She opened her mouth, but couldn’t speak. Was Stone saying what she thought he was saying? She couldn’t be sure.
“You were right,” he continued. “About everything. Ula was right, too. She said I was an ass, and I was.”
“Ula said that?”
“More than once.”
She felt more than saw him move closer. He cupped her face. “I’ll understand if you’ve moved on and left me behind. Or even if there’s someone else. But if neither is true, would you please give me a chance? I love you, Cathy. I believe I always loved you, but I was afraid to admit it. That business about fixing your life was just an excuse to have you near me and not have to take responsibility for my feelings. I love you. Please come back home with me.”
She couldn’t believe. “Are you really here?” she asked. “Are you really saying these things to me?”
“Yes. All of them. I love you.”
“Oh, Stone.”
She threw herself at him and kissed him. Their bodies pressed together, and in the darkness they clung to each other.
“I love you, too,” she said, pulling back enough to catch her breath. “There’s no one else. How could there be? I gave you my heart and I don’t have it back to give again.” She laughed. “This is so amazing.”
“So you’ll come back?”
She hesitated, not sure what he was asking. “I love you and I want to be with you. But I can’t be a rich man’s mistress. I’ll see you whenever you want, but I’m going to live here. I’ve also gone back to college. I refuse to give that up.”
Stone chuckled. “So I really blew that one, huh? I wasn’t asking you to move in, love, I was proposing. I want you to marry me.”
“Oh.” Marriage? To Stone? “Oh.”
“Oh yes, or oh no?”
Tears flowed again, but this time they were from happiness. “Yes,” she said, and kissed him over and over. “Yes, yes, yes.”
“And if we’re married, you will live in our house, right?”
“Of course.”
“I think college is a great idea. You’ll do well.”
“I already have.”
He laughed.
Cathy leaned against him. Her belly brushed his, and she caught her breath. “Stone, I have something to tell you.”
“I have something to tell you, too.”
“I’d like to go first,” she said.
“Actually so would I.” Before she could protest, he reached behind him and flicked on the light.
She blinked in the sudden brightness, then her gaze focused on his face. Her breath caught in her throat. On the left side of his face, thin pale lines took the place of the ridged scars.
He rubbed the lines self-consciously. “The doctor assures me they’ll fade quickly. I’ll always have a few marks, but nothing like what was there before.” He shrugged. “I didn’t want you to be married to half a man. I want to show you the world. At least what I remember of it. The rest I thought we’d discover together.”
“You’re so beautiful,” she murmured, in shock. “I can’t believe how good-looking you are. Women will be all over you.”
“But I’m yours. For always.”
She touched his face. “I never cared about the scars.”
