Gift of Fire

that’s all.”
    Verity smiled wryly. “Relax, Jonas. You don’t have to think of any excuses. I appreciate the gesture, but I assure you it’s not necessary. There really is no need for us to get married.”
    “This is not a gesture, dammit. I am not thinking up excuses. You want an apology? All right, I apologize for not having asked you to marry me before you got pregnant. It was just an oversight.”
    “Don’t
apologize.
I don’t want any apologies. And I don’t like being an oversight.” Her self-control slipped for a moment. For a split second Jonas caught a glimpse of the wariness and the very feminine anger that lay in the depths of her eyes. Then she had herself back in hand. “You’ve been honest with me this far, don’t spoil your track record. As I said, I appreciate your offer of marriage, but there’s no need for it. There’s no reason things can’t continue just as they have been for the past few months.”
    “What about your father? You think Emerson is going to like this?” He was clutching at straws and he knew it.
    Verity chuckled. “You know my father well enough to realize that if he hasn’t come after you with a shotgun by now, he’s not likely to ever. He likes you. I’m sure he’ll be pleased about the baby. But he raised me to make my own decisions. If he gives you a hard time, just tell him you did the noble thing and offered marriage. When he hears I’m the one who chose not to accept the offer, he’ll back off. He knows me.
    “I know you, too, Verity. Well enough to realize you’re making the wrong decision here. You’ll be much happier married. Trust me.”
    “In spite of the psychic link we share, Jonas, there are still a lot of things we don’t know about each other. Don’t assume you understand me perfectly, and don’t assume you know what’s best for me. You don’t. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go down the hall to the bathroom.” She reached for her cane and slid out of bed.
    “Maybe you don’t understand me all that well, either,” he shot back, feeling frustrated. “Maybe you’re making some dumb assumptions here, lady.”
    She didn’t bother to answer. She was sliding her feet into her slippers.
    Jonas’s hand clenched and unclenched as he watched her with brooding eyes. A few minutes ago everything had seemed crystal clear and totally straightforward. He and Verity had been living together. They were in love. She was pregnant with his kid. It was time to get married. Nothing could be simpler or more logical.
    It hadn’t even occurred to him that she would refuse him. But it should have, he thought angrily as he watched her make her way to the door. He should know by now that Verity was stubborn, unpredictable, and far too independent for her own good. He’d complained to her father about those faults on several occasions.
    But this was one of the few times Jonas had run up against Verity’s feminine pride, and he didn’t know quite how to deal with it. Apparently the little firebrand was too proud to marry him just because of the baby.
    She had wanted to be asked properly, he realized. She had wanted to be married for her own sake, not simply because there were extenuating circumstances.
    But he wasn’t marrying her just because of the baby. He knew that, even if she didn’t understand.
    Why in hell hadn’t he thought about marrying her last month? Jonas wondered in disgust. The answer was simple: last month he had taken everything about their relationship for granted. It hadn’t occurred to him to formalize things, for the simple reason that everything was working out just fine. He had assumed that Verity was happy too, at least until she had started subtly withdrawing from him.
    Jonas wondered how long she would hold his bad timing against him.
    The phone rang just as Verity reached the bedroom door. Her hand on the knob, she turned around to watch him answer.
    Jonas grabbed the receiver. “Quarrel here.”
    “Did I call at a bad time?” Caitlin Evanger asked politely. “You sound upset. I can call back.”
    Jonas reached for a pen and paper. His eyes stayed on Verity’s face. “Now is fine. What have you got?”
    “Tavi and I turned up nothing on all but one of the names you gave me,” Caitlin said. “But we found a file on Preston Yarwood.”

 
    Chapter Ten
     
    Verity let go of the doorknob and moved back across the room. She knew who was on the other end of the line, and she could tell from Jonas’s