Angels Everywhere - Debbie Macomber [184]
Jenny had been kissed before, plenty of times. She wasn’t a novice to the art, but with Trey all things became new. Everything changed.
When they broke apart, Jenny could feel the heat invade her cheeks. She was actually blushing, which was something that hadn’t happened since she was in junior high.
“Trey?” she whispered, pleading with him to explain what was happening to them. She was at a loss to understand, let alone explain.
He answered by kissing her again, this time deeper and with such intensity that her senses spun out of control. When he’d finished, he held her close and whispered, but his words were low and filled with emotion.
“I’ve waited so long to hold you like this.”
“Oh, Trey, I’ve missed you so much.”
His fingers were in her hair, and he angled her head to kiss her again and again. His breathing was harsh with excitement and need.
“Come home, Jenny,” he pleaded. “For the love of God, give up on this madness and come back home where you belong.”
The pond near Cherry Hill fountain had always been one of Hannah’s favorite spots in Central Park. Because she was late, she feared Joshua would have given up waiting for her. Barely taking time to look both ways, she raced across Fifty-ninth Street. Her heart pounded in her throat as she approached the pond. Excitement filled her when she spied Joshua standing along the edge of the water, feeding the goldfish. Hannah half ran to meet him.
“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said breathlessly when she joined him. “It took me much longer to get away than I thought it would.”
Joshua glanced at her and enfolded her with a warm smile of welcome. “I was feeding the fish, and didn’t notice.” He handed her a fistful of stale bread crumbs for her to toss onto the water’s still surface. Huge goldfish, some marked with black-and-white blotches, battled for the crumbs, stirring up the water’s smooth surface.
“This has always been one of my favorite places,” Joshua said.
“Mine too,” she admitted. It didn’t surprise her that Joshua felt the same way about this place as she did. They appreciated many of the same things.
They stood side by side, content without speaking, satisfied simply to be in each other’s company.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” Hannah said once she’d regained her breath and her equilibrium. Being with Joshua always seemed to pull her off center.
Joshua hesitated, and his eyes sparkled. “Am I going to need to sit down to hear it?”
“No. At least I don’t think so.” She thought about what she had to say and realized he was the last person she should be telling instead of the first. “I’ve decided not to marry Carl.”
“I know.” Joshua tossed the last of the bread crumbs into the pond with a flourish.
Of all the reactions Hannah had expected from Joshua, she’d never anticipated this calm acceptance. She frowned. “What did you say?”
“I said, I knew you weren’t going to marry Carl.”
“And how could you be so confident of that?” she asked. She hadn’t realized it herself until the night before. Once she’d admitted that she couldn’t go through with the wedding, she’d felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her heart. It hadn’t been an easy decision, and she didn’t want him to think she’d made it flippantly.
“I knew you weren’t going to be marrying Carl, my sweet, adorable Hannah, for one simple reason. I fully intend for you to marry me.”
Hannah blinked back her surprise.
“And yes, if you’re wondering, that’s a marriage proposal.”
“But I’m already engaged to Carl,” she argued, saying the first thing that came to mind. He’d shocked her so thoroughly that she wasn’t sure how to respond. The second thing that came to mind was that she would have liked nothing better than to be Joshua’s wife. She was forced into biting her lips to keep from blurting it out.
He warmed her with another of his bone-melting smiles. “You see, I realized something the very first time we met.”
“You did?”
“It’s simple, really,” he said with the calm reasoning of an attorney. “I realized you and I were meant to be together.”
“But what about