“You never ask for more than I can give,” he murmured.
By that he meant she accepted his inability to perform sexually. Actually, she didn’t mind, even preferred the lack of a physical relationship. Justine kept his secret; she owed him that. She suspected very few people knew of Warren’s problems. Apparently they were of a kind that a small blue pill wouldn’t help.
“I like my freedom,” she reminded him sweetly, not wanting to offend.
“You can have your freedom, baby.”
“It wouldn’t be the same.”
“Sure it would,” he argued. “In fact, you can have your own room if you insist.”
He’d suggested that the last time he’d brought up the subject. She hadn’t been interested then, and she wasn’t now.
“It’s because of your mother, isn’t it?” Warren asked.
“That’s not it.” She knew it would be easy to lay the blame at her mother’s feet. She was a judge, an important member of the community, but Justine was her own woman. What she did with her life shouldn’t be any reflection on her mother’s career.
“You’re turning me down?” He wore the little-boy expression that might have been cute twenty years ago, but at his age left him looking merely pathetic.
“I’m sorry. You know I’d never do anything to hurt you.”
“Good.” He gave her a wide grin and flipped open the lid of the velvet case.
Justine gasped. It was the largest solitaire diamond she’d ever seen in her life, a good three or four carats. She brought her hand to her mouth, speechless.
“It’s a beauty, isn’t it?”
She could only nod.
“I want us to get married, Justine. This is your engagement ring.”
“Married?” The room started to buzz and she felt a little dizzy.
“You’re beautiful and a classy woman. When men see you with me, I feel like a million bucks. We make a good couple, baby.”
She stared at him. His insensitivity was almost laughable. He was trying to persuade her to become his wife by telling her she enhanced his image. That was supposed to induce her to marry him?
“You told me once you don’t want a family,” he said.
“I don’t.”
“Well, that works for both of us, then.”
Justine swallowed hard.
He glanced around him, then lowered his voice. “If you want to maintain separate bedrooms after we’re married, that’s fine with me.”
“Oh, Warren.”
“Think about it,” he said. “Take the ring. Try it on.”
She did as he asked, simply because she wanted to see what a four-carat diamond looked like on her finger. A man with romantic inclinations would have taken the opportunity to slip the ring on her finger himself. Seth would’ve—she was sure of it—but there was no way he could afford a diamond of this size…now or in any other lifetime.
The ring glided onto her finger as if it’d been designed for her. It was the most fabulous piece of jewelry she’d ever seen.
“Wear it for a while,” Warren urged. “It’s insured.”
Justine gazed at the diamond, then reluctantly removed it from her finger. “I’m going to think very seriously about your proposal,” she told him, and she meant it.
“Listen, if it’s your parents that worry you, I’ll talk to them.”
“I make my own decisions, Warren.” She shuddered at the thought of Warren confronting either of her parents. It wouldn’t be a meeting of minds, that much she could guarantee.
“When will you have an answer?” he asked, ever the businessman. He wouldn’t allow her to keep him dangling long.
“Next week,” she told him. Even if she did reject his proposal, nothing about their relationship would change. Warren knew it and so did she.
Seth phoned Justine from Alaska the following night. She shouldn’t have been surprised. He always seemed to know when she least wanted him to call.
“Hi,” he said. His clear voice sounded as if he were across the street rather than a thousand miles north.
“Hello, Seth.”
A short pause followed her greeting. “You don’t seem happy to hear from me.”
“I’m not.”
“Any reason for that?”
She closed her eyes and sighed. She might as well tell him. The sooner Seth knew, the better—for both of them. “Warren asked me to marry him last night.”
Another brief hesitation, then, “Have you accepted his proposal?”
“Not yet.”
“Are you tempted?”
She wasn’t, but letting Seth think otherwise was a sure way to get him out of the picture. “I don’t know.”
“When will you know?”
“Soon.”
He didn’t argue with her or try to persuade her to reject the other man. Nor did he say she’d be a fool if she agreed to marry Warren. Instead he asked, “Do you love him?” He kept his tone conversational, as though her answer was a matter of indifference to him.
“I haven’t decided that yet, either.” She was fond of Warren, but compared to the fire that surfaced whenever she was with Seth, fond was a bland emotion.
“Are you waiting for me to make your decision for you?” Seth asked.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“That’s what it sounds like to me.”
She sighed loudly. “I only mentioned it because I thought you should know.”
He snickered, irritating her even more.
“What was that about?” she demanded.
“Did you tell your boyfriend how you practically dragged me into your bed?”
That was a low blow, and Justine had no intention of responding.
“Warren knows about you.” She wasn’t absolutely sure if that was true, but she had her suspicions. Most likely, her being seen with Seth was what had prompted the marriage proposal.
“I’ll bet he does.”
