The Husband Hunt (Madison Sisters 3)

Chapter Nineteen

Lisa woke up slowly to find herself lying in a strange bed. It only took a moment to recognize that she was in Robert's room. A heartbeat later she spotted the man himself standing at the window, peering out into the darkness. He looked so heartbreakingly beautiful standing there in silhouette that for a minute she simply lay staring at him.

The man had saved her four times now, risking himself and taking damage three of the four times. Only this last time had he escaped uninjured, and that was pure luck. Charles could easily have shot him as not, out there in the yard. Robert had been chasing her around for days, trying to keep her safe, and got hurt doing it. He loved her, she was sure of it. Perhaps he thought he loved her only as a friend or a little sister, but the passion he poured over her when they were together was not that of a friend or a big brother. And what was love if not friendship, passion and trust?

Trust was the missing ingredient. But she also knew he wouldn't be able to give that trust to another woman either. Perhaps two out of three of the ingredients was good enough to start, she thought solemnly. Perhaps he would learn to trust her with time. Lisa hoped so, because she very much feared she was going to marry the stupid man anyway. She just couldn't help it. She liked him, she loved him, she wanted him and she trusted him . . . with her life. She would marry him without having gained his trust if necessary, but couldn't resist making one more attempt to gain it.

"Robert. "

Robert glanced around. Spotting Lisa sitting up in bed, he smiled and crossed the room toward her. Settling on the side of the bed, he brushed the hair back from her face and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine. I am not the problem," she informed him grimly. "You are. "

"I am?" he asked with amusement, thinking she looked adorable with the militant expression that presently graced her face. "Yes, Robert, you are," she said firmly. "Whether you will admit it or not, you love me. I was made for you. And while you are apparently too stubborn and stupid to see that, I can see it, and I am - "

"I love you," he interrupted quietly, and Lisa paused and blinked in surprise.

"You do?" she asked uncertainly and the question brought an amused quirk to his lips.

"Lisa, in the last few days I've completely given up my own life to protect yours. I've twisted my ankle and been stabbed trying to protect you, not to mention knocked out by you in my efforts. If that's not love, I don't know what the hell it is. "

"Oh," Lisa breathed, eyes wide, and then she frowned. "But what about trust, Robert? Love includes trust and - "

"I trust you," Robert said solemnly, which brought a dubious expression to her face. Sighing, he took her hands in his and squeezed them briefly before saying, "I was trying to tell you this earlier today before Smithe's arrival interrupted us. Richard and I had a talk last night. He made me realize that my father was nothing more than a bitter woman hater. That he distrusted and suspected, accused and even punished my mother unjustly for adulterous behavior for years before she even looked at another man. In effect, I think he drove her into the comforting arms of another man with his cruel and hateful behavior.

"But she only started up with one man, Gower, and she only did that after her marriage to my father was as good as dead. If it weren't for the scandal I think she would have divorced my father. As it was, they were living apart, leading separate lives, when she took up with Gower. It made me wonder if the same thing didn't happen with my grandfather and his father before him," he admitted solemnly and then grimaced.

"Once I looked at the situation, I realized that the Langley men aren't so much cursed with adulterous wives as cursed with a sour and suspicious disposition that may have driven their women from them. " He let that sink in for a moment and then added, "And were it not for my friendship with you and your sisters I may very well have grown up just as suspicious and hateful toward women. "

Robert squeezed her hands again. He admitted, "Even with the three of you to show me that all women are not lying, cheating adulteresses, I may still have been as paranoid and hateful to a wife - to you," he added solemnly, "as my father was to my mother . . . and I would have carried on this mythical Langley-men curse. But I was most fortunate," he said with a small smile. "I had you and Suzette and Christiana in my life. The three of you are the cream of the crop when it comes to women, Lisa, and you are the best of the bunch in my eyes. "

"I am?" she asked with wonder.

Robert nodded firmly, and then pointed out, "We enjoy each other's company, like reading together, have lively grand debates, prefer the same foods, love to dance, share the same values. And no other woman in my life has ever stirred the passion in me that you do.

"I do love you, Lisa Madison. I love your dreamy-eyed romanticism, your undaunted loyalty, your quirky sense of humor, your courage, your passion, your intelligence, and even your occasional naivety. I trust you with my heart, my name, and my very life. And while I can't promise that I will never have a single doubt, or that my father's ravings might not someday rise up to instill worry and fear in me, I can promise I shall try to nip it in the bud if and when that does happen, and that I definitely will not take it out on you. "

"Oh," Lisa breathed.

Robert turned her hands over in his, contemplating them briefly and then met her gaze and added, "I hope that that promise is enough to encourage you to be my wife, Lisa. Because I do not think I could bear - no," he corrected himself grimly, "I know I could not bear a life without you in it as my friend, lover, wife and partner. "

"Oh," Lisa repeated shakily and then suddenly snatched her hands away, leapt up and rushed from the room.

Robert stared after her nonplussed. He waited for a moment, and waited, his shock turning to confusion and then despair and finally anger. He had just poured his heart out to the woman and what had she done? Run off. What the hell?

Standing angrily, he hurried across the room and out into the hall. He'd expected to find her door closed and locked or something, but it was wide open. He suspected that meant she'd run downstairs, but glanced into the room anyway, just in case. He relaxed a bit when he spotted her seated at the small table in her room, writing quickly in a notebook, but not fully.

"Lisa," he began irritably.

"One moment, Robert. I am almost done," she murmured, continuing her writing.

Robert frowned and shifted his feet. He then asked impatiently, "Done what?"

Rather than answer, she glanced around to ask, "What did you say after the part about loving my quirky sense of humor? Was it courage or passion?"

Robert's mouth dropped, and then he asked with amazement, "Are you writing down everything I said?"

"I am trying to, but I can't remember what came after my sense of humor," she said, sounding vexed.

He stared at her silently, the last of his tension slipping away. She hadn't run off because she was unwilling to marry him. She'd run off to write down what he'd said. He had no idea why she was writing it down, but that was more encouraging than just running away. Trying to remain patient, he said, "Lisa, I just bared my heart to you and asked you to be my wife. An answer would have been the more appropriate response. "

"Oh. " She blinked once, glanced back to her notebook and then stood to move in front of him and take his face in her hands. "Of course I shall marry you, Robert. "

Relief rushing through him, he slid his arms around her waist and drew her forward into his embrace, but just as he started to lower his head intending to kiss her, she added, "Now that you have come to your senses and realize what a catch I am and that we were meant to be together, there is no reason not to. "

Robert stilled, and then grimaced and said dryly, "Thank you. " "You're welcome," she said brightly and slipped from his arms to hurry back to her notebook. "Now what came after 'humor'?"