“Jenny?”
She turned to face him and her heart raced. He looked—unsure of himself. Something she’d never seen in Mike Ryan. That realization shook her. She wouldn’t be persuaded, in spite of her instinctive urge to go to him and hold on until she eased whatever was bothering him.
“I feel like an idiot,” he muttered, scraping one hand through his hair.
“Not what I expected to hear,” she admitted.
“Oh.” He laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “There’s more.” He took a step closer, then stopped, as if not trusting himself to get within reach. “I can’t believe your uncle showed up out of nowhere,” he muttered.
“You’re upset about Uncle Hank coming to see me?”
“Not the act,” he said, “just the timing.”
Now she was really confused.
“You should know that I was wrong about you. Right from the beginning, I was wrong and I think somehow I knew that, I just couldn’t admit it,” he grumbled in irritation. “Just like I know I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you in that bar in Phoenix.”
Suddenly unsteady, Jenny reached down and grabbed the back of a chair for support. He loved her. She hadn’t thought to ever hear those words from him. Only yesterday, that confession would have had her glowing in happiness. Now, though, it was too late. “Mike—”
“Just hear me out,” he said, moving in close enough to touch her. To hold her. Hands at her waist, he spoke more quickly now, as if afraid she’d stop listening. “I’m asking you to marry me, Jenny. Not telling you, asking you. It’s not for the baby’s sake, or convenience or any other damn reason except that I love you. I want to go to bed with you every night and wake up beside you every morning.” His eyes locked with hers and she read the truth there and wished, so wished he had said all of this sooner.
“You’re it for me, Jenny,” he confessed. “Maybe that’s why I fought it so hard. Seeing your future spilling out in front of you can be...overwhelming. But the thing is, no matter how I looked at the future, you were there.” His hands tightened on her waist and the heat of his touch slipped inside her. “There is no future without you, Jenny. There is no me without you.”
Her mouth worked, but anything she might have said was choked off by the river of tears crowding her throat.
“I need you to believe me, Jenny,” he said urgently. “I love you. I trust you. Please marry me.”
Oh, God, it was everything she’d ever wanted. The man she loved was giving her the words she’d yearned to hear and it was too late. How could she ever believe in him when it had taken her uncle selling his company to make him believe in her? What kind of irony was it that she was given exactly what she longed for and couldn’t have it?
Disappointment rose up inside her and she couldn’t keep it from spilling out. “No, Mike, I won’t marry you. I can’t. You’re only saying this now because Uncle Hank gave you proof your suspicions about me were wrong.”
“No, that’s not true.”
She shook her head wildly. “I wish you had said all of this before Uncle Hank arrived. It would have meant everything to me.”
“This is what I meant about Hank’s timing. I was going to talk to you tonight.” He shook his head and laughed ruefully. “I had it planned. Moonlight, seduction, romance...”
“Mike, you’re just saying this now, to try to make it better.”
“No, damn it.” He scowled. “You’re wrong. I believed before today. It was that talk the other night, out at the pool?” He pulled her tight as if expecting her to make a bolt for escape. “It was then reality crashed down on me. When you said you didn’t need me. Didn’t want my money. When you made me see that you’re not the kind of woman who has to trap a man into anything.
“You’re one of the strongest women I’ve ever known. You’re beautiful, talented. You’re kind and funny and you don’t take any of my crap.”
She laughed, but it hurt her throat, so she stopped short.
“You’re everything to me, Jenny. You have to believe me.”
“I want to,” she admitted. “So much.”
He smiled, just one brief curve of his mouth. “Then let this convince you.” Digging into his pants pocket, he pulled out a small deep blue velvet box.
Jenny’s eyes went wide and she sucked in a gulp of air and held it. He was telling the truth, she thought wildly. He’d already had a ring for her when Hank showed up. It was real. It was staggering.