The Fate of the Muse - By Derrolyn Anderson Page 0,89
I realized that it wasn’t my muse powers that had been making him crazy, it was his own insecurity. I suppose my situation was partly to blame for that, but this was a problem I could fix by staying around. I wasn’t going to have to leave him to save him from himself. I flung my arms around his neck and kissed him soundly.
“That’s more like it,” he gasped when we came up for air.
“I thought…” I shook my head with relief, wiping my eyes, “I thought you were working like a maniac all the time because of me.”
He smiled wryly, “I kinda was.”
“You know what I mean…” My voice lowered to a whisper, “You scared me so bad.”
“Why?” he asked, puzzled.
“Because if it was me making you that way, if it was my fault– I couldn’t watch you going through the rest of your life like that. It wouldn’t be fair to you.”
He was disturbed, “What’s wrong with working hard for what you want?”
I looked at him reproachfully, “You fell asleep on me the other night.”
He chuckled, pulling me close and nuzzling my ear, “I’m sorry. Did you have plans for me?”
I looked down, mortified. My face was burning.
“Aww…” he teased me.
I stiffened up, unable to find any humor in the situation. I felt like he’d rejected me all over again, and I turned away from him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Why do you even want to marry me?” I said angrily.
“Marina,” his tone was placating, and it upset me even more. I stood up and faced him.
“Were you planning on marrying Amber too?”
He stood up indignantly, looking down at me with narrowed eyes, “How can you even say that?”
“I know you two were serious… I know you were… well… you know…”
“Oh really,” he said sarcastically, “What makes you think that?”
“I can just tell.”
I turned around, unable to look at him. I knew I was acting like a jealous fool, but I couldn’t help it. I heard him softly chuckling again, and I whirled around furiously.
He was standing there with his arms crossed, shaking his handsome head at me, “You’re wrong,” he said, “We never even got that far.”
“And I’m supposed to believe that?” I snapped, echoing his own words.
“For your information,” he said dryly, “She was the first girl I really liked. I liked her a lot. A whole lot. But her father didn’t want her to have anything to do with me. He told her that my mother was a no-good whore, and that I was never going to amount to anything–”
I gasped, shocked speechless.
He went on, “He made her swear not to get too serious– he even made her wear a promise ring to remind her. I didn’t care– I was willing to wait for her. I thought she was gonna go against him, but it turned out she was just stringing me along.”
I was frozen to the spot. “I’m sorry,” I managed to whisper.
He smiled ruefully, “I’m not.”
He took my hand and led me back over to sit down, sliding onto the rock alongside me and holding up the ring box. “I got this for you because I love you and I want everyone to know it… Will you at least try it on?”
I nodded yes, speechless once again.
He took the ring from the box, taking my hand and slipping it onto my ring finger. It fit perfectly. He looked at me anxiously, searching my eyes for approval.
I burst into tears, sobbing, “I love you.”
He took my face in his hands, and this time we kissed with a new intensity. I’d already signed the contract– it was permanently etched onto my heart. Now there wasn’t the shadow of a doubt in my mind. Overwhelmed, I laid my head on his chest, emotionally spent. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.
“Ethan… Promise me you’ll stop working all the time.”
“I’ll try,” he said, “But you didn’t answer me.”
I wiped my eyes again, “What?”
“I’ll only try… if you say yes.”
“I think I already did,” I said, going in for another kiss.
CHAPTER TWENTYONE
REVELATION
I woke up in my cheery little room, a big smile on my face. I raised my left hand and watched the engagement ring scatter rainbow prisms of sunlight all around the aqua blue walls. It was a beautiful thing, and even Evie would have to give her approval. I loved what it symbolized, but I hated the idea that Ethan got it because he felt like he needed to demonstrate something. Disturbing