Midnight Kiss (Virgin River #12)(20)

“Like?”

He stepped toward her. There was a softness in his eyes, a sweet smile on his lips. “You wanted to ask me something personal. And I have to tell you something.” His hands were on her upper arms and he leaned down to put a light kiss on her forehead. “You’re not too short. You’re a good height.” He touched her nose with a finger, then he had to brush a little soot off of it. “Your nose looks perfect to me—it’s a very nice nose. And your chest is beautiful. Inviting, if you can handle hearing that from a man who is not your fiancé. I was never attracted to big boobs. I like to look at well-proportioned women. More than that, women in their real, natural bodies—implants might stay standing, but they’re not pretty to me.” His hands went to her hips. “And these?” he asked, squeezing. “Delicious. And your butt? One of the best on record. On top of all that I think you have the greatest laugh I’ve heard in a long time and your smile is infectious—I bet you can coax excellent smiles out of photo subjects with it. When you smile at me? I feel like I’m somebody, that’s what. And the fact that you were a little ornery? I’m okay with that—you know why? Because when someone does something that bad to you, they shouldn’t just get away with it. It hurts and turns you a little mean because it’s just plain unfathomable that a guy, even a stupid guy, can be that cruel. I’m really sorry that happened, Sunny. And I hope you manage to get past it.”

She was a little stunned for a moment. No one had ever talked to her like that, not that she’d given anyone a chance with the way she pushed people away. But he was so sexy and sweet it was killing her. “Just out of curiosity, what would you have done?”

“If I was left in my Vera Wang?” he asked, wide-eyed.

She laughed in spite of herself. “No, if you realized you didn’t want to get married to the woman you were getting married to!”

“First of all, it would never have gotten that far if I wasn’t sure. Invitations would never be mailed. Getting married isn’t just some romantic thing—it’s a lot of things, and one is a serious partnership. You have to be in the same canoe on at least most issues, but it’s okay to be different, I think. Like my sisters and their guys? I would never have coupled them up, they’re so different from their guys. But they’re perfect for each other because they have mutual respect and a willingness to negotiate. They keep each other in balance. Plus, they love each other. Jesus, you wouldn’t believe it, how much they’re in love. It’s almost embarrassing. But when they talk about being married, it’s more about how they want their lives to go, how they want their partnership to feel.”

“And you were that way with… Penny?” she asked.

“I thought I was,” he said. “Thought she was, too.”

“What if you’re wrong next time, too?” Sunny asked.

“Is that what you’re afraid of, honey?” he asked her gently.

“Of course! Aren’t you?”

He stared at her for a second, then walked into the kitchen without answering. “Let’s hope good old Erin stocked something decent for a cold winter night, huh?” He began opening cupboards. He finally came out with a dark bottle of liquid. “Aha! Brandy! Bet you anything this isn’t Erin’s, but Aiden’s. But it’s not terrible brandy—at least it’s Christian Brothers.” He lifted the bottle toward her.

“Sure, what the hell,” she said, going over to the sofa to sit. She raised the legs of her jeans, unzipped her boots and pulled them off. She lifted one and looked at it. Now why would she bring these to Uncle Nate’s stable? These were L.A. boots—black suede with pointy toes and spike heels. The boots she normally brought to the stable were low-heeled or cowboy, hard leather, well worn. The kind that would’ve made it up that hill so she wouldn’t have to be carried.

She threw the boot on the floor. Okay, she had wanted to be seen, if possible, and judge the look on the face of the seer. Her confidence was pretty rocky; she needed to feel attractive. She wanted to see a light in a male eye like the one she had originally seen in Glen’s—a light she would run like hell from, but still….

Drew brought her a brandy in a cocktail glass, not a snifter. He sat down beside her. “Here’s to surviving a deer strike!” he said, raising his glass to her.

She clinked. “Hear, hear.”

They each had a little sip and he said, “Now—that personal question? Since I can breathe and talk again.”

“It’s probably a dumb question. You’d never be able to answer it honestly and preserve your manhood.”

“Try me. Maybe you’re right about me, maybe you’re not.”

“Okay. Did you cry? When she left you?”

He rolled his eyes upward to find an answer. He shook his head just a bit, frowning. “I don’t think so. Didn’t cry, didn’t beg.” He leveled his gaze at her. “Didn’t sleep either, and since I couldn’t sleep I worked even more hours. I kept trying to figure out where I’d gone wrong. For two years we seemed to be fine and then once the ring was on the finger, everything went to hell.”

“So what did you do?” she wanted to know.

“I did my chores,” he said. “All the things she wanted me to do that when I didn’t, drove her crazy. There were little rules. If you’re the last one out of the bed, make it. If you eat off a plate, rinse it and put it in the dishwasher. If something you take off is dirty it doesn’t go on the floor, but in the hamper. I thought if she came back, she’d see I was capable of doing the things that were important to her.”