Tempted by the Texan

He nodded. “I guess I was just so conditioned to having people look at me differently once they found out who I was, I expected everyone would. Hell, I even started to fear that one day my father’s cruel streak could show up in me.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Mariah said, defending him. “There isn’t a cruel bone in your body.”

“Thank you for believing in me, darlin’.” He swallowed around the sudden lump clogging his throat. “But the way I talked to you the other night, I don’t deserve it.”

“You were upset,” she said, shrugging one shoulder.

He shook his head. “That’s no excuse for treating you that way.”

They fell silent for a few minutes before she asked, “Did you go see your father?”

“I went to see Simon Collier.”

“Who’s that?” Mariah asked, looking confused.

“My stepfather,” Jaron said, still getting used to the fact that the man wasn’t his real father. “The reason he insisted that he had to see me before he died was because he wanted to clear his conscience. He asked my forgiveness for the beatings, then told me that my mother was already pregnant when he married her and he wasn’t my biological father.”

“But if you didn’t know that, why didn’t you question your last name being different than his?” she asked, frowning.

He smiled. “Due to the nature of his crimes and the reluctance of foster families taking me in, my caseworker talked to the judge and I was allowed to change my surname to my mother’s maiden name.”

“I’m happy he did the right thing and told you he wasn’t your father,” she stated.

“I am, too.” Jaron smiled. “I know now that I didn’t inherit his mean streak and can’t pass that on to the next generation.” He picked her up and set her on his lap. “Now that you know all about me, I have something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

“Okay,” she said cautiously. “What is it?”

“Why am I the one you chose to take your virginity?” he asked.

“Why do you think?” she asked evasively.

“I hope it’s because you love me,” he said, knowing that was exactly why she’d made love with him.

“I’m not saying that’s the reason, but how would you feel if that was the case?” she asked, looking cautious.

“I’d be the happiest man alive,” he admitted, smiling. “It makes it a whole lot easier knowing that the woman I love more than life itself loves me back.”

Fresh tears filled her emerald eyes. “You love me?”

“Mariah, I’ve loved you since the moment we met,” he said honestly. “I just didn’t want to saddle you with the baggage that came along with me.”

“Oh, Jaron, I’ve wanted to hear you say that for so long,” she admitted. “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

“And I love you just as much,” he said, kissing her soft lips. That seemed to open the floodgates, and he hoped the tears she now shed were happy ones.

When her crying ran its course, he handed her more tissues, and while she wiped away the last traces of her tears, he pulled a small black velvet box from his jeans pocket. He’d stopped at an exclusive jewelry store in Waco on his way back from the prison hospital, and he hoped she liked the ring he’d chosen.

Setting her on the window seat, he got down on one knee in front of her and opened the box with a two-carat marquis diamond inside. “Darlin’, I know I’m not nearly good enough for you, but I love you and I promise I’ll spend the rest of my days doing everything I can to make you happy. Will you marry me?”

“Only on one condition,” she said, her eyes filled with more love than he would ever deserve.

“What’s that, darlin’?” he asked, knowing he would agree to anything as long as she agreed to share her life with him.

“No more secrets,” she stated. “I want nothing but complete honesty between us.”

He nodded. “Mariah, I give you my word that I will never hold anything back with you ever again.” Removing the ring from the box he held, he asked, “Now will you make me the happiest man alive and tell me you’ll be my wife?”

“Y-yes!” she said, throwing her arms around his neck.

When he slipped the ring on her finger, it seemed to induce another wave of tears, and Jaron was glad his brother had the foresight to send the box of tissues upstairs with him. Scooping her up, he sat back down on the window seat with her on his lap and held her while she cried against his chest.