Page 49 of The Playboy Meets His Match
Glasses of red wine sat on the table along with warm slices of bread, crisp asparagus and slices of juicy red tomatoes.
“How was your meeting today?”
“I almost forgot. Keith Owens is going to call you. He wants to offer you a job with his company. He was impressed that you got into Dorian’s computer files, because Keith’s company sold software to Wescott and helped them set up some of their programs.”
“He’s offering me a job here in Royal?”
“Yes. Think about it, all right?”
When she smiled at him, Jason thought about the ring upstairs in a drawer beside the bed. Their dinners were only half eaten, but he had lost his appetite.
“Come here,” he said, taking her hand. “Let’s dance.”
He already had music playing, and he pulled her into his arms.
In his arms Merry moved with him as if they had danced together forever. They danced into the family room with its hardwood floor. In her sundress, her back and shoulders were bare and he caressed her while they danced.
When she raised her head, he leaned down to kiss her, wanting her as fiercely as he had when he had driven to the ranch earlier today.
“Merry, I love you,” he whispered.
Something flickered in the depths of her smokey eyes, but she merely gazed at him solemnly and then stood on tiptoe, pulling his head to hers.
They kissed and Jason wanted to bury himself in her softness. He unfastened the buttons on the sundress and let it fall away while she tugged his shirt out of his pants.
She took his breath with her luminous gray eyes, hot kisses and fiery hair. He wanted her with a desperate urgency, but he wanted to make love to her for hours, to make it as good as possible for her, to drive her wild.
He peeled away the bits of lace underwear she wore and shed his own clothing, tossing it aside to pull her down on the sofa and kiss her from head to toe.
Merry was lost in sensations, aware of Jason murmuring endearments as he kissed her, trying to turn them off in her mind, to give herself to passion and feeling and not let her heart be talked into believing a dream he was weaving around her.
Hours later, they loved in the big bed until they lay exhausted, wrapped in each other’s arms while their racing hearts slowed.
He kissed her tenderly, moving beside her and stroking her face. “I love you, Merry. Really love you. For the first time in my life, I’m truly in love.”
She put her fingers over his lips. “Jason, it’s good. Let’s leave it that way.”
“You don’t believe me, but I’m telling you the truth.”
She smiled at him, determined not to be completely taken in by the words. The man was the ultimate playboy, the consummate lover, and she wasn’t falling for a line of love promises made in the throes of passion or right after loving.
He turned, opening the drawer beside the bed to fumble in the drawer. He rolled back over to place a small black box on her bare stomach.
She stared at it with curiosity, realized it was probably a jewelry box. Pulling the sheet beneath her arms, she sat up. Jason took the box from her hand and gazed at her solemnly while he opened it.
“Merry, I love you. Will you marry me?” he asked, leaning forward to kiss her lightly.
Stunned, Merry looked at the beautiful diamond catching glints of the soft light in its sparkling depths, and then she looked into Jason’s blue-green eyes that made her heart thud. Everything inside her cried out acceptance. If only…
Ten
Unable to answer him, she looked down at the diamond. Why did it have to be this way? Inside, she hurt, a pain that spread and deepened, and she wondered whether it would completely consume her. She kept staring at the diamond until Jason tilted up her chin, and she gazed into his solemn eyes.
“I love you, Merry. You’ve changed my life and how I feel about things. How I feel about love.”
She kissed him, long and slowly, barely aware of the salty taste of her tears, knowing that she was going to be heartbroken, but also knowing there was only one answer to give him.
“Tears?” he said, leaning back and framing her face to wipe away her tears with his thumbs. “Merry, I love you. I think you love me,” he said, watching her intently.
