Carter evidently took it as a response. He continued, his face transformed with deep tenderness. “Didn’t you think this morning meant something? It had to mean something. It was so much more than sex. I couldn’t be so wrong about it. Ruth, I love you. Don’t you think there’s even the slightest chance you could learn to love me too?”
She sobbed again and this time couldn’t hide it with her hands since he still had her face in his strong grip.
Carter’s face twisted, and he let her go. “Is that a no?”
“No!” she burst out. “No, it’s not a no! I love you too! I love you more than anything!”
He blinked. “What?”
At least in these most important emotional moments, he was no more articulate than she was.
She swiped away her tears with the sleeves of her pajamas. “I love you, Carter. I have almost from the beginning. But I didn’t think you could ever—”
“You love me? For real?” His voice broke on the last two words.
“Yeah. I really do.”
He made a strange helpless sound and pulled her into his arms, hugging her so tightly she could barely breathe for a few seconds. Then he mumbled against her ear, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
At that, she gasped indignantly and pushed him back so she could glare at him. “Why didn’t I tell you?”
“Yeah.” His smile was sheepish. Adorable. “You’re always so good about saying what you think. I assumed you would have said something—”
She gave him a playful swat on the chest. “I was trying not to be needy and clingy. If you’ve felt this way for a while, then why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought I did. I told you I wanted to make it real. You said it would never work.”
She frowned as she thought back, reinterpreting that previous conversation now with the full context. “I didn’t think you were in love with me!” she burst out. “I thought you just wanted to go along with it because it was the road in front of you. Because it was easy and convenient.”
“Are you serious? Who the hell would get married just because it was easy and convenient if they weren’t actually in love?” There was a glint of humor visible beneath the exaggerated indignation on his face.
Ruth’s mouth dropped open before she realized he was teasing. With an outraged sound, she tackled him, and they wrestled around playfully for a minute before they settled together on the couch.
Carter was on top of her. He gazed down at her with naked devotion. “I love you, Ruth.”
“I love you too.”
“I want everything between us to be real.”
“I want that too.” She could barely breathe around the swell of joy. “We can take this as slow as you want. But can I please keep wearing this engagement ring? I want that proposal you gave me to be the real one.”
“It is the real one,” he murmured hoarsely. “All of what happened between us is real. I want to be engaged to you. And I’d be happy to marry you anytime you want. This love is real. And it’s forever.”
She shook again with emotion, but fortunately this time managed it without tears. In the back of her mind, she knew she should probably be careful. Guys, after all, didn’t like to be crowded or rushed or pressured. But she’d never been good at being careful, so what she was thinking spilled out into words. “So we can maybe get married on Christmas?”
He grew still, and she would have been worried had his eyes not shattered with joy. “Yes. If that’s what you want, then nothing could make me happier.”
He kissed her then. And they kept on kissing until they were making love on the couch in front of the fire. And they didn’t stop kissing even then. And not even after both of them were fully sated and relaxed in hot, blissful aftermath.
In fact, they didn’t stop kissing until they heard Mrs. Wilson at the front entrance of the house, announcing her presence with her typical scattered exuberance.
They jumped into action after that, pulling back on their clothes and recovering their equilibrium.
So they were ready when Mrs. Wilson made her appearance in the room. She didn’t seem to think anything was strange about their tousled condition or their giddiness.
In fact, she was almost as thrilled as they were when she heard the news about an impromptu wedding.
ON CHRISTMAS MORNING, Ruth woke up while it was still dark in the room.