Read Page 23

“But I was going to you to apologize,” she whispered. “I was wrong, Evan. I did put too much importance on what others thought. As long as I have the support of those who love and respect me, it doesn’t matter what the rest of the world thinks. I should have to crawl back. I washorrible to you.”

“No, no, my love,” he said as he hugged her tighter to him. “Never crawl.Never . Forget I said it, please. You weren’t horrible. You were upset. Your world had been upended, and I should have been the one person you could come to and who would support you and understand. I didn’t even try to understand. I got angry and stormed away. I love you. Please forgive me.”Advertisement

“Oh, Evan, I love you, too. So much. I do forgive you as long as you’ll forgive me, too.”

His entire face lit up. He looked almost boyish as he stared at her in wonder. “You love me? You’re not just saying it?”

She smiled and kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and put every ounce of her love into her kiss. He lifted her up until their mouths were even and their noses bumped.

“How did you find me?” she asked.

Evan sobered and he let her slide back down until her feet touched the floor. He cast her a sheepish look. “I might have stormed into Maddox Communications, threatening death and destruction if someone didn’t tell me where the hell you were. I’d already tried your apartment, your cell phone. I even called Noah’s agent because I couldn’t reach Noah, either.”

Celia giggled. “Death and destruction? Noah’s agent?”

“Well, maybe not death and destruction but I did threaten to pull my contract if I didn’t get some answers. Let’s just say that the entire Maddox team developed a sudden interest in your whereabouts.

Someone found Adam’s business number, had him paged and then waited an eternity for him to call back. He told us you were here and I came right over.”

She shook her head, but her grin was so big she couldn’t hide it.

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“Did you mean it?” he asked softly. “Do you love me? Enough to put up with my ogre ways and my demanding personality? Enough to marry me?”

She sucked in her breath as tears flooded her eyes.

“I think I can tolerate you,” she said teasingly. “If you can tolerate the fact that I can’t cook worth a darn. I’ll probably never meet you at the door wearing an apron, and the thought of having children scares the bejesus out of me.”

A slow grin spread across his face. “I think I can handle all that. So will you? Marry me? Put me out of my misery?”

“You don’t mind me keeping my job? I’ve fought too hard and have spent too long coming to grips with my issues regarding public opinion. There’s no way I’d want to quit now.”

He cupped her chin and smoothed a thumb over her cheek. “You can’t quit. You’re handling all my advertising. I’d be broke inside of a year without you. Besides, I’m way too damned proud of you to ever want to clip your wings.”

“I love you,” she said fiercely. “And, yes, I’ll marry you.”

He lowered his head to hers and kissed her long and sweet. “I love you, too,” he whispered.

He reached down into his pocket and pulled out the same ring he’d given her before. He grasped her hand in his and slid it back on her finger.

“I’ve kept this in my pocket ever since you gave it back. I can’t tell you how wrong it felt when you handed it back to me that night. Promise me you’ll never take it off again.”

She glanced down at the glittery diamond, tears blurring her vision. Then she glanced back up at the man staring at her with so much love in his eyes that her knees threatened to buckle.

“Never. This time our engagement is for real.” pqdm.com