She smiled, tracing patterns on his chest with her fingertip.“You’ll have to love me less.”
“I can’t.”
She closed her eyes, because she felt weepy again.It was overwhelming to be adored so thoroughly.She might need gradual exposure to this much pleasure and passion.His tenderness could only be handled in small doses.
“We should get married,” he said, stroking her hair.
She lifted her head.“What?”
“I want to marry you.”
Meredith scrambled upright.“You can’t be serious.”
“I am serious,” he said.“I love you, and I want to make it official.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
He straightened slightly, resting his weight on the uninjured elbow.“Say yes.”
She rose from the bed and grabbed her robe off the hook.She donned the garment with shaking hands.
“I’ve botched it, haven’t I?”
“It’s not the kind of offer you just throw out there, on impulse.”
Rising from the bed, he tugged on a pair of sweatpants.“Right.I can do better.”
She cinched the belt of her robe in a tight knot.“Are you worried that I’m pregnant?”
“No.”
“Do you get hit on the head earlier?”
“No,” he said, giving her a crooked smile.“I looked down the barrel of a gun and thought I was going to die.That experience made me reevaluate my priorities.I know exactly what I want and how I feel.”
“You had a near-death experience.Maybe it’s not the best time to make life decisions.”
He took her in his arms.“I’m not going to change my mind.”
She lifted her hand to his cheek.“We’ve only been on one date, Wade.You took me to a gravesite.”
“Yeah.That’s going to be hard to top.”
She laughed, shaking her head.
“We’ve only been on oneofficialdate,” he said, “but we’ve been together constantly.You were stuck with me on the day of the tornado, and when you volunteered the day after.I gave you a massage in the kitchen on Monday, when we shared our first kiss.You slept with me on Tuesday night.”
“That night doesn’t count.”
“On Wednesday, we took your dog to the vet,” he continued, undeterred.“Thursday and Friday you tried to avoid me, mostly unsuccessfully.Saturday we went on a picnic and enjoyed multiple sexual encounters—”
“I don’t need a recap,” she interrupted.“I was there.”
“My point is that we’ve spent a lot of hours together.At least ten dates’ worth.Also, mind-blowing sex is worth ten more dates.”
She pretended to count on her fingers.“What kind of math is that?”
“Sex math.It’s very scientific.”
