Free Edge of the Season by Trish Loye Page B

duffel and eyed the ring box that he’d brought down with him. He’d really thought they would be getting engaged this trip. Instead, she’d gotten angry and turned him down.
    He sighed and ran a hand over his face.
    What the fuck was he doing? His woman had just been chased by a crazed murderer through Central Park, and here he was demanding to know whether or not she loved him?
    He knew she did. She may not say the words, but in every action she took, she proved it. From the moment she put his niece’s life above her own, to her drawing the killer away from him when he’d been unconscious, to the fact that she’d agreed to spend time with his family even though families made her supremely uncomfortable. She loved him.
    He smiled at the memory of Dani trying to hold her temper in the kitchen with his mother. Of course she loved him. What other woman would do those things for him? He set the beer down and went to the door. Time to bring his woman in from the cold.
    The handle clicked just as he got to it. Dani pushed through the door. She smiled sheepishly and something flipped inside him at seeing it. She was the love of his life, no matter how corny it sounded. He could wait to propose until she was ready.
    She shut the door behind her and leaned against it. “We need to talk.”
    He shook his head. “No, we’re good. Or rather, I’m good. You don’t have to explain.”
    She shrugged off her coat. “But I do need to explain.”
    “I’d really rather just let the whole thing drop. In fact, why don’t we pretend that I never mentioned marriage?”
    She stepped closer to him. “I can’t do that.”
    He wondered at the nervousness in her gaze. What was going on? It made him tense for a blow he wasn’t sure he could take.
    “Why not?”
    She tilted her head. “You’re an amazing man—”
    His gut clenched at her words. “If you’re breaking up with me, then this is piss-poor timing.”
    She shook her head. “No! Don’t think that. I would never—” She took a breath and let it out slowly, then caught his gaze. “I love you.”
    He stilled, and then frowned. “Why now?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Is nothing ever easy with you?”
    “Nothing worth it is easy.” He crossed his arms. “Spill it. I want to know why you’re saying it now. Do you actually mean it? Or are you just trying to make peace?”
    She huffed a breath and it almost made him smile, but he schooled his features.
    “Of course I mean it,” she said while she stared at the carpet.
    “Then look at me,” he said.
    She lifted her chin almost defiantly. “I love you.”
    He smiled, and pulled her into his arms. “Good. Now let’s go to bed.”
    She laughed. “Wait. Don’t you want to know why…why it took me so long to say?”
    He thought he knew why, but he sensed she needed to tell him. “I’m listening.”
    She pulled out of his arms and sat on the bed. He sat beside her and took her hand. She wasn’t alone, and he wanted her to know that. She squeezed his hand.
    “I’ve loved you for a long time now,” she said quietly. “I just couldn’t say the words, because if I said them aloud then…then it would be true.” She waved her other hand in a small gesture. “And somehow it would jinx us.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Jinx?”
    She closed her eyes for a moment before speaking. “Everyone I’ve loved has left me. Or betrayed me. My parents. My foster families.” She shook her head and her voice got quieter still. “I know you wouldn’t do that, not on purpose, but what you do is so dangerous…”
    He couldn’t stand it any longer; he pulled her into his arms and back onto the bed, rolling on top of her. He held most of his weight off her with his arms. “I love you,” he said. “And in my line of work, I can’t promise that I won’t get hurt, but I will do everything in my power to make it home to you.”
    Her nails dug into his shoulders and she drew his head down. The kiss exploded between them, but a