his thumb. She swiped her tongue against it and he groaned.

“You’re going to burn me up before we even get started.” He feathered a gentle kiss on her temple, gliding ever closer to her lips. She held her breath in anticipation until he finally rested his lips on the side of her mouth. She turned her head and captured his mouth.

He groaned, and soon his tongue was curled around hers until he heard her needy whimper. Ryker tangled his fingers in her hair as his hand coaxed her closer, slanting her so their mouths met at the perfect angle. Their noses brushed—just another caress, another connection making them melt into one another.