Full Bloom

strongly attracted to each other, although I'll admit a casual onlooker might not think so if he saw us bickering like this. What a mess. I never intended for it to be like this. I'd planned on a cozy fire, a nice glass of wine, maybe a few flowers. I was even going to wear a tie. I wanted it to be right."
    Emily listened to him, her pulse pounding with awareness. "Attracted to each other." Surely that wasn't the extent of his feelings for her. She knew him well enough to know he would never marry her just to satisfy a physical attraction. Besides, it wasn't necessary to marry her for such a reason. She was more than willing to give herself to him out of marriage.
    Her voice was a little unsteady as she said coolly, "If you wanted it to be right, you shouldn't have tried to kill two birds with one stone. Taking me away to the coast so that I'd be conveniently out of Damon's reach does not go well with the promise of a romantic interlude. I never did like my family's habit of mixing business with pleasure."
    "
Business with pleasure
?" Jacob's grip on the wheel was savage. "Is that how you see it?"
    "That's how it looks to me," she retorted.
    "I don't believe this. I refuse to believe it. You're being deliberately obstinate and you know it. You and your damned assertiveness training. Why don't you just keep quiet for a while until you've had a chance to cool down and think things over?"
    "Now you're telling me to shut up?" she asked with grave interest. "While you make sweeping decisions about my future? That has a familiar ring to it."
    "Emily, I'm basically very tolerant when it comes to dealing with you. I don't think you have any idea of just how tolerant I am about your crazy ways. But right now you're coming very close to the line. I suggest we keep quiet for a while. Maybe we both need to cool down. Let me know when you feel like having an intelligent, reasonable discussion on the subject of marriage."
    "I'll do that," she agreed far too sweetly. He could wait until hell froze over. She folded her arms and sat back in her seat, glaring out the window. She was determined not to break the silence he had imposed. She had apologized once to this man, even though she had done nothing that warranted it. She was not about to give in again. It was up to him to reopen the argument.
    But it was a long drive to the coast, and Jacob seemed contented to concentrate on the road ahead. Emily was not nearly so sanguine. She was feeling put-upon and abused, and she was spoiling for a fight. Unfortunately she had been around Jacob long enough to know that her odds of winning were limited. One did not wage open warfare easily with a man like Jacob Stone. He was far too accustomed to winning.
    Assertiveness did not always mean a confrontation, she reminded herself. Sometimes it meant biding one's time. She had plenty to think about before she made her decision.
    Marriage.
    Jacob's proposal staggered her. It would have been just as disconcerting even if it had been delivered under more romantic circumstances. Marriage was the one thing she had pushed to the back of her mind whenever she thought about her relationship with Jacob.
    The raw fact was that she was still trying to work out a way to convince her family to tolerate her affair with Jacob. Marriage was simply out of the question.
    Matters were moving much too fast, Emily thought. It was going to be difficult enough to conduct an affair. Until now she hadn't allowed herself to look very far into the future of her relationship with Jacob. She could only think of it on a day-to-day basis. Emily did not want to even contemplate how rough things might get if she told her family she was going to marry Jacob.
    By the time they reached the coast and found accommodations in one of the cabins of a beachfront lodge, Emily was sick of being silent. She was also more confused and anxious than ever. It was clear someone was going to have to take the initiative.
    Feeling more put-upon than ever, she opened the car door, got out and reached for her bag. "Nice spot," she muttered, scanning the windswept beach. There was a storm moving in from the ocean. It would hit land soon.
    "Glad you like it," Jacob said laconically as he carried the luggage inside the small cabin.
    Emily sighed and followed him inside. The cabin was surprisingly comfortable. There was a large fireplace built into one wall, a tiny kitchen and a sitting area near the window. The big bed occupied center stage in the