Hidden Riches

lots of sunny daffodils.
    “Good job,” she said quietly. “Damn good job, Skimmerhorn. It was the books that really did it, though. How could I possibly hold out against a complete set of first-edition Nancy Drew?” She looked down at the bold square-cut diamond still in her hand. “You exploited my weaknesses for nostalgia, romance and material gain.”
    “I’m not such a bad deal.” Nerves screaming, he came up behind her to touch a hand to her hair. “I’ve got some flaws, sure, but I’m loaded.”
    Her lips curved. “That approach might have worked once, but I’m pretty well set myself, since I’ll be awarded a fat finder’s fee on the Monet. I might be greedy, Skimmerhorn, but I have my standards.”
    “I’m crazy about you.”
    “That’s better.”
    “You’re the only woman I’ve ever wanted to spend mylife with.” He brushed a light kiss at the curve of her shoulder and throat and made her sigh. “The only woman I’ve ever loved, or want to love.”
    “That’s excellent.”
    “I don’t think I can live without you, Dora.”
    Tears burned her throat, thickening her voice. “Direct hit.”
    “So does that mean you’re going to fall in love with me again?”
    “What makes you think I ever stopped?”
    The hand he had in her hair fisted and made her wince. “And the marriage thing? You’ll give it a shot?”
    She grinned into the sunlight. It might not have been the world’s most romantic proposal, but it suited her. It suited her just fine.
    “We’ll need lace at the curtains, Jed. And I have a Chippendale bench that’s waiting to sit in front of that fire.”
    He turned her around, brushing her hair back so that his hands could frame her face. He only had to see her eyes for the nerves to vanish. “Kids?”
    “Three.”
    “Good number.” Overwhelmed, he rested his brow against hers. “There’s a bed upstairs, in the master suite. I think it’s a George the Third.”
    “Four-poster?”
    “Tester. Stay here with me tonight.”
    She laughed her way into the kiss. “I thought you’d never ask.”