A Match Made by Cupid (Harlequin Special Edition) (21 page)

Jace regarded her quizzically, but didn’t argue. Strong fingers pulled the card out of the envelope. She held herself still, barely able to breathe, and watched him carefully as he read. All the while, she tried to pretend she wasn’t about to crawl out of her skin.

Almost in slow motion, a series of minuscule events happened that Melanie would remember for the rest of her life. For longer, if possible.

First, Jace’s jaw hardened and firmed. Then his shoulders did the same. Muscle by muscle, his entire body went rock-solid, and his chest stopped moving as he seemingly held his breath. So very slowly, his jaw jerked up until their gazes met. One long whoosh of air escaped from his lungs.

“Melanie,” he said, his tone deep and serious.

“Jace,” she said, pulling together every scrap of her courage. “I love you. So much. More than I ever thought possible. And I believe in you. I trust you. And I want to know if—”

“Stop,” he said, his voice now brusque. “Stop.”

Oh, God. “But…” She wouldn’t beg, and she damn well refused to cry. So he didn’t want to accept her proposal, so what? He loved her, she
knew
that. Besides, she’d known this was a risk going in. More time would be good…smart, even. “We’ll go back to the dating thing. That’s fine! I—” She narrowed her eyes as Jace suddenly got down on one knee. “What are you doing?”

He reached behind him, searching for and finding the coat he’d shrugged off earlier. “Shh, Mel. Give me a second here.”

A million and one shivers hit her all at once. Her teeth started chattering, and goose bumps coated her skin. She wasn’t even cold, for goodness’ sake. Rubbing her arms, she said, “Seriously, Jace. What are you doing?”

Bringing his hand back into view, he gave her the smile that she sometimes loved, sometimes hated. Today, she thought she loved it. He held out a small velvet box. Instantly, her breath locked in her lungs. Instantly, time stopped. On the heels of that, she stopped
him
.

“Oh, no,” she said quickly, before he could push the words out that
she’d
intended to say. “Huh-uh! I was going to propose to you. So…
you
stop.”

With a wink and a grin, Jace said, “I have the ring. You have a card. Diamond trumps paper any day of the week, so I say I win this battle.”

“Unfair,” she pointed out. “Men don’t wear engagement rings. Otherwise, I’d have bought you the biggest diamond you’ve ever seen.” Um. “That I can afford.”

“Melanie,” Jace said, undeterred. “I love you with all of my heart. When I look at you, my heart sings. Why, the day you walked into my life, I—”

“Jace, you make me believe in forever!” Melanie leaned forward and stared into his eyes. “You make me believe in happily-ever-after. When I see you—”

“You stunned me the second I saw you. I knew right off that my life—”

They stopped and stared at each other for ten seconds, maybe twenty.

“Will you marry me?” they both said in pretty much perfect unison.

Silence surrounded them. Jace reached over to clasp her left hand. “I asked first,” he said, sliding the ring onto her finger.

She held her hand up to see the ring. “This is so beautiful, but no. You’re wrong. I asked first. Like an entire millisecond before you.”

Jace shook his head in amusement. “Must you always be so contrary?”

“You’re the stubborn one,” Melanie said with conviction. “I had this entire scene planned out, from beginning to end. And you interrupted me.”

Standing, Jace reached over to pull her to her feet. He lifted her into his arms, saying, “What? You think I had an engagement ring in my pocket by accident?”

She sighed and rested her head against his chest. She felt safe, cherished and so very, very loved. Not to mention, extraordinarily lucky.

“I know,” she said, wrapping her arms around Jace’s neck. “How about if you just shut up and kiss me?”

And so he did.

* * * * *

ISBN: 9781459220706

Copyright © 2012 by Tracy Leigh Ritts

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