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“Just say it, Vic. You’re not interested in marrying me. I don’t need my memory back to know that. Your stony silence says everything you’re not.” She pulled off his shirt and tossed it at his face, redressing quickly, her back to him. “I don’t believe you’re being careful because of my injury. You’re like this all the time, aren’t you?”
“Like what?”
“Distant.”
He bit his tongue to keep from explaining how she had no idea how distant he’d been during their decade-long separation. Though that might have been a better option than what he said next. “I’ve always wanted to marry you, Aubrey.”
Her green eyes widened. He stood and yanked on his shirt. “Come on.”
She eyed his outstretched hand nervously.
“I’m not going to let you stand here and say things that aren’t true. You said you could handle me, right?”
She blinked at his palm one final time before sliding her hand into his. He led her from the loft, along the gravel path and up the stairs to his private entrance.
She’d said he didn’t want to marry her, but nothing could have been further from the truth. Hell, if he’d known then what he knew now, he would’ve fought harder for them, and damn his stupid pride.
Vic opened the private entryway to his suite, ushering Aubrey through the doorway ahead of him. She navigated a short hallway that opened to a small kitchenette on the left. His bedroom was on the right, if it could even be called that. The massive space held a wide bed with rich mahogany-colored leather head-and footboards. A matching leather sofa and recliner faced a large-screen TV, and in the corner of the room was a desk and a tall shelf lined with books. It was like his own apartment nestled inside the house. A corridor past the kitchen opened to a sizable bathroom with one other doorway bisecting that hallway.
When she faced Vic, she found him watching her carefully. He was standing at his dresser, top drawer pulled open. He motioned for her to come to him, and she did, each footfall leaden with inexplicable dread.
No memories came, only a strange, disembodied sensation. He plucked a pale gray velvet box from the drawer and then opened it to reveal a platinum wedding band set. A chunky diamond surrounded by other smaller diamonds winked in the bedroom’s ambient light, and her breath grew stale in her lungs.
“I’ve had this ring in my drawer for ten years. We disagreed about the future—you wanted a different life than I wanted. It’s not that I didn’t want to marry you, Aub. Like I told you, the timing was wrong.”
The ring was beautiful. She didn’t know much about jewelry. She didn’t know the name of this particular shape of diamond. She didn’t need to know anything except what it represented: a future—their future. One that Vic had planned for with her in mind. Standing here, the ring in its box mere inches away, she suddenly wanted the future it promised more than anything.
With a shaking hand, she plucked the ring from its velvet bed. “I can’t believe it.”
“I don’t know how else to prove it to you.”
She peered up at him, the diamond band between them. “You’ve had this for ten years?”
He nodded. “Every last one of them.”
“You didn’t give up.”
“No. I guess I didn’t.” He gently took the ring from her grasp and tucked it back into the box, shutting the lid. It was like watching her future recede into the distance. She’d already lost a chunk of her past. Losing her future as well was unacceptable.
“You wanted to marry me, but you never asked.”
He placed the box back in the dresser drawer but said nothing.
“And now? Are you waiting until I regain my memory? Are you worried if I don’t, you won’t be interested in spending a lifetime with me?” She could almost understand that way of thinking. What if she backslid? Or had health problems that affected her for years to come? How could she expect him to stay by her side and care for her when he could live an unburdened life without her?
“No.” He gripped her upper arms and bent to look into her eyes. “Listen to me carefully, Aubrey Leann Collins. Me wanting to marry you has nothing to do with your memory or lack thereof. But...”
“But?”
“You wanting to marry me has everything to do with it.”
She shook her head, the riddle making no sense to her. He spoke before she could argue.
“Trust me, beautiful. If I thought it was fair to you, I’d move heaven and earth to marry you as soon as possible. You deserve a big proposal and a bigger wedding. You also deserve to know—to remember—the facts before you agree to spend a lifetime with me.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to marry you?” She wrapped her arms around his neck and met his honest, espresso-brown eyes. “I love you. I’ve always loved you.”
He looked lost for a moment, his eyebrows bent, his mouth pulling down at the corners.
“Vic. I love—”
He smothered the sentiment with a kiss. A long, lovely kiss she found it so easy to lose herself in. His arms embraced her, hugging her close as he drank her in for a leisurely minute. When his lips left hers, she hummed in her throat.
“Fair warning,” she whispered. “When you ask, I’ll say yes. We’ll move into our own home and have a few Grandin babies. A whole new generation will inherit your family’s ranch. How’s that sound?”
His expression of disbelief faded into one hot enough to burn down the entire house. She’d settle for igniting the sheets.
“Let’s try out your bed.”
“Good idea,” he growled and then, once again, stripped off her clothes.
