She wrinkled her nose. "Could be. Then again, maybe it was Pete." Could he actually be serious about this?
He grimaced. "Maybe it was nobody at all."
"Well, let's just say he was willing to tell me what lay in store for me," she answered flippantly.
He pushed the hat back on his head and gazed up at her with troubled eyes. "Eternal love isn't enough?"
His words were sobering. Love? She stared down at him, unable to believe her ears and eyes.
"Are you serious?" she finally managed.
His gaze was steady. "Dead serious."
She chewed her lower lip and studied him from under lowered lashes. Marriage? Things were moving a little fast.
"I don't know." She absently drew a circle in the sand. A month ago she would have said she might never marry, and yet it had crossed her mind a number of times since she met Bordeaux. Not that she had consciously considered him as a mate, but he had awakened a domestic side of her that she barely knew existed. It was fun cooking for him - delightful talking to him. But Bordeaux was an unusually good-looking man - and that spelled trouble. Out here in the desert she had no competition. What would happen when an equally good-looking woman tempted him? Would he ditch her and run off with the other woman? She rubbed her arms as cold fingers clutched at her heart.
"I'm afraid," she blurted out.
He sat up and frowned down at her. "Afraid of what?"
She shrugged. How could she tell him without being insulting? And what good would it do, anyway? He could promise to love her forever, but hadn't her father said the same thing to Mom?
Bordeaux took her hand in his and she gazed up into his solemn features.
"Cassie, if I were the type of man to run away from responsibility, would I be here right now?"
For the first time she thought about the fact that he had no commitment to them at all, yet he had risked his life for them. It would have been easier to run off and leave them. He knew the desert. Even now he could walk away.
"We've taken you for granted, haven't we?"
He gazed at her, ignoring her question. "Well," he finally spoke. "Yes or no?"
She dug her fingers into the soft sand, avoiding his eyes. What could she say? She didn't want to jump into marriage with a man she hardly knew, but she didn't want to chance losing him, either.
"I didn't expect ... I need time to think about it. It's a big decision, you know."