Witchcraft

about?" she tried to ask lightly. "It's over. You've done what you said you'd do. And without a lot of help from me, either," she added wryly. "You did your part," he interjected. Kimberly took another sip of wine. "Thank you for coming after me, Cavenaugh . You saved my life."
    She didn't meet his eyes, her gaze on the fire instead. "I owed you any protection I could give you," he returned bluntly. "Why?"
    "Why?" He frowned. "For a lot of reasons. Because of what you did for Scott, naturally, and because you're my--"
    "No, I mean, why did you follow me from San Francisco?"
    "Oh, that." Cavenaugh hesitated. "Well, there are a number of reasons for that, too. I didn't get much sleep last night.
    None at all, in fact. And somewhere around two in the morning I had the feeling something was really wrong." "More of your telepathy?" she mused. "It wasn't telepathy. Just the restless brain of a man who knows he's handled something very badly." She flicked him a wary glance.
    "You're referring to the way you set up that meeting with my grandparents?"
    "I didn't handle it well, Kim. I admit it. My only excuse is that I honestly thought I was dealing with a difficult situation in the most efficient manner. I thought ... I thought that after you got over the shock and had a chance to put it all in perspective you'd realize I'd done the right thing. I see now that I had no business springing it on you like that."
    "Was it so very important that I be made to confront my grandparents, Cavenaugh ?" she asked quietly. "Yes," he said flatly. "I saw your r elationship with them as the last barrier between us. "You were really that worried about the fact your current bed partner had a mental block when it came to dealing with powerful families?" He looked at her until she was compelled to switch her gaze from the file to his face. The emerald eyes gleamed with a relentlessness that astonished Kimberly. "I was not concerned about my current bed partner's feelings toward families. I was concerned with how my future wife dealt with the issue."
    "Your wife!"
    "I'm asking you to marry me, Kim. I was only waiting until we'd gotten the meeting with your grandparents out of the way." She swallowed uncomfortably as her fingers tightened around the stem of her wineglass.
    Eyes wide, she stared at him. " Cavenaugh , you don't have to go that far out of some misguided sense of responsibility."
    "I know you're not much interested in marriage, Kim," he returned softly. "You've gotten along fine for years without anything that really resembles a family. After pushing you into that meeting with your grandparents, you probably haven't changed your mind much. Especially when it comes to overbearing, arrogant males who happen to be heads of families. But I know that if you'll give us a chance we'll be good together in a lot of ways, not just in bed. I also know that I am not in a position to install a live-in lover in my household. Having you for a guest will work for a while, but quite soon everyone's going to want to know when I intend to marry you. Your grandfather will probably be at the head of the line demanding explanations." Kimberly sat very still, totally unable to read his mind at all now. "I don't particularly care what my grandparents think." Cavenaugh sighed. "No, I don't suppose you do." There was a long period of silence. "You said once that you loved me.
    I realize you've had some, uh, second thoughts thanks to the way I forced you into that scene with your grandparents."
    "I have done some thinking," Kimberly admitted cautiously. She remembered that under the influence of the herbal smoke she had been trying to tell Cavenaugh that she had made a mistake. He hadn't had time to listen then and so she had not told him that she still loved him, in spite of the scene in San Francisco. Perhaps it was just as well. After all, she had no real idea of how deep his feelings went for her. Except for the fact that he's asking you to marry him, she reminded herself. That didn't mean he was in love with her, of course. He was attracted to her and he felt a strong sense of responsibility toward her. Cavenaugh might also have found her useful in organizing his household. What was it Starke had said? Something about Cavenaugh needing a woman who could occasionally protect him from his own sense of duty. "Sitting here now reminds me of that evening I came to get you, after you'd phoned the house a couple of times," Cavenaugh mused. "You were just as wary