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  She remembered she’d left them on the counter. “They weren’t so good.”

  “No?” He looked at her, an unspoken question in his eyes.

  “No.”

  He beamed her the most beautiful smile she’d ever seen. “So, what do you think? About the log house, I mean.”

  “The one in town? The one you built? I think it’s a pretty big house for one guy.”

  “I was thinking that, too.” He kissed her again, longer this time and more passionately, and she felt him grow hard beneath her.

  “You might want a roommate.” She nibbled mischievously at his ear. “Someone, say, in a related field.”

  “Like a wildlife photographer?”

  “Exactly. But only a good one. Someone who works for a big magazine, who just landed a permanent assignment in Alaska.”

  “You’re kidding? That’s great!” He looked at her, joy shining in his face, but she waited, unable to breathe until she heard his answer. His smile faded. “But, no. I don’t want a roommate.”

  Her stomach did a flip-flop. “You…don’t?”

  “There wouldn’t be room.”

  “There wouldn’t?”

  “Nope. You see, I was thinking about getting married, having kids. The whole nine yards.”

  Wendy couldn’t breathe. “You…were? Are?”

  He nodded. “The only thing is, she hasn’t said yes yet.”

  Her fingers dug into his shoulders involuntarily. “Well, um, maybe that’s because you haven’t told her you loved her—not for a few days, anyway.”

  He eased her off him and onto the soft cushions of the sofa and moved carefully on top of her. Firelight washed gold across his rugged features, flickered in his hazel eyes. “I love you, Wendy Walters. Marry me.”

  Her body ignited when he kissed her. “How many kids?” she breathed.

  “I don’t know. Four?”

  “Four!”

  “Three, then.”

  She gazed up at him and saw all the years of love and happiness they would share shining back at her in his eyes.

  “Yes.”

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-8253-1

  NORTHERN EXPOSURE

  Copyright © 2003 Debra Lee Brown

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