Chapter Eighteen #4
Her heart went all squishy as she studied him. This big tough man standing there with his emotions exposed. His now-steely gaze riveted on hers, waiting for her decision. The always-proud Rhett Buchanan. Yet her answer meant the world to him.
Deep in her soul, she could feel his need for exoneration. “I didn’t believe it,” she said softly. “I only needed to hear you say it.”
His eyes widened. He took a step forward to reach for her but suddenly froze as though awaiting permission.
“I know you would never willingly take Bloom & Grow from me,” she whispered.
“Oh Lily.” He caught her before she could shift away and cupped her cheek in his large palm. His fingers trembled against her skin. “Tell me you trust me,” he demanded, his voice gruff with emotion.
She wanted to tell him. Her heart said to tell him. She opened her mouth, willing the words to come, to end at least part of this horrible betrayal that lay between them.
One betrayal down . . . one betrayal to go, her heart reminded her.
“What about yesterday? In your bedroom?”
His shoulders slumped, and he glanced away.
Lily’s heart sank.
~ ~ ~ ~
Rhett found himself on a narrow precipice with Lily—halfway up the mountain of forgiveness—and his feet slipped with no visible handholds or footholds.
He had to glance away. He couldn’t take Lily staring at him, eyes wide and accusing. How could she not accuse when she had seen him lying spread-eagle atop Delia’s prone form, wearing part of a towel and Delia wearing next to nothing at all?
The edge of the precipice crumbled away and forced him flat up against the mountain. He could not give up. He had to find a way.
“I didn’t know Delia was there,” he tried.
“You said that about your walk tonight.”
He clenched his teeth and locked gazes with her. “She has a habit of showing up when you least expect her,” he bit out.
Lily’s eyes narrowed. Wrong thing to say.
More of the precipice crumbled away. She looked ready to bolt, bruised knees and all.
He could not let that happen. This may be his only opportunity.
Rhett had been going for broke his whole life.
He would make his stand here and now, and let the chips fall where they may.
“When I left the charity gala, I took Delia straight home when we left.” He grimaced and qualified, “Straight to her home, and then I left. Alone.”
Lily’s eyes went wide with surprise.
“And we were together again at the barbecue only because I asked her to play hostess,” he explained, though the look on Lily’s face said he might be poking at gaping wounds.
She confirmed his suspicions. “Single guys ask their girlfriends to hostess parties for them.”
“Yeah, well I might have, except mine was off gallivanting with Aidan Cross,” he said angrily.
“You weren’t exactly speaking to me at the time.”
“Look, I know that, and we made up after the barbecue. I’m just bringing it up to show you I haven’t been with Delia.”
“Well, you were certainly with her yesterday,” she retorted and backed up another step.
The precipice gave way until Rhett balanced only on his toes. He had feared this would be the skirmish that lost the war. He could not provide a believable explanation, not for what Lily had seen. The unfairness of it had his hands curling into fists and his control finally cracked.
“Dammit! Delia ambushed me,” he shouted, all his indignation coming to the fore. “She let herself in and ambushed me when I came out of the shower.”
She stared at him in open astonishment.
He sensed his hand- and foot-holds on the precipice had just vanished.
“You gave her a key,” Lily reminded him.
His shoulders slumped in defeat. The bitch did have a key yesterday.
Anguish ghosted across Lily’s eyes before her expression shuttered and had Rhett wanting to howl at Delia and Chester Armstead and Whittenhurst and everyone who had conspired to keep him and Lily apart.
The last crumbs of the precipice disintegrated beneath his feet, and he grabbed hold of her shoulders—his belay line. He refused to let go. If he cut the connection, all would be lost.
He gently squeezed her shoulders until she met his eyes. “Delia set me up. She did have a key from way back, but I was going to have the locks changed. I swear.” He added, with no small amount of chagrin, “What with her organizing the barbecue, I just didn’t get around to it.”
The only sound in the moments that followed was the rhythmic crashing of waves against the shore. The moon had eased past the cloud cover to brighten the beach and the water. The resultant moonlight cast thousands of sparkles across the waves as they collapsed against the sand.
“I was in the shower when Delia snuck in with the champagne and spread all those damn rose petals on my bed, then she grabbed me when I came out of the bathroom.” His gaze bored into hers, and he willed her to believe him.
Lily’s eyes glistened in the moonlight. “You didn’t want her there?”
His fingers tightened on her shoulders. “Hell, no! Delia knew the only way she could get into my bedroom was to sneak in.”
Lily blinked, and his heart beat unevenly at the tear he watched escape down her cheek.
“Delia lied to you,” he tried again. “All lies. There was no game to seduce the little gardener, and I could never forget you as long as I live.”
Lily blinked again, and another wayward tear escaped. The sight wrenched at Rhett’s heart.
“Do you mean that?” she asked softly.
His throat suddenly too thick for words and fearful of saying the wrong thing again, he only nodded.
She stared, wide-eyed, for an interminable moment as though waiting for him to say something else.
He knew how he felt, but he had never said the words, not even back in his young and stupid college days.
Not since the car accident hijacked his parents and left him alone.
He couldn’t move, couldn’t get the words out.
Suddenly, Lily turned. She was leaving!
“Lily, wait!” he begged. “I’ll go find Delia and drag her back here and make her tell you the truth.”
Lily kept walking. His heart skipped a full beat. One more. The now-familiar tug and pull near his heart came strong, only now he recognized the ache for what it was.
“I love you, Lily!” he cried out.
She wheeled around to face him.
He took a chance and held out his arms. “I love you. Have from the beginning. Always will.”
She flew into his arms, and a wave of relief so vast and overwhelming hit him with enough force to take him to his knees and Lily with him. He crushed her against his chest in a bear hold to make sure she couldn’t get away.
~ ~ ~ ~
Rhett’s arms were around her again. Lily never dreamed she would hear those wonderful words “I love you,” and she buried her face in his neck. Her senses exploded with the sensual impact of his remembered scent.
Long moments passed with their bodies pressed tight together, neither apparently intending to let go.
Both wanting to be certain this was the real deal.
Finally Rhett settled back and gently pulled Lily onto his lap.
She cuddled as close as she could possibly get and tried not to burst with the joy that had her blood rocketing through her veins.
His arms remained tight around her as though she would try to escape.
“I thought I had lost you forever,” he whispered hoarsely into her hair.
“I know,” she whispered back. “I thought I had lost you too.”
He tilted her chin up and brushed his lips across hers. She eased free of his tight hold, and he stiffened for a moment until she wrapped her arms around his neck. With a groan, he covered her mouth with his in a carnal assault of lips and tongue and too-long-repressed passion.
No doubt left as to his feelings for her, Lily couldn’t get enough of Rhett and knuckled her fingers in his hair to hold him in place, which only seemed to set him on fire as his tongue stroked against hers, letting each sensual stroke deepen the kiss like a promise never to be separated again.
When he finally let her up for air, she had gone lightheaded and woozy from the sensual overload. Long moments elapsed before their breathing evened out.
“Damn, Lily.” Rhett’s voice sounded almost reverent, as he rested his forehead against hers. But with the next heartbeat, his expression grew tense, then guarded.
Oh no.
He swallowed hard. “Why did you come here tonight, Lily? I have to know. You showing up here at the house seemed like a downright miracle.”
She smiled at him and shook her head. “I came with the excuse of getting my clothes back but really hoping you would explain everything.”
He looked stunned. “What if I hadn’t?”
“I hadn’t gotten that far. I only hoped you still cared enough about me to want me back.”
“You must have been livid with me over that scene with Delia. Why would you—”
She pressed two fingers against his lips. “Interfering friends.”
He stiffened. “Garrett? He told you?”
She shook her head. “He told Tammy.”
He surged to his feet in an instant. “If you talked to them, then you knew everything before you showed up here.”
She rose to her feet, stared him square in the eyes. “I wouldn’t say everything, but enough to make me come back. Their explanation didn’t mean anything unless the words came from you.”
“And now? Can you trust me? I would never cheat on you.”
His deep voice had gone hoarse with longing, which ignited her nerve endings and launched tingling sensations she could not—would not—subdue.
Over the last twenty-four hours, her heart had broken first, then shattered.
She refused to look back. Not here. Not now.
Not ever. She would never allow Delia’s lies to pummel her emotions again.
“There can be no love without trust,” she told him.
“Love?” He went deathly still. “What are you saying? Exactly?”
“Trust comes with love like breathing comes with lungs. Until death do them part.”
“And?”
“And I trust you,” she whispered. “I love you.”
He stared dumbstruck. The only sound came from the encroaching waves as they slapped the sand behind them.
“Say it again,” he ordered. “I want to be sure I heard you.”
“I love you, Rhett Buchanan,” she said, enunciating every word.
“That’s it!” He grinned. “I knew I heard you right.”
He grabbed her around the waist and swung her high in a circle. “I love you back, Lily Foster!” he shouted up to the moon and stars.
Her bruises forgotten, a lump in her throat, her eyes filling with tears, Lily could only grin and hang on. Rhett finally set her down and steadied her, tugging her back just a bit from the encroaching high tide.
“I want to go inside, “she said suddenly.
“Sure, the tide’s coming in.” He grabbed her hand to walk back to the dunes and stopped at the tug on his arm. Lily hadn’t moved.
“No, I mean I want to make love with you. I’m ready.”
He looked stunned for the second time that night. “Oh, Lily,” he whispered and clutched her tight against him for several long moments.
“Cinderella,” his voice rumbled low and gruff, “you just made my fairy tale come true.” He brushed his fingertips lightly across her cheeks. “To make love to you would be my privilege and my honor, but—”
“But? There’s a but?”
Lily panicked. No way could she bear to have her world crash about her ears for the third time in as many days.
Rhett had said he loved her. Now he spoke of privilege?
Honor? When she was finally ready to take the risk?
He looked at her with so much love in his eyes, yet he refused her offer to make love? After she had waited her whole life?
“Three strikes and I’m out,” he told her, albeit tenderly.
She tried to pull free, but he held her close.
“You and I seem to have a penchant for disastrous situations, and I’m not taking any chances on losing paradise for a third time.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, and she didn’t. “I said I wanted—”
“And I want you in my bed,” he cut her off, “more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.” His rumbly tone set all her nerve endings back to tingling. “But I’m not taking any chances. Ever again.”
Her stomach dropped like a stone. “What does that mean?”
“It means we’re getting married. Tonight.”
“W-We are?” Hope sparked back to life.
“If you’ll have me.” He grinned and went down on one knee in the sand, then took her hand. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife, Lily Foster, and allow me to love you and to cherish you for the rest of my days?”
Her turn to grin and she beamed at him. “Yes! Oh yes!”
He swept her into his arms and swung her again, then kissed her to seal the deal.
When he finally let her up for air, she felt the need to point out, “It’s already after sundown, and all the churches are closed. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”
He kissed her again long and hard. “The hell we will. There’s always a chapel open in Las Vegas. And as luck would have it, I happen to own a plane.”
This time Lily kissed him back, and when she finally let him go, his eyes glittered dangerously.
“So what’ll it be?” he growled. “Vegas or wait until tomorrow to get married? And I gotta tell you, if you kiss me like that again, I may not live to see tomorrow. I could spontaneously combust.”
“I’m ready when you are.”
He whisked her into his arms and hustled back toward the dunes.
She swatted him in the arm. “That’s for scaring me to death just now and making me think you didn’t want me.”
He squeezed her against his chest until she squealed. “Now we’re even after you let me pour out my heart back there, and you already knew I wasn’t guilty.”
She snuggled against his neck. “Details. Details.”