Take Me (Take Me 1)

“She’s not here,” Janica said as she lounged against the doorframe. “But geez,” she said with a smile, “nice room, huh?”

Travis stared at Janica uncomprehendingly. He had to find Lily. “Did she say where she was going?”

Janica shrugged. “Nope. Her note said she’d be gone all morning.” Her eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to do anything stupid are you?” Rolling her eyes, she added, “What I mean is, I hope you’re not going to do anything even stupider than what you did yesterday, because she was pretty upset last night. A little romance wouldn’t kill you, you know.”

Something wasn’t right. Janica wasn’t ripping him to shreds like she normally did. But right then, Travis didn’t have time to find out what game she was playing. The ring was burning a hole in his pocket and he was dying to slip it on Lily’s ring finger.

If she let him.

He headed back down the stairs, his mind racing. Where would Lily be? Like a lightning bolt, it hit him.

She was keeping the appointment they had made with one last antique dealer.

“That’s some good work ethic,” he mused as he headed for his rental car. Lily never ceased to surprise him. Even when he had treated her like dirt, when most women would be moping and feeling sorry for themselves and planning his downfall, she was out briskly taking care of business.

Not that she couldn’t be planning his downfall at the same time, he supposed with a wry grin.

“Good luck!” Giuseppe called out, and Travis almost laughed. Giuseppe had no idea how much luck Travis needed.

He drove like a madman. Thankfully, the streets were deserted so no one had to jump out of the way to save him- or herself. His heart was beating a million miles an hour when he pulled up in front of the antique store. He sat in the car to regain his composure. Through the leaded window that faced the establishment he saw a flash of blue.

It had to be Lily.

He cursed himself for being such a wimp. Get out of the car and go win her back you idiot, he told himself determinedly. Travis stepped out onto the pavement, already warm from the early-morning sunshine. He walked around the car to the front door and reached for the handle but didn’t turn it.

It killed him to admit it, but he was scared. What if she saw him and turned away as if he didn’t exist?

What if she looked right through him? He would rather have screaming than coldness. At least then he’d know that she still felt something for him.

Shaking his head at the way his doubts were running away with themselves, Travis took a deep breath, turned the knob, and entered the store.

The front room was empty, so he closed the door behind him quietly and headed for the large room at the back of the building. He stepped into the open garden area. And that’s when he saw her: a goddess in blue, her red hair flaming in the sun, running her fingers over a pile of brightly colored tiles.

Travis’s breath stilled as she lifted a heavy tile up to the light. He remembered watching her at the furniture store, dusting the dining table. She had been so sexy then, but now that he knew Lily intimately

—how she liked her coffee in the morning, what made her laugh out loud, that she was afraid of spiders and snakes no matter how small or harmless they were—she was infinitely more beautiful to him. Had it only been one week since he’d woken up to the one thing he’d been missing his whole life?

Only to lose her now if he didn’t play his cards right.

He heard a sound like an animal getting caught in a steel trap and only when Lily whirled around with her hand on her heart to look straight at him did Travis realize that the awful noise had come from him.

“What are you doing here?” she exclaimed as she took a nervous step back into a pile of tiles.

“I had to find you, Lily.”

Her eyes were wide as she stared at him. In her eyes Travis saw hope and sadness and fear and, how he wished it was still true, love.

The old Travis would have slickly laid out all of the reasons why she should be with him, why she should love him, reasons she wouldn’t be able to deny. But the new Travis flat out didn’t have the words. Not when he looked at Lily and saw her goodness.

Moving slowly toward her, trying not to frighten her away again, he went down on one knee. Lily gasped when she realized what he was doing, and Travis took advantage of her surprise by taking her hands in his.

“Lily,” he croaked, his throat full of emotion. One lone tear slid down her cheek. “There are no words to make up for what I did last night. There’s nothing I wish I could take back in my life more than my thoughtless words.” Lily’s tears were falling in earnest now, as Travis said, “You’re so important to me, sweetheart, and it doesn’t matter how hard I have to work to win you back or gain your trust. I’ll do it.

You’re the most important person in the world to me, and I love you. Please, if you can ever forgive me”

—he reached into his pocket for the ring, and Lily gasped again in shock—“would you be my wife?”

Instinctively Lily fought the reality before her. But the man she loved, the man she had always loved, the man she knew she would always love regardless of whether it made any sense or not, was kneeling at her feet begging her to forgive him.

Begging her to marry him.

The silly, naive girl inside Lily who still believed in fairy tales and heroes on noble steeds wanted to be swept into his arms. If only she could erase the past twenty-four hours, to rewind the tape so there wouldn’t need to be any more apologies.

Watching the open book of emotions pass across Travis’s face with each passing second, a small voice of hope whispered inside of Lily’s head, Look at him. Hasn’t he changed? Hasn’t he done everything he can to apologize? Why are you denying yourself what you want more than anything else in the world?

That little nudge was all Lily needed. She didn’t have it in her to reject Travis. She never had, and the truth was she never would.

The dam broke inside her heart, then Lily was on her knees, kissing him, saying, “I love you, Travis,”

over and over until Travis’s tears mingled with hers.

“You’re crying,” she said, and she reached up to wipe away his tears. He was brushing her soft skin with his thumb, looking like he could hardly believe that she had actually forgiven him.

He kissed her again, soft then hard. “Will you?” he asked softly, and she nodded.

“Yes, Travis,” she said, her words trembling as he kissed her lips softly. “I want to be your wife. I want you to be my husband.”