Temporary Fiancée (22 page)
Haley fought the tears. He looked miserable, as miserable as she felt. She reached out to touch his arm. “Rand, I…”
Suddenly, he was on his knees, looking perfectly ridiculous. “Haley, please marry me. I love you. I can’t live without you. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. I’m a bastard, I have problems with trust and commitment, but I promise I will make you the best husband I can be.”
Haley stared down at him, stunned by the suddenness of his proposal. He was making a fool of himself, for her. The immaculately pressed and controlled Andrew McNeil was kneeling at her feet on public television.
Shauna Crossly broke in to address the audience. “It seems as if our guests today have some private issues to discuss. So I think we’ll go to a commercial break.”
As the audience applauded on cue, an expression of horror crossed Rand’s face. Haley felt a jolt of disappointment. He was already regretting his impulsive marriage proposal. Any moment he’d stand and stalk out of the studio. But he didn’t, he just kept gazing up at her, his face white with disappointment and something like fear.
Haley dropped to her knees beside him. “What is it, Rand?”
“You didn’t give me an answer,” he said, his voice tentative. “I’m trying to resign myself to the fact that I look like an imbecile in front of a large audience, and you didn’t say yes.”
“So you wouldn’t mind looking like an imbecile if I said yes?” Haley asked. Since they were both on their knees, she still had to look up at him.
“Not as much. Are you going to?” He was starting to grin.
“I’m thinking about it. Why don’t you try again? Maybe I’ll listen this time.”
The audience applauded wildly, and someone yelled, “You go, girl!”
Rand grabbed her hand and pulled her up as he rose to his feet. “This will go better if we’re standing. Maybe we can find somewhere more private.”
Shauna Crossly addressed the audience. “What do you think, folks? Should we let them go off stage if they promise to come back and tell us what happened?” she paused, smiling broadly. “Isn’t this the best show you’ve ever attended?”
As the audience applauded once more, the producer appeared to lead Rand and Haley off the set and down a long corridor. He opened the door on a small, glassed in room.
“Here’s an empty production room.” He pumped Rand’s hand enthusiastically. “Man, oh man, this show will be talked about for years thanks to you guys.” He left, closing the door behind him.
The silence seemed deafening until Rand moved toward Haley, reaching for her. With a muted cry, she dove into his arms like a homing pigeon. She clung to him, her head resting against his chest, hearing the beat of his heart speed up to match her own.
“God,” he groaned. “I’ve been waiting for this moment since you walked out of my house.”
“Since you threw me out, you mean,” she said, her voice suddenly hesitant. She moved away and stared down at the carpeted floor.
He gripped her shoulder and turned her to face him. “Can you forgive me? I was a fool, and I’ve paid for it every day and night since you left. I’ve been miserable. Look at me, Haley. Believe me.”
She raised her head and stared into his eyes. His gaze begged her to trust that what he said was true.
“I love you so damn much, Haley. Please marry me,” he whispered, his voice shaky.
She studied him carefully. His tie was twisted, his hair disheveled, and the knees of his pants were dusty from kneeling on the floor. He had never looked more perfect to her. The love she’d been hoping for was in his eyes. She had to believe in it.
A smile spread across her face. “Okay. I forgive you, and I promise I won’t keep bringing up the fact that you acted like a jerk.” She watched his mouth widen in a relieved smile. “Unless I need leverage.”
They laughed together, and Haley thought the sound had a joyous ring to it. They stood smiling at each other until Rand finally asked, “What about the other thing?”
“What other thing?”
“Haley!” Rand said with a mock threatening gesture. “I said I loved you and asked you to marry me. It would be nice to hear some kind of reply.”
She trailed a finger across his jaw line and traced the contours of his lips before answering. “You have to be very sure, Rand. There’s never been a divorce in our family. The Marchands marry forever. I won’t settle for a temporary marriage even though our first engagement was temporary.”
He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head. “I promise to love you forever, whether you marry me or not. Are you saying you want to wait to get married?”
She shook her head. “No. I love you, and I’ll marry you as soon as we can make the arrangements, with one condition.”
His lips, poised just above her, halted. “Condition?”
She stood on tiptoe and kissed the bottom of his chin. “This is a matter of trust.”
“One condition or ten, I agree.”
“Without even knowing what it is?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Guaranteed. So tell me what your condition is so we can get on with our wedding plans.”
“I want you to go to the pound and adopt a female dog.”
To his credit he only hesitated a second. “The pound? How about if I buy a purebred?”
Haley shook her head. “No. I believe it will be better for us to rescue an animal than buy one.”
He had a bemused expression on his face. “All right. We can go tomorrow. But if you get a dog from the humane society, you have no control over the type of puppies…”
Haley burst out laughing. “I know. That’s the beauty of it.”
Rand chuckled. “It’s a deal. Do you think one dog will be enough? I’ll rescue three or four, and they can all sleep in our bedroom, if you want.”
Her heart turned over. He really did love her and was willing to change to accommodate their life together.
“Maybe you should kiss me now,” she said softly, lifting her face. His lips closed over hers. Gently at first, then ferociously, until they were both out of breath.
“Let’s get out of this fishbowl,” Rand whispered. “I need to get naked with you in the worst way.”
Haley pulled away laughing. “All right. Do you think we need to go back and tell them I accepted your proposal?”
Rand shook his head and then turned her around to face the glass wall of the office. There, with noses nearly pressed against the glass, stood Elizabeth and Carrie as well as Shauna Crossley and what looked to be the entire “Our Town” camera and production team. The red light on the camera indicated it was rolling.
Shauna flipped on an overhead mike and through the studio came the announcement, “It looks like she said ‘yes’ folks, so that ends our show for today, but it appears to be the beginning for the Marchand-McNeil production.”
Oblivious to the rolling of the cameras, Rand once more drew Haley into his arms and kissed her deeply. Behind them, the door to the room opened, and Elizabeth spoke. “Take it home, guys. There are children present.”
Laughing, Rand finally released Haley, and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go home. I have some work for you to catch up on.”
A word about the author...
A former Utah Poet of the Year, Judy Rogers was a poet before she turned to writing romantic fiction ten years ago. She has been an English instructor at Utah State University for twenty years and prior to that was a newspaper reporter and freelance writer for over ten years. Her non-fiction work has appeared in
HomeLife
,
Women's World
,
Redbook
, and
Byline
magazines.
She was an RWA Golden Heart finalist in 2001 and 2004 in the contemporary romance category. She lives in Utah with her husband and is the mother of six grown children.
Judy Rogers loves to hear from her readers. You can contact her by emailing:
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