Page 93 of Falling for the Cowgirl

She froze.

“That’s my answer. It always has been. I was just too scared to admit it.”

She didn’t seem to be breathing.

“I was a fool for leaving you the way I did the first time two years ago. And I was an even bigger fool for leaving you this past summer. If you’ll forgive me and let me prove how much I love you, I promise I’ll never leave again.”

There, he’d said it. The words he’d been rehearsing for weeks. They wouldn’t be enough to fix everything he’d broken between them, but he hoped it would be a start.

“What happens next time you get scared?” Her voice radiated with pain—pain he’d put there.

He loathed that he’d caused her so much distress, and he had to make it up to her.

“I can’t keep on lettin’ you break my heart.”

“I can’t promise I won’t hurt you again.” He’d still have struggles. They both would. “But when I do hurt you, I promise to make things right just as soon as I can.”

She watched him warily.

“There’s one other thing I can promise.” Still holding the rope tight, he lowered himself onto one knee. With his free hand, he dug in his trouser pocket. His fingers closed around the delicate object that had once belonged to his mother. When he pulled it out, he held it up between them. “I can promise to love and cherish you until my dying breath.”

She dropped her gaze to his outstretched hand and then gasped.

“Will you marry me, Ivy?”

Chapter

30

Ivy stared at the beautiful ring. The diamonds encrusted into the gold band sparkled in the dusk.

Was Jericho really down on one knee proposing to her, or was she dreaming?

She pinched her arm. At the pain, she flinched.

One of his brows cocked.

“Just checking to see if I’m awake.”

“This is me being about as real as I’ve ever been.” His blue eyes remained full of expectation and love and honesty. He wasn’t promising things would always be easy. It hadn’t been yet. But he was promising to love her forever. And really, that’s all she needed.

“Prove it.” She tugged on the rope.

“Prove what?”

“That I ain’t dreaming.”

He stood, still holding out the ring. She couldn’t believe he’d not only told her he wouldn’t ever leave her again but was asking her to marry him.

Slowly she finished coiling the rope, drawing him nearer inch by inch. She didn’t stop until his chest brushed up against hers. Then she lifted her face. Her arms were still tied down, preventing her from pulling him into a kiss. Which was a good thing. Because she’d told him she wouldn’t kiss him again until he asked for it. And she aimed to keep her word.

He leaned closer so his breath brushed against her cheek. In the next instant, his lips grazed her ear. “This isn’t a dream, Ivy. I want to marry you more than anything.”

She brushed her cheek against his scruffy one, relishing the coarseness against her skin. Then she rose on her toes and let her lips caress his ear in return. “I said you have to prove it.”

As she returned to her heels and leaned back, she waited breathlessly.

His gaze dropped to her mouth, just as she hoped it would. Then his lips curved up into a lazy smile. “You sure know how to drive a hard bargain.”