she glanced back at the painting. “I think I needed this,” she said clearly. “I needed a reminder that it doesn’t matter that there’s a little more paint on the canvas, I’m still me.”
He laughed, and as she stepped into his arms, he accepted every bit of her. The young woman he’d fallen in love with and had never been able to tell. The mystery woman he’d dreamed of for so many years. And the strong, brave woman who was even now backing him toward the makeshift bed he’d placed in the room that he wanted to share with her forever.
“You are still you,” he agreed.
He brought her down to the mattress. Sunset danced as golden and orange rays filtered through the windows and played across their bodies.
Clothing stripped away, he kissed her softly, rolling over her as he breathed in the scent of roses. He kissed her harder, teasing all the places that he’d been learning over the past months. Every time they’d been able to steal away, testing, and taking, and enjoying.
Then he kissed her sweetly as they came together, the sensation so good, he wasn’t going to be able to be patient—
Except this was Dana, and for her, he would always find a way.
After, they lay tangled, the sheets kicked back because the air around them was heated from the summer day and their bodies.
Dana stroked her fingers through his hair, examining his face. “You look like you did that day when you took the pictures of me.”
Mark paused, thinking. “What look is that?”
She laughed. “Like you had some enormous secret, and as if you wanted to eat me up like an ice cream cone.”
Mark shrugged. “Pretty accurate.”
It was a good thing he was already lying down, because otherwise what she said next would have knocked his feet out from under him.
“I felt it,” she said. She took a deep breath. “I mean, I felt it too.”
His heart rate sped up.
She pressed her fingers over his lips to keep him from speaking. As if she needed to get this confession out. “Mark, I was attracted to you as well. It was a pure, sweet moment of something that wasn’t meant to be, not right then. It wasn’t wrong, because we never did anything about it, but it was very beautiful. And now I think it’s that moment that brought us here. It was one of those strange things, almost reverse déjà vu. Maybe something of today magically jumped back in time to that moment, and we felt a hint of what would be.”
Oh, hell, yes. Mark curled upright, hauling Dana with him. They both sat on the bed naked, grinning at each other. “Dana, I love you. Are you telling me—”
He couldn’t breathe.
She stared at the mattress for a moment before deliberately lifting her eyes to meet his. “Part of me isn’t ready to say it yet, but part of me has loved you for a long, long time.”
The sensation in his heart bloomed bigger and bigger until the entire room was pounding with it. “Does this mean you’ll marry me?”
Dana crawled over him, one hand on his chest to angle him back against the mattress. “I would like to move in with you, first,” she said clearly. “Because we have all that talking to finish up. Plus, it would be good to let Rafe and Laurel have some time to themselves.”
“Good thing I’ll soon have a place for you to move into, then,” Mark said. “But will you marry me eventually?”
Her eyes sparkled. “Eventually, maybe.”
She folded her arms over her chest, expression going teasing. He didn’t care, not with her perched over him, her naked skin heating his body and his hands on her hips where he could caress soft skin.
“Labour Day? Or maybe Thanksgiving?”
She snorted. “Eventually means longer than that…”
He didn’t stop. “New Year’s? Valentine’s?”
Her lips twitched. “You are so not good at the patience thing.”
“I know. Canada Day, next year. It’ll be the first time that the Wild Rose Colemans host the gathering. We can make it extra special by having the entire family here to witness our vows.”
Dana stilled, her expression softening. “You make it very difficult to not be charmed out of my socks.”
“You’re not wearing any socks,” he pointed out before taking control and rolling her under him again. He pressed a sweet kiss to her lips. “I love you, and I want everyone to know. But I will be patient until—”