Page 53 of Dante
"There's beef as well."
"Oh. No, I'm full." She gazed at the bowl in surprise to find it empty. "I find that when I eat too much, I tend to be queasy."
"Are you?"
"No." She shook her head. "I was before, but the soup took care of it."
He stacked the plates and left them on the table.
"Should I take them down?"
"Why?" he asked in surprise.
"I was just wondering. I'm not used to leaving dirty dishes lying around."
"Mrs. Hughes would be offended if we start doing her job."
"We can't just leave them here," she protested.
"That's exactly what we're going to do." Taking her hand, he helped her up and onto his lap.
"What're you doing?"
"What does it look like?" he asked mildly. "Getting us more comfortable." He toyed with the fringes of her hair at the base of her neck. "I never thought I wanted to be a father. My own dad was a no show. He came around a few years ago, just popped up, claiming that he wanted to be more involved in my life."
A grim smile touched his lips. "Claimed that he was scared and that's the reason he ran. Said he's now running a 'foundation' to help teenagers who have been abandoned by their parents."
"He wanted money."
"Yeah. Wanted a slice of what I worked so hard for over the years. I took care of the woman who beat the crap out of me every chance she got and saw to it that she lived comfortably until her former lifestyle caught up with her. She died of kidney failure. Too much alcohol will do that to you." His fingers lingered on her neck.
"I told the old man that I wasn't about to have history repeating itself. I threw some money his way and told him that was that. No more. He threatened to go to the press and tell them what a heartless son of a bitch I was, and I told him to go ahead. He was not getting another red cent out of me."
"I don't blame you." She touched the side of his face and felt her heart melting for the boy who had suffered so much.
"I said all of that to say this. I want to give your baby my name."
She stared at him in shock, her mind whirling. "I..."
"I want you to marry me. I've never proposed before and I might end up messing things up. But here's the deal. I think I'm in love with you. Having never been in love before, never even coming close, I'm still trying to process."
"You want to marry me."
"Yes."
"And give my baby your name."
"Yes. What do you say?"
"And you love me."
"Yes. Believe me when I say I tried a hell of a lot not to."
She gave him an unconsciously haughty look that had him grinning.
"Is that so?"
He framed her face between his palms. "A hell of a lot." Tilting her head up, he laid his lips on hers and for the next few minutes as he deepened the kiss, everything slid from her brain.
