Enticed by His Forgotten Lover (Pregnancy & Passion #1)(43)

“You have a smooth tongue, young man,” Mamaw said sharply. Then she smiled. “I like it. I like it a damn lot. If Silas were that smooth, I’d probably have already said yes to his marriage proposal.”

Bryony’s mouth popped open. “Mamaw! You never told me Silas has asked you to marry him. Why haven’t you said yes?”

Mamaw smiled. “Because, child, at my age I’m entitled to a few privileges. Making my man stew a little is one of them. If I said yes too quickly he’d take for granted my affection for him. A man should never take his woman for granted. I aim to make sure he always knows how lucky he is to have me.”

Rafael broke into laughter. “You are a very wise woman, Laura. But do me a favor. Let Silas off the hook soon. The poor guy is probably miserable.”

“Oh, I will,” Mamaw said airily. “At my age I can’t afford to wait too long.”

Bryony squeezed her grandmother’s hand. “I’ll stay over with you at your house. I know you don’t like to be away from your home for very long.”

Mamaw’s expression became troubled. “I don’t want to interfere in your plans. You two have had enough problems without me adding to them.”

Rafael put a finger to his lips to shush her. “You’re no burden, Laura. I’ll be back before either of you know it and then Bryony and I can plan our future together.”

Bryony’s heart pounded a little harder. It was the first time he’d spoken of their future—as in a life—together. He’d told her he loved her. She believed him. But she’d been greatly unsure of where that put them. There were still a lot of obstacles to overcome.

The fact that he seemed committed to them being together long-term sent relief through her veins.

Just then a nurse walked in with discharge papers and began the task of taking Mamaw’s IV out and discussing the doctor’s orders with her.

A half an hour later, they had Mamaw bundled into the car and were on their way back to her cottage.

Once Bryony got her grandmother into bed, she walked back into the living room where Rafael waited. She went into his arms and savored the hug he gave her.

“Crazy night, huh?” he said.

She drew away. “Yeah. Sorry I won’t be able to go with you. I don’t think I should leave Mamaw even if she says she’s fine.”

“No, of course you shouldn’t,” he agreed. “I’ll call you from New York and let you know how things are going. Hopefully I can be back in a few days. I have motivation to get this done.”

She arched a brow. “Oh?”

He smiled. “Yeah, a certain pregnant lady will be waiting for me to return. I’d say that’s pretty powerful incentive to get everything wrapped up so I can get my butt back on a plane.”

“Yeah, well, Rafael? This time don’t get into an accident. I’d really like not to have to wait months to see you again.”

He tweaked her nose. “Smart-ass. If it’s all the same, I have no desire to ever crash again. Once was enough. I know how lucky I am to be alive. I plan to stay that way for a long time to come.”

She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him. “Good. Because I have plans for you that are going to take a very, very long time to fulfill.”

He gave her a questioning look. “Just how long are we talking about?”

“As long as you can keep up with me,” she murmured.

“In that case, it’s going to be a very long time indeed.”

She kissed him and then reluctantly pulled away. “You should probably go back home so you can shower and get packed. It’ll be light soon and you’ll need to be down to catch the ferry. Rush-hour traffic going into Houston is a bitch and you’re going to be hitting it at a bad time.”

“You sure you’re okay with me driving your car?”

She laughed. “The question should be whether it’s going to hurt your pride to drive my MINI. I could always have Silas drive you to Galveston and you could get a car service to the airport.”

He shook his head. “Your car is fine. Right now my only concern is that it gets me there so I can hurry up and return to you.”

She rested her forehead on his chest. “I’ll miss you, Rafe. I won’t lie, the idea of you leaving panics me because I keep thinking of the last time I said goodbye to you thinking I’d see you again in a few days.”

He cupped her face and tilted her head back so she looked up at him. “I’m coming back, Bryony. A plane crash and the loss of my memory didn’t keep us apart last time.”

“I love you.”

He kissed her. “I love you, too. Now go get some rest. I’ll call you when I land in New York.”

Nineteen

“It’s about damn time you got your ass up here,” Cam said grimly as he got out of his car in passenger pickup at LaGuardia and strode around to help Rafael with his bags. “Devon’s been in a snit ever since you left. Your delaying the groundbreaking just pissed him off even more. Copeland has got him over a barrel with this whole marrying-his-daughter thing. Ryan has been stewing over private investigator reports. I swear no one’s head is where it should be right now. Except mine. It’s obvious that any time a woman’s involved disaster follows,” he said sourly.

“Cam?” Rafe said mildly as he opened the door to the passenger side.