Threats and Promises, page 23
Matt looked up at her through one half-lidded eye. “Where did you think construction workers went for fun?” He steeled himself against an attack that never came.
“Did you get drunk?” Lauren asked.
“On occasion.”
“What were you like … drunk?”
He shrugged the shoulder she wasn’t leaning against. “I don’t know. I was too far out of it to tell.”
She grinned. “And the hunting?”
“Wooden ducks at an amusement park. We should go sometime. I’ll win you a huge stuffed teddy bear.”
Lauren settled onto him, gently and with a sigh. “Thanks, but I’ve already got one.” She rubbed her ear against the tawny hair on his chest and stilled only when he began to stroke her back.
“You’re pretty special yourself,” he murmured. “The way you thought to go for that gun, and then the way you held it … I thought for a minute that you were the one with experience.”
“All a bluff. I’ve never held a gun in my life.”
“Not even a water gun?”
“Nope. My parents were pacifists. Dead set against weapons of any kind. That’s one of the things that drove them crazy about Brad. He used to make guns out of whatever toys he had handy. Some of them were pretty creative.”
“Lauren?”
She took a deep breath, inhaling the clean, male scent of his skin. “Mmm?”
“What will your parents say about me?”
“That depends,” she said softly and raised her head. “It depends on what I tell them first.”
“How about you tell them that I love you and want to marry you?”
“How about I tell them that you’re fearless and strong, or that you’ve got brains as well as brawn, or that you saved my life?”
“I didn’t save your life. You escaped from the warehouse on your own. Then, today, you were the one who saved all of our lives.”
“You saved my life.”
“How did I save your life?”
“You gave it deep, deep, lasting meaning. A good job is fine. So’s a good house, even a pretty face. But the thing that really pulled it all together was you. I love you, Matt. Love is what counts. Always has been, always will be.”
Matt cleared his throat, but his voice still came out hoarse. “How about you tell them that I love you and want to marry you?”
“They’ll hit the roof, but you know something?” Lauren asked, pushing her chin out. “I don’t care! If they love me—and I’m sure they do—they’ll come around in time. So. Any other questions?”
“Just one. Aren’t you worried about where we’ll live?”
She turned the tables on him. “Are you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ve already decided that if my boss won’t open a permanent Boston office, I’m quitting. I’ve made enough contacts here to get another job. And I love the farmhouse in Lincoln.” He paused, narrowing his eyes. “But you knew that. You’ve known all along. You’re too smart, that’s what you are. You’ve got me wrapped around your little finger. Y’know, maybe I ought to rethink this. If I’m going to be led around by the nose for another fifty or sixty years—”
Lauren’s lips silenced him, and within seconds he was fully involved in the nonverbal give-and-take of love. Belying the punishment he had taken that day, he rolled over to cover her with his body. Hands buried deep in her hair, hips poised above hers, he whispered thickly, “… for another fifty or sixty years, I’ll love it … every … sweet … minute.”
About the Author
Barbara Delinsky is the author of more than twenty-three New York Times–bestselling novels including Blueprints and Sweet Salt Air. Her books have been published in thirty languages, with more than thirty-five million copies in print worldwide. A lifelong New Englander, Delinsky currently lives in Massachusetts with her husband.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1986 by Barbara Delinsky
Cover design by Ian Koviak
ISBN: 978-1-5040-8484-0
This edition published in 2023 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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New York, NY 10038
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BARBARA DELINSKY
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Barbara Delinsky, Threats and Promises
