“Des?” Gracie looked as though she was about to jump out of her chair but Emmaline’s hand remained firmly on her shoulder.
“You’re so much better than those guys you date. You deserve more than to be a tick in someone’s box. You deserve to be loved, not because you know how to make a good dating profile but because you’re funny and sexy and just this side of crazy with all your rules.”
“I’m not sure why you’ve come here to give my daughter dating advice.” Mrs. Greene narrowed her blue eyes at him. “I would think Gracelyn is perfectly capable of determining who is suitable for her.”
Gracie’s mother had an imposing air despite her small frame and stooped posture. Her face lacked the softness of her daughters’ but curiosity danced in her eyes. She watched him, assessing.
“Mother,” Gracie protested. “I—”
“Enough, Gracelyn. I want to hear what this young man has to say.”
All eyes turned to Des, the tension in the air so thick it could have been sliced with a knife.
“You don’t have to like me or think I’m right for Gracie. But I love your daughter very much. I’ve been stupid enough to let our differences hold us apart. But I don’t want to do that anymore.”
It was so quiet the chirping of birds outside floated through the house. Gracie gaped at him, her cheeks flushed the same rosy shade as the flowers on her dress.
“I want us to be together.” He looked directly at Gracie. “I stuffed things up. I know, but I want to fix it.”
“What do you have to say about all this, Gracelyn?”
Gracie drew a deep breath. Moment of truth. Was she going to stick with what she knew? Des’s heart hammered in his chest, adrenaline pulsing through him with each furious beat.
“I think Des deserves to have his say,” she said, her voice measured. “I want to hear him out.”
She drew her shoulders back but stood frozen to the spot. Emmaline clapped her hands together and her mother nodded. Was it his imagination or did the older woman stifle a smile?
“Very well.” Mrs. Greene shooed them away with both hands. “Take the conversation outside. Some of us are trying to have lunch.”
Gracie walked around the side of the table. She placed a hand on her mother’s shoulder and the older woman held it for a moment before turning back to her meal. Not a word was passed between the two of them, but Des could sense a change in the air. Forgiveness.
He followed Gracie through the side door, stepping out into the Greene’s courtyard. The summer air was mild but a cool breeze lifted Gracie’s hair, scattering her curls around her shoulders. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips moist. Around her slender legs, the skirt of her dress swirled, tempting him with flashes of thigh.
“You’re certifiably crazy, Des Chapman.”
“I messed up.”
“We messed up.” She let go of his hand and turned to face the sprawling view of the garden. “Maybe we should have kept our distance.”
“No.” He grabbed her by the arms and spun her around. “I’ll admit it, I was angry.”
“Oh, really?” A faint smile crossed her lips.
“I was hurt when you left that morning. Really hurt.”
Her lip trembled. “I was frightened of all the things you offered me—passion, the most amazing sex I’ve ever had, a real relationship. For the first time in my life I had something real… and it was terrifying.”
She blinked, her dark lashes glistening.
“I want real.” He reached up to cup her face with his hand.
Her skin was soft against his palm. The breeze blew her hair around, tickling him. He ran the pad of his thumb across her lower lip.
“At least with all those other guys, if I failed then I wouldn’t lose much. You were not a safe option, Des. We had this incredible friendship that somehow blossomed into more and the thought of losing that was…”
Her lip trembled and the desire to kiss her raged through Des’s body. She was so close to him, so open and vulnerable.
“It’s scary,” she said.
“I know.” He brought his forehead down to hers.
“But I don’t care anymore.”
“Why the change of heart?” He had to know. He needed her to feel the same way.
“It was something you said to me. You said I was a woman, not a child, and that I had to do things for me.” She ran her hands along his arms, the gentle scrape of her nails sending shivers down his spine. “Being with you is the best thing I could ever do for myself and I know I can make you happy.”
“You absolutely can, Gracie. You’ll make me insane first, but there’s not a shred of doubt in my mind that you’ll make the happiest guy on the planet.”
“I love you, Des. It scares me half to death but I love you.”
She’d laid it all out for him. God, she’d even said she loved him. She hadn’t come outside with the intention of saying the l-word but it felt so natural it slipped out before she had time to consider the repercussions. Realization shook Gracie to the core. She did love him. She loved him like she’d never loved anyone before… and that meant that the stakes were even higher than she’d thought. She had everything to lose, but she couldn’t walk away, not now.
Des’s strong jaw, lined with stubble, looked sharp as a razor. His thick, black lashes and full lips looked as though they’d been sculpted with her fantasies in mind. The T-shirt he wore did nothing to conceal the hard, muscular chest and toned stomach beneath.
Everything about him was perfect and she didn’t need a checklist to tell her that.
“Say something,” she whispered. Her hands trembled in his, but he didn’t let go. That was a good sign… right?
“I never told you this, but I was engaged once.” He let out a breath, his eyes focused on some object in the distance.
Gracie swallowed. Something big was coming. Something crucial. Something make-or-break. “What happened?”
“She was rich, like you.” He swallowed, pressing his lips to her forehead. “Her family didn’t approve. They criticized me at every turn. Nothing I did was good enough. But I proposed to her anyway.”
Gracie bit her lip. “Did she call off the wedding?”
“I called it off.” Pain flashed across his dark eyes. “I couldn’t take it anymore. We had this huge fight about her family and I said I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t marry her. She threw the ring at me. I never saw her again.”
“Never?”
Des shook his head. “Her father sent someone around to pack up all her things. They cancelled everything, organized it all as if it were just another business transaction.”
“That’s not going to happen with me.” Gracie straightened her shoulders. Standing up to her mother stung. But it was a rocky road and she was prepared for the challenge. She knew deep down that eventually they would work it out, but she wasn’t going to sacrifice happiness with Des for that opportunity.
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ve seen what can happen when you don’t make decisions for yourself.” She wiped her slick palms down the front of her dress. “I meant what I said about not being my mother’s puppet anymore. I want to be my own person, and that person wants to be with you.”
“Family is important, Gracie. You might say those things now, but what happens after a month? A year?”
“You can hold me to it. I’m in.”
“I’m not going to be a consolation prize, Gracie.” His Adam’s apple bobbed, his mouth tugged into a flat line. “If you’re in, then you’re in the whole goddamn way.”
Intensity radiated from him, warming her skin and making her heart thud in her chest. Even at his most serious he turned her into a quivering, overexcited mess. “I don’t do things by halves.”