“What do you want, Julia? If I could give you anything, what would that be?”

I looked around the one-room cabin, feeling the warmth of the fire, inhaling the aroma of pine, and seeing the decorated tree. My attention went back to the man beside me. “I can’t think of anything I need.”

“Need and want are two different things.” He ran his finger down my cheek, stopping at the edge of the camisole, pushing it downward between my breasts. His smile grew as he looked back up at me. “A week and a day ago, if I’d been asked what I needed, I would have said nothing. My needs have been met since I completed that deal. I’ve spent the years since concentrating on what I want. More land, more money, and more power. I didn’t need a thing. That changed. It changed in this cabin.”

I sucked in a breath as his deep tenor reverberated through me.

“I want you,” he said. “I want you over and over, but it’s more than that. You changed everything. Now I need.”

“What do you need?”

“I need to know you’re happy, safe, and protected. I need to have you at my side. I need to fall asleep beside you and wake in the same place. Will you let me do that for you?”

The scene blurred with tears I didn’t expect. “That sounds like a proposal. I already said I’d marry you.”

“I didn’t propose before. You deserve that.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and lay myself against his wide chest as his arms came around me. With my forehead on Van’s shoulder, I nodded. Just the two of us alone before the fire felt right, much righter than in front of a room full of people. I lifted my head and looked into his gaze. “I didn’t know I needed that, to hear you ask, but I did.”

Van gently lay me back on the rugs and followed me until he was over me, our noses touching. “Will you, Julia McGrath, be my wife?”

My eyes opened wide as the picture of him with a woman in wedding attire came to mind. “You said you’ve never proposed before?”

“Only to you. I think, unofficially, this is the third time.”

What does that mean about the picture he had in his office?

I didn’t want to ask, not now.

“My answer is yes. I promise it won’t change.”

26. Van

Van

Even though I’d gotten up twice throughout the night to add wood to the fire, I woke to the chill of the air upon my face. Julia’s soft curves and flat planes brought more than warmth to my body beneath the blankets.