Page 67 of Heal Me
She made a wry face. “As far as I know, there’s only one other thing you do that bothers me.”
“What is it?”
“You have to be away so much. I understand why, but you being in a plane so much terrifies me about as much as me rock climbing does you.”
Ric laughed. “You go hang gliding, but you don’t like flying?”
“I know it’s stupid, but that’s how I feel. But there’s no getting around that,” Kate said.
“Well, actually, there is,” Ric said. “Since you and I have gotten together, my heart is always here with you. New York isn’t my home. It never was. I lived there, but I wasn’t truly happy there. It was hard being so far away last year when Hayley was so sick and you see how hard it is for me to come home when I want to.”
Kate nodded. “Or sometimes you have to leave on short notice.”
“Right. I don’t want to be in New York anymore. Therefore, we’re working on a deal to sell our New York division to Lisbon. I’m going to run the Denver office and Tyler’s going to oversee things with the hospital. Chase loves L.A., and he’s having a blast with all of the marketing, so he’s staying put.” Ric took her hand. “That way, I can be home most of the time and we can be weekend warriors together. What do you think?”
Ric calmly met her eyes, but anxiety gnawed at his stomach while he waited for her answer.
She chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip and Ric almost groaned with the desire to kiss her. Would she accept or tell him to go to hell? His nerves stretched taut as he awaited her answer.
*****
Kate knew how hard it was to admit that you were wrong about something and she knew that Ric’s apology was sincere. Now that he’d explained his position and why he was so uncomfortable with her climbing and cliff diving, Kate was sympathetic to his feelings. His compromise wasn’t unreasonable. After all, he was giving up something, too.
It showed that he was a man of integrity and that he had a strong sense of fairness. She liked that he wasn’t being demanding like he had been last week. His ultimatum had cut deeply and she’d been certain that they were through. Yet here he was asking her to reconsider and work things out.
Her resistance crumbled and tears filled her eyes as she nodded. “If you truly love me then I accept.”
“I love you more than my next breath, that’s why I reacted the way I did. I couldn’t bear it if I lost you.”
“I love you too.”
“Are you sure?” Ric asked warily.
“Yeah. I’m very sure.”
His arms came around her, pulling her hard against his chest, and his eyes locked on hers. “I’m so sorry, honey, and I’ll never do that again,” he promised. “I love you so much and I need you.”
Winding her arms around his neck, Kate smiled as tears leaked from her eyes. “I accept your apology. I love you, too. And I need you.”
The impulse to kiss him was too strong to resist. She pressed her lips to his sensual mouth and he immediately deepened the kiss. Kate reveled in the hungry way he devoured her lips and lightly stroked his tongue against hers. Need for him rose quickly and she leaned against him harder.
Ric abruptly broke the kiss. “God, Kate, I want you so much. I missed you. Not just our lovemaking, but just being with you.”
“I’ve missed you, too. I want you. Make love to me,” she said.
Ric looked around. “We’re a little too out in the open here.” He turned the ignition on again. “But I know the perfect place to go where we’ll have some privacy.”
As he put the Hummer in gear, Kate reached over and ran her hand up his thigh until she encountered a bulge under his jeans. She rubbed and played with it. Ric groaned and drove faster.
“Doc, I hope you’re not going to need a lot of foreplay, because I don’t think I can wait,” he said as he turned down another dirt track that ran through thick forest. Suddenly, he whipped the wheel to the right and they plowed through low hanging tree branches until it seemed as though the forest had swallowed them up.
He stopped and put the Beast in park. As he reached for her, he smiled and a soft light shone in his eyes. “I’m never going to let you get away, Kate. You’re the woman I’ve been waiting for all my life and I don’t want to ever be without you. You’re everything I could ever want in a woman and so much more. Katherine Rose Donoghue, the woman I love more than life itself, will you do me the huge honor of becoming my wife?”
Kate’s heart felt like it was going to leap right out of her chest. Was she dreaming or had Ric just proposed to her? She could only stare at him as he produced a ring from his jeans pocket and held it in front of her. It was a breathtaking Princess cut diamond nestled inside of a cluster of tiny diamonds.
“Kate?”
Looking into Ric’s eyes, Kate saw his powerful love for her and her heart echoed that love. She was ready. Ready to risk her heart again because of this man. It was Ric who brought life back to her and of course love. “Yes, Ric, I’ll marry you.”
