"So," Lainey said, "what do you want to do today?"
Micah glanced up, his gaze meeting hers across the table. "Whatever you wish."
"We could pack a picnic lunch and go fishing at the lake. Have you ever been fishing?"
"No."
"Then we'll go. If you want to."
"Ah, Lainey, don't you know I'd go anywhere with you?"
"Oh, Micah." He'd done it again, she thought, caught her completely off guard with a few simple words that went straight to her heart.
She gazed into his eyes, those incredible silver-blue eyes, and knew there would never, ever be another man in her life. Even if Micah decided to go back home, she knew she would never love again, not like this.
No words were needed between them. She rose to her feet at the same time he did, snuggled against him as he swung her up into his arms and carried her back to the bed they had vacated only a short time before.
He quickly peeled off her robe and nightgown, shucked his jeans, and then they were in each other's arms, pledging their love, their fidelity, their devotion, with each shared kiss.
Lainey sat on the grassy bank beside Micah, wondering when she'd ever felt so happy, so content. It had taken only moments to show him how to bait a hook and cast his line into the water. She wasn't the least bit surprised when he caught the first fish, a beautiful fat rainbow trout.
He had looked at the wriggling fish with interest, removed the hook from its mouth, and tossed it back into the lake.
"Hey!" Lainey had exclaimed. "That was supposed to be dinner."
But Micah had only shrugged. "It was too pretty to eat," he'd said by way of explanation.
He had caught three fish since then, and had thrown every one back.
And because it seemed like too nice a day to kill anything, even something as tasty as a trout, Lainey had tossed back the fish she caught, too.
It was late afternoon when they returned to the cabin. Lainey stood in the kitchen, perusing the contents of the old refrigerator.
She glanced over her shoulder at Micah, who was lounging in the doorway, one ankle crossed over the other, his arms folded over his chest.
"Well," she said, one hand resting on her hip, "since we don't seem to have any fish for dinner, how would you feel about bacon and eggs?"
"Anything you want to fix is fine with me, you know that."
"Micah, you've got to stop acting like you're a guest in my house. If you'd rather have something else, say so."
"Lainey..."
She gazed up at him, feeling angry and confused without knowing why. He was so tall, so devastatingly handsome, and yet that wasn't what drew her to him. He was strong yet gentle, wise yet innocent. He'd come into her life and turned it upside down in the space of a few short weeks. How would she fill the empty spot in her heart when he was gone? And he would go; sooner or later, he would have to go back and she'd be left with nothing but memories and a broken heart.
"Lainey, what's wrong?"
"I want you to be happy here," she replied curtly. "I want you to feel like you belong. You don't have to agree with everything I say, or do everything I want to do."
Micah stared at her, confused by her irrational behavior. "Lainey, you're angry with me and I don't understand why."
"I'm not angry."
He lifted one brow inquisitively. "Aren't you?"
"No." She brushed a tear from her cheek. "I'm not angry, Micah. I'm just so afraid..." She took a deep breath, willing herself not to cry, not to beg. "I'm just so afraid of losing you."
Not knowing what to say, Micah crossed the floor and wrapped his arms around her. He couldn't promise her forever, not when there was a chance that Red Hair might find him, not when Pergith might still be out there searching for him. If Pergith found him, he'd have to go back.
Gently, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He couldn't promise her forever; he could only offer her one day at a time, and hope that it was enough.
"I'm sorry," Lainey said, her voice muffled against his chest. "I don't know what got into me. Too much sun, maybe."
"Too much of me, maybe'?''
"No! I guess I'm just afraid that what we have won't last." Lainey placed her hand over his heart. "When I married Drew, I thought it would be forever, that we'd have children and live happily ever after..." She shrugged. "But it didn't last. He wanted a son, and when I couldn't give him one, he found someone who could."
The tears were coming faster now and she couldn't stop them. She'd thought she'd gotten over the hurt long ago, but now it spilled out in a torrent and she found herself saying things she hadn't even realized she'd been keeping bottled up until now.
"He said I was only half a woman, that I was just a pretty package that was empty inside. And he was right! Oh, why don't you just leave me alone?"
She twisted out of his arms and gazed up at him, her face streaked with tears. "Why don't you just go home and join withAdana ! She'll probably give you a hundred sons!"
"Lainey, stop it! I love you. Just you. I don't need a son, don't you understand that? It's you I want. You I need. Just you." Gently, he drew her back into his embrace. "Only you." He kissed her cheek. "Always and forever, only you."
She shook her head, afraid to believe.
"Lainey, please believe me. I love you. I've never loved anyone else, and I never will."
She looked up at him, wanting to believe, needing desperately to believe, and yet so afraid.
Micah gazed deep into her eyes, feeling her love, her fear of being hurt again, and prayed that she could get past her old hurts, her old fears, and accept the love in his heart.
Tenderly, he cupped her tear-stained face in his palms, his thumbs wiping away the last drops of moisture.
"If I tell you I don't want eggs for dinner," he said, very seriously, "will you believe I love you?"
She couldn't help it. She laughed. "Oh, Micah, can you forgive me for being such a fool?"
"There's nothing to forgive. I love you. I'll always love you. Believe that if you believe nothing else."
"Oh, Micah." She stared up at him, basking in the warmth of his gaze. He was nothing like Drew. Drew had been shallow, selfish, arrogant, everything Micah was not.
Micah took her hands in his, uncertain how to say what he wanted to say.
"Lainey, I... would you... could I be your husband?"
"Husband? You mean get married? You want to marry me?"
"Yes. I want to belong to you. I want you to belong to me."
He'd done it again, she thought, completely floored her. What could she say but yes?
"When?" he asked.
"I don't know." Lainey chewed on the inside of her lower lip. They'd have to go some place that didn't require blood tests, she thought.Las Vegas , maybe, orTijuana .
They discussed it over dinner, deciding they would go to Vegas when it seemed safe.
"Let's go into Chadds Creek tomorrow morning and call my parents," Lainey suggested. "I need to call them anyway to let them know where I am, and we can tell them about our engagement. Maybe do some shopping and then go to lunch. What do you think?"
"I think I'd like that," Micah said, and then he frowned. "Maybe we should go today. I don't want your mother and father to worry about you."
Lainey smiled at Micah, touched by his concern for her parents.
"Tomorrow will be soon enough," she assured him. "Besides, it'll be dark soon, and I've never liked driving these mountain roads after sunset."
Rising, she started to clear the table, and then she felt Micah's arm curl around her waist. He drew her up against him, his face cradled in the valley between her breasts.
"Since I am not a guest," he murmured, his breath penetrating the fabric of her blouse to warm the skin beneath, "and since you said I should tell you what I want..." He drew her down into his lap, his tongue laving the curve of her ear... "I want to make love to you, now. I want to taste of your sweetness, feel your heart beating next to mine, listen to the music of your soul..."
Spellbound, Lainey took Micah by the hand and led him into the bedroom.
Breathless with yearning, her pulses racing with desire, she gave herself into his keeping and let her soul sing to his all through the night.
