The M.D.'s Surprise Family (16 page)

“Not like me,” he insisted, squeezing her hands. “Not anymore. When you walked away today—”

“Was sent away,” she corrected. But the corners of her mouth had lifted.

“By an idiot,” he added.

Raven laughed softly, touching his face. There was love in every single movement. Even he was aware of it. Finally. “Go on with your story.”

“When I told you to leave me alone—and you did—I thought that was going to be the last time I was ever going to see you.” The look in her eyes told him he should have known better, but she said
nothing, allowing him to continue. “I started thinking about what my life would feel like without you.” Damn, he wished he was better with words. It all sounded so inadequate. “I didn't like it. Because it would be empty again, just as empty as it was when you first came into it.”

Needing to feel her against him, he pulled her into his arms. Relief flooded through him because he didn't detect even the slightest bit of resistance.

“I'm not sure how it happened, it certainly wasn't something I was conscious of, but I've fallen in love with you, Raven, and I don't want to lose you.” Right now, he wanted to do nothing more in this world than kiss her, but he had to get this all out before his courage flagged again. “I know there aren't any guarantees in life. I don't give them when I operate, I can't expect them when I live. There's just the moment we're in and I want to spend all the moments I have left to me with you.” He took a breath as he entered the final leg of his entreaty. “I know that this is sudden, Raven—”

“Sudden?” Her eyes widened at the word. She laughed, shaking her head. “I think I've been waiting to hear you say this ever since that very first morning in your office.”

He tried to determine if she was serious or just pulling his leg. “Is this your psychic thing?”

“No, it's my ‘woman's thing,'” Raven teased, remembering the same exchange, almost verbatim,
between her parents. “Sometimes, a woman—a person,” she corrected in silent tribute to her parents, “can just look at someone and know that they were meant to be together.”

He found himself wanting to truly believe that. “I guess I'm a little slow when it comes to that.”

“Doesn't matter if you're slow, as long as you eventually catch up.” She threaded her arms around his neck, fitting her body against his. “Are we on the same page?”

God, she felt so good against him. As though she belonged. As though he belonged, as well. He'd finally found a place for himself in this world and it was beside her. “I don't know, are we? Does your page say that you love me?”

A laugh, soft, sexy, excited, bubbled up within her. “In big, fat, bold letters that even a nearsighted crow could read from fifty yards away.”

Despite her teasing voice, there was a solemnity in her eyes that spoke to him. That assured him it was all true, all real. “I guess that's a yes.”

“In every single way.” She turned her face up to his, her invitation clear.

But instead of kissing her, he resisted, needed to have this all out before he allowed himself to celebrate. “Then while you're in an agreeable mood, I guess I'd better slip in my proposal.”

She heard the words, but refused to take them at
face value. He had to be talking about something else. “What proposal?”

“Marriage proposal.”

Had he gone too far? he wondered. God, but he hoped not. Until he'd said the words out loud, he hadn't realized the full extent of his feelings. Hadn't realized just how much he wanted her to marry him.

She stared at him, her mouth dropping open. “As in ‘will you marry me?'”

His arms tightened around her. “Why, yes, I will. Thanks for asking.”

Confusion made her feel as if her very brain was throbbing. Heaven knew that the rest of her was. “But I didn't—you—” And then she gave up. She was too happy to care about protocol. “Oh, hell, it doesn't matter who asked who, just as long as the answer's yes for both of us.”

Even as he began to kiss her, her words sparked a thought. He knew how important the boy was to her. Just a little more than Blue was to him. “Do you think Blue'll mind me marrying you?”

“Mind?” she echoed with a laugh. She loved that he could be so intelligent and still so innocent. “What do you think my brother wished for when he blew out his birthday candles?”

“You're kidding.”

She grinned, moving her head from side to side. “I have it on the very best authority. Now, correct
me if I'm wrong, but aren't marriage proposals usually followed by something a little more physical?”

A little of the twinkle he'd seen in her eyes felt as if it had entered his soul. “Want to play a game of touch football?” he teased just before he pulled her as close to him as the laws of physics allowed.

She sighed softly, loving the feel of him. “Maybe later.”

Peter lowered his mouth to hers. “Sounds good to me,” he told her just before he kissed her.