“I guess the answer would be yes.""Got to love that word." He kissed her so sweetly then, it brought tears to her eyes. "Got it in you to say it again?"And then he did the unthinkable. He went down on one knee.”

“When he reached her, he touched a hand to her face. Smiled. "Important. That's one word. Everything. That's another. Loved," he said, adding the most important word of all. "God, Darcy, you are so loved.”

“With only those soft, secret night sounds as witness, he moved over her, kissed her deeply, then slid home.And news sounds filled the dark.Sharp breaths of stunning urgency.Long sighs of immeasurable pleasure.Humming beats of awareness of an unbreakable bond being forged.¸In the heat of the night, without a single word spoken, she felt everything change between them. Until this moment, they'd only played at love, danced cautiously around the prospect of commitment. But as he sank in and out of her body, immersing them in sensation and a profound stream of consciousness, he sough her gaze in the dark. What she saw in his eyes brought tears to hers as it became achingly, wonderfully clear. The biggest player of them all wasn't playing anymore.”

“He hugged her hard. "I love you. My life is so much better with you in it than out of it.”

“She dug around in her bag, found what she was looking for, and brought the little stuffed dog back to bed with her. Childish, yeah. She didn't care. He was soft and cuddly-unlike Jones-and she had a need for soft and cuddly right now. She'd like to meet a woman who could breeze through a shotgun blast and not need something to hold on to. Even if it was just an old stuffed pup.(...)She swallowed hard,then caught her breath when he opened his eyes, turned his head on the pillow toward her. He searched her face in the dark."Come here," he whispered.When she hesitated, he reached for her. "The dog can come, too.”

“Ah, well.” He smiled-another one of those devastatingly intoxicating smiles that did unreasonable things to her body temperature and respiration.With a nod and a respectful, “Ma’am,” he left her in the middle of the room.Feeling like she’d been hit by a tank.”

“Okay,” he said, his breath hitching, his hands shaking like hell as he pried her arms from around his neck and set her away.Deep breath. Another. "Okay. Just...um. Okay. Christ. Christ, Darcy, I want you so bad I'm afraid I'm going to hurt you.”