He sat back on his heels and looked up at her, and shook his head. “I’m not taking any chance that you might say no.”
Stretching out a hand, Avery stroked the engaging lock that had fallen over his forehead back in to place. “I would never say no, trust me on that.”
He drew a deep, shuddering breath. “I trust you with my life. Avery, I’m sorry for having been such a dumb idiot. I’ll never doubt you again. Please marry me.”
“Why?”
Here it was. She wanted blood. She deserved it. He shut his eyes. To his shock her lips touched his, and his eyes shot open. The butterfly kiss ended, and then she murmured, “I know I want to marry you because I love you.”
Guy blinked at her. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
“I love you, too,” he said in a rush. Then he gave a shaky laugh. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.”
“It will get easier—and that’s a promise too.” She wrinkled her nose at him.
Linking his fingers behind her neck, Guy gazed deep into her eyes, enthralled by the understanding, the love, the devotion he glimpsed there. “I love you, Avery Lancaster-soon-to-be-Jarrod. I’ve fought it, I’ve distrusted my feelings, I’ve done and said some incredibly stupid things. But you have to believe I want you to be my wife. I want our baby…and whatever other babies might be in the future for us. I want us to be a family.”
The smile she gave him was blinding.
“Sometimes dreams do come true,” she whispered and leaned forward.
Guy met her half way. The kiss was hungry. Passionate. Perfect.
“I think it’s time we went to bed,” said Avery with a delicious smile.
Pale gold light from the bedside lamp broke the pre-dawn darkness in the bedroom. Avery pressed a button on her cell phone ending the call and set the slim phone down on the bed stand.
“Wake up,” she urged the man sprawled on his stomach, his hand still resting on her thigh.
Guy groaned and cracked open an eye. “Good Lord, it’s still night.”
“Come, there’s something we’ve got to do.”
“At this hour? What?”
Avery gave him an impish grin as she clambered out of bed. “You’ll see.”
When they got down to the lobby fifteen minutes later, he stopped dead at the sight of the huddle of strangers in the lobby. “What is this?”
“We’re going ballooning.”
“No.” Panic flared in his eyes.
“Hey, what’s wrong? I thought this was what you wanted. You’ve been telling me I need to take more risks.”
“I’ve changed my mind.” His voice was muffled.
“Guy,” Avery hooked her arms around his shoulders and drew his head down to look into his dark eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to lose you.” His lips barely moved.
“You won’t lose me.”
“I have once—through my own stupidity when I didn’t come after you and allowed you to go back to California. In the past few days I nearly lost you again—” he shuddered “—the car accident. I don’t want you taking any risks.”
“Well, you can hardly wrap me in cotton wool for the rest of my life,” she said reasonably.
“I can damn well try.”
“Too late.” Avery wove her fingers through his and tugged. “It’s all organized. We’ve got our own balloon and our own pilot.”
“I must’ve been mad to suggest this,” he muttered.
“Insane,” she said cheerfully, “but you assured me it was safer than driving, remember? And you said it was a great way to see bears.”
Guy groaned.
Within half an hour they were ready to ascend. The gas burner roared and the yellow envelope of the balloon was swollen and round. The first rays of the sun caressed Avery’s uptilted face, giving it a radiance Guy had never seen.
She was exquisite.
And she was his.
“What about if I cook you a meal instead?” he asked with final desperation. “Whatever you want, you choose.”
She met his eyes. Hers were sparkling with excitement. “What did you say? I’m looking forward to this. A little while ago I was dreading it, now I simply can’t wait.”
Damn, she hadn’t even heard his final plea and he couldn’t deprive her of the pleasure of the experience of a lifetime. Guy stopped fighting and took her hand in his.
“Stand beside me,” she said, turning away to scan the valley below the resort, “I want you to feel exactly what I do.”
Hell. His stomach churned. He didn’t even want to think of her fear of heights. Instead he enfolded her in his arms from behind and crossed his hands over her belly. In his arms Avery—and his baby—would be safe.
The basket heaved and rose off the ground. Avery let out a whoop. The ascent went perfectly. Soon they were gliding over a grove of aspens.
Avery stuck her hand out and her fingers touched the topmost leaves.
“Come back here.” Guy hauled her against his chest.
She turned into his arms so that she was facing him and grinned at him. “I can’t believe how fantastic this is. It’s so smooth—despite the noise of the gas.”
Resisting the urge to say “I told you so,” he kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m glad you’re having a good time.” And he was.
“Well, I decided if you could overcome your fear of loving someone and admit you loved me, then it should be easy for me to overcome my fear of heights.”
Her admission tightened his throat. “Avery—”
“Before you say I didn’t have to do it, believe me I did. And it might’ve started off being for you. But now it’s all for me. I feel utterly free—and it’s not because I’m in the place I always considered to be the realm of angels.” She gestured to the sky above them.
“It’s been liberating for me, too,” admitted Guy.
The sense of freedom was exhilarating. The burdens that had been pressing on him for years, the fear of commitment, the need to prove himself, had all lifted. Everything that mattered in his world was contained in the circle of his arms.
“I love you, Avery.” This time the words came easily, as she’d promised. “And before I forget, I’ve got a date tonight.”
She arched an eyebrow. “With me I hope?”
“With the winner of my auction donation.”
“Oh.” For a moment her eyes clouded over then cleared, and the blue eclipsed the cobalt sky above them. “I’ll see you afterward.”
“Don’t you want to know who placed the winning bid?”
“Who?”
“I did.”
Her eyes widened. “You did? But why pay for yourself?”
“We have unfinished business.” At her puzzlement, he added, “I have a birthday dinner to prepare for you. You missed out last time.”
“That’s what you were doing that night?”
He nodded. “I’d prepared you dinner at Baratin. But tonight will be better. Because as soon as we land we’re going to go shopping for a ring. And later I’ll place it here.” He stroked her ring finger.
“We’ll also need to tell your family about our engagement.”
“They’ll be delighted.” Guy grinned as he imagined what Erica would have to say. “And tomorrow I’ll fly to California with you to break the news to your family, too. Then we’ll come back home.”
Jarrod Ridge was home, would always be his home, Guy knew.
“There’s a meadow beyond Willow Lodge overlooking Roaring Fork that I want you to see. If you like it we can build a home there.”
“It sounds perfect.” She gave him a gentle smile. “I’d like to keep the news about the baby to ourselves for now. It’s so new, I want a bit of time for us to savor it alone. Is that selfish?”
“Not at all. The baby will be our secret,” Guy said and he stroked her stomach, which still showed no sign of the life, the part of him and Avery that was growing inside. “The announcement will make a wonderful Christmas present for both our families.”
“And in the meantime,” her voice dropped to a breathy drawl that had Guy lowering his head to hear what she was saying, “we’ll have plenty of nights to spend together.”
Together. To Guy that sounded like heaven.