Free Harlequin Special Edition October 2015, Box Set 1 of 2 by Christine Rimmer Page B

to build a life with you, have kids with you. Like I said, I’m a guy who follows my intuition, a guy who has trouble sounding out a word—but also a guy who gets the big picture. And once I know what I want, I go for it. I want you, Chloe, for my wife. I want you for my little girl, too, because I know you’ll be the mother Annabelle needs.”
    Chloe just stared at him. Words? They’d completely deserted her.
    He put up a hand. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything now. All you have to do is take your time. Think it over. And you should know the kids aren’t a deal breaker for me. I want more. But if you don’t, I can live with that. Annabelle will be enough.”
    â€œI, um...” She had no idea what to say next.
    That didn’t seem to bother him. He simply waited.
    And she found that she couldn’t sit still. She got up, eased from behind the coffee table and then kept going to the sliding door, the one she’d slipped out that first night, when he came up the hill and she took him to her bed.
    He didn’t try to stop her. He didn’t say a word, only sat there, patiently waiting for her to process all he’d just said.
    She appreciated his silence and stillness now, appreciated it every bit as much as she did all that he’d told her moments before. She flipped on the deck lights and stared out at the two empty cedar chairs.
    Was this really happening? Just like that, out of nowhere, he wanted to marry her?
    But then again, no. Not out of nowhere, not really. He was such a focused sort of man. Of course, he would decide what he wanted and lay it all out for her so honestly and directly.
    She fiddled with the pearls her dad had given her years ago, when she thought she knew everything and saw so clearly how her life would go.
    What about love? Quinn hadn’t mentioned love.
    Should that bother her?
    Well, it didn’t. She’d had enough declarations of love from her rotten-hearted ex-husband to last her into the next century. And where had all that love talk gotten her but wounded, divorced and bitterly disappointed?
    This, what Quinn offered, was better.
    It wasn’t a fantasy, not perfect. But it was honest. It felt real.
    Quinn spoke then. “One more thing. About Manny...” He waited for her to look at him, and then for acknowledgement that she’d heard what he said. When she gulped and nodded, he went on. “Manny’s part of the family. So you would not only be getting me and Annabelle. There’s Manny, too. He can be a pain in the ass, I know. But he’s not going anywhere. If you said yes, you would need to deal with him, work with him.”
    She felt a soft smile tremble across her mouth. “I would never for a second expect it to be any other way.”
    He didn’t smile. But his eyes were so bright. “Well, all right, then.”
    The part about Manny had been so easy to answer. But the rest of it... She really didn’t know what to say. She stared out the sliding door again.
    He asked into the heavy silence, “Want me to go?”
    Turning from her study of the empty deck chairs, she faced him once more. “No way. I want you to stay.”
    He stood. “Will you think about it, consider my offer?”
    â€œI will.”
    He came for her then. She waited, her whole body humming with sweet anticipation as he approached.
    And when he was close enough that the heat he generated seemed to reach out and touch her, she canted her chin higher and gazed straight into those beautiful eyes. “You are like no one I’ve ever known.”
    â€œThat’s good, I hope?”
    â€œOh, yes. It’s very good.”
    â€œAngel.” He lifted a big hand and brushed a finger down the curve of her cheek, stirring up goose bumps, making her sigh. And then he lowered that wonderful mouth of his and brushed those lips, so gently, back and forth across her own.
    She smiled into his