The Harder They Fall Read online

  He yelped when she pressed her cold feet to his, then moaned when her quickly warming body slid against him.

  “I’m so glad,” she whispered, kissing his throat.

  He rubbed his cheek to hers. “That I love you?”

  “That you’re just stubborn, not completely out of control. I’d hate to think you’d compromise yourself this way for just a date.”

  She reached up to free his hand, then squeaked in surprise when his hand came free of its own accord. “What—”

  “I never clicked them closed.” He grinned, a light, carefree grin she’d never seen before. “I wasn’t sure you’d have mercy on me.”

  “You weren’t crying for mercy last time,” she reminded him, gasping when a hand slid down her spine, cupped her bottom. His fingers stayed, dallied until she gasped his name. Slowly, those fingers slid back up.

  “Mercy,” he whispered. “God, I love you.”

  She sighed as both his strong arms came around her. “I love you back, Hunter.”

  “I was counting on that,” he said, the nerves back in his velvety voice. He looked at her, his usual composure and confidence gone. “Trisha.”

  Smiling, she lifted a shoulder. “What?”

  “It took me a while to figure this all out, but as stubborn as I am, it’s for keeps.”

  “What—what is?”

  Lifting the fist he’d just freed, he turned it over, showing her his palm.

  In its big center sat a huge diamond ring.

  “When I look at you, I see my future,” he said softly. He kissed her long and tenderly. “When I touch you, I know peace, the first I’ve had in a long time, if ever. You make me whole, Trisha.”

  “You do the same for me,” she managed, her gaze glued to the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen.

  “Then will you marry me, and make me whole for the rest of our lives?”

  “Oh, my.”

  He smiled and took her hand. “I sure hope that’s a prelude to yes, because I don’t think I’ll make it without you.”

  Her eyes filled and ran over as she stared at him dreamily, picturing their children running around the house, all replicas of their daddy, with his expressive green eyes, his capacity to love, his understanding.

  “You have to say yes,” he said a little urgently, clearly taking her silence for hesitation. “Who else will help me turn this duplex into the home it was meant to be?”

  “I’ll marry you,” she said with a laugh. “Because I love you with everything I have. But as far as turning this house into a home...” She took a breath and plunged. “I might have given you just a little head start on that one. You see, I had this little accident today with the roof. But it’s no problem. All you have to do is—”

  His bark of laughter drowned out her next words.

  All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 1998 by Jill Shalvis

  ISBN 978-1-4804-9705-4

  This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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