Kerry shook her head.
“And...” He paused, and raised her chin with his finger to look right at her. “My parents married three weeks after they met. Together forty-one years last December.”
She gave him a whisper of a smile. “Are you making this up?”
“Absolutely not. I’d be more than happy to have you meet my family.” He grinned. “Now my sister, Natalie, she took her time.”
Kerry raised her eyebrows.
“Yep. She and Marcus waited about three months after they met before they got married. One little boy, Colton.”
She burst out laughing. “You know, this is all so far out there, I almost believe you.”
“Believe it, darlin’. I know we haven’t been together very long, but I’m crazy about you.” He took both of her hands in his, kissing the knuckles. “Which is why I’m asking you to give us a chance.”
She shook her head, and then slid her hands free, tucking them under her cheek. “You don’t understand. I need to prove to myself I can actually do something on my own. This may sound crazy to you, but I feel as though I was born married.” She shifted to her back and stared at the ceiling. “Cody and I were so young. Neither one of us got to experience anything on our own.” She considered him. “Can you possibly understand that?”
Damian studied her for a minute, and then ran his knuckles across her chin. “I can appreciate that. Really, I can. But I don’t believe I’m the only one who feels this bond, this sense of being with the right person at the right time.”
“Not the right time.” She ran her palm over his cheek. “But in any event, love? Marriage? That’s such a leap. I can’t wrap my head around it.”
He tucked his hands behind his head, and also studied the ceiling. “Marriage, because I do things the right way.” He turned to look at her. “When you put your lacy bras and bikini panties in my dresser drawers, it will be after you have a ring on your finger. I’m not a let’s move in together and see how it works out type of man. It’s all or nothing.”
“I can’t give you all.”
“So it’s nothing?”
“You’re the one putting on the restrictions.” She sat up, wrapped the sheet around her, and hugged her knees. “We can have a long distance relationship.”
“It won’t work.”
“Why not?”
He jumped up and tugged on his pants. “To what end, Kerry? My idea of a relationship is that it moves forward. You go from dating, to commitment, to marriage.” He slid his arms into his shirt, not bothering to button it, and rested his fists on his hips. “Or is that a foreign concept to you?”
Blood rushed to her face. “No. That’s not a foreign concept. Been there, done that—bought the T-shirt. Except it means I have to put my plans aside, and once again give up my independence. Like some type of ninny teenager.” Her breath huffed as if running a race.
Damian sat alongside her. “You don’t have to drop everything. I’m asking you to take a detour. Instead of Albuquerque, why not Amarillo? Give whatever this is between us a chance to grow.”
“And if this doesn’t work out, where does that leave me?”
“Darlin’, this will work out. Trust me.”
Kerry swung her legs over the side of the bed and scooped up her clothes from the floor. “I’ll be right back.”
She hurried to the bathroom, knowing she was giving him an eyeful. Too late. He’d already seen it all anyway.
Damian dragged his palm down his face. He’d rolled his eyes at his brother when Don came home from his ski trip with a wife. And when Natalie announced after her second date with Marcus that she was engaged, he’d told her she was crazy and looking for trouble.
Boy was he ever wrong.
Both his siblings were happily married, eager to remind him often enough that when it hit him, he’d understand.
Well, he understood, but Kerry didn’t, and getting her to change her plans didn’t appear too promising.
The bathroom door opened and she stood there, her arms wrapped around her middle, eyes studying her feet. “I want to spend the rest of the night in the guest room.”
Chapter Eight