Page 60 of Prime Time

“And now tonight. Whatever possessed you to propose like that?”

“There’s safety in numbers. I was afraid you’d turn me down if I asked you nicely.”

“I should have slapped your face.”

“But you didn’t. I think deep down you have the soul of a hussy.” Before she could offer a rejoinder, he was kissing her mouth with a fervor that threatened to give proof to his words.

She curled against him, thrilling to the touch of his naked flesh along her body. A small laugh starting in her chest gained force until it broke through her lips. “I was just thinking about what Gabe Sanders said about you.”

“And?”

“He said you were likely to do what you damn well pleased.”

“Did he now?” he drawled, tilting her lips up for another long, deep kiss.

They had returned to her hotel room as soon as they could push their way through the curious crowd that disembarked from the barge. The moment he closed the door behind them, he caught her in his arms and said gravely, “Andy, I love you. Don’t ever leave me. Marry me.”

“I love you, too, Lyon. I want so badly to marry you.”

“Children?”

“A man once told me that it was a dreadful waste that I hadn’t had children before.”

He smiled, his eyes loving her face as it was turned up to his. He cupped it between his palms. “I love the woman you are.”

“Less than a week ago you didn’t think I was too much of a woman.”

“I thought so all along. I just didn’t want you to know I did. You scared hell out of me.”

“Scared you? How?”

“Because I was so sure about everything. I thought I had my life just the way I wanted it, set apart from everyone. I wanted no commitments and no responsibilities. I certainly didn’t want anyone to love me, because that would mean loving her back, and I didn’t want to take the risk.”

His finger ironed out the crease of her worried frown. “You came along and knocked the slats out from under me. I wanted you from the first time I saw you. Carnal lust. Pure and simple. Then when I saw how you were with Dad and how vulnerable you looked that day we got caught in the rain, I started loving you. I wanted to hate you for reducing me to such a lowly state. But I couldn’t. When I had finally driven you away for good, I came to my senses. I had to come after you, praying that you’d have me.”

“I’ll have you. Now and always,” she said with trembling lips. “I had given up hope of having a life with a man I loved. My first marriage was such a disappointment. I was convinced I was cut out for a career, not a home, family. I want to share your life, Lyon, be your partner in everything.”

“I meant what I said earlier about a television station. If you want to continue working, that’s okay with me.”

“I’ll think about it on a part-time basis. I may miss it after a while.”

“You’re too good at it to give it up completely. For all my implications to the contrary, I do recognize your professionalism, your talent.”

“Thank you for saying so. But I hope you never stop thinking of me as a sex object.”

“You can count on that.”

The wide, cool bed received them, and now, an hour later, they were still rejoicing in their professions of love.

“How did you find me?” she asked lazily.

“I called Telex and asked for your next of kin. They gave me your mother’s telephone number. I called, introduced myself charmingly and told her I was her future son-in-law, but that I’d misplaced my bride. She was the happy bearer of the news that you had called her from here and that you were planning a trip to Mexico and that I’d better hurry if I intended to catch you in time. I think, Ms. Malone, that she wants to marry you off.”

“I guess that long-distance call to my mother this afternoon was worth every penny … Oh, Lyon … you have such a talent for changing the … the subject.”

His hand had been lovingly, playfully caressing her breast, plumping it in his hand. A mischievous thumb skated over the dusky nipple, and he watched with a mixture of wonder and delight when it peaked with arousal. It was a temptation not to be denied. He touched it with his tongue.

“You taste so good,” he said. The sudden greediness that seized him told her more than did his words. She was drawn into the sweet, wet vise of his mouth.

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