“What…” My brain and mouth were no longer connected. I couldn’t get another word to form in my muddled, fascinated state. The ring was so pretty. Gorgeous. My breathing escalated.
“It’s musgravite. The moment I saw the stones, I thought of you.”
“What’s it doing on my finger?” I asked. Yay! A complete thought and an important question.
He cleared his throat, his thumb rubbing my knuckles before returning to caress the ring, then back to my knuckles. “I put it there.”
Duh. I sure as heck hadn’t. “Why?”
“So the doctor would tell me?—”
“You wanted access to my medical chart.” Anger and revulsion pushed up. “Of all the manipulative?—”
“I’ve been waiting for it to be ready for the last month. I picked it up this morning, and I wanted to ask you to marry me when I came over today. I wanted you to know how much you mean to me. How much I love you.”
Gunnar’s soft words caused my jaw to snap shut. I stared at him, my gaze darting right, left, trying to read something in his expression, his eyes.
“What…what…” Dammit! He’d reduced me to an incoherent pile of mush again.
For the second time, Gunnar looked unsure. I’d never seen him as anything other than completely in charge, composed, all-knowing.
“I wanted to give it to you after that night we danced in the rain, but it wasn’t ready. And I worried you weren’t ready either. But that was more about my failings and my fear than about you, Zaila.”
I blinked at him. Apparently, he’d rendered me mute—the sweet, gorgeous, romantic asshat.
“I knew then, as rain danced over your luscious skin, that you were the only woman for me,” he said with a quiet assurance I adored. “I knew I wanted to spend every waking minute with you. Every laugh, every breath, every day. You were, are, and will always be my love, Zaila. I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear, spell out what you meant to me sooner. And I’m sorry I haven’t done a better job of letting the whole world know.”
Some machine beeped faster, almost like a squirrel’s chitter. I shook my head. “But you’ve implied for weeks that I was too young, too naïve, that I’d messed up your carefully laid plans?—”
Gunnar’s gaze was steady but dark, and he seemed to gnaw on his cheek. “I hesitated because I’m used to control, to compartmentalizing, to not caring so much. But none of those things is possible with you. And none of them is what I want.”
The beeping slowed a bit as I processed his words.
“Now, how are you feeling?” he asked.
The diagnosis terrified me, not going to lie, even to myself. “Um…okay, I think.” I looked up at him, managing a smile. “But Gunnar, I deserve more than a pity engagement.”
His lips quirked up. “What if it’s you taking pity on me?”
I rolled my eyes. “As if. You’re Gunnar Evaldson. Billionaire. Corporate genius. The most eligible bachelor in the world.”
“I hate that insipid title,” he grouched. “Look, I want you, Zaila. I always have—from the moment you doused me in Coke. Or I suppose I could say baptized me in cola.” His eyes twinkled, and I giggled.
Damn him, he still made me laugh at the dumbest things.
“I gave you that ring because I wanted to, Zaila. I need you in my life. Take some time to think about that. Take all the time you need. I’ll make sure you get –are being given—the very best treatment. Hell, the moment even a whiff of a word gets out, I bet Vivian Cruz will be at my door with her stethoscope, proclaiming herself your personal nurse. And that’s because I adore you, Zaila.”
Warmth flooded me as I thought about my friend…and how I’d dropped a bomb at her wedding. I winced as I considered Vivian’s potential reaction. I hadn’t thought about it at the time, too hurt by Gunnar’s dismissal of me.
“My guess is that Vivian can’t stand me,” I murmured.
“That’s where you’re wrong. She and Keelie have been hounding me every hour since you walked away. ‘Get off your fat ego and get Zaila before someone with an actual brain in their head beats you to her’, Vivian told me.”
I blinked. “She didn’t.”
Gunnar chuckled. “She did.”
I shook my head. “Wish I’d seen that.”
