“So do I!”
The words echoed down the wide hallway. After the reverberation, the resulting silence was filled only with the sound of their breathing.
“You do?” Kerry asked in a soft voice.
He nodded curtly. “It was tearing my guts to shreds to leave her this morning. Did you see the way she clung to my neck, not wanting me to go?”
“She cried when you drove off, even though she had promised you she wouldn’t.”
Linc was visibly moved. “See? She loves me, too.”
Kerry’s heart had begun to race, but she wouldn’t let herself get too optimistic. She’d been disappointed too often in the past. She looked at the floor. “You could apply to adopt Lisa yourself.”
“I’d have the same problems as you. Maybe even more because I’m a man. We’d have a better chance of success if we applied for her as a couple. And it would be best for Lisa. She needs both a mother and a father. I know.”
Kerry’s heart twisted with love. The basis of Linc’s remote nature came from his never having known parental love. She wanted to throw herself against him, to cover his beard-stubbled chin with wildly happy kisses, but she restrained herself.
“That’s still not a good reason to marry,” she said, playing devil’s advocate. “We’d be burdening Lisa with the tremendous responsibility of keeping two adults happy with each other.”
“We wouldn’t have to depend on her for our happiness.”
“Wouldn’t we?”
He turned his back to her and moved away. He slid his hands, palms out, into the seat pockets of his jeans. When he turned back to her, he looked more vulnerable than she’d ever seen him. “Lisa’s not the only reason I want us to get married.”
“No?”
“No. I, uh, I wasn’t too hep on the idea of leaving you either. You’re a pain in the ass, but I still want you.”
“In bed?”
“Yeah.”
“I see.” Her heart sank like lead.
“And—”
“And?” She lifted her head quickly and looked at him inquiringly.
“And...I, uh...”
“What?”
He ran his hand through his hair and blew out his breath. He looked supremely irritated. “Cage said you could be damned stubborn. You want to hear me say it, don’t you?” Kerry only looked back at him innocently. He swore softly. Then, flinging his arms out to his sides, he said, “I love you, okay?”
“Okay!”
Kerry launched herself against him. He caught her, closing his arms around her and holding her close. Their mouths searched for and found each other. The kiss they exchanged was torrid and left them gasping for breath.
“I thought you’d never say it.”
“I didn’t think I ever would either. Not while you were awake anyway.”
“Awake?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, laughing. “I love you, Kerry. God knows I do.”
“I love you, I love you, I love you.”