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She thought for a moment he might refuse her, but he didn’t. He slipped his arm around her waist and guided her in the direction of the park.

They climbed the stairs to the second level and stood at the railing, overlooking the quiet green water. The lights from Harbor Island and West Seattle flickered like moonbeams dancing in the distance.

Lindy folded her hands over the cold steel rail, Rush behind her, his chin resting on the crown of her head. “Remember the last time we were here?” Lindy asked, thinking of their wild race up the stairs and the joy she’d experienced in having bested him.

“Yes.” Rush’s low voice carried a frown.

Lindy twisted around and gazed up at him. “Why do you say it like that?”

“You called me Paul. Remember?”

It took her a second to recall that and all that had happened afterward. “Was that really such a short time ago?” It felt like years instead of just a few weeks.

“Yes.” His brow pleated with a grim look.

“No wonder you think I can’t possibly know my own heart,” she whispered, a little desperately. “No wonder you’ve never told me how you feel.”

His brows lowered even more, shadowing his face as though he’d realized he’d never said it. “I love you, Lindy.”

She closed her eyes and let the words rain down over her heart like velvety smooth flower petals, relishing each one, holding them close so she would have them later when she needed them. “I know,” she whispered, the tears back in her voice. “I just wanted to hear you say it one time before you left.”

Chapter 9

“Lindy?” Rush dropped his hands from her shoulders. His mind was buzzing, as active as any hive. He felt weak from her touch, weak from the effect of her tears, weak with a desperate need to hold her and make her his own. He’d loved unwisely before, and had given up the dream of ever finding happiness again. And then Lindy, his sweet beautiful Lindy, had slammed into his life, and Rush knew he would never be the same again. His heart felt as if it would burst as he pulled her closer, breathing in the perfumed scent that was hers alone.

“Yes?”

Rush couldn’t believe the thoughts that were bouncing around in his mind like Mexican jumping beans. Nothing seemed to keep them still. He loved Lindy. He desired her in a way that went miles beyond the physical. Her courage, her honesty, her spirit—each had shattered every defense he’d managed to erect over the years. From the moment they’d met, she’d played havoc with his heart.

“Rush?” She was staring up at him with wide, inquiring eyes.

“I think we should get married.” There. It was out. He watched as the surprise worked its way over her features, touching her eyes first, narrowing them as though she wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. Then the excitement and happiness broke out and glowed from every part of her, followed almost immediately by swift tears that brimmed in her clear, brown eyes. When her teeth bit into her lower lip, Rush wasn’t sure what to think. She tossed her arms around him, and Rush felt the shiver work through her despite the warmth of the June evening.

“Yes, I’ll marry you.” Her answer was issued in a small voice that pitched and faltered like a boat bobbing in a storm at sea. “When?”

“We’ll buy the ring tomorrow.”

She nodded, her eyes bright and eager. “I’ll arrange to take off early enough so we can get to the courthouse before it closes.”

“The courthouse?”

“For the license.” She cast him a stern look that convinced him she would make a wonderful mother.

Once he understood the implication, Rush frowned, unsure how to proceed. “But I don’t want to get married now .”

The happiness that had been shining from her face faded, then vanished completely to be replaced by a stunned, hurt look.

“I see,” she whispered, and took a step back, away from him. “You want us to wait six months until you return from this tour?”

It made a hell of a lot of sense to Rush, and when he spoke his voice was soft yet inexorable. “Of course.”

“I see.”

“Would you quit saying that like I’d just suggested we live in sin?”

Rush could tell that she was struggling to compose her thoughts. Confusion and another emotion he couldn’t define tightened her brow, and she looked to be on the verge of breaking into tears—but these weren’t tears of sudden happiness.

“I need to think,” she announced, stiffly turning away from him and hurrying down the concrete stairs.

Rush, watching her run away from him like a frightened doe, held up his hands in a gesture of utter bewilderment. They couldn’t get married so soon. For God’s sake, they’d known each other less than three weeks.

* * *

Lindy walked as fast as her legs would carry her, and her heart was pounding so hard she could feel it all the way to her toes. She was a little embarrassed, because she’d assumed that Rush meant for them to marry right away, and she was troubled, too. She didn’t want to wait, and she couldn’t think of a way of explaining to Rush all the strong and conflicting emotions that were churning inside her.

Within a matter of seconds, Rush’s quick-paced steps joined hers.

“For God’s sake will you tell me what you find so damn insulting?” he demanded.

Lindy stopped and looked up at him, loving him so much her heart threatened to burst. His eyes seemed unusually dark and, as always, unreadable as he buried his thoughts and his pain deep within himself.

“Insulting? Oh Rush,” she whispered contritely, “never that.”

“Then why did you take off like a bat out of hell?”

She dropped her gaze to the sidewalk. “I don’t want to wait…. When you leave Saturday I want to be…”

“Lindy, that’s crazy.”

“…your wife,” she finished.

Rush’s jaw clamped shut, and Lindy saw the muscles in his lean cheek jerk as a hodgepodge of doubts clouded his mind. She didn’t blame him, but if he was willing to make a commitment to her now, it seemed fruitless to wait six months.

“I’ve been through one long engagement,” she whispered fiercely. “I have no desire for another. I’ll marry you, Rush, and consider myself the luckiest woman alive. But when you place a ring on my finger there will be two, not one.”

“Do you realize how ridiculous you sound?”

She watched him intently, her eyes riveted to his. “Yes, I suppose I do, from your point of view.”

“In other words, it’s all or nothing?”

“No,” she answered softly. “I’d marry you tonight if I could, or six months from now if that’s what you choose. But if you love me enough to want me as your wife then why should we wait? That’s what I don’t understand.”

His eyes hardened. “But you might regret…”

“No,” she cut in, shaking her head so hard her hair whipped across her face. “I swear to you I’m not going to regret it.”

Rush inhaled and cast an imploring look to the dark sky as though seeking guidance, and if not that, then divine intervention.

“I don’t even want to discuss it.”

“Fine,” Lindy said with a sigh.

The remainder of the walk was completed in silence. When Rush unlocked the apartment door, Lindy stepped inside, intent on going to her bedroom to give them both space and time to think matters through.

Rush’s hand reached for hers, stopping her before she’d gone more than a few steps.

Surprised, she glanced up at him, the light so dim she could barely make out his features.

“It’s not right to hurry this when we’ve only begun to know each other,” he said in a tone that was low, husky and deliberately expressionless.

Gently Lindy brushed her fingertips across the taut line of his jaw. “I’m not going to repent at leisure, if that’s what you’re worrying about. You seem to find it so important that we wait, so we will. But I love you enough right now. I don’t have a single doubt that our marrying is the right thing, and nothing is going to change my mind.”