“I stopped at the airport on my way here. I traded in my ticket for two open-ended vouchers. The thought of three months alone in Europe no longer holds any appeal. But visiting for a week or two-with you-does.”

“You want me to go to Europe with you?”

“Yes. Whenever we can work it into our schedules.”

“And you’re sure about this?”

“Positive. You know that Olympic torch? That’s nothing compared to what I’m carrying for you.”

Adam reached out and clasped her shoulders, grimly noting that his hands weren’t quite steady. His gaze searched her face, hoping for a clue to her thoughts, but the only thing he saw for certain was that she looked sort of…dazed. And stunned.

Hell, was that good or bad? Why didn’t women come with instruction manuals? Clearing his throat, he said, “You’re uncharacteristically quiet. Care to tell me what you’re thinking?”

She blinked several times then looked at him through those big, melting, brown eyes that never failed to deliver a visceral impact.

“I was thinking that this is rather…ironic.”

“Ironic? Is that…good? Because I gotta tell ya, fabulous or terrific were definitely more what I’d hoped for.”

Not a trace of amusement flickered in her very serious gaze, and a very unpleasant knot gripped his stomach.

“Like you,” she said softly, “I spent the entire night thinking. Soul-searching. Trying to pinpoint precisely what I wanted. And like you, I finally figured it out, and had planned to tell you tonight at the airport. Nine years ago, I made a mistake by not laying all my cards on the table and I don’t want to make the same mistake now.”

After drawing a breath, she continued, “Back then, you made me feel things I’d never dreamed possible. Things I haven’t felt to that degree with anyone since. Things I’d basically given up on ever experiencing again. It was to the point where I almost believed I’d imagined I ever felt such…magic. But last night irrevocably proved it was no figment of my imagination.”

She squeezed his hands, and he returned the gesture. “I find what you told me ironic because it so closely mirrors what I want to tell you. I want to see where that magic might lead, and I’m willing to do whatever’s necessary to give it a chance.”

“Meaning what?”

“I understand you wanting, needing to leave Manhattan, and if things show signs of working out between us, well, I wouldn’t allow a house to come between us.”

He went completely still. “Are you saying you’d sell your house? Move?”

“If it came to that, yes. I don’t want to let life separate us again without knowing for sure what we might have together. Because I want, very much, to see where this might lead. Because you make me happy. In bed, out of bed. Just looking at you makes me happy. It always has. From the first day I met you.”

Relief whooshed through him and he expelled a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d held. A joy-filled laugh escaped him and he pulled her into his arms, hugging her close. “You know, right from day one of our friendship it was almost eerie how we were so often on the same wavelength.”

“Obviously we still are,” she said, smiling into his eyes.

“Thank God.” Pulling her closer, he kissed her deeply, possessively, every cell in his body coming alive. When he’d satisfied his need to explore her luscious mouth, he left her lips to trail hungry kisses down her soft, fragrant throat.

She arched her neck, giving him better access, and moaned. Tunneling her fingers through his hair, she said in a smoky voice, “I’ll give you five hours to cut that out.”

“Five?”

“Okay, six hours. But not a minute more.”

“Great.” Bending his knees, he swooped her into his arms and headed swiftly down the hallway. “I vote we seal this occasion with that nooner fantasy of yours, brown-eyed girl.”

Her smile could have lit a room during a blackout. “And there’s that same-wavelength thing again.”

Epilogue

Three months later…


MALLORY USED HER KEY to open the door of the fixer-upper Adam had recently purchased. This house was his second venture into his new career, the first having gone extremely well, netting him a nice profit when it had resold last week-also netting her a nice commission in the process.

Dust motes floated on the ribbons of late-afternoon sunlight pouring in the windows, and the rhythmic pop of a nail gun drifted up from the basement. A smile tugged at her lips. She knew exactly how he’d look-dusty, disheveled, gorgeous and sexy. How he managed to look gorgeous and sexy while being dusty and disheveled was one of those unfair advantages men just had over women. Her heart sped up with the knowledge that in less than one minute she’d be in his arms.

When they’d decided three months ago to see where their attraction might go, she’d been hopeful things would go well. She’d had no idea that things would go so extraordinarily well. Their relationship had bloomed into one of mutual respect and admiration. The awareness and sexual fire that smoldered between them continued to burn as hot as ever. She’d never known she could be this happy. This content. Or that she would fall this deeply in love. Again. With the same man. Only loving him even more now than the first time around.

Opening the basement door, she slowly descended the stairs. The nail-gun noise stopped, and Adam must have heard her footfalls because he came to the bottom of the stairs. Her heart sighed with pleasure at the sight of him.

“Hi, gorgeous,” he said. He smiled up at her, but she noticed that the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Funny, I was just about to say the same thing.”

He raised his brows and looked down at his dust-streaked T-shirt and his old faded jeans that bore a multitude of smudges. “I’m a mess.”

She stopped on the last step so that they were on eye level and, without the slightest thought to her black suit, looped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. “A gorgeous, sexy mess who’d better kiss me right now. Or else.”

He leaned back, evading her kiss. “Or else what?”

“Or else I won’t tell him about the handyman’s special that was just listed on the market today.”

“Done.” He kissed her in that toe-curling, knee-weakening way of his that never failed to leave her breathless. But something felt…different. As if he were distracted. Her suspicion was confirmed when he leaned back and their gazes met. Normally when she greeted him, he looked at her with either warm amusement or blatant heat. Right now she saw neither. In fact, he suddenly looked very…unamused. Very serious.

“You okay?” she asked.

Something flashed in his eyes that she couldn’t decipher other than to know it didn’t reassure her. Neither did the fact that he released her and backed up a step.

“We need to talk,” he said.

Uh-oh. Normally those words wouldn’t have worried her, but there was something in his eyes, in his demeanor that edged real worry down her spine.

Reaching out, she rested her hand on his arm. “What’s wrong, Adam?”

He raked a hand through his dusty hair. “I’ve been thinking about…us. And the thing is, Mallory…I’m not happy anymore.”

Everything inside her seemed to stall. Her breath, her heart, her blood. An odd, numb sensation eased through her limbs and she had to lock her knees to keep them from shaking.

Not happy anymore? How was this possible? When had this happened? She wanted to ask him, but the words simply wouldn’t come. Instead she just stared at him, his words echoing through her mind. When she was finally able to speak, all that came out was a whispered, “Not happy?”

He shook his head. “No. And I need to do something about it. That’s why I brought you that.” He jerked his head toward the far corner of the half-finished basement. Mallory turned and a puzzled frown pulled at her brows.

“A suitcase?” she murmured. His way of telling her to take a hike? Or maybe she’d misunderstood? A sliver of sunshine worked its way through the dark cloud his words had brought. Maybe the suitcase was filled with clothes-his way of telling her that he wanted to nail down a date for their trip to Europe? She latched on to that since the alternative rendered her incapable of breathing.

He walked to the corner, then wheeled the suitcase back, resting it next to her. “Open it,” he said, crouching next to the piece of luggage, tugging gently on her hand.

Lowering herself next to him, she reached out with shaking hands and slowly unzipped the bag. Then drawing a bracing breath and offering up a quick prayer to whichever saint protected women in love, she opened the lid.

And stared.

At an entire suitcase filled with-

“Hershey’s Kisses?” She stared in amazement at the little silver foil-wrapped drops. “There must be hundreds of them in here.”

“Ten thousand,” he said.

“Ten thousand?” She felt her eyes goggle and turned toward him to find him regarding her with that same serious expression. “You’re giving me ten thousand Hershey’s Chocolate Kisses?”

“Yes.” Clasping her hands, he stood, drawing her to her feet. “And asking for ten thousand kisses from you in return. If you give me one every day, it will take you 27.39726 years to pay me back. At that point, I figure I’ll fill up the suitcase with another ten thousand and we can start all over again.”

Speechless, she slowly shifted her gaze from him down to the Chocolate-Kiss-stuffed suitcase, then back up to him. Her throat tightened and tears pushed behind her eyes, and she wasn’t sure which she was going to do first-laugh or cry. Before she could figure it out, he gently took her face between his calloused palms.

“I love you, Mallory. And I’m not happy anymore just being your boyfriend. I want more. I want you. For the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”