With a pounding heart, she gazed up at him and wanted him. In spite of all her anger, she thrilled to his kisses and enjoyed being with him.
When the dance ended, she turned abruptly for their table. He caught up with her and took her arm.
“Now maybe I’ve worked up some kind of appetite,” he said when they’d sat. In minutes, he had his red wine and her water poured. He raised his glass in a toast. “Here’s to a fabulous marriage,” he said, waiting while she glared at him.
“How can you toast a sham marriage when you’ve coerced me into accepting?”
“Make the best of it,” he said lightly, still waiting.
Exasperated, she picked up her glass, touched his and took a sip.
With deliberation he set down his glass and reached across the table. “Give me your hand.”
Mystified, she did as he asked, watching his warm fingers encircle hers. “Since when do you want to hold hands through dinner? But then, I don’t really know you.”
“You will. We’ll discover each other, and that’s an exciting prospect. It’ll be a fulfillment of dreams.” His strong, warm hand closed gently around hers while he gazed into her eyes. “Ashley, marry me.”
“You’re asking again? I told you this morning I would. I assume this request comes with the same conditions.”
He gave an almost imperceptible nod as he reached in a pocket and produced a box. Opening it, he slid a ring on her finger.
Five
How many times was he going to surprise her? Stunned again, she stared for a moment at the sparkling, enormous diamond on a wide gold band, surrounded by a spray of smaller diamonds.
“Great heavens!” she exclaimed. She pulled her hand away to look down at the ring, which dazzled her. “That’s magnificent!” she exclaimed, glancing up at him. “I don’t understand.”
“What can’t you understand?” he asked, momentarily frowning. “I want you to be my wife. I’ve given you an engagement ring to seal the promise.”
“It’s worth a fortune, and there’s not one shred of love between us.”
“Stop reminding me,” he said somberly, and grasped her hand once more. “Look, I’ll ask you again to give us a chance to let love flourish. I wouldn’t do this otherwise.”
She wished she could believe him, but she couldn’t. “Ryan, if I weren’t pregnant, you’d pull out of this engagement so fast I’d be in a spin.”
Something flickered in the depths of his eyes, a confirmation to her of what she’d just declared. “I don’t know what I’d do, because I like the idea of marriage to you,” he said. “But that’s beside the point. There’s a baby to consider. Now, let’s make some plans.”
Shaking her head, she looked down at the ring, which was beautiful beyond her wildest dreams, and yet what she longed for, what was a lot more important than diamonds or a ring was his love.
Their waiter came and placed crystal plates with tossed greens in front of them.
As soon as they were alone again, Ryan took her hand once more. “Even if we break it off later, this will give the baby my name and a heritage. It will give me more rights to my child,” he said quietly, and she heard a note of steel in his voice that chilled her.
“Are you going to try to take this baby from me?” she asked, wondering about his intentions. Now that she’d discovered he had a ruthless streak, she found him an enigma.
“Never. I couldn’t ever hurt a child by taking it from its mother. This is my baby, and I’ll love it. You should know that much about me by now.”
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