She shifted Colton so that she could hold out one of her hands. She rose to her feet and covered the last step that separated them. “You don’t have to do any of that,” she whispered as tears filled her eyes and she touched his arm. “All you have to do is trust me enough to let me love you and try to love me back. Time will take care of the rest.”

He wasn’t sure who reached for whom, but suddenly they were embracing, careful of the happy baby between them. Jonathan touched her and kissed her and stroked her face.

“I love you,” he said. “Both of you. And your family. I want you in my life. All of you. I can’t let you go. I want you to be Colton’s mother and my wife and I want to give you as many babies as you want. Just promise you’ll never leave.” He cupped her face in his hands. “You are my world, Cynthia. I couldn’t survive without you.”

She continued to cry, but he had grown enough to recognize happy tears when he saw them. “Tell me you’ll marry me,” he said.

She laughed. “In a hot minute. I love you. I want to be with you for always.” She pressed her mouth to his. “Oh, and this is where I point out that I’ve always known you were a good and loving man. You’ve fought me on that point, but I was right.”

Some of the tension inside of him eased. She was his. He wasn’t going to have to learn to live without her. Love. Did he really feel it? He searched his full heart and knew that it had been there all along…waiting to be let out.

“Whatever I am, it’s because of you,” he told her.

They kissed again. As he held her Jonathan knew that there was much work yet to be done. He had to make things right with Jenny and the boys. He had to talk to Betsy and convince her that he was good enough for her oldest daughter. Then he had to take Cynthia to bed and make love with her until they were both breathless. Finally there was a wedding to plan.

But he faced the future with a sense of joy and hope he’d never felt before. With Cynthia at his side, he knew he could do anything…even give his heart for a lifetime.

SUSAN MALLERY

is the bestselling author of over thirty books for Silhouette. Always a fan of romance novels, Susan finds herself in the unique position of living out her own personal romantic fantasy with the new man in her life. Susan lives in sunny Southern California with her handsome hero husband and her two adorable-but-not-bright cats.