Page 36 of If You Were the Only Girl in the World
“You’re angry.” She sounded surprised at that.
“I am! I’m not. What the hell is this idea that you’re going home? Darling, you cannot go. It’s too dangerous now. From now on, only military escorts will ever make it across the Atlantic. Why think of leaving? We…you and I…I wanted to come for you. But I’ve been in hospital. Pneumonia.”
“Oh, no,” she cried, her face all sympathy as she raised her hands to cover her mouth. “You’re better?”
“All better. I have sick leave. I chose to come spend it with you.”
“How long?”
She hadn’t moved from the piano bench and so he advanced, eager to put his arms around her and take her with him somewhere to be alone and safe and totally his. “A week. Seven days. Two of which I’ve spent looking for you.”
Tears dribbled from her long golden lashes. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’ve found you. I’m not going to let you out of my sight though. Just beware.”
“Oh, Nate.” She dashed away the tears that rushed down her cheeks. “It’s not what you think.”
Confused, he stepped to the other side of the grand blue marine and creme piano. “What do you mean?”
She caught his gaze, suddenly not so sad as stern. Then, hands before her to the keyboard, she pushed up and away. The dress of delightful peach with a sweet ivory lace collar and cuffs hung down from her neckline in a straight line. Except for the noticeable bulge over her abdomen.
It was his turn to stare and gape. Words came to his lips but he could not form one.
But her luminous green eyes probed his. And what she said there became the declaration of what they would now be to each other.
“I love you,” he said to her, a smile spreading throughout his entire body. “I’ve loved you since London.”
She nodded as new tears cascaded down her cheeks.
“I’ve wanted you since the first night I held you in my arms and carried you home. I wanted to keep you with me in London and in Dover. Paris was the beginning of forever. And now you and she or he belong with me.”
She caught back a sob with a hand to her mouth.
“Don’t cry, my darling. There is no need now.” She’d left the work she adored and the home she’d created for herself in a foreign land. All because she’d made love with him and he’d been clumsy not to keep her safe from the ultimate consequence. “You’ve been so valiant. Always. The debutante who threw over the unworthy fiancé. The heiress who took on medical school with all those disdainful men. The American who sailed to France alone to use her knowledge to save others. The woman who allowed me to make love to her. Say you’ll marry me, darling. I want you. Whatever you want to become. Wherever you wish to be. But say you’ll marry me and let me love you and him or her for the rest of our lives.”
She gulped back tears and fought to put a smile on her lovely face. “I feared you were sick, ill.”
He nodded.
“I looked for letters.”
“And I wrote one in hospital. God in heaven, I’ve no idea what happened to it. I am sorry, sweetheart.”
“I…I couldn’t stay at Neuilly.”
He shook his head.
“I grew so…damn big!” She gave a laugh and hiccuped.
He took a step around the piano.
“Russell guessed,” she ground out and stared at the floor.
“I am so sorry.”
“He was hateful.”
Fire shot through his veins. “He hurt you?”
