No Longer Forbidden(61)

He groaned in a release of frustration and despair, hauling her against him under his wet overcoat and into the shelter of his warmth and strength. “I have been fighting letting you under my skin every second of my life. I knew you’d destroy me if I did, and you have. I hate trying to live without you, Ro. I need you in my life. And, yes, I will always wish we could make babies together. But we’ll make our family whatever way we need to. If it’s only us, that’s enough. I love you.”

His arms crushed her, making it hard to find enough breath to talk, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. She was shaking so hard she needed him to hold her up.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t think I could,” she managed.

“You can, Ro. More than you know.”

Because he cared. He was letting down his guard for her and she recognized what a sacrifice he was making. She silently swore a vow of duty to protect, never wanting to hurt him again.

His mouth found hers and they kissed with a reverence anointed by salty tears. His hand in her hair was possessive and cherishing, his other hand gently stroking to meld her curves indelibly to his hard angles.

The door to the trailer opened and a male voice cursed. “Get your own room.” The door slammed.

Rowan choked on a laugh as they broke apart in surprise, breathless and blinking to see through her wet lashes.

“I’ve missed this smile,” Nic said, with a tender knuckle against the corner of her mouth. “But I agree with whoever that was. What are we going to do? I want to marry you now.”

“Are you sure?” His urgent determination lifted her heart into the stratosphere, but she forced herself at least to try to be sensible. “We can see how things go—have a long engagement. You and I … we have our clashes.”

“We’re both too headstrong not to. But I’d rather have a ring on your finger as a promise that we’ll work it out.”

The deep tenderness in his eyes turned everything in her to liquid heat, but she heard something else in his tone that touched her even more deeply. Implacable determination. He wanted a seal on this deal and no room for her to back out. Nic wanted her. Forever.

With a trembling smile, she held out an equally trembling hand. “Okay, then. Yes, please, I’d love to marry you, Nic. I love you.”

He drew in a sharp breath, like he was taking the words into him. His hands shook as he opened the velvet box and worked the ring onto her finger. “I only brought this to prove my intentions were honorable, never expecting you’d actually say yes …”

It was a perfect fit, but the dazzling diamond and its band of emeralds almost made her start crying again. “Not trying to buy me, huh?” she joked, in an effort to hold on to her composure.

“Go big or go home alone.” Nic’s grin was rueful. He offered her the key to Rosedale.

Rowan tucked it into his breast pocket, giving it a little pat. “You hang on to it. This is a package deal. I don’t want the house unless you’re in it.”

His chest rose as he took a big breath, and they both nearly fell into another passionate embrace.

Rowan made herself check her watch. “Help me show a bit of responsibility here. There’s a few hours of filming left. Then we can go back to my flat. It’s not much, but I have a feeling you won’t be looking at anything but the bedding.”

“I won’t be looking at anything but you.”





EPILOGUE


Eight and a half months later …

NIC never closed his door against Rowan, but with workers running table saws and nail guns at the bottom of the stairs while he was trying to work he’d not only closed his door, but started thinking about disappearing to Athens.

Rowan wanted to oversee the renovations, however. If she wouldn’t come with him, he wouldn’t go. It wasn’t his idea to change things, but she was insisting on finding a middle ground between keeping what they both loved about Rosedale while opening up the design more to his preference. Since that would make Rosedale very much theirs, he approved.

“Nic?” She pushed in with a confused frown, giving the door a baleful glance as she closed it behind her.

“I couldn’t hear myself think with the noise—are you all right?” He was always completely attuned to her moods. Both of them were still capable of putting on a facade around others, but they read each other like a book and Rowan was not herself at this moment.

He scanned her slender figure, stopping where her hands were wringing out the cordless phone like a wet towel. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with shock, her bottom lip caught abusively between sharp white teeth. She was shaking.