“Blaire?”
“Yes?”
He’s quiet for a moment. “If you could have one wish, what would it be?”
I caress the left side of his face, staring at him. You. “I’m good. What about you?”
He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and dips his head to kiss the top of my head. “I would steal you, take you somewhere where no one knows us and start all over again.”
“Could I open a bookstore?” I ask, making him laugh.
“Yes, babe. You could do whatever you wanted.” Smiling crookedly, he adds, “As long as I got to do whatever I wanted to you at night.”
“Steal me away then.” I grin against his skin, thinking how easy it is to dream. “But go on. I like this.”
“There wouldn’t be a Lawrence—”
“Or Rachel,” I add.
“Or Rachel,” he repeats, chuckling.
“And what would our names be?”
He raises an eyebrow, answering drolly. But he can’t hide the amusement sparkling in his lovely eyes. “I’m surprised at you, Mrs. Klein.”
I giggle as I move away from him, kneeling on the bed with his body between my legs. Lifting my left hand, I say, “I don’t see a ring, do you?”
Ronan reaches for the notepad with the logo of the hotel lying on the nightstand. After he rips a page off, he rolls it into a long, thin line. Taking my hand in his, he ties the piece of paper around my ring finger as though it is the real thing.
“There,” he says smugly. “What were you saying now, Mrs. Klein?”
I close my hand with the paper ring, making a tight fist, and press it against my chest. Ronan’s boyishly handsome features blur as I try to speak, but the words get stuck in my throat. A river of emotions rushes through me, dragging me down, making it impossible to breathe.
Sitting up, Ronan reaches for my hand and kisses it tenderly. “Let’s run away together, Blaire. Let’s leave it all behind us. It will be just you and me, babe. Starting all over again with nothing coming between us.” He grins. “And maybe down the road, you can make an honest man out of me and marry my sorry ass.”
My lips tremble. “Ronan …”
“Why does it have to be a wish or a dream?” he whispers huskily, burying his hands in my hair, his long fingers cradling the back of my head. “Why can’t it be a reality?”
I place my hands on top of his. Dispassionately, I notice that they are trembling too. “You don’t mean it—”
“I do. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Blaire. I want to watch your belly swell with my babies inside you. I want to wake up every morning and fall asleep each night with you next to me. I once told you that one day you were going to let me love you and I was never going to let you go, that I would love you as if it were the only thing I was meant to do. Nothing has changed.” He kisses my nose before resting his forehead against mine. “One lifetime wouldn’t be enough when I’m with you.”
“Is this really happening?”
Cupping my face, Ronan wipes the tears rolling down my cheeks. “It has to, babe,” he murmurs so softly, so tenderly, it makes my heart ache with love. “Tomorrow morning we go to JFK and our new life. Making love, living, laughing. We won’t have much at first, but I’ll find work with my camera and provide for you.”
The picture he paints is so lovely, so perfect, I can almost see us living it. He would leave in the morning after making slow love to me. I would dress, run my hands over my stomach feeling a small bump full with life, and then I would walk to my bookstore. Life would be sweet. We wouldn’t have much, but we would be happy.