Page 34 of The Rancher's Jilted Bride

"I want to."

She took a step closer. "But you mustn't," she said gently. "You could choose to do it for yourself, or better yet, you could choose to do it for God, but please don't do it for me. Because you could end up resenting me later on."

"I won't."

"But youcould."

"I'm not going to win this one, am I?"

"Webothwin if we make the effort toalwaysremember we're not each other's enemies. We can disagree and have misunderstandings, but one thing wecan'tever be are enemies."

It was the wisest thing he had heard in years, and this...

This just made him feel like it was only a matter of time before he fucked things up between them.

"Are you sure you didn't lie in your CV?"

"I never—-"

"Because you sound more like you're ninety than twenty-two."

"Oh, Hale."

Hale crossed his arms. "I know what you're doing. You're saying it like that—-"

Heaven couldn't stop laughing at the way he perfectly mimicked her tone when saying his name.

"—-to distract me from guessing you're real age."

"Oh, Hale!"

"Not buying—-"

He stopped speaking as she threw herself into his arms...and pain sliced into him when she started crying against his chest.

"You're not the only one who's scared."

Ah.

"I'm scared, too," she confided shakily. "I'm so, so scared I won't be able to handle it if you were to break my heart."

Fuck.

"But what scares me the most is tonottrust His choice."

She looked up at him, and his chest tightened upon seeing the tears trailing down her cheeks.

"Because I know God chose you for me, Hale."

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

"It's why I love you..."

Fuck. No. Fuck.

"And why—-"

"I want to marry you," he heard himself interrupt her.

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