Degrees of Passion Read online

  Anticipation built inside him and the second the door opened to reveal the object of his desire he couldn’t keep his body from propelling forwards. The second Sasha’s lovely dark-blue eyes met his, he blurted, ‘Marry me.’

  The door slipped from her fingers, slamming shut. She took the steps slowly, her gaze focused on him. Stopping several feet away from him, she tilted her head to the side, and whispered, ‘What did you say?’

  ‘Marry me,’ he repeated, without hesitation. ‘I mean, I love you. I hated going to bed last night thinking I’d never hold you again. And this morning, when I woke up, my chest hurt. I don’t want to feel that way again. I love you and it’s quite possible you don’t feel the same way, but I can’t keep it to myself anymore. I don’t want to. I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to go to bed alone. And I know I sound like a fool right now. I’m probably being overzealous and scaring you. But I thought about it a lot. I looked at it from every angle and I can’t guarantee we’ll always be happy. What I can promise is that I love you. I’ll always love you.’

  ‘Kevin,’ she breathed, not moving. The look in her eyes tore into him. He did not read a yes in that look.

  ‘Please, just consider . . .’ His voice cracked and he stopped talking.

  ‘Kevin, no, I can’t just . . .’ She shook her head in denial. ‘Your mother—’

  ‘Don’t make this about anyone but us.’ He couldn’t ever remember feeling like he wanted to cry. ‘If you don’t love me, just say it. Don’t blame someone else for what you feel.’

  She opened her mouth and hesitated.

  Kevin didn’t know if his soul could survive her rejection. ‘I understand. I won’t bother you again.’

  Sasha tried to say what she was feeling, but she was lost when it came to these things. His hand reached for the truck handle and she closed her eyes. Taking a metaphorical leap, she said, ‘Stop.’ She heard the door open, the telltale creak of metal hinges. Louder, she said, ‘Stop.’

  ‘What?’ His voice sounded distant, as if he couldn’t look at her.

  Sasha opened her eyes. ‘Marry me.’

  He slammed the door shut. ‘Are you mocking me?’

  ‘No.’ She shook her head, moving around the front of the truck to face him once more.

  ‘Are you –’ he hesitated, ‘– asking me?’

  ‘I don’t know that I can make you happy,’ Sasha said. He’d been so honest with her and she owed him the same courtesy. ‘I worry about how smart you are and that you’ll grow bored with me. I’m unable to make decisions and overthink things to the point nothing makes sense. I talk myself out of things and into them. Sometimes I’ll believe that fate is telling me something that it’s not. I even sometimes listen to my mother, even though she gets her reasoning from a boiled tealeaf.’

  ‘What are you saying?’ His confusion was clear in his gaze. He searched her face.

  ‘I’m proposing,’ she answered, shaking. ‘I thought that was obvious.’

  ‘But I asked and you said no. I don’t understand.’

  ‘That’s what I’m trying to explain. How could I say yes without being completely honest with you and what you were getting yourself in for?’ She reached for him, holding her hand in mid-air, hoping he’d take it in his and pull her close. ‘If I’ve scared you off, I want you to know that this, that you, that us, is the biggest decision I’ve ever made and I believe it to be the best. I love you, Kevin. I want to travel the world with you. I’ll follow you any where – into Belize, the jungle, deserts. I don’t care where we go. If I could remember going to bed last night, I’m sure it would have been hell for me, too. I don’t like the idea of going to bed without you or waking up and not seeing you next to me.’

  ‘Yes.’ He nodded.

  ‘Yes?’ she repeated.

  ‘To everything, yes.’ Kevin swept forwards, lifting her off the ground as he kissed her. ‘I love you, Sasha.’

  ‘And I love you.’ Happiness flooded over her, as she drowned in the pleasure of his embrace. Every wish she’d ever had came true in this most perfect moment.

  Epilogue

  Trevor Roosevelt Kingston the Fifth rebelled against his parents and quit the family business. After one month in a London flat with a woman poor enough to be the family maid, he sobered up and went crawling back to his fortune. He is now engaged to Cynthia Rockman, but spends most of his nights with his London mistress. Sasha runs into him on rare occasions, the most significant of which was when she dropped off a box of his stuff at his parents’ house – including the webcam. Trevor and Cynthia were there having dinner with his parents. None of them was in formal wear. It was then she realized Mr and Mrs Kingston had put on airs to make her feel like an outsider.

  Sasha and Kevin finished their documentary on Project Aztec. Carrie turned the film into her professor, who gave it to a producer for the Historical Network, who in turn offered Sasha and Kevin a job hosting their own show. After Sasha’s graduation, the loving couple began to travel the world exploring remote locations. Carrie works as their main camerawoman and is still madly in love with the show’s production assistant, Jo.

  Taffy Merchant finally came around, though she refuses to listen to anything Beatrice’s tea leaves have to say. The couple was married at the Sawmill Pine Inn, in front of the springtime mountainside. Both of their families were there to support them, even Ella made it home for the event.

  Ella Matthews finished her tour of duty and now travels around Europe. She falls in love often, but never for very long. Beatrice doesn’t try to matchmake the youngest Matthews sister, often saying not everyone needs to be married to be happy. Samuel Merchant couldn’t agree more.

  Sasha thinks they’re both nuts. Her happiness is very much tied to her marriage to Kevin. Though it is in debate between the two of them as to who exactly proposed to whom. Every day is a new adventure and, though they have their arguments, they never wake up alone.