Secret Valentine (12 page)

He gave her the slightest shake. "What
objection? What makes you unsure?"

"I want to keep my business," she said in a
timid whisper.

He pressed his forehead against hers.
"Absolutely. Fine. Of course you should." He pulled back and looked
at her lazily. "It makes you more..."

"Exasperating?"

"Well, yes that, but more"—he shrugged as if
apologizing for his inability to say it better—"you."

"More me?" Tears threatened to spill out of
her eyes. She blinked them back. He couldn't have said it any
better.

"Don't you understand, Cecelia? I love you.
Whether you're hiding in your attic, or in a book. I just—"

"Yes." For once, she would trust the messages
of hope and love she wrote about so freely in her cards. "Yes, I
will marry—"

He made it quite clear from that point on why
he had chosen to propose lying on the sofa. It was quite some time
before either of them was able to say anything more, but she
managed to make out from his disjointed murmurs, "
this
afternoon"
and "
special license
."

Which sounded lovely to her and quite the
best Saint Valentine's Day gift of all.

~*~