Face to Face (33 page)
He deserved better from her. Or else she might lose him.
That thought made her decision for her. She'd lost everything, but it was inconsequential to the idea of losing Drake.
"Will you marry me?" she asked him, her gaze fixated on their joined hands, unable to look at his face for fear he might reject her.
Was it this hard for men? she wondered, regretting her earlier refusal of his proposals. Her stomach did a flip-flop as he drew in his breath to answer.
"Why?" The single syllable was all he said, but his free hand lifted her chin so that her eyes met his. "Not, because of this—" He gestured to the bed. "I can move into the other room if you want—"
Silly man, that was the last thing she wanted. As she tried to find the words to answer his perfectly valid question, a deep, soul-stirring laugh bubbled up out of her, releasing itself into the air between them, taking her anxieties with it. His eyes widened as she fell against him, laughing so hard tears flowed from her eyes.
He held her in stunned amazement, arms circling her, cautiously as if she might break. Might fall apart.
"Are you all right?" he asked when she finally stopped to draw her breath again.
"I want to marry you," she replied, now staring him straight in the eye. "I need to marry you. I need you."
She'd said it, consequences be damned. It was the simple truth. About time they both admitted it. She wasn't strong or brave or any of those things he thought she was.
She was scared and haunted by nightmare demons and things that went bump in the night and fears that she could have, should have done more for those she had failed in the past, present and future.
Most of all she was terrified she would fail him, hurt him, or disappoint him.
None of that seemed to matter when he was there, by her side, lending his strength to her, granting her the power of his vision, joining with her as a partner, sharing everything.
"I love you, Drake," she whispered into the lengthening silence. "Only you, always you."
For once he was the speechless one. He framed her face with his hands, his lips capturing hers as his tears flowed onto her flesh, mingling with her own.
Cassie plunged into the kiss, offering him everything that she had. Rosa's voice echoed in her mind.
Life is love.
At least she thought it was her mind. Maybe she actually said it—or Drake did. Because he pulled away for a brief moment, his head tilted as if he too heard the ghostly whisper.
They were both laughing, crying, their joyous noises echoing from the high ceilings above as they fell together onto Rosa's quilt, the thick, velvet folds embracing them.
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