Page 26 of Bargain Match

“Okay.”

I take a deep breath. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

His brow relaxes. “You don’t have to apologize.”

“Yes, I do.” I gently stroke his chest, cherishing the feel of his heart pounding under my hand. “I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions and that I didn’t give you a chance to explain. I guess… I guess I’m just not used to seeing romances end well.”

He gives me an understanding look and presses a kiss to his forehead. “I know. You’ve had a front-row seat to every disappointment your mom had. I don’t blame you for not trusting love or your heart.”

“Yeah, but I should have trusted you.” I grip his shirt and pull him even closer. “Because you’ve never let me down.”

“And I never will.”

His lips are on mine again, our mouths hungrily devouring each other. His fingers dig into my hips. Mine slide into his hair, tugging his head so I can get a better taste of him.

It’s as if now that we know where we stand, now that there are no hard feelings, we can’t get enough of each other.

If I’d known it would be this good between us, I would have fallen in love with my best friend years ago.

“I have an idea,” he says when we pull apart, chests rising up and down rapidly, to take a breath. “It probably sounds crazy, but?—”

“We’ve already established that we’re both crazy.” I give him a tight squeeze. “Just tell me.”

“Marry me.”

My heart stops. “What?”

“Marry me.” He tucks a curl behind my ear and cups my cheek. “Marry me because I love you enough to go along with your schemes. Even when they sound crazy. Marry me because I love you so much that the idea of you ending up with another guy made me do something even crazier. Marry me because I love you more than anything in the world. We’re best friends. We’re lovers. We might as well be husband and wife too.”

I give a light laugh even as emotion threatens to steal my breath. “We should get married because we might as well be husband and wife?”

“You know what I mean.”

“I do.” I swallow hard, waiting for the fear that usually overcomes me whenever a guy asks me to make a commitment. But it doesn’t.

That gives me my answer. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Burke’s lips curve up. “Okay, you’ll marry me?”

“Okay, I’ll marry you. Because… because you love me enough to go along with my crazy schemes. And because—clearly—your ideas are even crazier than mine.” I laugh as his eyes narrow. “But, mostly, I’ll marry you because I love you. And… the idea of spending the rest of our lives together doesn’t scare me.”

“Good. Because it terrifies the hell out of me.”

I elbow him in the ribs, and he chuckles. “If you think marrying me is scary, wait until you hear what I have to say next.”

“I’m on pins and needles here, honey.”

My heart flutters at the endearment.

“We should get married here.”

The smile slips from his face and his eyes get wide. “What?”

“Hear me out.” I moisten my lips, my fluttering heart now racing. “When we get back to Alaska, it’s going to be go go go in terms of really getting our business off the ground, right.”

“That’s the goal.” He swallows hard. “That’s the plan.”

“And being crazy busy with work isn’t really the best set-up for planning a wedding. I mean, we could end up being engaged for years at that rate.”

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