Barbara Dunlop - Seduction And The Ceo

“I am so sorry.” She wished she could start over. If there was one minute in her life she could do over, it would be the first time they met. She’d tell Jared she was a reporter up front and let him do whatever he would do.

“Mellie.” Caleb’s arm went around her. “You don’t have to apologize again.”

“Agreed,” said Jared, meeting Caleb’s eyes, squaring his own shoulders. “It’s my turn to apologize. I lied to her, too.”

Caleb tensed, but Jared stepped forward, anyway, clasping his hands over Melissa’s. His hands were warm and strong, sending sensory memories tingling along her spine.

His expression softened again, and his voice went lower. “I lied to you when I said I never wanted to see you again.”

Melissa felt a faint flicker of hope. But she instantly squelched it. She was going down a dangerous road, erasing any gains she’d made since that horrible night at the Ritz-Carlton.

“I do want to see you again,” Jared continued, and she was forced to redouble her effort at dampening her hope. “All the time. Every day from here on in.”

Melissa wanted to run. She wanted to hide. Her brain couldn’t comprehend that he might be serious.

“Excuse me?” Sheila popped out from behind the men. “What are you saying to Melissa?”

Jared flicked an annoyed glance at Sheila, and Melissa could feel her brother Ben bristle.

“I’m saying,” said Jared, a thread of steel coming into his voice, “I can propose to her here under, well, rather stressful circumstances.”

His gaze went back to Melissa while her heart thudded powerfully in her chest. “Or we can go somewhere private, where I can do it properly.”

Her mind scrambled in a freefall.

“I have a limo out front,” Jared continued. “A table on the deck at the Bayside, a florist and photographer on standby, also-” he tapped the breast of his suit “-a ring. I also have a ring.”

“Can we see it?” chirped Sheila.

Jared’s attention never left Melissa. “Only if she says yes.”

Melissa couldn’t do anything but blink. Emotions that had been close to the surface for days threatened to erupt. This couldn’t be happening. It must be some fevered hallucination.

She looked back at her family.

They were watching expectantly.

Could this be happening? Could it be real? If she’d had a free hand, she’d have pinched himself.

“Melissa?” Jared prompted.

“I think-” she nodded “-the restaurant is a good idea.”

“Yeah?” A grin split his face.

“And the photographer.” She assured herself it was all real. Jared had found her. And he wanted to be with her. “I have a feeling Stephanie will expect pictures.”

Jared’s grin widened.

Sheila spoke out. “But can we see the-”

Ben clapped a hand over her mouth.

It took her all of three seconds to escape. “Good grief. It’s obvious she’s going to say yes. They can reenact it later for the photographer.”

Everyone stared openmouthed at Sheila.

“What?” she asked. “Come on, Renee. Back me up. We want to see the ring.”

Adam’s wife stepped forward. “I have to say, I’m with Sheila on this.”

Melissa started to laugh. “Go ahead,” she told Jared. She was planning to say yes.

“In a minute,” he told her, stepping back to pull Melissa into the foyer, around the corner, beyond the view of her family.

He held her hand firmly, staring into her eyes. “I love you.”

The world disappeared around them, and Melissa’s chest filled with a warm shimmering glow. The worries lifted off her shoulders and the vestiges of pain evaporated from inside her.

“I love you, too,” she breathed, touching his face, letting his essence seep through her fingertips and into her soul.

Jared sobered as he leaned in for a kiss. His lips touched hers and magic seem to saturate the atmosphere around them. It was a very long minute before he pulled back.

“We can reenact this part later for the camera,” he whispered, reaching to his inside jacket pocket. “But will you marry me?” He flipped open the jewel case to reveal a stunning solitaire.

Melissa nodded. “Yes. Oh, yes.” She couldn’t imagine a more amazing future than one with Jared.

He slipped the ring onto her finger. Then he kissed her hand and whispered, “Go ahead and show it off.”

Though her family was waiting, Jared was her world. She went up on tiptoe, hugging him tight, and he lifted her off the floor to spin her around.

Sheila squealed in the background, and suddenly the entire family was pouring into the foyer, admiring Melissa’s engagement ring and welcoming Jared into the family.

writes romantic stories while curled up in a log cabin in Canada’s far north, where bears outnumber people and it snows six months of the year. Fortunately, she has a brawny husband and two teenage children to haul firewood and clear the driveway while she sips cocoa and muses about her upcoming chapters. Barbara loves to hear from readers. You can contact her through her Web site at www.barbaradunlop.com.