Here it was. All or nothing, he thought. “Everything. You.”
She waited, but he said nothing more. “Are you planning on getting any more articulate than that?”
He could talk the ears off a brass monkey if he wanted to, but words about his own feelings had never come easily to him. Now was no different.
He stalled. “Cade volunteered to come here and put words in my mouth, but it’s not as if he has a whole lot to spare Compared to him, the Sphinx is talkative. So I guess I’m going to have to do this on my own.”
This time, Savannah’s smile was encouraging. “I guess so.”
He took a deep breath. And Savannah into his arms. Sam couldn’t help thinking that she felt so right there.
“I miss you, Savannah. I’ve been trying not to, but I miss you. I miss hearing your voice, seeing your face, touching your skin. Maybe I lost the right to say this, but I—I...”
This was a man who put his life on the line every day, and he was stumbling over a simple phrase. She thought he was adorable. “You didn’t lose any rights, Sam. Spit it out.”
“I am, don’t rush me.”
“Rush you?” Her eyes widened. Did he have any idea what she’d been going through? “I’ve been waiting three long endless weeks for you.”
Sam stopped struggling with his tongue and stared at her. “Waiting? Then you knew I’d be back?”
“I didn’t know.” That was just the trouble. She hadn’t. If she had, then she wouldn’t have felt so awful. “I just—hoped. Now you were saying...”
Sam looked into her eyes, and suddenly, it was easy. “I love you.”
Warmth spiraled through her. Savannah threaded her arms around his neck—just the way she’d wanted to since he walked in.
“There, was that so tough?”
“No. I love you,” he repeated.
Savannah grinned. “By George, he’s got it.”
“No, but I’d like to. And I’d like to have you—and Aimee—as well.”
Her heart suddenly went very still. He couldn’t mean... “What are you saying?”
“That I love you, and I want to marry you.” He knew now that what she’d said before was true—about his life-style only being an excuse. What counted was that he did love them and that he wanted to make them happy. And would always strive to do that until his dying breath.
Savannah’s heart resumed beating. It was going to be all right. “Boy, when you get the hang of something, you really get the hang of it, don’t you?”
“Is that a stall?” he asked suspiciously.
“No, that’s a ‘yes.’” On her toes, she wound her arms around him more tightly. Her eyes held his. Just as his heart held hers. “It’s been ‘yes’ since the first time you kissed me.”
He brought his lips to hers and kissed her. “That long ago, huh?”
“Yes, that long ago.” She kissed him back. “Not everyone’s as slow as you.”
“Maybe.” The one he returned was longer still. “But I’m learning.” He kissed her again. “Teach me some more.”
Yes, she thought, kissing him back, he certainly was learning. And she had a feeling that she was going to have a hard time keeping up. But she was determined to die trying.
She smiled up into his eyes as warmth enveloped her. “You’re my hero, you know. My hero for all seasons.”
He wanted to be all things to her. This was certainly a start. “That’s a tall order.” He brushed his lips against hers again, the intensity continuing to grow. “I’d better get started filling it.”
“You already have,” she whispered, just before he took her breath away.
Don’t miss Megan’s romance,
A FOREVER KIND OF HERO,
coming only to Silhouette Intimate Moments
in August.
ISBN : 978-1-4592-5887-7
A HERO FOR ALL SEASONS
Copyright © 1999 by Marie Rydzynski-Ferrarella
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