She nodded, holding her breath as she looked up at him. She’d never seen him so serious.
“The thing is. . . I thought it again, the other day when we made love without protection. Part of me wanted to make a baby with you.”
“You did?” she asked in dawning amazement.
He nodded. “And I’ve been thinking about that a lot. Because I couldn’t figure out why I was fantasizing about it so much, why I was becoming fixated on the idea. And I realized it was the same reason I felt it back here, in Crescent Bay years ago.” He squeezed her hands. “I wanted you to get pregnant. Yes, because there’s some kind of caveman in me that wants to see you growing big with our baby. I want to see that tangible evidence that we’re one . . . that we’re a family.”
“Asher,” she whispered feelingly. He reached up and cradled her jaw in his hand. A pressure swelled in her chest at the love she saw in his eyes at that moment.
“But part of me wanted it too because it would mean no going back. A baby would mean no one or nothing could keep us apart. But what I realized this weekend is that a baby isn’t the point. I mean—it would be great, don’t get me wrong. It’ll be unbelievable if we’re lucky enough to ever have that happen to us,” he assured her. “I just mean that I realized we don’t need an external pressure like that, forcing our hand. What’s required is that we accept how we feel about each other, and what it means. What’s needed is for us to commit to each other, no matter what. I know there are obstacles. But why do I need an excuse, like you being pregnant, to be with you? I love you more than anything, and I want to spend my life with you. That should be more than reason enough for me to at least ask you this.”
She watched, her breath burning in her lungs, as he reached into his breast pocket. She saw the ring box. He opened it. She stared in numb disbelief at the stunningly simple and elegant diamond ring.
“When I saw you that first time standing naked in this lake, it was like I’d stumbled onto something sacred . . . onto a whole different world I hadn’t known existed,” he said. “We used to call this place our world. It was the only place where we could exist together, and no one could pull us apart. It was our secret. But now I want our world to be everywhere. As long as we’re together, I’ll exist in this sacred place, whether we’re in Chicago or London or Casablanca, for all I care. So . . . will you make that place with me, Laila? Will you marry me? Will you be my family?”
She stared up at him, entirely in awe at the vision of the afternoon sun glowing behind him and his shadowed, solemn face as he extended the ring . . . as he risked his heart. Was it possible for a human being to feel this much love and not burst into a million pieces at the strength of it? She recalled looking at him once, years ago, and sensing his focus, the sheer force of him. Yes. With him, they could create a whole new world. With Asher, anything was possible, no matter what the obstacles.
“Yes. I’ll be your wife. I’ll be your family,” she pledged.
He smiled. He took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger. The single, large, round diamond dazzled in the sunlight. Joy swelled in her, fracturing fear and uncertainty. There wasn’t room for them, at that moment. Not in this sacred place. She smiled so widely that tears rained down her cheeks. He lifted her from her sitting position and pulled her against him.
“Then you’ve just made me the happiest man in existence, bar none,” he said, before he pressed his mouth to hers.
• • •
They lay together with their limbs entwined later that night, spent from lovemaking. Asher listened to the sound of his rapid heartbeat slow to a steady throb in his ears. He ran his hand down the length of Laila’s spine, absorbing her delicate shiver.
“Where would you like to live?” he asked her quietly.
She turned her head on the pillow, meeting his stare. “Wherever you are,” she whispered.
He smiled and brushed back a strand of her dark hair from her cheek. It was almost ludicrous, how much he loved her. “Los Angeles? I could get a job there. It would be a good place for you to build your career.”
She pursed her lips as if in thought and shook her head.
“No?” he murmured. “Do you want to stay here in Chicago?”
Again, she shook her head. His smile widened. She clearly had something in mind.
“Where, then? Detroit?”
Her soft hair tickled him as she shook her head again. “No,” she replied hoarsely. “That would be too hard on our marriage, especially at the beginning. I think we should go someplace new. Some place fresh to make our own little world.”
“Such as?”
“Well . . . I would fantasize now and then that you’d ask me to go to London with you.”
His stroking fingers paused. “You want to go to London?”
“If you do.”
“You’re not worried about short-circuiting your career with a move like that?”
“London has a very vibrant entertainment industry,” she reasoned.
“You’re right. It does. And you’re so talented, I know you can make a success of things there. Anywhere. But what about your recording contract?”
“I’ll fly to Los Angeles and do the recording,” she said. “It’ll only be a few weeks. Maybe we can fly back and forth and see each other a few times. I know it’ll be hard, but—”