Opposites Attract

refused me. Nothing I said got through to him. We argued and argued. We were near the steps and he was shouting. All I wanted to do was get away.” Her hands flew up to cover her face as she remembered again, all too clearly. “I didn’t look, I only ran. Then I was falling. I tried to stop, but my head hit the railing, I think. Then I don’t remember anything until I woke up and the baby was gone.”
    Somehow he could see it as vividly as though it were being played on film in front of his eyes. “Oh, God, Asher.” When he tried to take her in his arms, she pulled away.
    “I wanted you, but I knew you’d never forgive me. It didn’t seem to matter anymore, so I did what Eric wanted.” To force back the tears, she pressed her fingers to her eyes. “I didn’t want you to know, I couldn’t have stood it if you had known when you didn’t want me.” Lowering her hands, she looked at him, dry-eyed. “I paid for losing your baby, Ty. For three years I did without everything that mattered to me, and I grieved alone. I can’t mourn any longer.”
    “No.” Going to the window, he flung it up as if he needed air. There was no breeze, nothing to relieve the burning that he felt. “You’ve had years to deal with it. I’ve had days.” And she’d had no one, he thought. Years with no one. Ty took several long breaths. “How badly were you hurt?”
    Puzzled by the question, she shook her head. “What?”
    “Were you badly hurt?” The question was rough and turbulent. When she remained silent he turned. “When you fell, how bad was it?”
    “I—I lost the baby.”
    “I asked about you.”
    She stared without comprehension. No one had asked her that, not even her father. Looking into Ty’s ravaged face, she could only shake her head again.
    “Damn it, Asher, did you have a concussion, did you break any bones? You said you almost died.”
    “The baby died,” she repeated numbly.
    Crossing to her, he grabbed her shoulders.
“You!”
he shouted. “Don’t you know that you’re the most important thing to me? We can have a dozen babies if you want. I need to know what happened to you.”
    “I don’t remember very much. I was sedated. There were transfusions . . .” The full impact of his words penetrated slowly. The anguish in his eyes was for her. “Ty.” Burying her face against his chest, she clung. “All that’s over.”
    “I should have been with you.” He drew her closer. “We should have gone through that together.”
    “Just tell me you love me. Say the words.”
    “You know that I do.” He cupped her chin to force her head back. “I love you.” He saw the first tear fall and kissed it away. “Don’t,” he pleaded. “No more tears, Face. No more grieving.”
    She held him close again until the fullness left her chest. “No more grieving,” she repeated, and lifted her face.
    He touched it gently, fingertips only. “I hurt you.”
    “We let other people hurt us,” she contradicted. “Never again.”
    “How could we be stupid enough to almost lose it all twice?” he wondered aloud. “No more secrets, Asher.”
    She shook her head. “No more secrets. A third chance, Ty?”
    “I work best under pressure.” He brushed his lips over her temple. “Double break point, Face, I’m on a winning streak.”
    “You should be celebrating.”
    “I did my share.”
    “Not with me.” She gave him a light kiss full of promise. “We could go to my place. Pick up a bottle of champagne on the way.”
    “We could stay here,” he countered. “And worry about the champagne tomorrow.”
    “It is tomorrow,” she reminded him.
    “Then we’ve got all day.” He began to pull her toward the bedroom.
    “Wait a minute.” Snatching her hand away, she stepped back. “I’d like to hear that conventional proposal now.”
    “Come on, Asher.” He made another grab for her hand, but she eluded him.
    “I mean it.”
    Flustered, he stuck his hands into his pockets. “You know I want you to marry me.”
    “That’s not a conventional proposal.” She folded her arms and waited. “Well,” she began when he remained silent, “should I write you a cheat sheet? You say something like, Asher—”
    “I know what I’m supposed to say,” he muttered. “I’d rather try the kidnapping.”
    Laughing, she walked over and twined her arms around his neck. “Ask me,” she whispered, letting her lips hover an inch from his.
    “Will you marry me, Asher?” The lips held