“You bet.” She tumbled back into bed with him, and it was longer than she’d meant before she pulled away. “I need to help Cass and the others,” she said finally, when she’d been thoroughly kissed and caressed by Emerson.
“First open your present.” He reached over the side of the bed, grabbed his jeans and pulled something out of the pocket.
Wye sat up when she took in the small velvet box in Emerson’s hand. “Emerson.”
He sat up, too, and faced her. “Just listen,” he said. “You don’t have to say yes today, but I can’t go a day longer without asking. I know what I want, and it’s a lifetime with you. I’ve never been happier than the weeks we’ve spent together. I’ve never felt like I belonged anywhere the way I feel like I belong with you. You’re my sun and moon. My everything. Wyoming, will you marry me?”
She couldn’t breathe. All her warm thoughts had fled, fear piercing through her chest. Dating a man, sleeping with a man was one thing. Marriage—
That was something entirely different.
She was sure her parents had started off with good intentions, maybe even the kind feelings she was holding in her heart right now for Emerson, and look how that had turned out. Four lives blasted to pieces by the failure of that love to endure.
Every instinct told her to run. Men weren’t capable of sustaining their love. Neither were women. Everyone left everyone in the end.
Marriage was surely a precursor to disaster.
And yet—
All five couples living at Two Willows seemed genuinely happy. She’d known Cass and her sisters before they’d married, and she could honestly say their lives had improved.
She loved Emerson utterly. Loved the way he stood up for her. The way he made room for her. The way he cared deeply about what she cared for. The way he’d accepted her brother’s presence today. The way he’d created a job for himself down at the Park. The way he always tried to do his best—to be his best.
And the way she felt when they were together—she had woken up aching to be with him again. That was new, too. She’d never felt this way for another man. Never could—because she’d never been able to trust one.
She had trusted Emerson last night.
She would love to trust him wholeheartedly.
Wyoming swallowed hard. There was so much danger in opening herself that way. Surely she’d be crushed by disappointment if things went awry down the road.
When they went awry.
But if she said no, that would be the end of her relationship with Emerson. He wanted a life together, a family—all of it. He wouldn’t settle for any lukewarm half measures.
It was all or nothing.
She could either take a chance on a future with Emerson or stay in the safe little cocoon she’d built and watch everyone else live full lives.
She took a breath, terror and hope waging war inside her. What if Emerson was different from the other men in her life? Wasn’t it worth betting it all if the possible payout was happiness?
She was strong, after all. She’d proved that to herself after her mother’s defection and her father’s abandonment. If Emerson bailed on her someday, she’d survive that, too.
Even as she thought it, she knew that would never happen. Emerson had experienced loss and abandonment, too, and he would never inflict his wounds on anyone else. He was trustworthy—and he loved her.
“Yes,” she said, surprising herself. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
A smile broke over Emerson’s face as he reached out to cup her chin and kiss her. When he pulled back, her heart was thumping with rush of wanting. He opened the box to show her a beautiful, delicate swooping ring. “It was my mother’s. The one thing I have of hers.”
Wye let out a shaky breath. “It’s beautiful.” She knew what it had to mean to Emerson, and something tight inside her chest broke loose a little, exposing a wanting she’d never known she had. All these years she’d thought she’d made herself so strong in her independence, but she craved togetherness—real togetherness—as much as anyone else.
This small token of Emerson’s regard for her meant everything in the world.
He lifted it out and carefully slid it onto her finger.
“How does it fit?”
“Perfectly.” Just like him. Emerson fit into her heart—and her life—as perfectly as if he was made for her and her for him.
Maybe life could be different. Maybe love could last.
God, she hoped so.
“I know you have to go—”
Wyoming knocked him over and rolled onto her back, pulling him on top of her. She wanted to feel him—wanted the weight of him to make him real. Wanted him to make love to her again to prove how wonderful this all was. “Make it quick,” she urged him. “I can’t last through breakfast without being with you, but I really can’t keep Cass and Ward and Elise waiting any longer.”
“I can make it quick,” he assured her, already settling into place, nudging against her impatiently.
And he did.
Wye was wet and ready for him, and Emerson bit back a groan as he began his task. Make his wife-to-be come? He was down for that any time, and soon Wye’s eyes closed and her fingers dug into his shoulders, urging him on, even though he was taking her faster and harder than he’d done before.
She came with a cry he silenced with a kiss, afraid that too many people were awake in the house, not wanting their lovemaking to embarrass Wye later. She lifted her hips, begging him to push deeper, and he did, slamming into her again and again until he, too, slipped into an orgasm and his body took over, wringing pulse after pulse of pleasure from him until he was drained dry.
He collapsed on top of her, then rolled
