She gasped and her knees trembled.

He pressed closer, one hand going around behind her to cup her buttocks, the other one touching her, spreading her open. And then his tongue darted and touched. Her legs gave out, bending, until her backside hit the blanket. It only seemed to urge him on. He grabbed her thighs with his hands and pushed them wide apart. And then he plunged into her, licking deep. She squirmed away from him, but he tightened his grip on her, held her captive, spread her folds with his fingers and invaded with his tongue. He took. He drank. He suckled her in her most sensitive place until she cried out as her body exploded.

And then he crawled up over her, wrapping her in his arms and holding her tenderly while she shuddered and shivered and pulsed. He held her so tenderly, she felt safe. Cherished. Protected.

"I've never wanted a woman the way I want you, Kara," he whispered when she stopped shivering, and lay, relaxing in his arms.

She rolled over, facing him, her eyes on his. "Then make love to me, Jimmy."

He smiled slowly. "Oh, I will. I will. Not yet, though. I have something else I want to do with you first."

Her eyes widened and she wondered what else he could possibly come up with. "What?"

"Marry you," he said.

"Marry me?" The words came out choked and hoarse, barely more than a startled croak. She thought her heart had stopped.

He sat up, wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and then paced away from her as she sat there stunned and wondering if she'd heard him right.

"I've thought and thought about how to do this, Kara. At first I thought at the restaurant. But that didn't seem fair. Too much pressure, too public. And this is something private, something that needs to happen with just the two of us. No pressure. None."

"Jimmy, I don't know what you're talking ab-"

Before she could finish the sentence, he dropped down to one knee in front of her. He took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. "Kara, I know it's only been a few days, but I don't need any longer than that to know you're the only one for me. And Tyler knows it, too. We want you to be in our lives. I want you to be my son's mother. I want you to be my wife."

"I don't...I can't believe this."

"Believe it, Kara." He held something up-a box. And when he opened it and the moonlight spilled down on the pear-shaped pink diamond she'd been ogling for the past several years, she couldn't believe her eyes.

"How...how did you...?"

"The jeweler was very helpful. Even knew your size." He took the ring from the box. "Will you wear it, Kara? I swear to God, I'll do my damnedest to make you happy. Say you will. Please?"

She caught her breath, met his eyes, felt as if her world was spinning out of control and heard herself saying, "Yes, Jimmy. Yes. Of course I'll marry you."

His fingers deftly slid the ring onto one of hers. Then he bent over her hand and pressed his lips to it. He lifted his head, looked into her eyes. "Thank you, Kara. Thank you." And he kissed her.

But he didn't, she realized, tell her that he loved her.

He had an odd feeling with her. The uncharacteristic urge to cradle her, to protect her. As if she was fragile or weak or in danger. After he put her dress back on and draped the blanket over her shoulders, he held her in his arms for a long time while they sat in silence and stared out at the powerful waterfall. Until finally she sighed deeply.

"Anything wrong?" he asked.

"No. Just...nothing."

Which meant something, he thought.

"We should get home," she said.

He nodded, got to his feet and helped her to hers. The ring glistened on her finger. It looked as if it had been made for her. But she wasn't as happy as she should be.

"Are you upset that I didn't make love to you, Kara?" he asked.

She lifted her head quickly. "Not upset."

"Disappointed then." He nodded. "You've never...I want your first time to be special."

"You want to wait until we're married."

"I don't want to wait at all, lady. But I can."

She leaned into him as he walked her to the truck. "I'm not sure I can."

He smiled down at her and something twisted in his belly. "Well, when you are sure, you let me know." Then he stopped walking and took her upper arms in his hands, pulling her gently closer so he could kiss her long and slow. When their lips came apart, he said, "Don't think it's because I don't want you. I'm dying for you, Kara. I'm trying to be a gentleman here. And I kind of thought...I already pushed you enough for one night."

She lowered her eyes quickly. "No one ever...and I never felt so...but you couldn't have..."

"I'll be fine. Cold shower, hot dreams. Just like every night since I got back into town and took my first look at you."

She smiled, pleased maybe. Some of the shadows he'd glimpsed in her eyes seemed to fade.

"I hope you won't make me wait too long to marry you," he said.

"I'd marry you tonight," she whispered.

"I don't think your family would forgive me for that one. But what about Saturday?"

She looked up quickly, her eyes widening. "That's only three days from now."

"Yeah." He smiled at her. "If I can stand it that long." He sighed and dug deep for the gumption to tell her the truth. All of it. "But my wanting you to the point of distraction isn't the only reason I'm in a hurry, Kara. I have to be honest with you."

She blinked, tipping her head to one side.

"I know Vinnie and Ang are probably running for cover about now. And they aren't likely to try anything. But they think they killed Colby. That means I'm the only thing standing between Vinnie and a prison sentence. There's still a chance Vinnie will try to make sure I can't testify against him in court."

She blinked, lowering her head. "And if something happens to you, Tyler would have no one left."

"No one but his birth mother. I want you in our lives. I want you there legally, on paper, with my wishes recorded somewhere. There's no one else I would want Tyler to be with."

She nodded. "That means the world to me, Jimmy." Pursing her lips, she nodded. "Okay," she told him. "I'll marry you on Saturday."

She had questions. He saw them. And yet she didn't ask. Just agreed to be his wife. Imagine.

When Kara walked into the house after that magical evening, she wondered why she wasn't floating on a cloud. Something was wrong. Something kept gnawing at her brain, releasing doubt and questions from the hidden depths. She tried to silence them. She told herself that even though her self-confidence had blossomed in the past year, there were years of self-doubt that had come before. It was force of habit making her worry now. There was no earthly reason to believe that Jimmy Corona wasn't in love with her.

Except, of course, that he hadn't said he was.

Alex and Mel were snuggling on the sofa, munching popcorn and watching an old movie on TV when Kara and Jimmy walked in.

Mel smiled and got to her feet, crossing the room to greet them.

"How is Tyler?" Jimmy asked.

"Fine. Sleeping like a baby. He was no trouble at all, Jimmy. He's a great kid."

"Thanks." He nodded hello to Alex. "I'm going in to check on him," he said. "Good night, you guys. Thanks again."

"Night, Jim," Alex called.

Jim crossed the room and disappeared into Tyler's room. Alex looked up at Kara, met her eyes, then frowned and got off the sofa. "I'll go start the car," he told Mel. "Good night, Kara."

"Night," Kara said. She was grateful. Alex was deliberately giving her a moment alone with her sister. Was it so clear in her face then that something major had happened to her tonight?

As soon as the door closed behind Alex, Mel gripped her shoulders. "So? What happened? You look kind of dazed."

She lifted her brows. "I'll be over in the morning. For breakfast. Family meeting."

"Oh, no, little sis. You are not going to make me wait until morning for this. I won't sleep a wink. What happened? Did you two...you know?"

"No." She blinked and averted her face to hide her burning cheeks.

"Well, what then?"

"Look, I really want to talk to the whole family, Mel." She lifted a hand to push her hair off her face. "Mom would never forgive me if I-"

"Oh. My. God." Mel snatched Kara's wrist and pulled her hand forward, her eyes wide and glued to her finger. "Is that what I think it is?"

Kara looked at her hand, belatedly remembering the pink diamond that now adorned her finger.

"Kara? Did he propose?"

She sighed. "Yeah."

"And you said yes! God, Kara, you're engaged!"

"Yeah." Kara lifted her head and smiled. "I'm engaged."

Mel's arms locked around her, hugging her hard. But after a moment she released her and looked intently into her eyes. "I don't get it. Why aren't you dancing for joy, giddy and excited? Where are the tears of happiness, sis?"

Shaking her head slowly, Kara said, "It happened so fast...I guess it still doesn't seem quite real."

"But you are happy. Aren't you?"

"Of course I am." Kara turned to look out the door. Alex was in the car, motor running, headlights on. "You've got to promise not to breathe a word, Mel. I need to be the one to tell Mom, and you'd better not let on that I told you first."

"I promise," Mel said, pressing a hand to her heart. "You guys have a date in mind?"

Kara nodded. "Saturday."

"Sat-this Saturday?"

"Yeah."

Her sister was frowning now, searching her face. "Are you sure about this, Kara?"

Kara nodded. "I love him. And I love Tyler. I don't know that anything else even matters."

Mel still looked worried. And Kara felt the questions about to come pouring out of her naturally inquisitive sister. So she avoided them by forcing a bright smile and giving Mel one last hug. "I'm wiped out, hon. And I have to get up early so I can break the news to Mom before she reads it like a street sign on your face."

Mel nodded. "Okay. I'll go. You get some sleep, okay?"

"Okay."

Mel went and joined her husband in the car. Kara locked up and waited until they were gone to turn off the outdoor light. Then she turned and walked back through the house, pausing outside Tyler's room.

Jim was stroking his sleeping son's forehead. She heard him whisper, "We did it, Ty. We got you a mom. The best mom any little boy could ever have." Leaning down, he kissed Ty's cheek. "I can't wait to see your face light up when I tell you in the morning."

Sighing, Kara backed away, then went up the stairs to her bedroom. But she didn't sleep. All night long the questions she didn't want to ask whispered through her brain.

In the car Mel turned to Alex as he drove. "He asked her to marry him."

Alex turned his head sharply. "Hey! That's great! She said yes, right?"

"She said yes."

Alex's eyes narrowed on her. "So why is it you're not smiling?"

She shrugged. "Something's off. She's acting wrong. And he seems to be in a hell of a hurry. They want to tie the knot this weekend."

His brows went up. "That soon?"

"Yeah. That soon."

He nodded. "Look, I see the wheels turning behind those eyes, Mel. But, honey, maybe they're just too madly in love to want to wait."

"Maybe. Or maybe there's something else going on."

He sighed. "So what do you want to do?" There was resignation in his tone.

She smiled, knowing he would go along with whatever she had in mind. "I want to run a background check on this guy. You cool with that?"

"Sure." He shrugged. "I mean, if you don't mind alienating your brother-in-law-to-be and maybe your sister in the process, then who am I to object?"

She frowned at him. "It's not going to alienate them. They don't even have to know."

"He's a cop, Mel. We start digging into his background, he's going to find out."

She pursed her lips, nodded. "Well, if he finds out, too bad. He should understand. Hell, he's marrying my sister before the end of his first week back in town. He should expect me to be checking up on him."