Double Dare (16 page)

“
Lou—”

“—
how I felt, because I
needed to tell you. Don’t you see? I couldn’t
not
tell you. And I had to see
if—”

“
Lou!” Sam
shouted.

She started, looking vulnerable, then
quieted.

“
I was only going to ask you
if you brought a pen,” Sam told her, his heart swelling with love.
A tentative smile turned his lips.

Lou’s gaze snapped to his. “If I brought
a…”

“
I love you, too,” Sam
confessed. Since she’d been so brutally honest, Sam had to be as
well. Every thought he’d ever had about Lou and forever poured from
him. “I want to make you happy, too. I want to spend the rest of my
life with you.” He quickly signed the paper, then rounded the desk
and stood before her. “I want to go to bed with you every night and
wake up with you every morning. I want to be a part of what makes
you happy. I want you to be the mother of my children because
you’re the woman of my dreams. I-I need you—need to love you—like I
need the air to breathe.”

Choked laughter sputtered out of Lou as she
launched herself into his arms. Tears of happiness seeped past her
lashes, soaking his shoulder. Lou hugged him tightly, then fisted
her hands in his shirt and kissed him with every ounce of feeling
she possessed.

 “
Oh, Sam,” she
murmured. “I’m so glad you love me.”

Sam smiled against her lips, then drew her
back to gaze into her gorgeous eyes. “Not half as glad as I am that
you love me. Give me my ultimate adventure,” Sam breathed roughly.
“Marry me, Lou.”

Smiling, her fingers threaded through his
hair at the nape of his neck. “In a heartbeat,” she said softly,
then sealed the bargain with a kiss to last a lifetime.

A Waldenbooks best-selling author, two-time
RITA nominee, Romantic Times Reviewers Choice nominee, and National
Readers' Choice Award Winner Rhonda Nelson writes hot romantic
comedy for Harlequin Blaze and other Harlequin imprints. With more
than thirty-five published books to her credit and many more coming
down the pike, she’s thrilled with her career and enjoys dreaming
up her characters and manipulating the worlds they live in. In
addition to a writing career she has a husband, two adorable kids,
a Black Lab, and a beautiful Bichon Frise who dogs her every step
and who frequently cocks his head in utter bewilderment at his
master. (Rhonda often affects people like this.) She and her family
make their chaotic but happy home in a small town in northern
Alabama.