Only after she’d turned to face him did she realize how close he was. Close enough that she wasn’t sure the steaks weren’t going to have to wait.
“Not if…” He hesitated again, looking down into her eyes. He put his hands on the countertop on either side of her body. “I told you I’m no bargain, but…” He took a breath. “I think Miz Etta would be very pleased if I made an honest woman of you.”
An honest woman. Twist the words how she might, there seemed to be only one meaning for that phrase. “As in…?”
“You, me. Some great-grandkids for her.”
Despite the fact that he’d just asked her to marry him, Jake’s eyes revealed his uncertainty. And she couldn’t stand seeing it there.
“Yes,” she said softly. “Oh, my goodness, yes. I really think Miz Etta deserves that.”
“No reservations?”
“Not a one. I love you, Jake Underwood. I love everything about you. Even this.” She put her fingers over the depression at his temple, but he turned his head slightly so they no longer touched the injury.
When he looked back at her, however, he was smiling. “I love you, too. More than I ever thought it would be possible for me to love a woman.”
“I think Waverly—and Miz Etta—will definitely approve. After all, you are a hero.”
“You just keep thinking that, sunshine.”
“I will,” she vowed softly, stretching upward for his lips. “For the rest of my life, I promise you.”
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0960-2
FLASHBACK
Copyright © 2011 by Mona Gay Thomas
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* Home to Texas
** Men of Mystery
‡ More Men of Mystery
‡‡ Phoenix Brotherhood
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Epilogue