Page 99 of The Bride Wore White

“Good. I don’t want you to take this personally, but frankly, I don’t think you’re the type.”

“To live in sin?”

“Right. It takes a certain sort of man to do that, and you are not one of those men.”

“You think I’m too serious and too boring and too unsociable to figure out how to live in sin?”

“Nope. But I think it would break your heart. You want commitment and a vision of a shared future. You want to love and know you are loved. You want a family. Connection.”

He looked at her, his eyes steady and certain. “You’re right. But I will take what I can get from you, Prudence. I love you. I will love you for the rest of my life.”

Joy splashed through her, igniting all of her senses. She wound her arms around his neck and smiled. “Turns out I want commitment and a shared future, too. I want to love and know I am loved. I want a family and connection, and I want those things with you. I love you, Jack Wingate.”

He held her close and tight, and when his mouth came down on hers, she opened all of her senses so that she could savor the quiet, bone-deep thrill of the energy resonating between them.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Jack said against her mouth.

“What?” She gasped and stepped back so quickly she clipped his jaw with the side of her head.

“Okay, that was a close call,” he said. Tentatively he touched his jaw. “I don’t think you broke anything, but by tomorrow I may look like I’ve been in a fistfight.”

“You felt it, too?” she asked, dazzled by a sense of wonder.

“Oh, yeah.” He touched his jaw again and winced. “I felt it.”

“Forget your jaw. This is important. Tell me the truth. Do you feel a special sensation when we’re close like this?”

“Definitely.” He clamped his hands around her shoulders and started to pull her close again.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I. If you want to call what we have together a psychic connection, that’s fine by me. What I do know is that I felt it theinstant I met you in Luther Pell’s office. I also knew that I would feel it for the rest of my life.”

“Really? That first day you were sure?”

“One hundred percent certain.”

“Not ninety-eight percent or ninety-nine?”

“There are a few things in life that you can be sure of, Pru. What I feel for you is one of those things.”

He drew her close, and this time she did not resist.

“You really do have some paranormal talent, you know,” she said.

He smiled and his eyes burned. “So what? I no longer give a damn.”

Delighted and hugely relieved, she wrapped her arms around his neck again. “That’s perfect, then.”

“It is, isn’t it?” he said.

He started to kiss her, but he hesitated, his mouth an inch above hers. “Do you hear chimes?”

“No,” she said. “But it’s okay if you do.”

He laughed, and then his mouth closed over hers and she threw herself into the embrace. She did not hear chimes, but she could feel the energy of love and joy that whispered in the atmosphere. That was more than enough.

Chapter 52

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