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‘That I love you, for one thing,’ she said, taking her heart in both hands.
He looked stricken. ‘I know. You told me that last night. But that’s not the only thing, is it?’
It was her turn to be stricken. ‘You know? That’s all you have to say?’
His fingers tightened on hers as if he feared she was going to snatch them away. ‘I’m not good with words—’
Her eyes widened. ‘Drake—you’re a writer.’
A muscle flickered along his jaw at her gentle scorn. ‘I mean at saying them…to you. Other people don’t matter.’
His discomfort made her heart stutter, then soar. ‘You’re also famous for your wit.’
‘Wit is a weapon. Love is…It’s dangerous…loving people,’ he said, twining and re-twining their fingers.
‘I know, but sometimes you have to do it anyway.’
He hunched his shoulders, his face flushing. ‘For God’s sake, Kate, you must know well enough by now I love you,’ he admitted roughly. ‘I told you I won’t want any woman but you, and I’ve practically been doing handstands to impress you all month. You’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted to have permanently in my life, to live with. You like it down here at Oyster Beach, don’t you? We could move here together, you could freelance and I could write, we could be free—you and me…’
‘And baby makes three,’ she murmured, expecting the inevitable recoil.
He looked down into her upturned face. ‘Are you saying that you won’t marry me if I don’t give you children?’
‘I—Marry?’
‘That’s what people who love and trust each other do, don’t they?’
‘I—I didn’t think you were the marrying kind,’ she stammered.
‘You’ve been wrong about me before. Don’t you trust me to love and to cherish you for better and for worse? Why were you seeing the doctor again today, Kate?’
Her eyes dilated. ‘You saw me?’
He shook his head. ‘Ken’s receptionist. You’re living in a small town, sweetheart. Why didn’t you tell me you were going? Was it too private?’
She tried to escape his hold, but he wouldn’t let her go.
‘Don’t be frightened to tell me. Are you pregnant, Kate?’
She sucked in her breath. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘Because I was naked inside you that time you cried in my arms. My first time being with a woman like that,’ he admitted, sensuously stroking her cheek and tracing his finger around to the sensitive nerves behind her ear. ‘I forgot myself, until I was inside you, but I liked it far too much to pull out. I never knew it would be so intense. I felt myself come uncontrollably inside you and I loved it, but I knew you weren’t on the pill and after what you had just gone through I knew I had to look after you. I’ve been counting the days and you haven’t had your period since. And you glow, Kate…you don’t see it but you shine, from the inside out…’
She was confused by his pride, his deep satisfaction. ‘I—I thought you said you didn’t want children.’
‘That’s because I didn’t know what a powerful healer love is…Yes, I’m afraid of the huge responsibility, the mistakes I might make, but with you beside me, to share the worries and the burdens as well as the rewards…you make me feel strong, Kate. You give me faith in myself that I never had before.
‘Unless…’ he faltered, looking very un-Drakelike in his uncertainty ‘…unless you’re worried because you think I might not be able to commit to being a good father…I don’t have a very good role model, or track record in the commitment department, do I?’
‘Nor do I, come to that,’ said Kate. ‘And you told me you thought I would still be a good mother. As soon as I get my refund from my landlord I’ll buy you a whole library of books on how to be a good father,’ she attempted to tease him back into his usual arrogance.
He looked at the ceiling. ‘Actually, you won’t be getting much of a refund, because your landlord thinks you and your cat have been shamelessly sponging off him all along.’
She looked at him uncomprehendingly, then the light dawned.
‘You own the house next door?’
‘I own several houses in Oyster Beach.’
