Chance Encounter(54)

Her smile was no less wobbly. “So why now?”

“Because I don’t want to be without you. I can be with or without the resort, even with or without Wyoming, but God, Ally, agree to be mine, because it’s you I can’t be without.”

“This is a really cruel dream.”

“You’re not dreaming.” She hadn’t said she loved him and he was dying. He blew out a harsh breath and dropped his forehead to hers. “Ally, it’s real. Marry me.”

“But you don’t want to give up your freedom.”

“I’d give up my last breath to have you.”

Her eyes filled, but she just stared at him.

“You know you’re killing me here, right? God, Ally, say something. Say yes.”

She threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled him close enough that their mouths brushed. “Yes.”

His breath deserted him. He could hardly talk. “Yes to which?”

“To everything.” She both laughed and cried. “Yes, I love you. Yes, oh most definitely yes, I want to marry you.”

“Here?” She didn’t know it yet, but he didn’t intend to ever let her go. “How about now?”

She smiled, and though it was a bit wet, it was the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen. “I want to marry you in Wyoming.”

The band around his chest loosened only slightly, but his eyes stung with burning hope and love. “You’ll come back?”

“I never left, not in spirit anyway. It’s in my heart. It’s my home,” she said simply. She touched his face. “I told Lucy where I’d gone. I thought maybe she’d tell you.”

He shook his head. “The damn meddling woman. If I hadn’t seen her fall off that bike with my own eyes, I might think she set me up.”

“Well…” Ally laughed. “Not with the broken bones, but she did set you up. She set both of us up. Literally.”

His eyes widened. “You’re kidding me.”

“Sneaky of her, I agree, but effective.” She danced her fingers down over his bare chest, and was rewarded when his breathing quickened and his eyes darkened. “It brought you here to me. Tell me again, Chance.”

“I love you. I always will.”

“Now show me,” she demanded.

He was on his way to doing just that, and had them both halfway to bliss, when she smiled, her entire heart in her gaze, and said, “I hope we’re making a baby.”

It was a good thing he wasn’t standing. His knees went weak and his heart soared. “A girl,” he managed. “With your stormy eyes and brave heart.”

“And her daddy’s sense of adventure.”

“Sounds good,” he murmured huskily, bending close for a long, deep, hot kiss. “Now where were we?”

“Oh dear, I’ve lost track.” Her grin was wicked. “Better start at the beginning.”

“Perfect. I love beginnings.”