Highland Magic (48 page)

He released her hands and opened the box.
Resting inside was a brilliant cut solitaire in a platinum setting.
“Will you marry me, Delilah?”

A rush of euphoria made her head spin, but
somehow she managed to say, “YES!”

* * *

Delilah was so high with happiness, she felt
as if she floated across the parking garage toward her car. She
sighed. They’d finally kissed. She lifted her fingers to her lips.
They still tingled from the warm contact. It had been as wonderful
as she’d dreamed it would be. He’d tasted so masculine, felt so
strong. It’d made her feel feminine, sexy even.

She shook her head and grinned. She was going
to marry Chas Regan. Amazing. All this time she’d been pining away
for the guy and—who knew?—he’d been doing the same thing for
her!

Since he’d returned to the family business a
year ago, moved back to Houston from Boston, they had formed a
companionable friendship. Based mostly on their shared interest in
charity work. He was very much involved in funding for cancer
research—his mother had died of a rare form of it a little less
than two years ago—and that was one of Delilah’s pet charities as
well.

Once they’d met up again at a charity
benefit, become reacquainted, they’d started sharing meals together
several times a week, sometimes twice in the same day. He’d even
begun confiding in her about his devastation at his mother’s sudden
illness and death, a thing, she was sure, he didn’t speak of with
others. And the more she learned about him, the man he’d grown up
to be, the more she’d fallen in love with him.

Of course, she, being the fat one in her
family, never thought for a second that he could ever think of her
in any romantic way.

She stopped walking and thrust her hand out
in front of her. The ring sparkled, even in the dim light, and the
fit was perfect. He must have done some sleuthing to get it just
right. The thought of him planning for weeks such a romantic
proposal gave her a giddy feeling in her chest. He loved her! Oh,
he hadn’t said the words—he wasn’t the sort, she knew. So many men
weren’t. At least that’s what she’d read in loads of women’s
magazines. But she hoped that one day, somehow, she’d finally get
him to say them aloud.

She started to walk again, and then it became
a jog, and then a full-out run, which wasn’t easy in her floral
print slim lined dress. She couldn’t
wait
to tell her
stepmother and half-sister! Wouldn’t their jaws drop to the floor!
Not only had she managed to pull their family back into the
financial realm they’d been in before her father’s imprisonment,
but,
she
, Delilah Perrault, had snagged the one perfect
prospect her stepmother had pegged to be her skinny, beautiful
half-sister’s future husband.

* * *

Chas hung up the phone. Relief washed over
him. The creditors were going to give him until a week from this
coming Monday to wire them the money now that he had access to some
funds.

He sat back and gnawed on a piece of dead
skin next to his fingernail. Okay, asking Delilah to marry him
hadn’t been the noblest way to deal with his dilemma. But he’d been
desperate. He’d briefly thought of simply asking her for the money,
but he’d quickly nixed it. He needed this all kept under wraps, and
keeping her in the dark about it while he ‘borrowed’ some of her
money—just long enough to swing things back in his favor—seemed the
best plan of action.

His already burning stomach twisted into a
knot and he popped several antacids into his mouth. Okay. He
admitted it. He’d taken advantage of a sweet girl who had a crush
on him so that he could keep the hounds at bay a little longer—and
get hold of those funds he needed.

He’d pay her back. With interest. And heck,
he just might go through with the marriage, too. If she really
wanted him. He liked her a lot. She was a good friend. And easy to
talk to. Most times, made him feel calm and settled inside. His
stomach hardly ever gave him grief when he was with her. That was
something, wasn’t it?

She was pretty, too. Electric blue eyes, dark
silky hair, long limbs, but soft and curvy. At five-eight, she was
just right for his own six-three height.

And, dear God, that kiss they’d shared! It
had sent shock waves all the way through him. No, it wouldn’t be
such a bad match. Not such a bad match at all.

Except, he needed her to be on his arm over
the next few months while he proved to his creditors that he was a
responsible sort—they could trust him with their money. So, he’d
best spend a little less time at the office and spend some real
time with her. Not in bed, of course. He wouldn’t be that much of a
bastard. Once he’d paid back the money, then yes. After that
kiss—hell yes. But not until then.

His gaze dropped to the ring box on his desk.
Good thing his last fiancée—the fourth to be exact—had over-nighted
that ring to his office eight months ago. It had come in handy.

~ End of Excerpt ~

K.E. Saxon is a third-generation Texan and
has been a lover of romance fiction since her first (sneaked) read
of her older sister's copy of "The Flame and the Flower" by
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. She is a member of the West Houston Chapter
of Romance Writer's of America and is a devoted subscriber to the
Romance Divas online forum. She has two cats, a 24-year-old
cockatiel, and a funny, supportive husband. When she isn't in her
writer's cave writing, you can find her puttering in her organic
vegetable garden or in her kitchen trying out a new recipe. An
animal (and bug) lover since before she could speak, she made pets
of all kinds of critters when she was a kid growing up. Her mother
even swears that she made a pet of a cockroach one time (but K.E.
doesn't believe her). She likes to write humorous, sexy
romances.

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