It touched her to know that he cared about such things. “You shouldn’t have spent so much on me.”

“Who else should I spend it on?”

“When I went to fetch you tonight, I didn’t think our evening would turn out this way,” she said, still gazing at the gorgeous ring. “I can’t believe it. I never thought anything like this would happen to me. And then last week, when you were missing all that time… I found out what it feels like to have your heart literally break.”

“Aww, baby. I’m so sorry I put you through that. You were all I could think about out there. Thinking about you kept me going.”

They held each other for a long time, and then he drew back so he could see her face. “Are you happy?”

“So happy. Happier than I’ve ever been.”

He kissed her softly, holding her gaze. “So am I. No one has ever had so much faith in me or loved me the way you do. Have I ever told you how glad I am that you insisted on trying to pay back the money I loaned you?”

“If I recall correctly, you were annoyed with me for tracking you down.”

“That wasn’t annoyance. It was relief. Pure and simple. I’d never been so happy to see anyone.” As he spoke, he moved them as one so he was on top of her. “I’ve been happy to see you every day since then, too. There’s no one I’d rather be with in this whole world.”

Cradling him between her legs, she raised her hips, letting him know what she wanted.

He didn’t have to be told twice. “There’s nothing like this, Grace. No one like you.” He made slow, sweet love to her, driving her crazy the way only he could, her one and only love. “When do you want to get married?”

“As soon as we can.”

“We can’t upstage Laura and Owen.”

Grace wondered how he could think so clearly when he was making a muddled mess out of her brain one stroke at a time. And then he reached down to where they were joined and caressed her in all the right places, clearing every thought from her head that didn’t involve the incredible high that came with loving him.

“God,” he said, groaning. “I love you. I’m so glad you’re gonna marry me.”

Laughing and crying, she held him close, soothing him as he reached his own release.

“This winter,” he said when he could speak again. “We’ll get married this winter.”

“Fine by me.”

Reclining against a huge pile of pillows, Abby couldn’t take her eyes off Adam as he unbuttoned his shirt and took it off at her request but left his pants on. “Could I ask you something?”

“Anything you want.”