Page 148 of Unexpected Entanglement

“Like what?” Rowan asked innocently.

“Like you want me to kiss you.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

Chris captured her lips. And the need was as ardent as the first moment they touched. Rowan responded with every cell in her body and felt the excitement of facing a new adventure.

“Are we crazy?” Rowan asked.

“Absolutely,” Chris replied with a straight face.

Rowan laughed, but she sobered up to look at the man who could always set her ablaze. One look. One touch. One word.

She realized their need for each other went beyond the physical. The need to stand next to each other facing life. The need to lean on each other when things got tough. The need to laugh with each other when things go right. Even the need to know they would always have each other’s back, no matter what, even when they were mad at each other.

“I’m gonna up the crazy,” Chris said and pulled out the ring with a flip of his fingers.

Rowan gasped. “How did you do that?”

“Wear my ring, and you’ll have a lifetime to learn all the tricks I have up my sleeve.”

“Chris—”

“You see the inscription here?” He tilted the ring.

Rowan could only nod.

“For love. For life,” he echoed the inscription. “It’s my pledge to you. See, I didn’t even know why I told Walt to get this ring from my safe. It was the first time I ever felt compelled to have it with me, as if deep down I knew before I even realized how I feel about you.

“I’d like to be your fiancé for real this time,“ Chris continued. “But if that’s too much and too fast for you, and you’d like to mull it over for the next five years—”

“Seriously?” Rowan laughed.

“You have this track record,” he teased.

“That’s the old Rowan. This Rowan knows what she wants,” she said. “I want a partner in life who loves me as much as I love him, who will support me while I build my dream as I support him. I want to be that person you lean on when things get tough, Christopher.”

“I’m counting on it, babe.” Chris touched his brow to hers.

It was crazy, but it felt right. Standing here with Chris as he slid the ring back onto her finger. Like the first time he’d done it, it felt like a part of her. It had once been his mother’s, and now it was hers.

“Will you tell me more about your mother?” Rowan touched the ring that felt warm on her skin.

“I’ll tell you all about her, but not right now.” Chris looped his arms around Rowan’s waist and pulled her to him. “Because I’m about to make love to you.”

Rowan threw her arms around his neck with a laugh. “Right here? In this study?”

“Right here.” Chris hauled her up in his arms, and Rowan locked her legs around his waist.

Rowan looked around the large study, its walls lined with shelves filled with books. Her eyes caught on something, and she grinned. “Over there.”

Chris glanced at where she was looking and matched her grin. He walked them to the sliding ladder attached to the shelves. Rowan didn’t wait and started kissing him as they were still en route. She felt him place her on a rung, and his hands, now free, got busy pulling her panties down her legs.

This had always felt right. From the first time they’d tumbled together onto that tarp-covered mattress, Rowan had wanted no one this urgently. Her craving for him became more intense each time they’d been together.

Fumbling with the fastening of his pants, Rowan and Chris never broke their kiss, needing the connection before they could fuse into each other.

His hand cupped her breast and thumbed the peak through the thin fabric of her dress and bra while the other ran up her leg. His touch triggered goosebumps over her skin, like a cool wave lapping over her legs on a hot summer day, and it felt heavenly.

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