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Zane pushed himself to his feet and said quietly, “Kaylie and I need to talk. Alone.” He grabbed her jacket from a hook near the door. “Let’s go.”
Alan was amused and couldn’t help the grin that toyed with his lips. “Well, Kaylie, what happened to all that independence you were so hell-bent to earn, hmm?”
“Oh, give it a rest, Alan,” she snapped as she and Zane walked out of the building. Still stung by Alan’s remark, she said, “I’ll drive.”
To her surprise, Zane didn’t argue, just slid his long body into the small interior of the Mustang. As she cocked her wrist to twist the key in the ignition, he slanted a sexy, knowing smile in her direction. “I suppose it would be too much to expect you to kidnap me to a private lodge in the mountains.”
“Way too much,” she said as the engine started. But she laughed. “Okay,” she said, and eased out of the parking lot and into the late-afternoon traffic. “Talk.”
Sighing, he stared out the window. Evening shadows stretched across the town as traffic moved sluggishly along the hilly streets. “Well, I’ve spent the last—” he checked his watch “—thirty-six hours staying away from you, giving you some space, and it’s been hell. I just wanted to be alone with you again.”
Kaylie’s heart turned over.
“I’m trying to give you space—breathing room—all those things you figure are so important, but, if you want to know the truth, I don’t like it much.”
“Neither do I,” she admitted, trying to concentrate on traffic as she switched lanes and stopped for a red light. As the light changed, she tromped on the accelerator and the car sped forward again.
“Then let’s change things,” he said quietly.
“How?”
“Pull over—”
“What?”
“Over there.” He pointed to a side street near a park. Kaylie found a parking spot and turned off the car. Zane climbed out of the Mustang, and she followed, not sure what he was going to say.
The sun, partially obscured by a few flimsy clouds, was low in the sky and shadows lengthened over the ground. Leaves danced across the grass, pushed by a cool breeze. In the distance, children played football while dogs bounded in the thickets of trees nearby. Women pushed strollers, and squirrels chattered in the high branches of the oaks and maple trees.
Kaylie’s heels scraped against the path. Zane took her hand, his warm fingers linking through hers. “I think we should try again,” he said quietly, his voice rough with emotion as he looked down at her.
“Try?” she repeated, but she knew what he meant, and happiness and fear surged through her.
He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead, his fingers warm and gentle. “Marriage. I want you to be my wife again. Marry me, Kaylie.”
She wanted to say yes, to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him and tell him that they could live together happily ever after. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she bit her lip. “I—I don’t know,” she whispered, blinking rapidly.
“Why not?”
“We tried marriage once before—”
“And we were young and immature. Both of us. This time it would be different. Come on, Kaylie.” He drew her into the protective circle of his arms, and his lips brushed gently over her forehead.
God, how she loved him! Her arms wrapped around his back, and she laid her head against his chest, hearing the steady beat of his heart. She closed her eyes for a second. Living with Zane would either be ecstasy or torture—heaven or hell.
When her eyes opened, she focused on the street, where the cars whipped by, wheels spinning, horns blaring.
“Well?” he asked, holding her at arm’s length.
Say yes! Don’t be a fool! This is your one chance at happiness! “I just don’t know,” she admitted, and the pain that surfaced in his eyes cut through her heart. “I love you, Zane,” she confessed. “I always have.” His arms tightened around her.
“So what’s the problem?”
“I just don’t want to fail again.”
“We won’t,” he promised, kissing her crown.
“Then…I…I need a few days to think it over.”
