Page 55 of Taming His Honeydoll
Now she was watching him come down the stairs, her heart beating rapidly as he caught her gaze in a predatory gleam. The open-necked white shirt he wore was paired with a casual tan jacket and jeans, giving him a sexy as hell look.
“Are you ready?” He asked softly, holding out his arm for her to take.
Yes,” she said breathlessly, desire licking along her veins in response to his question. “What are we shopping for?”
“It’s a surprise,” he replied.
They bid Rachel and Levi goodbye, then he opened the front door and ushered her out. His hand on her lower back sent tingles through her body.
They chatted about things of no consequence for the twenty minutes it took to get into Bevier, and then she was stunned when they pulled up in front of Jared’s jewelry store in the mall area off the town square. Her heart rate escalated as she turned to him with a question in her eyes.
Sawyer turned off the truck and then picked up her hand. “Emma, will you marry me?” he asked simply.
Emma was stunned. She stared at him, unable to say anything lucid. “I...I...”
His grip on her hand tightened. “I love you, Emma Tremaine, and I want you to know I’m committed to you completely. I won’t let you down again,” he promised fervently. “I want you and Levi to stay with me until we do get married. I’d like to build a small home for Mom on the property and once we are married, she will move into it. It was actually her idea a long time ago,” he added.
Emma just stared at him, the image of a boat buffeted in a storm swirling and spinning around and around until suddenly a loop shot out and snagged a post on a dock. The water immediately became calm and serene. She looked down at Sawyer’s hand holding hers and realized he was her safe harbor.
Suddenly everything seemed placid and serene. Sawyer had made a mistake. She had made mistakes too, but the answer for both of them was within their grasp. Tears slid down her cheeks as she stared mutely at him, his face staring back with uncertainty.
“Emma?”
“I-I’ve been so lost for so long,” she breathed raggedly. Gripping his hand tightly she clung to that anchor, trying to find the words to express her feelings. “I-I’m sorry, Sawyer. I did all the wrong things and just made a bad situation worse.”
He cleared his throat and took her other hand. “I’m sorry too. I put you in an untenable situation and that’s on me. I didn’t mean to, but it happened anyway and I’m really sorry.”
All the hurt she had carried for so long inside her melted away. “I-I forgive you if you’ll forgive me,” she finally whispered.
He groaned and pulled her into his chest and closed his long arms around her. “Of course, I forgive you.”
Deciding she might as well throw it out there, she spoke up. “Are you still going to spank me?” Resentment burned deep inside and she knew her sense of fair play was agitated. It was part of what had kept her on edge these last weeks, keeping her hurt and mistrust stoked.
He leaned down and placed a sweet kiss on her lips, then lifted his head. “No. Maybe you did do the wrong thing in that regard but I don’t feel like it would be fair to you given the situation you were in.”
Another burden lifted from her soul. She couldn’t keep the grin of happiness spreading across her face as she laughed. “To be fair, I think we should split the difference.”
“What do you mean?”
She considered that. “Well—a baby is a different thing apart from our personal relationship. I felt like you didn’tdeserveto know about Levi—and that’s just wrong. I was letting my hurt and anger at you make that decision. Can you honestly tell me you don’t feel the same way?”
“I willalwaysfeel that a man deserves to know he’s a father, but there can be mitigating circumstances,” he replied hesitantly.
Emma took a deep breath. “And I agree with you. Your sense of fair play has been outraged, just like mine was. So that’s why I think we should split the difference. You decide how many swats you should give me for not telling you—say one for each year of Levi’s age—and the rest of the swats will be this good-girl spanking stuff you talked about. After all, I am forgiving you,” she bargained.
“Two,” he replied, his eyes starting to twinkle down at her.
“Two what?”
“Two swats for each of Levi’s years,” he explained. “That makes eight good swats.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And when do you propose we do this?”
“How about tonight in the barn, after we get home?”
“You sure?”
He nodded in satisfaction. “Yep.”
