numerous times after that?”
He shrugged, his grin broadening. “Okay, so maybe it did cross my mind that if I got you pregnant you’d have to marry me.”
“Marry you? Chase, we hardly know each other!” Her breath caught in her throat when he pulled her up hard against his chest and kissed her soundly.
“We’ll have a lifetime to get to know each other, sweetheart. Marry me, be my wife, have my babies. I want to grow old with you, Maddy.”
There was a desperation to his voice that plucked at her heartstrings, made even more endearing by the sudden tension in his body. He meant it, she realized with a surge of happiness that was so forceful it knocked the wind out of her. Maddy looked into his pleading eyes, and it wasn’t difficult envisioning a lifetime with this man. He’d taken her by storm and flat out stole her heart from the moment his lips first touched hers, but it wasn’t one sided, not by a long shot. He was just as captivated by her; she could see it in his face, heard it in his voice, felt it in the rigid muscles of his shoulders and the way his stilted breath hitched because of her hesitation.
Ignoring the whispers of reason that gave her a million arguments why it couldn’t work, Maddy threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled his mouth down to hers. His big body trembled in response to her ardent kiss and the fire that had only just been doused by their love making ignited instantly, scorching her skin, burning her from the inside out, consuming the last vestige of doubt and leaving her utterly at his mercy. She could never deny him anything. Maddy, who had fought with her mother and father for independence, who had never given herself to another man for fear of losing herself, now willing accepted that Chase would always come first in any decisions she made for the rest of her life. He was everything to her, everything.
Chase tore his mouth from hers, encouraged by her kisses but needing to hear the words. “Is that a yes?” He gripped her face between his hands, stark fear in his eyes when she didn’t immediately answer him. “For God’s sake, Maddy, put me out of my misery!”
She tried to nod, then laughed because his hands kept her head from moving. “Yes,” she said breathlessly, then laughed again when he let out a loud whoop and all but crushed her with a tight bear hug.
After a quiet celebration with a bottle of champagne and a short walk in the moonlight, she’d told him why she couldn’t possibly be pregnant. A few years before, her cycles had become irregular and the doctor had put her on birth control pills to help regulate it. She’d considered going off of them after the first year but decided at the ripe age of twenty-five there was at least some chance she’d meet a man she cared enough to have a sexual relationship with. So she’d remained on them even though she wasn’t involved with anyone or had any aspirations to entangle herself in a serious relationship until after she’d taken the time off to discover if she had the talent to make it as an artist.
To her surprise, Chase had been genuinely disheartened to learn there was no possibility she could be carrying his child which only made her own disappointment more tangible. It seemed incredible that both of them would feel this way, given that they’d known each other for less than a week and that neither of them had even the vaguest desire to fall in love with anyone before they’d met. Things were already moving so fast she couldn’t seem to catch her breath and though she longed to have his baby, Maddy selfishly wanted Chase all to herself for awhile.
There was, of course, still the little matter of confessing the truth about who she really was, or rather whose daughter she was, but as one day melted into another she found it more and more difficult to tell him. For one thing, she didn’t want to be swept back into high society, which was the very life
He shrugged, his grin broadening. “Okay, so maybe it did cross my mind that if I got you pregnant you’d have to marry me.”
“Marry you? Chase, we hardly know each other!” Her breath caught in her throat when he pulled her up hard against his chest and kissed her soundly.
“We’ll have a lifetime to get to know each other, sweetheart. Marry me, be my wife, have my babies. I want to grow old with you, Maddy.”
There was a desperation to his voice that plucked at her heartstrings, made even more endearing by the sudden tension in his body. He meant it, she realized with a surge of happiness that was so forceful it knocked the wind out of her. Maddy looked into his pleading eyes, and it wasn’t difficult envisioning a lifetime with this man. He’d taken her by storm and flat out stole her heart from the moment his lips first touched hers, but it wasn’t one sided, not by a long shot. He was just as captivated by her; she could see it in his face, heard it in his voice, felt it in the rigid muscles of his shoulders and the way his stilted breath hitched because of her hesitation.
Ignoring the whispers of reason that gave her a million arguments why it couldn’t work, Maddy threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled his mouth down to hers. His big body trembled in response to her ardent kiss and the fire that had only just been doused by their love making ignited instantly, scorching her skin, burning her from the inside out, consuming the last vestige of doubt and leaving her utterly at his mercy. She could never deny him anything. Maddy, who had fought with her mother and father for independence, who had never given herself to another man for fear of losing herself, now willing accepted that Chase would always come first in any decisions she made for the rest of her life. He was everything to her, everything.
Chase tore his mouth from hers, encouraged by her kisses but needing to hear the words. “Is that a yes?” He gripped her face between his hands, stark fear in his eyes when she didn’t immediately answer him. “For God’s sake, Maddy, put me out of my misery!”
She tried to nod, then laughed because his hands kept her head from moving. “Yes,” she said breathlessly, then laughed again when he let out a loud whoop and all but crushed her with a tight bear hug.
After a quiet celebration with a bottle of champagne and a short walk in the moonlight, she’d told him why she couldn’t possibly be pregnant. A few years before, her cycles had become irregular and the doctor had put her on birth control pills to help regulate it. She’d considered going off of them after the first year but decided at the ripe age of twenty-five there was at least some chance she’d meet a man she cared enough to have a sexual relationship with. So she’d remained on them even though she wasn’t involved with anyone or had any aspirations to entangle herself in a serious relationship until after she’d taken the time off to discover if she had the talent to make it as an artist.
To her surprise, Chase had been genuinely disheartened to learn there was no possibility she could be carrying his child which only made her own disappointment more tangible. It seemed incredible that both of them would feel this way, given that they’d known each other for less than a week and that neither of them had even the vaguest desire to fall in love with anyone before they’d met. Things were already moving so fast she couldn’t seem to catch her breath and though she longed to have his baby, Maddy selfishly wanted Chase all to herself for awhile.
There was, of course, still the little matter of confessing the truth about who she really was, or rather whose daughter she was, but as one day melted into another she found it more and more difficult to tell him. For one thing, she didn’t want to be swept back into high society, which was the very life
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