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“Ty—”
There was a hint of withdrawal in her voice, so he didn’t take any chances about what her response might be. His head bent to cover her lips with the hungry warmth of his mouth. He tasted the honeyed gloss of her lips, pliant under his persuasive kiss.
“Tell me one thing.” He rolled his mouth across her cheek, breathing in the sweet scent of her skin.
“What?” Her smallness was shaped against his hunched frame, her body bending like a supple willow. His roaming hands caressed the delicate curve of her spine and the rounded shape of her hips. The thin silk of her dress hid nothing of her body from him.
“Why have you kept me around? Why haven’t you dropped me the way you did all the others?”
Her hesitation seemed sincere, as if she weren’t certain of the answer. “You’re not like them. There’s something about you that’s different.”
“Maybe you love me?” he suggested and lifted his head slightly, their breath mingling warmly.
“Maybe I do.” The breathy softness of her voice stirred him.
There was a break in her defenses; a concession had been made that hadn’t been offered before. This time he kissed her man to woman with no artifice of persuasion or appeal. She responded warmly, but he sensed her struggle to keep from becoming too aroused. It was this vague reluctance he tried to batter down and insist she give herself freely to the passions that trembled through her body. But the more demanding he became, the less progress he made.
Tremors were shuddering through him when he finally ended the kiss. Tara swayed against him and bowed her head against his shoulder. An exultant smile lifted the corners of his mouth as his hands shaped her more fully to his length.
“You have to marry me now, Tara.” The proposal seemed an echo of something from the past, familiar and used.
“Ty ...” She lifted her head. This time he pressed a silencing finger to her lips, then reached into the outside pocket of his jacket.
“I had this made for you,” he said. “I had to guess at the size, so I hope it fits.”
Her small gasp of delight was a beautiful sound to him, worth more than any words to express the genuineness of her pleasure. The patio torchlights caught the fire in the black opal, set inside a protective circle of diamonds.
“You had this made for me?” She seemed dazzled by it. Her hand was shaking when he slipped it on her ring finger.
“A rare gem for a rare beauty.” In his present mood, he could have spouted love sonnets and not felt in the least ridiculous.
“It fits perfectly.” She stared at it, unwilling to take her eyes off of it.
Ty was both amused and proud as he watched Tara admiring the ring, oblivious to almost everything but the play of light in the ring’s fiery heart. “Does this mean you are accepting my proposal of marriage?”
Her limpid dark eyes looked at him, his question not immediately registering. “Yes. Yes, it does,” she repeated with more certainty, then kissed him quickly and grabbed at his hand. “Let’s go tell Daddy. I want to show him the ring.”
It would have been his preference to stay on the patio and share a few more intimate moments together. But Tara had agreed to marry him. Now he could afford to wait.
“Hey, Ty!” Jack Springer stuck his head inside the door to Ty’s room. “There’s some gorgeous chick out here who wants to see you. You’d better get out here before someone steals her.”
“Who is it?” He rocked his chair onto its back legs and rubbed the back of his neck, stiff from the hours he’d spent at the desk studying for final exams.
“Your ever-lovin’ fiancée, of course,” Jack declared. “I guess she’s jealous of all the time you’ve spent the last two days cracking those books.” Ty kicked away from the desk and headed for the door, hurriedly tucking his shirttail inside his jeans. “You sure picked a lousy time to propose—right before exam week,” his friend chided and stepped away from the door. “’Course, I wouldn’t have given two cents for your chances of having Tkra accept.”
In his eagerness to see her, Ty didn’t waste time explaining that he hadn’t seen much of his new fiancée because she had pleaded for time to study for her finals. It pleased him that she hadn’t been able to stay away. Their engagement had become the hottest piece of gossip on campus, even though the official announcement wouldn’t be in the paper until next week.
When he saw her standing near the foot of the stairs, he paused a second, the vision of her dark beauty making its impact on him. She looked up, her features so serenely composed, absent of any expression, yet so perfect in their construction. He ran down the last few steps and made to take her in his arms, but her hands kept them wedged apart.
“I’ve missed you, honey,” he insisted and bent his head to kiss her, but she turned away. Ty straightened, puzzled by her reticence with him. “Is something wrong?”
When she looked at him, he had the feeling she was seaching for something. “Let’s sit over here.” She took his hand and led him to the settee tucked in the small alcove under the stairwell. Once they were seated, Ty was conscious of the distance she kept between them, angling her body on the cushion to keep him away. A run of uneasiness went through him, but he looked at the glittering black opal on her finger and was reassured. He took hold of her left hand and rubbed his thumb over the ring.
“I started to call you a half-dozen times—just so I could hear your voice,” Ty murmured, aching to hold her. “I’m glad you came over.”
“No, you’re not,” she said. Ty started to smile, but her next words wiped it from his face. “Because I thought it was only fair to tell you in person that I can’t marry you.”
“What?” It was a low sound, the beginning of a roar that was building in his head.
