amazing woman. I wish you the same.”
Leland sat back. “I haven’t asked her yet but I’m going to soon. I need to find the right time.”
“Fair’s fair,” Derek said with a grin. “If you want me to wear a wig to help with your proposal, I will.”
“Okay, slackers,” Boof interrupted. “Time to put your backs into it. This next rapids are Class V plus. You’re gonna get rocked.”
An hour later, they drifted down the last stretch of calm water before reaching camp. Tully had involuntarily gone swimming in the last set of rapids and they’d barely escaped flipping the raft, so the run had ended well. Boof congratulated them on being true river men.
When the raft came around a bend, Leland spotted a rocky beach with tents set up on it and four people milling around the orange glow of a fire. His stomach rumbled at the prospect of the venison Tully had mentioned. He would appreciate some dry clothes as well.
When they drew closer, he bent forward to squint at one of the people unfolding a camp table. Joy exploded through his body.
“Good God almighty, that’s Dawn!” he blurted out, his heart doing a backflip.
“And Alice!” Derek said, his face lit with an almost equal joy.
Tully turned around and smirked at them. “You’re welcome.”
Just like that the low-level whine of absence Leland had been feeling through the whole trip went silent and he knew. No more waiting. This was the right time.
“Put your backs into it, boys,” he commanded, digging his paddle into the water. “I need to kiss someone.”
Dawn snuggled in against Leland as they sat in front of the snapping campfire that Tully had built just for them in front of their tent. “I still can’t believe that Tully flew Alice and me out here to meet you guys.” She was so grateful, because Leland’s absence had been a hole in her gut, always there, always throbbing like a wound.
She felt Leland brush a kiss on the top of her head. “Did you enjoy the helicopter ride?”
“Oh my God, yes! Skimming right over the treetops was a rush and a half.” She’d never ridden in a chopper before, so when they’d told her it was the only way to get to this remote site, she’d been a little nervous at first. Especially when she had seen how small the aircraft was.
“I want to bring you back here to go rafting,” Leland said. “I can see you in the bow of the boat, looking like a warrior queen as you challenge the rapids.”
Dawn smiled and patted the hard wall of his chest. “You think I’m way tougher than I really am. But I’d like to try it since you guys had such a great time.”
“Yeah, it was terrific except for one thing. You weren’t with me.”
Happiness surged through Dawn as she looked up into Leland’s face. The reflected flames seemed to dance in his blue eyes. She reached up to run her fingertip over his eyebrow. “I’ve missed touching you.”
He twitched the brow she’d just traced with an expression of dismay. “You missed touching my eyebrows? I was hoping for something a little more, er, significant than that.”
“For that we have to go in the tent. And I’m so ready.”
Leland folded his long legs in and stood, taking her hand to bring her up with him. She started toward the tent that was set away from the main campsite, thanks to Tully’s insistence that they needed privacy. But Leland pulled her to a halt.
“We need to talk about something,” he said.
She looked up at him. The fire painted the elegant planes of his face in warm gold and dark shadow, both of them moving with its flicker. The light ran along strands of his hair as well, picking up gleams of blond amid the brown. “What is it?” she asked, searching his expression for a clue.
He took both her hands in his. She braced herself for some unhappy news because he looked so solemn.
“Remember when I told you all the things I wanted to do with you? Paris, Carmella’s?” He smiled. “And now I’ve added white-water rafting.”
“You’ve added a lot of things and we’ve done most of them,” she said.
“There’s something really big that I want to add.” His grip around her hands tightened and he sank down onto one knee. He brought first one of her hands and then the other to touch his lips, watching her the whole time as he made tingles waltz over her