Page 117 of Second Time Around

“But I should have known that you would want to get to the point right away.” He smiled in a way that sent her heart into her throat. “And that’s one of the many things I love about you.”

Kyra blinked as tears prickled behind her eyelids.

“I love you,” he said, his grip tightening on her hands. “Will you marry me?”

That the normally eloquent Will Chase spoke such short, simple words touched her heart as no flowery declarations could have. She yanked her hands out of his and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face against his shoulder as she sobbed, “Yes, yes! Yes, I will. I love you so much.”

“Thank God,” he groaned, wrapping her in a hard embrace. “I was afraid you would think it was too soon.”

“Are you kidding me? It’s been ten long years.” Kyra lifted her head and buried her fingers in his golden hair, savoring one texture of the man who was going to be her husband. What a marvelous thought that was.

He laughed. “Maybe that’s why I didn’t want to wait any longer.”

He loosened his hold on her and reached into his trouser pocket to produce a small velvet box. “This was my grandmother’s,” he said, flipping it open and removing the ring before she could see it. Once again he held out his palm. She gave him her left hand, fingers extended, and he slipped on an exquisite emerald-and-diamond ring in an antique filigree setting.

“It’s amazing.” She smiled at him and the glittering ring through a haze of tears. “And the color matches your eyes, so it will always remind me of you.”

“I would hope so,” he said with a chuckle, “since it’s our engagement ring.”

“You know what I mean,” Kyra said, happy laughter burbling up in her throat. “Your knee must be killing you, so stand up and ‘give me a thousand kisses.’”

“Quoting Catullus to a classics major? That’s gutsy,” he said, his eyes lit with amusement and a love that made Kyra’s breathing go shallow. “I’ll answer you with Shakespeare. ‘A thousand kisses buys my heart from me.’”

He stood and swept her to her feet along with him. Lowering his head so their lips almost touched, he whispered against her mouth, “But you already own me, body and soul.” And his lips met hers in a kiss that claimed her for the rest of their lives.