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me something to look forward to, and little by little, they kind of became my lifeline.
You loved Claire as much as I did, and seeing you was a little like seeing her. Mina
nodded, crying. She d felt exactly the same way about getting together with him above
and beyond the fact that it fed her obsession with him.
Hunt looked her straight in the eye. It s more than that, now, though. Much, much
more. I want you, Mina. When you touch me, sparks fly. I thought I was going to
unman myself while we made love I wanted you so much.
I love you, honey. Hunt reached out to cup her still swollen and battered cheek, one
tear trailing slowly down his face. I love you. I never thought I could love again, but
you ve proven me wrong. I love every solemn, stubborn, prideful inch of you.
Mina couldn t believe her ears. She couldn t! He loved her? How could that be
possible? He d loved Claire and she was nothing like Claire. She couldn t take in what
he was saying, not one bit.
Hunt was already fishing around in his shirt pocket, and pulled out a small ring box,
popping it open to reveal a huge marquis cut diamond solitaire set in eighteen karat gold.
Will you marry me? He already had the ring out of the box and onto her finger before
she had a chance to answer him.
She couldn t say a thing. All she could do was stare at the ring sitting on her finger.
Well? Aren t you going to say something? Preferably yes ? he prodded, tugging on
her hands where he had them captured with his own.
I don t know what to say. But, she did. Mina knew what she wanted to say in her
heart, more than anything, but she didn t think it was the right time.
It was on the tip of Hunt s tongue to pressure her a little more, just until she said yes ,
but then he realized that that wasn t how he wanted her love. She had to give it to him
freely and not feel as if he was bowling her over.
Can can I have some time? she asked, and it was the hardest thing she d ever had to
say. I just want to recover some more, and see how we get on together when we re
doing more than seeing each other occasionally.
Hunt thought it might be more than that, but he didn t say anything. He was
disappointed, of course, but he tried not to show it too much so as not to upset her. Sure
you can. It s a big decision, I know.
Mina nodded slowly in agreement. She reached for the ring to take it off and give it back
to him, but he forestalled her, putting his hand over hers. No, you wear it. It looks
beautiful on your hand. It made her hand seem that much smaller and more delicate
from the sheer size of the rock.
Mina recovered quickly, considering. She had no choice, really. Hunt wouldn t have it
any other way. He hovered over her for several weeks after she d gotten out of the
hospital, until one day she asked, pointedly, as he tried to convince her to eat another
helping of the wonderful dinner he d made, Don t you have a job to go to?
Hunt had grinned. He d been doing more of that lately only she didn t know if he was
generally feeling better about life, or if she was just around him more so she saw it more
often than she had. Don t you worry about my job, honey. I have more time off saved
up than everyone else combined. They owe me. He frowned down at her. Are you
trying to get rid of me, already?
Yes if I keep hanging around you, I m going to end up weighing more than an
elephant.
He snorted. Not likely. A stiff breeze would blow you over, casts and all.
It would not, she answered indignantly. She could feel herself gaining weight as she
lay there.
Would to stop arguing with me, or I ll take you over my knee right now.
Mina gave him a hearty raspberry, secure in knowing that he wasn t about to spank her
until she was healed.
You re getting a might big for your britches there, Meeney-Beany. Somehow, his
threat lost its conviction when he used Claire s nickname for her from when they were
kids.
That s what I told you! I am getting too big for my britches! Stop trying to feed me like
I was the Third Army, for crying out loud, or I won t fit into any of my clothes, not that
you re letting me fit into them anyway . . .
He was pretty much keeping her in bed as much as possible, and that meant she was in
her pajamas all of the time. He d let her sit in the living room for a change of pace, but
other than that he didn t let her out of bed much at all.
She d been graciously allowed into the living room because David had dropped by. He d
come by her apartment and found that it had been rented out, then had driven to the only
other place he figured she d end up, and the two of them had stood around congratulating
themselves on taking care of her, and looking self-satisfied in the extreme.
Mina had wanted to smack the both of them, but she d refrained. At least she d gotten
Hunt to let her decide whether or not she wanted pain pills, or she d still be sleeping
twenty hours a day. Mina was very wary of the two of them being in the same room
together, but, apparently, they had worked out some sort of uneasy truce, because they
both behaved like gentlemen, and when Hunt escorted David to the door, she heard him
say that he could come back any time he wanted to, and he actually managed to sound
like he meant it.
But, after a couple weeks of being forcibly bed bound, she put her foot down. Her casted
foot, that was, on the carpet, gently, using the quad cane he d gotten for her to help
steady herself. Hunt had taken her to the doctor just that morning, and the doctor himself
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