“How do you feel about him now?”
Her gaze shifted across the empty walls and her almost empty shelves before she could settle it on Liam. “I’m grateful Daniel wrote to me, and I’m—glad’s not the right word, but I’ll use it anyway—I’m glad we had the time in Mexico to discover we aren’t right for each romantically, not now. And it’s nice to know we can be friends. He’s making plans for me to visit him in New York in May. I’m excited.”
Liam nodded. “That echoes what he said to me.”
“I’m also grateful it’s not a source of ongoing tension. I would feel bad if I’d driven a permanent wedge between you.”
“Only a tiny, temporary one. And it was good for us both when we finally had it out.” He sipped at his tea, reached for hers, and handed it to her.
She let it rest against the bundled covers keeping her warm and protected. “What about Cassidy?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Wasn’t that her at the conference call?”
“Yes, that was Cass.”
Anna swallowed before asking her next question. If she held her mug any more tightly, it would burn her palms. “Are you two back together?”
“We were,” he said. “Very briefly. And now we’re not.”
“But she’s your lawyer?”
“Her brother is the lawyer for the clients of mine who bought the boat. She was just sitting in.”
She raised one eyebrow. This line of questions and answers was beginning to head in a better direction. “I guess it read differently from my vantage point. Is there anything you want to tell me about why you got back together and why you’re not with her now?”
“She made a convincing argument for giving us a second chance. She even agreed to hold off being sexual until after we’d gotten everything out in the open. Within a few days of just talking, we circled back to the things we didn’t resolve the first time around.” While he was talking, Liam leaned forward, bringing his entire body closer to hers. “One of the things Cass was very clear about was her desire for children. And her clarity forced me to see I don’t want that and I’m certain I won’t ever.”
“That’s a big thing to know about yourself,” Anna noted, giving in to her need to touch the man sharing her perch. She threaded her fingers through his hair, releasing his familiar scent.
“Yes, it is, but when you find the person you want to be with and having children isn’t a possibility—or desire—for them, it helps make everything that much clearer.”
“What are you talking about?”
Liam unfurled his body and turned to kneel in front of Anna. He set their mugs side by side on the table and pressed his hands onto the sides of her thighs. “I didn’t fly here to talk about Cassidy or Daniel or furniture or boats, Anna. I flew here to talk about us.”
Boom. Her heart kicked into serious overdrive, like when her industrial sewing machine was in use during a power surge. She had to lift her foot off the pedal and take a breath.
“Us?” she whispered, as she gripped Liam’s wrists.
“Yes, Anna, us. Because a part of me knew there was going to be an us that night in Vancouver when we were sitting back to back, just breathing.” He stood on his knees and undid the button on the pocket of his flannel shirt, the same flannel shirt he’d worn to a couple of their big events at each other’s houses.
No. What was Liam doing? In her experience, a man on his knees was heading for one of two possible things, and so far, his hands were nowhere near her pants.
He found what he was looking for, and when Anna made herself look down, a ring circled the tip of his first finger.
“Anna, I want there to be an us. A you and me, together. Would you do me the honor of considering a partnership that has nothing to do with furniture or fabric and everything to do with what we create when we’re together?”
Anna stared at the carved ring, at Liam’s face, and back to his finger.
“Will you marry me?”
The dam around Anna’s heart broke with those words.
“Now? You want me to marry you now?” Her newfound resolve to be creative, to take risks in her work and personal life, was too fragile to be set aside. She braided her fingers in her lap, words caught in her throat. No, lower. No, throughout her entire body.
“Well, right now might be problematic. But soon would be fine, whatever you want.”
Anna relaxed her hands and extended a shaking palm. Liam centered the wood ring where her fate and marriage lines intersected, cupping her hand in both of his.
“But I thought we were done.” She shook her head. A dropped tear wet the edge of the ring. The tiny globe of water sparkled in the firelight, matching similar drops clinging to her eyelashes.
“I thought we were too, until I went through my sketchbooks and read what I wrote when I went camping and it all came back to me. You came back to me.”
“We’re so different, Liam. I live here, and you live…” Oh God, how could she explain her fears without losing the ground she’d acquired. Without losing him.
“I’m ready to make changes. I want to keep my house and workshop in New York, but I also want to be here, with you. I think we can do this.” He took the ring from her palm, turned her hand, and supported the important finger. “Anna. Would you do me the honor of considering marriage?”
The wide band centered in her gaze was inlaid with two silver hearts. He was asking her to marry him, and an important detail was missing.
“Do you love me, Liam?” she whispered.
His face colored. He started at her question and swallowed hard. “I skipped that part, didn’t I?”
Anna nodded,
