“You’re trying to keep me in a perpetual state of… of—” Dang it! What was the word she wanted. Unable to find it or deal with his self-satisfied smirk, she settled for, “Weakness. Strike when the enemy is least prepared, right?”
“I don’t consider you my enemy, Rebecca. But yes, surprise is a method often employed to achieve the upper hand in most types of negotiations.” Shadows, dark and searching, entered his eyes, his expression. “We both know what Saturday was about. I’d rather not waste additional minutes backtracking over already-covered ground.”
“Agreed. As long as you understand I’m not accepting your proposal.”
“That would be called backtracking, as you made that quite clear three days ago.”
She couldn’t decide if he was up to something or simply trying to put her at ease. Raising her chin, she said in a bore-no-room-for-argument tone, “I won’t change my mind.”
“Understood.” Seth reached out to touch her, but pulled back. “You look upset. I’ve heard that stress can sometimes cause problems during pregnancy. My goal isn’t to upset you.”
“I’m fine and so is the baby.” She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “We’re okay.”
Relief eased the furrows that etched his brow. He bent slightly at the waist, as if he were a gentleman from a long-ago time and she his lady, and held out his hand. “Shall we continue with your walk then?”
Because the idea of walking side by side with Seth was so very appealing, she pointed to the school a few blocks up. “I’m going there. Then, I’ll go home. Why don’t you wait on my porch and let me finish my walk in peace. We can talk when I get back.”
“I’d rather stay with you.”
“I won’t be long and you… you can spend the time searching for your ring.”
One corner of his mouth quirked in a delicious sort of half smile. “Drives you crazy that I left the ring there, doesn’t it?”
“Not crazy. I happen to think it’s… senseless.”
“It’s a valuable ring,” Seth said with less concern than he might show for a lost quarter. “Someone could find it… probably resell it for a decent amount. Finders keepers, I guess.”
“Exactly. Which is why you should locate the dang ring.”
“I find I’m… content knowing the ring is on your property. So, Rebecca,” he said, lifting his fingers to flutter gently in her hair. “If you really want to return your engagement ring, you’ll have to conduct your own search.”
Her breath caught at his touch, at the tingles of pleasure that teased and bobbed along her skin so effortlessly. “Your ring,” she said in a husky whisper. “I never accepted it.”
“But you did, sweetheart. I have vivid recall of that moment.”
She pulled out of his hold, fast, before she did something utterly stupid and kissed him. Because yes, that was exactly what her traitorous body craved. Nothing but hormones. “I can claim what was in my head far more accurately than you can. And I did not accept your ring.”
“Hmm. I suppose we’ll have to agree to disagree.” Seth captured her hand in his. “Let’s finish our walk before it gets dark. Have you eaten dinner yet?”
“Um… no. I thought I’d make dinner later.” Without thinking, she matched her stride to Seth’s when he took off toward the school. “Sandwiches and fresh fruit. Nothing special, but enough for two. If you’re hungry, that is. Since we have to talk, anyway.”
Gracious. Now she was blabbering.
“That sounds good.” Seth’s thumb traced an invisible circle on the outside of her hand. “Maybe we can go out for ice cream after.”
“Maybe.”
Seth continued to absently rub his thumb in that lazy, circular motion. Warmth followed his touch, wherever skin met skin, until she’d have sworn a circle of fire had been branded on her hand. She wasn’t supposed to be doing this—holding hands with Seth, taking an evening stroll together and talking about what their plans were for the evening.
This was not what she wanted.
They reached the sidewalk that ran alongside the school. Nodding toward the benches on the far side of the playground, she said, “Let’s stop here for a minute. I’m a little tired.”
Seth’s hold on her hand tightened. “You’re feeling okay, though?”
“Yes, Seth. Nothing’s wrong that a few minutes off my feet won’t cure.”
“We should have turned back sooner,” was his gruff response. But he led her to the benches, and once there, waited for her to sit before taking the spot next to her. “Is it normal to tire after a few blocks of walking? Should I be worried?”
“It is normal, and no, you shouldn’t worry.” Deciding to poke a stick into the cage to see if she could wake the bear, she said, “You don’t seem angry with me anymore. Why is that?”
“I’ve calmed down,” he said in a quiet, if terse, timbre. “Remaining angry at something that can’t be changed is useless. I’d rather move forward.”
“Forward how?” One breath in, another out. “I’m confused by your change in behavior. What’s your plan here?”
“I thought we’d finish our walk, have some dinner, engage in a little conversation and maybe go out for ice cream,” he said easily. Convincingly. “I thought we’d established that.”
“What about tomorrow, or the next day, or the one after that?”
Stretching out his legs, he said, “We’ll figure that out tomorrow, and the next day, and the one after that.”
Had she ever met such a confusing man? Rebecca didn’t think so. Actually, she’d be willing to bet she hadn’t, and she hated games of chance. “Thanks for clearing that up.”
“No problem.” Suddenly, he tipped his head to the right while his gaze shifted away from hers. He scooted off the bench, and before her brain could piece together his movements, Seth Foster was, once again, kneeling in front of her.
“No! No way.” Thumpa-thumpa-thumpa went her heart. “I told you earlier that I am not accepting your proposal. Ever. This isn’t the 1800s, or even the 1950s. A woman can remain single and have a baby. It happens all the time now.” She started to pull herself up, which frankly, wasn’t that easy of a task, when Seth’s hand grasped her foot.
“Relax, Rebecca. I’m not proposing. Though, it bears saying that your repeated and emphatic refusals are beginning to wear on me.” He sighed the sigh of a hurt man. She didn’t buy it for a second. “I do have some pride, you know.”
Not proposing? “But you’re kneeling.”
“I am.” He tugged at the laces on her left sneaker. “I’m tying your shoe, before you fall and I have to spend the night pacing in the hospital, worrying if you and our baby are okay.”
“Oh.” She took that in and shrugged in feigned indifference. “Well, then. Go ahead.”
“Besides which,” he said in an irritatingly cheerful manner, “You’ll be proposing to me soon enough. And when you do, Rebecca, I promise you that I will say yes.”
Chapter Four
Seth plugged the address he’d written down that morning into his GPS and put the car into drive. Mild temperatures, lush greenery and a dynamite view of Mount Hood on a clear day—like today—made Portland in June a beautiful place to be.
He’d