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Tears stung her eyes. She blinked, pulling her gaze away from his. He’d finally said the words she’d longed to hear, so why was she suddenly crying?
“Why haven’t you come back for me before now?” she whispered, staring at her hands, which were clasped together on the table.
He took a step toward her, then stopped. “I walked away because I didn’t want to see you harmed, didn’t want you to become a target for some madman who was after me.”
“So why come back now?”
“Because I can’t survive without my heart anymore.” He walked around the table and squatted next to her chair. He didn’t actually touch her, but he was close enough for the heat and the tension in his body to wash over her.
She kept her eyes on her hands and didn’t move. Could barely breathe.
“I can’t walk past a rose without thinking of you,” he continued. “Every time I see a beaten-up old truck with squealing brakes I find myself hoping it’s yours. You have been in my thoughts and my dreams every minute of every day for this past year and a half.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.” She raised her eyes to his. She could see the fear and love and loneliness in the depths of his bright gaze—echoes of everything she’d felt since they’d parted. She reached out, gently touching the faint scar on his cheek. “Why are you here now?”
“We’d barely known each other a week, Maddie. I kept telling myself that what we shared, what I felt, could be little more than an offshoot of the danger we shared. That you deserved the chance to get on with your life and sort out your emotions without me getting in the way.” He raised his hand, capturing hers. His thumb traced the white mark where his ring usually sat. “It wasn’t until I saw you were getting ready to leave that I realized I had to tell you what I felt before you left the past—and me—behind you forever.”
“You were watching me?”
“Not often—just enough to assure myself you were okay.”
“Then that hawk outside was you?”
He hesitated, then grinned. It was a decidedly boyish grin that speeded up her already trembling heart.
“That was me trying to gather the courage to finally face you.”
She glanced down at their entwined fingers. He loved her, but was he really ready to have her stand by his side? Because if he wanted her in his life, it would mean his whole life—whatever the risks or dangers that might entail—or nothing at all. “But nothing has changed. You can’t give up what you do, so where does that leave me?”
The blue eyes she loved so much were filled with uncertainty. He still wasn’t sure of her reaction, of her feelings for him.
“I’ve wasted a year and a half trying to survive without you. I can’t do that anymore. I need you, Maddie.” His voice husky, he continued. “I want to have children with you and watch them run wild in this big, old house. I want to wake up in the mornings with you in my arms and go to sleep each night the same way. I want to grow old with you, Maddie. I’ve no right to ask you to risk your life, to become a part of mine, but that’s exactly what I’m asking. Share my life—and let me become a part of yours. Marry me, Maddie.”
The tears stinging her eyes finally fell. He reached up, gently wiping them away with the soft pad of his thumb. His touch sent shivers of anticipation racing through her soul. This man’s caress was hers to keep—forever.
“Is that a yes?” he asked, smiling gently.
“Oh God, yes!” With a sob, she fell into his embrace. He held her close. It was better than any dream. “I was so afraid you would never come back to me,” she whispered against his chest.
“And I was so afraid that you might have come to your senses and not wanted me back.” He brushed a kiss across the top of her head. “That’s why it took me so long to finally face you. I just couldn’t bear the thought that you might not love me.”
She raised her head and gave him a mock glare. “It’s a shame you couldn’t have found the courage sooner. Then maybe I wouldn’t have sold the house.”
His smile sang through her soul. “Seline Whiteshore is my boss. She bought the house on my behalf. It belongs to us, and our children.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and eased her back. “We have to do this properly.”
She sniffed and stared at him, perplexed. “Do what?”
He smiled and reached into his pocket, producing the ring. “I saw you come out of the greenhouse without it,” he said before she could ask. “And I need it for what I’m about to do.”
“I hate it when you speak in riddles.”
“Shush.” His eyes gleamed, then he took a deep breath and his expression became serious. “The Heart of the Hunter is only given once in every lifetime. Do you, Madeline Smith, accept the heart of this hunter?”
She smiled and leaned forward, gently tasting his lips. “Only if the hunter promises he’s not going to spend our entire lives simply talking.”
“That is something you can be very certain of.” He gave her a smile as sweet and tender as any kiss and slipped the ring onto her finger. “That, and the fact that I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered, and knew that no matter what life threw at them, they would remain together.
