Her Mountain Man (19 page)
IERRA PUT HER HANDS
flat on her desk, steadying herself and breathing deeply. For a moment, when Paul had appeared in her doorway, she’d been full of hope. She’d waited for him to declare his love for her—to say he couldn’t live without her and wanted to be with her forever.
She stared at the netsuke, the dragon leering at her mockingly. Ripping it from her purse, she went to hurl it across the room, but ended up clutching it in her hand, the carved jade digging into her skin, a mere pricking compared to the pain that flooded her chest. She put her head down on her desk and closed her eyes, wishing she could erase the past ten minutes.
“Dammit, I’m not going to let things end this way!”
The shout reverberated through the office. Sierra raised her head and stared at Paul, who had reappeared in her office doorway.
But this was a man transformed. His eyes blazed, his whole body tensed with emotion. She stared. “Paul, what are you doing?” she asked.
“What I meant to do before.” He crossed the room in three strides and pulled her out of her chair. “Sierra, I love you and I want to be with you. You wouldn’t live with me before when you knew I’d leave you to climb, but I promise, I won’t do that. My feelings for you haven’t changed and they aren’t going to.”
“I…I’ve never seen you like this,” she stammered. So emotional. So
passionate.
“What do you want from me? Do you want me to get down on my knees? I will.” He dropped to one knee in front of her. “Sierra, marry me.”
“Marry you?”
“I won’t leave until you say yes.”
“Yes.”
He stood, his face paler, though his eyes still blazed. “Yes, you’ll marry me?”
“Yes!” The word had just popped out when he’d made his incredible offer, but she realized she’d never meant anything more. “I thought you came here to offer me a job,” she said.
“The job’s still yours,” he said. “Though no more private cabin. You’ll have to live with me.”
“That was your idea of a romantic offer—a job and a cabin?” She suddenly felt like laughing.
He looked almost sheepish. “I scared you off before, asking you to move in with me,” he said. “I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.”
“You goof!” She punched his chest. “All I wanted was to know you really cared.”
“I do care, Sierra. I love you.”
“More than you love mountains?” She already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear him say it.
“More than mountains. More than anything.”
“And I love you. I think I’ve loved you since that first day I saw you up on that roof, but I’ve been too afraid to admit it.” Her vision blurred, eyes stinging.
“You won’t mind leaving Manhattan?”
“I can always come back and visit.” She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. “The truth is, I missed Ouray—and not just because you were there. I missed the mountains. I guess I’m my father’s daughter after all.”
“Are you crying?” He touched her cheek. “You never cry.”
He was right. She never cried. But these were definitely tears flowing down her face now—happy ones. “And you never get angry, but you were angry just now.”
“I was angry at myself for being such an idiot. I’m used to taking risks in the mountains, but when it comes to real life, I guess I’ve been playing it too safe.”
“I’m glad you took another chance with me.”
“We’ll start over together,” he said. “We’ll make a great team.”
“Can we do it?” she asked. “Is love really enough?”
“It’s enough,” he said.
“I believe you.” Love was enough to make her change her whole life, and she wasn’t the only one. She and Paul could build something together, and they’d help each other over the rough spots. All the risks would be worth it to be together.
HER MOUNTAIN MAN
Copyright © 2010 by Cynthia Myers.
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