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Tycoon Bachelors
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Ethan was gone when Lindy woke in the morning.

She'd slept in his arms through the night, waking once to find him already inside her, her leg draped over his thigh, a furnace of heat against her back as he slowly thrust, holding her to him with a hand low on her belly.

He'd woken her a second time near dawn, rolling to his back and pulling her astride him, palming her breasts and urging her to ride him in a rough, hoarse voice that set fire to her excitement and sent them both hurtling into a powerful climax. Afterward, he'd stroked her hair as she lay on his chest.

Then...she must have dozed off again. And while she slept, he'd slipped away.

Lindy rolled over and looked at the clock. Ten a.m. on Sunday. Was there really any reason to get out of bed today? She rolled over again and buried her face in the pillow as the sobs came.

* * * Monday. Lindy slammed her hand down on the alarm and dragged herself out of bed. She had to get ready for work. Work. It was all she had left.

As she dressed and ate, then walked to work, the future unwound itself before her like a black-and-white movie, a series of interminable scenes unfolding behind her desk at the library.

And something within her snapped.

She couldn't do it. She just couldn't resign herself to being Belinda the Librarian for the rest of her days. Not after she'd been Lindy the Sex Kitten, not after she'd realized how much she needed Ethan Wilde in her life and her heart.

Half of that was true right now. But he was gone from her life, unless she took her future in both hands and made it happen.

He'd wanted her to come with him. But she'd never imagined herself leaving Bell Gap, never imagined living somewhere else. It wasn't even that she feared a change so much as it was that she simply had never believed that she could make a change. But now, with Ethan gone, she saw how empty the little town was. Bell Gap was now Somewhere Else. Because it wasn't where Ethan was.

So he didn't love her? So what? Her choices were to stay here and let him leave her forever, or to go with him and enjoy the time they had together. So what if people talked when she came back home one day? So what if she no longer had a position at the library? She'd have memories. And she'd have the satisfaction of looking at herself in the mirror and knowing she'd tried.

If she didn't take this one chance, she'd regret it for the rest of her life. If she went to him, with him, at least she'd have that time. And in that time, she'd let him know she loved him. Miracles happened. Maybe his heart would admit her someday.

Turning on her heel, she walked away from the library and headed for the travel office on the square.

Later the same day, the chairman of the board stomped into the library. Lindy met him in front of the checkout desk. He didn't look happy. "I'm afraid I won't be able to give you a recommendation, Belinda, if you don't give us at least two weeks' notice. It won't be easy to replace you."

"That's all right. I understand. But I'm leaving today, anyway."

"This is terribly irresponsible —" The thin, balding board president began to sputter, but Lindy was no longer listening. Her attention was on the door, where a tall, broad-shouldered man with shining hair and intense blue eyes had just come in.

Without giving herself time to think, Lindy launched herself at Ethan. He caught her as he had one week before. She threw her arms around his shoulders and pressed her mouth to his as a swell of whispers and murmurs filled the library behind them. His kiss felt like heaven. It felt like...she was coming home.

"Ethan! What —" She had to stop and clear her throat, which was threatening to close up. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you," he said.

"But I was coming to you. In New York." She dug her ticket out of her pocket and waved it beneath his nose. "Ethan —"

"Lindy —" he said at the same time.

"You first," he said.

"Me first," she said.

They looked at each other, then shared a moment of awkward laughter. Then the laughter died away.

Chapter Eight

"The thing is," she said, "that I want to be with you. I'm quitting the library. I'll follow you to New York or Paris or wherever you want to go, and I'll stay with you as long as you'll let me. I love you, Ethan. I'd rather be with you every day that I can and maybe be lonely someday down the road than stay here in Bell Gap without you. I want memories. And there's no reason not to make them just because you don't care as much." She paused, eyeing his reaction, but he hadn't moved. "There. I guess I'm done."

"All right," he said. "My turn." There was an odd gleam in his eyes that she didn't trust. Sort of like when they'd been in sixth grade and he'd offered to push her on the swing, then walked around in front and enjoyed the view while she'd tried desperately to keep her skirt from billowing up around her neck.

"When I was a kid," he began, "there was the cutest little girl living next door. And we were friends. In high school, she got even cuter. But she was really, really smart, and she didn't seem impressed by any of my escapades. She intimidated the hell out of me, if you want the truth. And when I left town, she was getting ready to go to college and my leaving didn't seem to matter to her one little bit."

He stopped then, and reached up to blot a tear that rolled down her cheek. "Even though I didn't see her for years, except for one time at my mother's funeral when she was a godsend, I never forgot her. She was in my heart for good. Pissed off a lot of other women, let me tell you."

Lindy made a choked sound, half laugh and half sob.

"So when I got this invitation to a reunion, I decided to come back and see if she was still around. And she was." He dropped his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes. "And I loved her more than ever and I hoped she loved me. But I was afraid to tell her how I felt, or to ask her to marry me, so I thought I'd start small, invite her to come share my world for a while."

He closed his eyes briefly. "And when she said no, she broke my heart."

He released Lindy and stepped back. "And I acted stupid and left, and almost lost her. But then I realized I had to come back and tell her everything."

He pulled a small white box wrapped with silver ribbon from his pocket and dropped to one knee.

Behind them, there was an audible gasp. Other than that single sound, the library was dead quiet.

"I love you, Lindy Melton," Ethan said. "Will you honor me with your hand in marriage?"

"I would be honored to be your wife," she said. She sat daintily on his knee as he snapped the ring box open, and he slid the exquisite square-cut diamond onto her finger.

And behind them, a woman's voice said, "How come you never did that for me, Melvin?"

* * * Two hours later, they were back where they'd started, in Ethan's bed.

"I think I'd like to keep a place here in Bell Gap," he said. "So that our children will have a sense of where we grew up."

Lindy choked on her champagne. "Children? Did I miss a conversation somewhere?"

Ethan decided he might as well just say it. Look where thinking things through had gotten him the last time. "I know we haven't talked about it, but I would really, really like you to have my babies. Even one would do."

To his relief, she sent him a brilliant smile. "How about we agree to put a cap on it at four, with either party allowed to halt the procreation at any time after the first one makes us or breaks us?"

"Four. That's a good number." He kissed her. "I'm glad you want children."

Her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Because," he said, "Sunday morning, we didn't use anything. Either time."

"You sneak," she said.

"I had to have a backup plan," he defended himself. "I figured if I got you pregnant, you'd have to marry me. And sooner or later, you'd see what a prize I am and fall in love with me."

"I already loved you," she reminded him. "You were just too dumb to know it."

"And you were too dumb to show it," he countered.

She opened her mouth but before she could speak again, he rolled her with him across the bed, ending with her beneath him. He settled himself snugly in the place that fit him so perfectly, and she wrapped her legs around his hips to hold him fast.

Threading his fingers through hers, he dropped his head and sought her lips. "I love you, Lindy. And I promise to show it every day for the rest of our lives."

And to prove he was serious, he began immediately.

The End



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