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her bare feet on the floor and push herself upright, ignoring the
disappointed look on Riley s face.
 The best thing that came out of tonight is that I realized how
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important you are to me. His boots hit the floor as he sat up.  And I now
know my father is right. There s one special person out there for each of
us. We just have to find them.
He rested his hands on her hips and moved her so she stood between
his spread thighs. Then he grinned up at her as if he d found the mother
lode of the biggest gold mine in known history.
A sensation of warmth rolled over her. She cradled his cheek in her
palm.  I love you, she whispered past the lump that formed in her
throat.
 I love you, too, and that makes it easy. So when are we going to do
it? He wrapped his arms about her waist and laid his head on her chest.
Beth-Ann frowned. This night had gone on too long. Once again,
she d lost the thread of the conversation.
 Easy? Do it? Sorry, you ll have to explain. I think I m too tired to
take it in. She caught herself in another deep yawn.
 When do you want to get married? We ll have to time it in with your
work so we can have a honeymoon. I can get away at any time. Dad will
fill in for me.
 Whoa. Beth-Ann grabbed his arms from around her back and
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pulled. He stared at her, his face puckered in a frown as she stepped
away from him.
The air caught in her throat, making breathing difficult as the old
fears rose up and swamped her. She struggled to clear her mind against
the mental fog that threatened to take over.
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A Handyman s Best Tool
 Just when did you decide we needed to get married? Ice coated
each word as she dropped it into the conversation pool. An
accompanying shiver raced through her body and raised the fine hairs on
her arms.
Riley stood and approached her, but she held him off with a raised
hand.
 Beth-Ann, I love you.
 I know, but give me one good reason why that should plunge us into
matrimony. Beth-Ann felt her tenuous grip on her emotions slip a
notch.
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 I ve never been so scared in my life. You could have died tonight. I
want to spend the rest of my life making certain you re safe. If I know
what you re doing, whom you re with at all times, I ll be able to anticipate
any trouble.
Shades of her mother. She started to shake as she saw her mother s
life in vivid color mentally flash past her eyes. He was scared? Hell, he d
just about scared the living daylights out of her right then.
 There s no need for us to get married. We can care for each other
without that. Why can t we just go on as before?
She held her breath while she waited for his answer. Her gut
cramped when she focused on all that marriage meant, at least to her.
Arms wrapped about her belly, she bent forward and tried to slow her
rapid breathing.
 Hey, you know the old saying, don t you? he said.
He grinned, inviting her to laugh with him, to share the joke she just
knew was coming. All she could do was shake her head.
 We ve had this raging hot affair, now you have to make an honest
man of me.
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Alexis Fleming
The joke fell flat. Beth-Ann couldn t have raised a smile to save
herself.
 Riley, what you re proposing doesn t have anything to do with love.
It s all about control. You have to know what I m doing? You have to
know where I am? That s the same type of control my father exercised
over my mother. I won t do it.
 Damn it, Beth-Ann, that s not what I mean. I know you have issues
with remaining in control, and we can work on that, but after we re
married.
She shook her head like a little robot. Right now, it seemed the only
movement she was capable of.  I won t marry you, no matter how much I
love you. However, I m quite happy to go on having an affair with you.
You can visit whenever you have spare time.
Riley couldn t believe how the conversation was going. How dare she
belittle their love like this? Couldn t she see how important this was, for [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]