“We’ll figure it out,” he promised. “Hell, I’llbuildyou a house, if I need to.”
My heart leapt at how deeply he cared, the lengths he was prepared to go to, but then my pride overtook my relief. “I appreciate that, Whit, truly. But I can’t. I already feel like I’ve taken advantage of your generosity with Dawes House. I can’t continue to live off your charity, especiallynow.”
He lifted my chin. “Zellie, it’s not charity. But if staying in one of the other properties makes you uncomfortable, I want you and Henry to come stay here.”
I shook my head, not understanding. “What do you mean? You’re offering for us to move in with you?”
“Well, yeah,” he said, his lips curving into a smile. “But more than that. I’m offering you my heart, Zellie. Marry me.”
I could only stare at him for a few seconds, too shocked to immediately respond. When I found my voice, my words terse, tight, as my defenses went up. “Whit…I… Don’t joke about something like that.”
His smile grew. “I’m not joking. I know it’s sudden—”
“No kidding.”
“—but I love you, Zellie.Do you loveme?”
I blinked at him, stunned but certain. “Yes.” I said it without hesitation. I loved him so much my heart ached at the thought of ever having to say goodbye again. “I do love you, Whit.”
“Then why wait?”
“Why rush?”
He leveled his gaze at me, suddenly serious. “Because I’m not the only one who’s been lonely too long. I just want to make you happy, give you and Henry everything you’ve ever wanted.”
I kissed him once, twice. “You are everything I could’ve asked for, Whit. More than I ever expected. And no matter what happens, you will always be one of the most amazing things to happen to me.”
“But?” he prompted softly.
“We barely know each other,” I insisted.
A mischievous grin draped his lips. “I’d say we know each other pretty well at this point.”
The way he looked at me brought a rush of heat to my skin. “You know what I mean. I’ve told you a lot about me, sure, but there are still things you don’t know. And I know almost nothing about you.”
He nodded. “Fair enough. Ask me anything.”
“Okay,” I said, my mind racing with all kinds of questions. So, of course, I started with a lame one. “Favorite color?”
He gave me a look. “Our entire future depends on my favorite color? No pressure.”
I smacked his arm playfully. “Whit!”
He laughed. “Okay, okay.” His gaze wandered to the discarded dress on the floor. “Red. Next?”
“Where did you go to school?”
“I had private tutors growing up,” he said, his voice shifting into that guarded tone he used when talking about his childhood. But why where he attended school would make him uneasy was a mystery. “I went to college at Oxford.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Seriously? I’ve always wanted to visit the UK—or anywhere, really.”
“Where have you been so far?” he asked, eager to switch the focus back to me, it seemed.
I shrugged. “Well, we lived in Kentucky when I was born. Then Tennessee for a few years. South Carolina. Now Georgia.”
“What about vacations?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’ve never been on a vacation. We didn’t even have a place to live sometimes, so the closest I ever got to a vacation was sleeping on my mom’s friends’ couches.”
