Page 65 of A Fortunes of Texas Christmas (Fortunes of Texas)

When they returned to earth, he didn’t move. He couldn’t. His legs were heavy, and his arms were going numb. But he didn’t care. He just wanted to hold her for eternity.

“You know,” she said softly, kissing his shoulder. “We have to move at some point.”

“I cannot bear the thought of being apart from you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she assured him. “But I am a little cold right now.”

She had a point. By now it was dark outside, and they’d neglected to start a fire. But he didn’t want to ruin the mood by worrying about a fire.

He moved and sat up, grabbing a blanket from the back of the sofa and wrapping it around his shoulders, before he settled himself against the wall and then cradled her in his lap, her back pressed against his chest. “So, you never did answer the question.”

She turned her head, resting her cheek against his collarbone. “Actually, I don’t think you asked. More like demanded.”

He knew she was teasing, and any other time he would have played along, but not having an answer was killing him. “Marry me? Please?”

She grabbed his hand and linked their fingers intimately, smiling audaciously. “So...where’s my ring?”

He grinned. “In my jacket.”

“Where’s your jacket?”

Amersen pointed across the room. “Over there.”

She giggled and stretched, grabbing a fire poker while trying to keep the blanket over her nakedness. Then she used the poker to fish for his jacket and dragged it along the carpet, laughing delightedly.

“You know,” he said after several attempts, “it would probably be easier to walk over there and get it.”

“But nowhere near as much fun.”

“True,” he said and trailed a series of kisses across her nape. “But try not to put a hole in my jacket, okay, ma chérie?”

She laughed, clearly finding him hilarious. “You are such a slave to fashion, city boy. I suppose I also need to get used to your handsome face being plastered on every billboard in Texas once Amersen Noir is launched,” she said as she tossed the jacket at his face and then laughed again.

Amersen growled playfully and then extracted the small velvet box from the pocket. He held it in front of her and waited. It took about two seconds for Robin to take the box and flip the lid.

“Oh.” She sighed. “It’s beautiful. Simply perfect.”

The purple amethyst, set in platinum, was surrounded by a series of flawless diamonds—as soon as he’d spotted the ring, he knew it was the one for Robin. The delight in her expression was all the confirmation he needed on that score.

“Does that mean you’ll wear it?” he asked hopefully.

She held the ring between two fingers and looked at him. “How long have you had it?”

“About three hours,” he replied. “Ben helped me choose it.”

Her nose wrinkled. “Ben?”

He grinned ruefully. “My...half brother.”

Her blue eyes widened dramatically, and she turned in his arms. “What? You saw him?”

“Saw him,” he said. “Met him. Talked with him. And I talked to Gerald.”

Her expression softened. “And how did it go?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Better than I had imagined. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but it was...okay.”

She reached up and touched his jaw, pressing her palm lovingly. “I’m so proud of you.”

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