Page 85 of Breathe

“At last,” said Andrew, recovering first. “A face to match the name. How are you feeling?”

“Good, but I think you and everyone else have seen too much of my face the past few weeks.”

Lord, was he going to go there right away? Hadn’t she told him to let her warm them up first? Didn’t he know that her family eased around elephants in rooms? For years if necessary?

“I want to apologize for the publicity,” Kane went on. Ellen felt faint. “Ellen hated it.” He looked at her, his smile turning warmer, more intimate. “I guess if she hadn’t been so beautiful, it wouldn’t have been a problem.”

Her cheeks immediately flushed scarlet. She risked a look back at her parents. Charlotte’s mouth was open. Andrew’s eyes were wide in his broad face. “Well,” Andrew stammered, “well, of course, we’re glad you think so.”

“Who wouldn’t think so?” Kane said, still looking at her in that blazing, intimate way. Ellen wanted to put her hand in front of his face, to hide him from them. But she was too mesmerized to move.

Kane finally looked back at the camera. “So, Mr. Hunter, I want to ask you if you will allow me to marry Ellen.” Charlotte gave a little gasp. “But I have to tell you that possession is nine-tenths of the law, and I really can’t let her go, so I’m counting on you saying yes.”

Andrew’s mouth was working, but no sound came out. Ellen had forgotten how to breathe. Charlotte, who hadn’t said a word the entire call, found her voice at last. “But we don’t know you! And you’ve only known each other a few weeks!”

“I know,” Kane said. “I wouldn’t believe it myself, except that it’s happened.”

“We don’t plan on getting married right away,” Ellen said quickly, her voice sounding high and unnatural.

“She doesn’t plan on it,” Kane said. He squeezed her to him for a second. “I plan on wearing her down.”

Oh my God.All this public display of affection! Ellen closed her eyes and then squinted at her family. Adam had gone sideways out of the shot; Jen had a silly dippy smile on her face that Ellen hadn’t seen since her wedding; Charlotte and Andrew looked as though they didn’t have the software to respond.

“The bottom line,” said Kane, “is that for some reason Ellen loves me.” Ellen closed her eyes again and blushed, if possible, even more. “And God knows I love her, and it would be the greatest achievement of my life to make her happy for the rest of hers.”

“Oh God,” Ellen said weakly, putting her hands to her cheeks. She dared one last look at her parents before she melted into a puddle of embarrassment.

But Charlotte’s cheeks, that ordinarily betrayed nary a crease or even a dusting of emotional pink, were as red as Ellen’s. Ellen had never seen her like this. “Well,” Charlotte said, putting one hand to them as Ellen was. “Well, of course we love her too.”

Ellen’s mouth fell open. All embarrassment was forgotten in the shock of hearing her mother say that word. “Mum.”

“Yes, dear?”

“I... I just... nothing. I love you back.”

Kane beamed at her. Ellen put her hand over his face and pushed, gently. “Shut up,” she muttered, though she couldn’t help but smile too.

Charlotte gave an almighty sniff and patted her cheeks with her hands. “Right, then,” she said, already arranging her face back to its usual serene expression. “So when can we expect a visit?”

• • •

Ellen closed the laptop. “So, what, you thought you’d get all the embarrassment out of the way at once?” she said to Kane, who had a very self-satisfied grin on his face as he leaned back against the pillows.

“Yep,” he said, taking her hands and pulling her so she was lying on top of him. “That was fun.”

“I can’t look my dad in the face ever again.”

“It’s just love, Ellen,” he said, his voice lowering again. “Not the plague. You’ll survive.”

She blushed, for the fiftieth time that morning, and kissed him. “How’s your back?”

His eyes crinkled up at the corners. “Just fine.” They kissed again, for a long time, loving the freedom of knowing that they had the rest of their lives.

But when Ellen pulled away and went to unbutton her pajama top, Kane took hold of her hands and stopped her. Surprised, she looked up.

He kissed the palms of both hands. “Let me,” he said.

And she did.