Speaking of babies, she and Luke hadn’t made one that night in the fertility cave. He’d been coming over every morning as soon as Dylan left for school, and some evenings, too. She wouldn’t let him spend the night, so they made the most of their stolen moments together.
Today was Saturday, and although Dylan wasn’t home, she’d been coy with Luke this morning, shying away from his touch instead of tearing his clothes off.
And now he knew why.
To her amazement, he seemed disappointed. “I dreamed that you had a round belly,” he said, smiling against her neck.
She relaxed a little, laughing. “I
“No you don’t,” he insisted, flattening his palm over her. “This is barely a curve. And it’s very sexy.”
“You think my armpits are sexy,” she said in a husky voice. “You’re obviously deranged.”
Chuckling, he buried his face in her hair. “Mmm. It’s not my fault you smell so good.”
One of their more leisurely mornings together, he’d worshipped every inch of her body with his mouth, nuzzling the sensitive skin under her arms and finding the ticklish place behind her knees, kissing the tattoo on the nape of her neck and placing his open mouth over the one at her lower back.
He must have been thinking about that, too, because he swelled against her. “I guess it’s better this way,” he said, his breath hot on her ear. “When I ask you to marry me, I don’t want you to feel as though you have to say yes.”
She let out a yelp of surprise and turned around to face him, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Perhaps astonishment was the reaction he’d been hoping for, because he smiled in satisfaction. And maybe there was something more in her expression, a hint that she wasn’t averse to the idea, because she saw a flicker of intent in his eyes.
“Don’t you dare,” she gasped, casting a nervous glance around them. If Luke Meza got down on one knee right here by the side of the road, she would have a heart attack.
“Okay,” he agreed, laughing out loud. “I’ll buy you a ring first.”
She gaped at him incredulously. Then, realizing she was acting as though she couldn’t believe anyone would want to marry her, she snapped her mouth shut.
“You’d have said yes.” He seemed almost as shocked as she was.
“Dream on,” she retorted.
He kissed her then, quieting her sassy mouth, and she knew there was no escaping this. She would say yes. Always and forever.
“I love you,” he said, holding her close.
He must have spoken those words a hundred times now, and they never failed to make her heart skip a beat. “I love you, too,” she murmured, returning the favor.
Still smiling, he took her by the hand, dropping a kiss on her bare knuckles before he led her into the neighborhood where he grew up.
It was Luke’s father they were visiting, not her own, but she was struck by a pang of nervousness all the same. “What if he doesn’t like me?”
“Then we’ll leave,” he said, as simple as that.
She smiled back at him, and they walked together, hand in hand, toward the past and into the future, moving forward, moving on.
About the Author
Jill Sorenson’s family moved from a small town in Kansas to a suburb of San Diego when she was twelve. In the past twenty years, she hasn’t lost her appreciation for sunny weather, her fascination with the Pacific Ocean, or her love for Southern California culture. She still lives in San Diego with her husband, Chris, and their two children. Jill is happily working on her next novel.
