Looking for Love (Boxed set) (82 page)
Read Looking for Love (Boxed set) Online
Authors: Rita Herron
"I am!" The parachute slipped, the branch vibrated and cracked, and Hunter's body swayed with it. "But I love you, and I'm more afraid of losing you than I am of heights."
Abby's heart constricted.
"I tried to catch you in Atlanta. I went to your house, but your sisters and grandmother said you'd gone." The branch lowered another notch. "And I tried to make it to the airport but my car broke down and it was storming—"
"Hunter, stop moving!" Abby shouted. The tree branch groaned again.
"Then the flights were canceled because of the weather, and I had to stay the night at the airport on a bench and my wallet got stolen—"
"Oh, my gosh," Abby whispered.
The tree cracked again.
"And when I arrived, there weren't any vacant rooms, and you'd already left to come here."
He had jumped out of a plane for her.
The branch snapped in another place, wood splintered and rained downward, and he slipped a few more feet. Winnie screamed. Abby pressed her hand over her mouth to keep from doing the same. Hunter stared up at the yards of parachute and the tree, then at the ground, the color draining from his face.
"I mean it, Abby. I love you, and don't you dare stop looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. The world needs more people like you, and if I live"—his voice shook in the wind; she could hear his fear—"I'll spend the rest of my life making up for all the stupid lies and those dumb articles about you."
Abby yelped. "Hunter—"
The limb cracked completely in two and gave way. Hunter yelled as he careened toward the ground.
* * *
As Hunter flew through the air, his life flashed in front of him. The headlines would read:
Idiot Man Afraid of Heights Dies by Falling out of Tree while Proposing.
He could see the photo of his body flat on the dirt, the roving grizzlies nibbling at him like bear meat. Or if he did survive the fall, his lungs and throat would start bleeding from altitude sickness. Or worse, he might smash his skull and end up brain-dead or paralyzed.
He just wished he could hear Abby say she loved him one time before he died.
Determined to fight for his life, he gripped the parachute ropes and tried to bend his knees, remembering the tips the guide had offered so he wouldn't break a leg in the landing. But the tips were meant for a parachute soaring in, not for a man attached to half a tree traveling straight down at full speed. Wind stung his face and nausea rolled through him, but he had to tell Abby one more time that he loved her before he died.
"I love you. Marry me!" The wind caught his words, the echo bouncing off the mountain and repeating itself.
Love you, marry me... love you, marry me... love you, marry me...
Then his body collided with the ground, his head hit a rock, and blackness swirled in front of his eyes. One moment of heaven flashed in front of him in the form of Abby's face before his vision faded. Abby lifted his head in her lap and brushed his hair back so tenderly, tears pricked his eyes.
Or maybe it was blood trickling over his face.
"Did you mean it, Hunter?"
"Yes, marry me, Abby...."
Abby pressed her lips to his and whispered yes just before he faded into the darkness.
* * *
Later that night, Abby and Hunter lay curled together on a blanket under the stars, the moon gleaming like candlelight across the valley below. He had sprinkled the wilted, crushed flower petals all around her in the shape of a heart.
"I was trying to be romantic, Abby. I wanted to make love to you on a bed of rose petals."
"You are romantic, Hunter. You jumped out of a plane for me." Abby stroked the bandage on Hunter's head. "Are you sure you're all right? We can still get them to airlift you to a hospital."
Hunter shot her a crazed look. "No, no, I'm fine. But I think I'm finished with flying for a while."
Abby chuckled, her laughter dying when Hunter reached up and pulled at her shirt, slowly unbuttoning the top button. "I'm sorry I lied to you, Abby."
Abby bit down on her lip, emotions clogging her throat. "I told a few of my own."
"But I understand your reasons now." He quirked his head sideways. "I have something for you."
She arched a delicate brow, her breath hitching when he handed her the article. "Hunter, it doesn't matter—"
"Yes, it does." He pressed his finger to her lips. "Read it."
She nodded, unfolded the paper, and read the beginning of the article.
You can't judge a book by its cover. I learned that lesson when I went undercover to get the dirt on Dr. Jensen. Instead of a scandalous author with loose morals, interested only in self-promotion, I found a woman with strong values and a lot of love in her heart—a woman who possesses all the best characteristics of a traditional American wife and mother, while maintaining her identity as a modern sexual woman. In short, Abby Jensen has it all.
Abby blinked back tears. "It's beautiful."
"That's how I feel about you, Abby." He handed her an envelope—the pictures Lenny had taken.
"I didn't look at them," he said, reading the question in her eyes.
Her other eyebrow rose.
"Well, maybe a glance." He chuckled. "But we're burning them, baby, 'cause the only pictures of you naked that I want around will be ones I take."
A smile tugged at Abby's mouth. "Oh, so are you into kinky sex?"
He shrugged. "I'm into pleasing you."
"I like the sound of that." Abby laughed. "Maybe that should be the title of my sequel."
"Only if I get to help you research it."
Abby slid her leg between his, rubbing the hard muscles of his calf with her foot. "Or I could write one on unusual proposals. I think you parachuting from a plane and proposing while dangling from a tree would make a catchy opening."
Hunter traced his finger over the sensitive skin behind her ear. "That sounds like blackmail."
"Well, maybe if you promise to get naked, I'll keep it out of print."
Hunter laughed. "The price a man has to pay."
She kissed his forehead. "We might be able to work out a trade-off if you really don't like the terms."
"I love you, Abby. Don't you know by now I'd do anything for you?"
"Anything?"
"Anything."
She quirked her head sideways. "Okay, there is this one fantasy I have...."
He opened the rest of the buttons on her blouse, then cupped her breasts in his hands. "I promise to make all your fantasies come true, Doc."
Abby pulled at his shirt; then she slid her finger down his chest, cupped his already hard sex, then unzipped his jeans. "Are you sure you're up to this with your injuries?"
Hunter licked the tip of her nipple, moved his hand to the back of her neck, then pulled her forward. "Oh, yeah. But we might have to stay under the covers a lot when we get back, so I can recuperate and get this pillow-talk thing right."
"I think we can manage that," Abby whispered.
With a growl of delight, he rolled her over, stripped her clothes, and slid his hands to her rear. "You know I'm an ass man, right?"
Abby giggled. Now she
knew
he loved her, that he was her soul mate for life.
Then she whispered her fantasy and he fulfilled it. He made love to her in the tall grass, with wildflowers dotting the mountainside, the moon spilling its golden light across her supple body, and nothing but the wind to hear her cry his name in ecstasy.
And this time when she cried out, the echo of her saying his real name instead of Harry boomeranged across the mountain.
The End
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