Free Breaking News by Fern Michaels

people I know.”
    â€œDidn’t you just call me half an hour ago? What’s changed, Abby? The dog’s not keeping you warm enough?”
    â€œChris, the next time I see you, I swear I’m going to smack you right upside the head. What in the hell has gotten into you?”
    â€œYou, Abby. You’ve gotten into me. And that’s why I called. I couldn’t wait another minute to tell you that I love you.”
    Abby remembered that it took her a few minutes to get her bearings. She wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly.
    â€œDid you hear what I just said, Abby?”
    Silence.
    â€œAbby?”
    â€œI heard you, Chris. I heard you.” Abby was breathless.
    â€œAnd? Aren’t you going to tell me what a jerk I am? Call me a few choice names? Smack me right upside the head?”
    She was stunned, surprised, and over the moon. Totally over the moon. The three words she’d been waiting to hear from him for longer than she cared to admit. She was over the moon. Big-time. Very, very big-time.
    â€œNo, Chris, I don’t want to do any of those things to you. What I want is for you to get your butt in that boring Toyota Camry you drive and come out here so I can tell you I love you back to your face.”
    â€œI’m on my way, sweet girl. I’m on my way.”
    They’d been practically inseparable ever since, though they’d yet to take their relationship to an intimate level.
    Soon, Abby thought. Soon.
    We’ve definitely waited long enough.

Chapter 7
    C hris Clay wiped an imaginary speck of dust from the clapel of his newly purchased Calvin Klein tuxedo. He was attending a movie premiere with Abby, and he wanted to look his very best. Though he’d been to many such events in the past, he’d never attended them with a woman with whom he was madly in love.
    He grinned just thinking of Abby. She was a pint-size ball of fire, with blond curls and eyes as blue as the sky. He’d been attracted to her for a long, long time. Though their parents had married one another, Chris had never seen much of Abby during the years of their parents’ marriage, as he’d been away at college. Then his father passed away, and he thought his contact with Abby and Toots might end, but it didn’t. Toots remained his mother in every sense of the word. He’d been in high school when they married, and he adored Toots. She was the only mother figure he’d ever had. Later, when Abby moved to Los Angeles, where Chris was practicing law, he’d promised Toots he’d keep an eye out for her. He had in his own way. Chris didn’t want her to think he was stalking her, or that he was an overly possessive stepbrother, so he’d stayed behind the scenes as much as possible, allowing Abby to live her life. Occasionally, they’d meet for lunch or just bump into one another, but they’d never really hung out on a regular basis.
    Nonetheless, she’d somehow managed to get under his skin, and no matter how much he tried, he simply could not stop thinking of her. He’d kept his feelings to himself. But two years ago, they’d had a date of sorts. He’d taken her to Pink’s, a little joint in Los Angeles noted for its hot dogs. They’d sat in the car, chatted, and eaten their hot dogs. Then he’d kissed her fingers. One at a time. With each kiss, his whole being filled with wanting. And it hadn’t stopped since.
    Trapped on a mountain during a blizzard with that featherbrained Laura Leighton had made him realize just how short life really was and that it could be taken away at a moment’s notice. He vowed then that he would tell Abby his feelings. If she rebuffed him, then so be it.
    Luckily for him, she’d felt the same way. Ever since, they’d taken things slow and easy. Tonight he planned to change that when he proposed. He had purchased a diamond ring and had it safely tucked inside the pocket of his