Karen Robards - Justice

W ill you marry me?

Allison Howards eyes widened. Her lips parted in surprise as she watched the tall, handsome, rich, kind, charming, absolutely wonderful man whod spent the last week totally sweeping her off her feet drop down to one knee in front of her on the boathouse path. He held her hand and looked up at her with a rueful twinkle. Behind him, the Jefferson Memorial glowed like a Japanese lantern against the star-studded sky. Its reflection in the rippling black water of the Tidal Basin made the scene breathtakingly lovely.

Like something out of a movie. Like something out of a dream.

I-I She, who was always so articulate, so precise with her words, was at a loss for them now. She could barely speak, barely think, barely breathe. Her heart pounded. Her throat closed up.

This is all happening so fast. Too fast?

Shed left on a business trip, met him on the plane. In the brief time theyd been together, he had become the most important person in her life. Once she would have said that falling for a man in a week wasnt even possible. Now she was so in love that she was ready to chuck everythinghome, career, her whole hard-earned lifeto be with him. If he asked her to, which he wouldnt, because Washington, D.C. was his home, too, and he was as proud of her career as he was successful in his.

Look, I got you a ring.

The hand that wasnt holding hers delved in his jacket pocket. He was wearing a suit, expensive and perfectly tailored, with a white shirt and a fabulous silk tie with discreet symbols that told anyone who knew anything about that sort of thing just how fabulous it was. Unfortunately, she didnt yet know a lot about things like that, although she pretended she did. In this brave new world she was trying so hard to conquer, the world of wealth and power and privilege, she was still working to learn the language. And that tie was part of the language. Just like her short black cocktail dress was part of the language: in her case, Armani Priv. Although it had been purchased second- or third-hand at a consignment shop in Georgetown, no one knew but her. The dress was so understated that it screamed class, even if it was just a tad too tight around the hips and thighs. The sad truth was that at five-four and the one hundred forty pounds she had dieted down tothe bare minimum she was pretty sure she was ever going to achieve on her big-boned frame no matter how little she ateshe was never going to look totally elegant in clothes meant for a six-foot-tall, one-hundred-pound model. Just like her chubby-cheeked face was never going to be anything other than depressingly round.

He says Im beautiful. Her pulse fluttered at the memory. Beautiful, sexy, the woman hes been waiting for all his life.

See? He flipped open a jewelers box, offered it to her like he hoped what was inside it would persuade her. The glow from the memorial channeled into a dazzling beam as it struck a diamond the size of a dime. Her breath caught. When he pulled the ring from its box and slid it on the fourth finger of her left hand, the precious metal cool and slick against her skin, her knees went weak.

At last, my love has come along.

The words of the Etta James song swelled in her mind. It was so perfecthe was so perfecteverything was so perfect. For the first time ever, her life was perfect. Her careershe was a lawyer, a thirty-one-year-old associate with the prestigious firm of Ellis Hayeswas thriving. Her finances were secure, to the point where she would never again have to lay awake at night sweating about having enough money. Shed been so lonely for so long, so certain that she wasnt the type of woman who would ever be half of a couple, so resigned to being single that she had never even realized how much she wanted more. And nowthis. Her very own whirlwind romance. A marriage proposal. And to quiet her increasingly importunate biological clock, maybe, in a year or so, even a baby. Whod have thought it?

Impossibly, incredibly, every dream shed never even known shed had was coming true.

Howd I ever get this lucky?

Allie? Youre making me nervous here.

She realized she hadnt said anything, had done nothing but stare dumbly at him, at the glittering diamond. His thumb caressed her fingers, nudged the ring. His smile was a little crooked now. His eyes searched her face. He looked like he thought she might actually be going to say no. This hint of vulnerability in himshe hadnt seen him vulnerable beforemade her heart melt.

Say something, damn it. Say yes.

She took a deep breath, striving to pull herself together enough so that she could actually speak. The thing was, shed always been a little bit psychic. At least, thats what shed told the girls in the group home where shed spent her final two years in foster care, before shed aged out of the system at the ripe old age of eighteen. Theyd been tough girls, tougher than shed been, bigger and meaner than shed been, but the psychic stuff had scared them enough to make them leave her alone. Now, looking down at the ring that glittered on her finger like her own personal North Star, she knew it was true: she was a little bit psychic, at least about this. Because something inside her recognized this man, this moment, as the way things were meant to be.

He was her fate, her destiny.

Allie? He frowned up at her. The light from the memorial painted him in a golden glow, and she saw that his face had hardened, as if he was physically bracing now for rejection. His hand tightened on hers to the point where his grip almost hurt as he rose lithely to his feet. That broke the spell.

Yes, she said. Then, giddy as his face changed, Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Grinning like an idiot, she threw herself into his arms. They closed around her, tight and strong, and hugged her to him. He was tall and solid, muscular from his running and workouts, fit and buff in a way she would never be, and she loved the feel of him. Loved the smell of him. Loved his dark good looks, his lopsided smile, his possessiveness where she was concerned. Surging upward, wrapping her arms around his neck, she raised her face for his kiss. As their lips met fireworks exploded behind her closed lids, and she knew shed found her hearts home at last.

When? he asked when finally they had to surface to breathe.

When what? Her arms were still wrapped around his neck. Across the Tidal Basin, all around them really, the city glittered like a jewel. At night Washington was so beautiful, with darkness acting as a veil to hide the seamier parts and thousands of lights turning the streets into a fairyland. Closer at hand, the branches of the Japanese cherry trees that made the city a mecca for tourists in the spring dipped and swayed in the slight breeze that had briefly chased away the usual late July humidity. Insects sang in high-pitched chorus. The soft slap of oars and distant murmur of voices from tourists manning a quartet of paddle boats around the Tidal Basin reminded her that they werent really alone, although the bend in the path that had taken them into the deserted area around the side of the memorial made it feel that way.

When can we do the deed? Get married, I mean, not the other, although I think it goes without saying I certainly want to do that. As soon as possible, too.

Theyd fallen into bed together that first night. The sex had been steamy, intense, unforgettable. Since then, except for the necessary work shed had to do for her firm, and herself, theyd basically gotten out of bed only to fly home. He kept telling her how hot she was, how amazing she was. With him, she actually felt hot and amazing for the first time in her life. Having always thought of herself as chubby and plainhell, she was chubby and plain, no way around thatshe had been amazed at the transforming power of love. Because he said she was beautiful, she felt beautiful, and that, she discovered to her wonderment, made all the difference. Just imagining what they were going to do in bed later made her blood heat. Now, she marveled, that feeling was hers to keep. Drunk with joy, she smiled up at him.