Page 64 of A Fortunes of Texas Christmas (Fortunes of Texas)

“Then explain, please?”

She pointed to the flowers and to his pocket. “The point is, flowers and diamonds are not who I am. The fact you keep giving them to me shows you don’t know me at all.”

“Then tell me,” he implored. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want you to know me,” she said and held a hand to her chest. “I want you to know me deeply, in here. I want you to know what I like, what I fear, what I dream about. And I want to know you. Not the image you portray to the world—sexy and charming and brash—but everything else. Like what you dream about, what name you want to give the first child you have, what makes you happy and what makes you cry. The real you,” she said, her voice breaking, and he saw the tears in her eyes. “That’s what I want.”

Amersen wanted to hold her so much his arms actually shook. What she was asking for was something he’d never given to anyone before. And it terrified him.

“I...I...I’ve never...”

“I know,” she said when his words trailed off. “That’s why it’s so important. Without it, we can’t be anything.”

He backed up slowly and headed down the stairs, striding toward his car. When he reached the vehicle, he saw Robin on the porch, shaking her head slightly before she retreated inside. He grabbed a few things from the car and then headed back to the house. This time he didn’t knock. He walked straight inside. It was time to take what he wanted.

She was in the living room, seated on the chintz chair by the fireplace. The room was exactly as he’d remembered. Pure Robin. The lights on the Christmas tree already sparkled. The glass slippers he’d gifted her were still on the mantel, alongside the snow globe. She didn’t want gifts. She wanted him.

Every ounce of love he had in his heart felt like it was suddenly on his sleeve.

But she still looked skeptical.

“I know you wear purple because it was your grandmother’s favorite color,” he said quietly. “You never talk about her, but I know she was important to you because there are several photographs of her in your parents’ home, with you at her side. She used to make hats for you, purple ones, and you are wearing one in the picture above the fireplace. I know that being outside in a garden makes you happy and feeds your soul. I know that you want to visit many cities around the world but have not been able to afford to. I know that you want to find a relationship as loving as the one your parents have. I know that the cowboy you used to date made you feel as though you were lacking in some way. But be assured, ma chérie, you are not.” His gaze never left hers, and he saw the tears glittering brightly in her eyes. “I know that you say chocolate is your favorite food, and you actually like mint-flavored chocolate the most. I know that you feel free and alive when you are out riding your horse. I know that one day you hope to have a home with a garden so big you could spend all day walking around the grounds. I know you are kind and considerate and have sweetness etched into the deepest parts of your soul. It is why I have fallen in love with you.”

She was crying, and he longed to haul her against him. But he wasn’t done. He pulled a few items from the bag in his hand and placed them on the coffee table.

“This is my inhaler,” he explained, his throat tight. “When I was a child, I spent much time in the hospital, and after many rounds of medication the doctors recommended I start swimming, which I did, and the health of my lungs improved. You’ve seen me use it, and I admit I felt a little uncomfortable...” His words trailed off and he swallowed hard. “No, that is not right. The truth is, I felt vulnerable...and that is something I am not used to feeling with anyone. I don’t like feeling that way with anyone. But with you...it is different. I don’t mind it as much. I feel safer.”

Robin wiped another tear away as Amersen continued. “And that,” he said, pointing to a dog-eared little book, “is my English/French dictionary that my father gave me many years ago, when I was still in school. I take it everywhere with me because sometimes I forget the right word when I am speaking English, even though I have an app on my phone that will do the same thing. And this,”

he said, motioning toward a battered leather key ring, “is the first thing I bought when I made my first paycheck when I was sixteen. And if I am ever fortunate enough to be blessed with children, I would like to call our first daughter Sarah.”

She didn’t blink at the way he said our. But he couldn’t deny what was in his heart. He hoped one day to be a father—to share a child with Robin. He hoped he would be as good a parent as his own. He also hoped he could earn her love and keep it for all the days of his life.

“I know I have many flaws. I know I do not always play by the rules. But I always trust my instincts.” He took a breath—long and hard and shuddering. “And my instincts are telling me that this is right...that I am exactly where I want to be. You asked me what I dream. That is simple, ma chérie, my dreams...my dreams are all about you.”

He finished speaking and swallowed the heavy lump of emotion in his throat. She hadn’t moved. But tears were streaming down her face. Amersen blinked and realized he had tears in his own eyes, and he stepped forward, aching all over, his hands trembling. He knew what she wanted—he knew she would never settle for half measures with him. With them. She wanted all that he was, every fault, every fear, every vulnerability that he’d always carried like a burden, determined to be a better man than his biological father.

He held out his hands toward her. “My hands are full with money and ambition and fame...but without you, Robin, they are empty. You asked what makes me cry. That is easy to answer—imagining my life without you in it.”

He waited as she got to her feet. Waited as she took a couple of steps toward him. Waited as she wiped the tears from her cheeks and then pressed her thumb to the corner of his eye, feeling the moisture there. Then she pulled back and spoke, arms folded, eyes wide. “Are you quite finished?”

“Yes,” he said, his voice raw. “I have nothing else.”

“Then stop talking and kiss me.”

There was invitation in her expression, and he needed no other encouragement. Within seconds she was in his arms and he found her lips with his own, quickly losing all coherent thought as he kissed her beautiful mouth. He thrust his tongue inside, groaning as she pushed against him.

“Do not toy with me, Robin,” he said raggedly against her lips. “Tell me what I want to hear. Please.”

But she didn’t respond with words. She grabbed his head and anchored him to her, kissing him with a kind of hunger that undid him. He returned each kiss, touching her through her clothes, which suddenly wasn’t enough. Her hands were on his chest, his shoulders, and she was tugging at his jacket. He quickly ditched the jacket and her impatient fingers began unbuttoning his shirt and pulled it from his waistband. And they kissed—long and deep, drugging kisses that were hot and wet and fueled by the hours since they’d last touched. Amersen ran his hands down her back and settled on her hips for a moment before he grasped the edge of her sweatshirt and pulled it up. Within seconds the rest of their clothes were gone, landing in places around the room, and they were on the rug in front of the Christmas tree, naked, chest to breast, legs entwined, mouths fused together as their kisses got hotter and deeper.

And finally he was inside her, staring down into her beautiful face. She had never looked more lovely than she did in that moment. “Je t’aime, ma chère,” he whispered against her mouth and then translated. “I love you, my darling.”

She sighed and wrapped her legs around him, holding him close. “I love you, too. So very much.”

Amersen’s heart almost exploded in his chest. “Thank you,” he said and buried his face in her neck, moving inside her, feeling her tremble and shake beneath him. In that moment, nothing else existed—just Robin, just her legs and her arms and her sweet mouth. Just the sensuous, loving delirium that rocked him through to the core. The dim memory of other faces, other bodies, faded, and in his heart and soul there was now only her. Just this one woman he loved so much. “Thank you for loving me in return.”

She gripped him hard, and they came apart together. It was more than pleasure, more than sheer release, more than anything he’d experienced before. It was as though they had risen up and found the moon, the stars, the sun and every other planet in the universe.

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