Blame It on the Blackout (12 page)

“No, don't say anything. Not yet. I know I'm making it sound like I want you back just so I can work again, but that's not true. Don't you see?
You're
what makes my world go 'round. You're the one person who makes me want to get out of bed each morning to face the day…to see you and be with you. But actions speak louder than words, so I have a proposition for you.”

Peter sat up straighter, smoothing the paper he'd been clutching and shoving it into her hands.

Lucy's fingers closed around the page automatically, but her head was swimming, her eyesight blurry with unshed tears. She wanted so badly for Peter to mean what he was saying, wanted so badly to believe he actually loved her even a fraction as much as she loved him. But he'd been so determined to distance himself, keep himself separate from any woman who might require a commitment, that she was afraid he was only saying what he thought she wanted to hear.

“I want you to come back to work for me,” he continued before she could begin to make sense of things. “Whatever Ethan is paying you, I'll double it. Whatever perks he's giving you, I'll beat them. And this…” He tapped the paper she was holding. “I'm making you a full partner in the company. We'll share everything, fifty-fifty—the designs, the profits, the decision-making process, everything. There's only one catch.”

His voice dropped to a near hush and he pushed his chair back, falling to one knee in front of her. His palm cupped the curve of her knee while the other covered the hand that held the business agreement. His gaze locked with hers, the sincerity in his dark eyes turning her resolve to mush, even as her vision swam and she had trouble making out the details of his beautiful face.

“Marry me, Lucy. Put me out of this misery of being without you. Give me a chance to show you that I can be a good husband and father and still keep my company above water.”

His lips tipped up with wry humor. “I know I said it couldn't be done, but I'm willing to give it a shot. And even if I fail, even if Reyware goes under and we end up living in a cardboard box down by the river, I'd rather be in that cardboard box with you than in the most lavish mansion in the world without you.”

She swallowed hard, struggling to regain her voice as her heart pounded furiously enough to burst from her chest. Twin streaks of dampness trailed down her
cheeks and she blinked several times to bring Peter back into focus.

“I don't care about the money or the company. I never did,” she told him quietly, tracing smooth line of his jaw and running her thumb around the alluring shape of his mouth.

“I didn't come here today just to collect my things, either. I came because Ethan warned me that if I didn't lay myself on the line and let you know how much I love you, and give you the chance to share your feelings in return, that I'd regret it for the rest of my life.

“But you do love me,” she whispered, still awed by his confession and the depth of her own reciprocal feelings. “And I love you, too. So much. But, Peter, are you sure? You were so dead-set against all of this…are you sure you're really ready to get married and start a family?”

“I am totally ready,” he swore with conviction. “I want to be with you for the rest of my life, Lucy Grainger. I want to watch you walk down the aisle and slip a ring on your finger that marks you as mine for all time. I want to have babies with you. I'm especially looking forward to the ‘making babies' part,” he said with a Groucho-like wiggle of his arched brows that made her laugh.

“I want to do my very best to be the father I never had, to be the best damn father this country has ever seen. But I'll admit, I may need your help. I need you to keep me on track, Lucy. Tell me when I'm working
too hard or missing out on precious time with you or our kids. Smack me around, if you need to, but know that you come first and I really do want to make this work.”

She leaned closer, until their noses almost touched. “Then we will,” she told him. “We'll make it work.”

And then she ran her fingers through his hair, messing up the neat style he'd probably struggled half the morning to achieve. “Just think. If I hadn't come here today, I might never have known you felt this way.”

“Oh, you'd have known. Ethan told me pretty much the same thing he told you—that I needed to figure out what I wanted before it was too late. And once I knew, I'd have tracked you down to the ends of the earth to tell you what you mean to me.”

Fresh tears flooded her eyes again as his words seeped through her, filling every nook and cranny of her spirit with pure contentment.

“Thank God for Ethan,” she confided. “Your friend is a very smart man.”

“Tell me about it,” Peter said on a heartfelt sigh, drawing her down to the floor with him and into his arms. “Because
his
friend hasn't been acting very bright lately.”

“Oh, I don't know.” She toyed with the fringe of hair at the nape of his neck, pressing a firm kiss to his warm lips. “It seems like you came to your senses in time.”

“Just in the nick of time. I don't know what I'd have
done if my stubbornness and stupidity had caused me to lose you.”

“You'll never need to find out,” she promised. “Now that I've got you, I'm not letting you go.”

“Does that mean you'll marry me? You never did answer me before.”

“Of course I will. It's all I've ever wanted.”

A grin as wide as the Potomac split his face. “Me, too, although it took me a while longer to figure it out. Good thing you're a patient woman.”

“Very patient.”

He was loath to let go of her, now that he had her wrapped safely in the circle of his arms again, but there was one last thing he needed to do. Pulling back a little, he reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and removed a small, black velvet box. “This is for you.”

He tipped open the lid and held it out to her, absorbing the look of startlement and happiness that filled her eyes as she took in the huge, marquis-cut diamond and fancy gold setting. Once he'd realized how much he loved her and decided to propose, he'd gone all out, buying the biggest, shiniest, most expensive engagement ring he thought she would accept without a fuss.

“Oh, my lord,” she breathed. “It's beautiful.”

Taking the ring from its satin bed, he set the box aside and slipped the band on her finger. She admired it for several moments, turning her hand this way and that so the diamond could catch the light from the window at her back. And then she turned that blazingly joy
ful expression on him, zapping him right down to his toes.

“What do you think?” she asked. “Should we go show Ethan and let him know his advice worked?”

Curling his hands around her waist, he waggled his brows and nuzzled the sensitive flesh just beneath her ear. “Actually, I thought maybe we could go upstairs and celebrate, make up for lost time.”

“Mmm, that sounds like fun, too.” Her blue eyes flashed with amusement as her arms slipped up to wind around his neck. “But afterward, we really should thank Ethan and let him know I won't be coming in to work anymore.”

“We will.” Peter scooped Lucy into his arms and got to his feet, heading for the stairs. “And I want to ask him to be my best man at the wedding.”

“That's nice,” she said, her fingers already loosening the buttons at the front of his starched white shirt. “He's your best friend, after all, and he did play the part of an unlikely matchmaker there toward the end, didn't he?”

“Yeah,” he answered, taking the stairs two at a time. “But we have the blackout to thank for our start.”

P
eter scrubbed a hand over his dry, tired eyes as the last of his latest program processed across the computer screen. Stifling a yawn, he turned just as his wife tiptoed into the room.

God, he loved that word:
wife.
But he loved her even more.

She wore the same long, sapphire blue satin negligee as when they'd gone to bed several hours ago. Of course, he'd systematically stripped the gown from her body so he could make soft, sweet love to her for about an hour and a half. She must have put it back on sometime after he'd slipped away to his office.

He still worked best in the wee hours of the night,
but Lucy didn't seem to mind a bit. She simply drifted over when she thought he'd been gone too long or started to miss him, and lured him back to the bedroom.

Now, she crossed the carpeted floor in her bare feet and came to stand behind his chair, running her hands over his shoulders and across the worn cotton T-shirt covering his chest.

“How's it coming along?” she asked, her voice raspy with sleep.

He caught her fingers and folded them inside his own, holding them close above his heart. “All done. I'm just waiting for these sequences to run before I shut down.”

“Think this one will be as popular as Soldiers of Misfortune?”

“It's hard to tell, but I hope so.”

She sighed, resting her face against his temple where her warm breath stirred through his hair. “I'll bet it will. And then I can say ‘I told you so' because you managed to design a brand new game and still be a wonderful husband, all at the same time. Amazing.”

He grinned at her teasing tone and tipped his head back to meet her loving gaze. “Hey, when you're right, you're right. And this happens to be one of the few times I'm pleased to admit I was wrong, wrong, wrong.”

“Me, too,” she said softly, punctuating the response with a kiss.

And then she straightened, pulling him to his feet as
she tapped a few keys on his keyboard to turn off the system. Walking backward, she tugged him in the direction of their bedroom.

“I'm also pleased you have this penchant for being up at all hours. It will make things much easier on me down the road.”

His brows knit in confusion at her cryptic statement and the sly smile curving her lips. “What are you talking about?”

“You know. Midnight feedings and 2:00 a.m. diaper changes. I'll leave those to you so I can sleep through the night.”

He blinked, his bare feet dragging along the carpet. “Midnight feedings? Diaper…?”

Her meaning registered in his sluggish brain and he froze in his tracks. “You mean…Are you…?” He couldn't seem to form a complete sentence. But then, with Lucy, he didn't need to.

Her grin widened and she nodded her head. “We're going to have a baby,” she confirmed.

With a loud whoop, he wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her off the ground and spun her in circles. Before they could get too dizzy, he set her back down, but didn't let go.

Through her laughter, she said, “I take it you're happy about this.”

“Are you kidding? I'm ecstatic. I can't wait.” He took a minute to catch his breath and then asked, “When?”

“Seven months. The doctor says early June.”

“June. I'm gonna be a daddy in June,” he breathed in wonder. And then he looked deep into her blue eyes. “I'll be a good one. I swear it.”

“I know you will.” Raising up on her toes, she held his cheeks in her cupped hands and kissed the corner of his mouth. “I've always known. You're a better man than you give yourself credit for, Peter Reynolds.”

He swallowed past the lump of emotion clogging his throat. “I love you, Lucy Reynolds.”

Leaning back in his arms, she smiled softly. “I know that, too.”