Only Skin Deep (14 page)

“I don't think you do understand,” he said.

“Yes, I do,” she croaked, resenting him for making this so much harder than it had to be. Couldn't he just let her go and allow her the dignity of crying her heart out in private?

“I want to marry you, Lauren. I want to make you my wife.”

Thinking that she had misheard him, Lauren clarified her position one more time.

“I already told you. You don't have to marry me. I'm not pregnant if that's what you're worried about, and even if I were, I'd be okay. Actually I really
am
okay. With or without a ring.”

Travis's smile reached his eyes and gave Lauren reason for hope.

“I know you are, but I'm not okay with any kind of half-baked commitment from you. I think it's safe to say that I want a whole lot more from you than just conjugal rights. And for what it's worth, I'm disappointed that you're not pregnant. Nothing in this world could make me any happier than to have a baby with you. Ever since
you left I've been thinking about what my life was like before you waltzed into it. I assure you it's a very sad and lonely existence.

“And one more thing,” he added gazing deep into her eyes. “Whether you intended for me to worry about you or not isn't the question. Believe me, sweetheart, I worried.”

He put a finger to her lips before she could apologize again. Though she couldn't keep from kissing it, she refrained from doing what she really wanted—gobbling him up whole starting with that one delectable fingertip.

“By the way,” he continued, “I hope you called your mother to let her know you're safe. A lot of people besides me have been worried sick about you.”

Lauren had the good sense to look embarrassed. She hadn't thought anyone would miss her for so short a time and supposed she could point a finger at Travis for getting everyone stirred up.

“I didn't realize—” she began.

“Me, either. That's the whole point. I didn't realize how important you are to me. How much I need you. How much I miss you when you're not around. How I can't function without you. When I thought you had another man in here, I completely lost it.”

Unable to get past the words “another man” Lauren scrunched her face in perplexity.

“You thought what?”

“Oh, come on,” Travis said in his own defense. “What was I supposed to think? Champagne, candles, mood music, sexy lingerie scattered on the furniture…”

His eyes turned dark and dangerous as an insidious possibility occurred to him.

“I hope you didn't stage that elaborate scene just to make me jealous.”

Lauren's laughter put that worry to rest. She brushed her fingertips against his five o'clock stubble and said, “Didn't you once tell me you didn't have a jealous bone in your body?”

Rumor had it that many women had tried and failed miserably when playing that particular card with this hardheaded man.

“I didn't,” he said, “before I met you.”

A crooked smile played with the edges of Lauren's mouth. “So I take it you weren't just looking for the boogey man in my closet?”

“More like some smarmy con man you met on your trip.”

Instantly the stranger who'd offered to buy her a drink popped into Lauren's mind, but she decided to keep that bit of information to herself. A little jealousy went a long way, and she didn't want Travis jumping in the truck to hunt the poor man down. Especially considering the fact that absolutely nothing had happened between them.

“So tell me about this little party you threw,” Travis demanded. “And why, may I ask, wasn't I invited?”

Lauren searched for the right words with little success.

“It wasn't a party exactly. It was more…of a ritual…intended to help me … get over you.”

Travis cocked an eyebrow at her quizzically. “I hope
it didn't involve a voodoo doll and an assortment of acupuncture needles.”

Lauren looked shocked by the very idea. “Actually it was more along the lines of being good to myself and hoping love would naturally follow.”

Travis slid off the bed to kneel before her.

“Then I guess it worked.”

The moment Lauren had waited for all her life couldn't have seemed any more surreal. Touched by the raw emotion that brought this big man to his knees, she touched his temple with trembling hand. He took it into his own and kissed it in the center of her palm. One by one he claimed her fingers. Ripples of heat coursed up her arm. Her heart was beating so loudly that she was afraid she wouldn't be able to make herself heard over the thrumming in her own ears. She searched the depths of Travis's beloved gray eyes and saw his soul reflected there.

“Will you make me the happiest man alive?” he asked.

There was only one other thing that would make this moment perfect.

Was it too much to ask that every single piece of the fairy tale fall into place? Would her insistence on forcing three little words from his mouth be her ruination? Lauren didn't want him to marry her just to control his newfound sense of jealousy. As risky as it was, she had to take the chance. Before she could say yes, she realized there was something she had to know.

“You haven't told me you love me,” she pointed out in a whisper that trembled like a leaf.

“Sweetheart,” Travis drawled, dissolving her misgivings with the endearment. “Love isn't a word that comes easy to me, but if you'll marry me, I'll work on making it a part of my daily vocabulary. I love you, Lauren. With all of my heart and all of my soul. I will until there's no breath left in me to breathe. If you will do me the honor of becoming my wife, I will cherish you, love you and hold you so tight you never have to question my feelings for you again.”

Those sweet words echoed in the core of her being and filled an aching void. She answered the way that her heart dictated.

Taking his face in both her hands, Lauren smothered Travis with kisses before pulling him off his knees and into her bed. She spoke his name tenderly and drew him into her arms, welcoming him home the best way she knew how.

Tomorrow they would begin moving her things into the big house. Tomorrow they would begin making plans for their wedding, their marriage and their future family.

Tonight they would share a bed in the humble cabin that Travis's grandparents had christened with their love oh so long ago. They were both ravenous for the gourmet feast that awaited them, and it didn't have anything to do with the chocolate-covered strawberries waiting for them in the kitchen.

A
hush fell over the crowd as a bouquet of pink roses, miniature white carnations and baby's breath tumbled end over end through the air above their collective heads. Some of the guests hardly recognized the woman who tossed it. Sheathed in an off-the-shoulder gown of antique ivory, she was the most enchanting creature they'd ever seen.

Mrs. Travis Banks was a definite turn-around from the plain English teacher they all knew. It was almost as if Lauren Hewett stepped out from under an invisibility cloak to reveal herself on this most auspicious day, the day the most unlikely candidate in town married Pinedale's most eligible bachelor.

Many were still reeling from the swiftness of the
deed. After all, it had only been a couple of short months ago that they had attended Barbara Aberdeen's wedding and felt a jolt of pity for her spinster daughter. Who would have guessed that she was capable of transforming herself from an ugly duckling to such a lovely swan right under their noses?

With tiny flowers and seed pearls sprinkled in her hair, Lauren was a picture-perfect bride. The flush in her cheeks was all her own as was the dazzling smile she gave her guests—and the tender glances saved for her husband alone. Never had they seen a more vibrant, beautiful bride. Nor such a handsome, happy groom. Travis surprised everyone by personally writing the vows he spoke aloud at the altar with never a quaver in his voice. The words he spoke were so sincere and moving that many in attendance were forced to bring out hankies and tissues.

Lauren's stepfather, Henry Aberdeen, walked her up the aisle, but a place of honor had also been reserved for a picture of Eugene Hewett. Smiling behind a gilded frame, he gave his blessing to his only daughter—the apple of his eye—and seemed to say that he would always be with her in spirit. Lauren told her mother that he had come to her in a dream and given the marriage his blessing.

When the time came for her to toss the bridal bouquet, several people remarked on the fact that the bride herself caught it at the last wedding they'd attended, thus lending even more credibility to the old wives' tale that helped keep that particular tradition alive. It did seem
that more single women than usual crowded together at the foot of the winding stairway for a chance to be the next in line. Lauren turned her back like she was supposed to do to spare some poor woman the embarrassment she herself had endured by being singled out in advance at her mother's wedding.

But that didn't necessarily mean that Lauren didn't want a say in the outcome.

“Get ready,” she warned with a giggle.

A second later she tossed the bouquet high in the air and far over the assembled mass of hopeful females. Her unknowing target was a shy wallflower who had barely moved from the spot where she'd been rooted for the better part of an hour. The poor thing couldn't have looked any more surprised when the bouquet fell into her hands and a cheer went up around her than had a fairy godmother suddenly appeared.

From her position at the top of the stairs, Lauren covertly gave the recipient a knowing wink.