Natural Born Trouble (24 page)

“Actually, getting a quick yes and hauling her off to Vegas might be the safest way to go,” Duke responded thoughtfully. “But the truth is I don't need the plane so we can elope. She hasn't budged off ‘absolutely not, never' yet.”

“I see,” Jordan said, his disappointment plain. “Then why do you need the corporate jet?”

Duke bit back his embarrassment and said, “Remember the rose petals?”

That brief mention was enough to bring a smile to his boss's face. “Oh, yes,” he said, then shook his head. “Didn't work, though. Kelly was a stubborn one.”

“I have to try something,” Duke insisted. “This is the best I can come up with.”

“I suppose it's worth a shot. Dani always did love that story. She was furious she wasn't around the day I did it.” He grinned. “The jet's yours. When are you going to do it?”

“Valentine's Day.”

Jordan nodded. “Nice touch.”

Duke spent days making the rest of the arrangements. Dani had been surprisingly agreeable to the date. He hadn't had to do any clever persuading at all. In fact, he realized after he'd hung up, that she hadn't even asked what he had in mind.

Just the same, he had every detail worked out. He was going to take her out for an expensive, romantic dinner, then suggest a drive. If the weather cooperated, there would be a bright moon and lots of stars. Just in case, he intended to pop half a dozen romantic CDs in the car, along with a bottle of champagne. He was tempted to drag the boys with him when he went to pick out the ring, but he feared he would only be setting them up for disappointment if his scheme failed and Dani continued to refuse to marry him.

He spent Valentine's Day in one business meeting after another. None of them had gone well. His mind hadn't been on business. He'd finally had his secretary cancel the last two meetings on his calendar. He'd gone home and paced the floor in relative privacy. Only the cats had been there to regard him sympathetically. Five-thirty finally came.

This was it, then. He put on his best suit, tucked the ring into his pocket, made one last call to the pilot to make sure the plane was set and drove over to pick Dani up promptly at six-thirty.

He stood on her doorstep and stared at her in openmouthed shock. She looked gorgeous in some sort of red velvet dress that skimmed her shoulders and hugged her waist. A single diamond winked at her throat, drawing his attention to the creamy expanse of bare skin exposed where the dress plunged to a deep V.

“You look…” Words failed him. She didn't help him out. She just kept her gaze fixed on his, waiting. “Spectacular,” he said finally.

“Thank you.”

He had to drag his gaze away before he reached out and followed the neckline of that dress with his finger. Only then did he notice the huge picnic hamper at her feet.

“What's that?”

“Dinner,” she explained, watching him nervously. “I thought we could have a picnic.”

He stared at her in astonishment. “In February?”

That drew a defiant jut of her chin. “Why not? It's a beautiful night.”

“It's also forty degrees.”

She'd apparently considered all of his likely arguments and readied responses. “We can eat in the car, turn the heater on,” she said at once.

“And die from inhaling all that carbon monoxide.”

She actually laughed at that. “Trust me. We're not going to die.”

He thought of his own dinner reservation, then dismissed it. What the heck. Since he'd long since given up on trying to deny her anything she'd set her heart on, he drove to the place she designated, shared the gourmet meal she'd brought along and sipped the champagne she'd provided, ignoring his own bottle which was chilling in the back seat. All the while he regarded her with mounting suspicion.

“What are you up to?”

“What makes you think I'm up to something?”

“Experience.”

“You think you know me so well, don't you? Well, you don't, Duke Jenkins. I am just as capable of impulsive, spontaneous actions as the next person.”

“Oh, really?” he said just as he heard the sound of a small plane flying low overhead. He glanced up in time to identify Jordan's corporate jet. At least something was going according to plan.

Then he took another look and his mouth dropped open. Trailing in its wake wasn't a cascade of flower petals, but a banner lit with what appeared to be colorful, twinkling Christmas tree lights.

“What the heck?” he muttered. A banner and lights weren't part of the plan. Maybe they'd been Jordan's idea. He glanced over at Dani and noted that she was watching his reaction expectantly. Maybe this particular trick had been up her sleeve.

“Did you have something to do with this?” he asked.

She shrugged, her expression innocent. “Read the banner.”

He sighed as he thought of all those rose petals going to waste, but this was definitely better. If she was taking the initiative, it had to mean they were finally making real progress.

He leaned out of the car and tried to read the banner as she'd requested. He really did try, but it was pitch-dark except for those tiny twinkling lights and the plane was circling so fast it was making him dizzy. He had a hunch, though, he could figure out the gist of it. If he was right, it wasn't a message he wanted to get from a banner. He wanted to hear the words from the woman next to him.

“I can't quite read it,” he said. “Maybe you'd better spell it out for me.”

“You can't read it?” she asked, craning her neck out the window on her side to see for herself. When she pulled back into the car, her expression reflected pure disappointment. “Well, damn.”

Duke reached over and forced her to face him. “What's it say, darlin'?”

She swallowed hard and tried to evade his gaze. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, she looked him square in the eyes. She began to speak, cleared her throat and tried again.

“It says ‘Will You Marry Me?'” she said in a nervous whisper.

A rush of pure joy swept over him. He barely managed to contain a triumphant shout.

“What was that? I couldn't quite hear you.”

She scowled at him. “Will you marry me or not?” she demanded testily.

Duke figured he'd pressed his luck just about as far as he could. “I'm not like you. If you were hoping I'd turn all wishy-washy now that the shoe was on the other foot, it's just plain too bad, because the answer's yes. I'll marry you tonight, if that's what you want?”

“You will?” She seemed startled by the response and more than a little intrigued. “Tonight?”

To hell with Jordan's warning about an elopement. “If that's what you want,” he said.

“I do. I mean, yes. Please. Right this minute.”

“Any particular reason you're in such a rush?”

“I'm afraid I'll have second thoughts,” she admitted candidly.

“About loving me?”

“No,” she said at once. “Never that.”

“Then what?”

“About taking such a huge risk on the future.”

“Darlin', life is all about taking risks. If you don't take a few, you're not really living at all.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Besides, there's no risk involved here at all. Nobody's ever going to love you the way I do. This is forever. You have my guarantee.”

“You love me?” She sounded dazed.

“Took me long enough to figure it out, but yes, I love you, Danielle Adams. Always will. I promise.”

“Forever's a long time,” she said, but she was smiling at last.

“Not half long enough for the two of us.”

“Don't you mean the four of us,” she teased.

“Or five or six,” he amended. “There's not enough trouble in the world that you and I together can't handle it. Agreed?”

She stared into his eyes, then slowly nodded, a smile on her lips. “Agreed.”

Just then Duke noticed the first rose petal flutter down against the windshield. It was followed by another and then another. He postponed the kiss he'd had in mind and gestured outside.

“What on earth?” Dani murmured, poking a hand out to catch one of the petals. Her eyes widened when she realized what she'd captured. “Rose petals? Red rose petals?”

“Everybody said I needed to do something dramatic to capture your heart,” he said. “This was my last shot.”

“You planned to propose to me again tonight?” she asked. “I did all this for nothing?”

“Not for nothing,” he assured her. “It just proved what an incredible pair we'll be. We both came out here tonight with the same idea.”

She regarded him intently. “If you were planning this, where's the ring?”

“Who says I have one?”

“Forget it, Duke. You're too arrogant not to have one tucked away somewhere. Where is it?”

He winked. “In my pocket,” he taunted.

A grin spread slowly across her face. “You know, there's nothing I enjoy more than an old-fashioned treasure hunt.”

“And as I recall, you're very, very good.”

She smiled. “Yes, I am, aren't I?” And then her clever hands went in search of that diamond.

Duke figured what happened next was the part of the engagement celebration they would keep to themselves. Some family legends just weren't meant to be shared.

* * * * *

#1
New York Times
bestselling author

SHERRYL WOODS

tests the strength of the beloved O'Briens and proves that love and family can always triumph!

“Sherryl Woods writes emotionally satisfying novels about family, friendship and home. Truly feel-great reads!”
—Debbie Macomber, #1
New York Times
bestselling author

Dogwood Hill
now available wherever books are sold!

Connect with us on
Harlequin.com
for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!

Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/Newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com

ISBN-13: 9781460380345

NATURAL BORN TROUBLE

Copyright © 2015 by Sherryl Woods

All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.

www.Harlequin.com