Chapter 8
Stephen paced back and forth across the lobby, his finger touching the ring in his pocket. Was he crazy? He’d known Tallia for less than a week, but everything about her clicked with him. He loved her intelligence, her body, her sensuality that just seemed to grow the more they got to know one another. He hated her politics, but he respected her opinions. They disagreed on everything, but whenever they argued, his body reacted like she was some sort of stripper, taunting him.
An intelligent woman was better than a naked stripper, he realized. He’d never met a woman who could go head to head with him on every subject. It turned him on every time they argued. And when he took her into his arms, the chemistry was explosive!
He wanted her! Forever! He wanted to take her back to Austin and show her his ranch, show her his horses and be with her. He wanted to have a whole week, a month, of undisturbed time to make love with her, walk with her through the trees and ride across the prairies with her. Austin was a fabulous city.
But so was Santa Fe. Would she leave Santa Fe to be with him?
Would he move to Santa Fe to be with her?
The answer was like a soothing caress, confirming his decision. “Yes!” he grumbled, startling an older couple that was walking through the hotel lobby. He knew that if she wanted to live in Santa Fe, he’d sell his home and his ranch, move his horses to that area just to be with her. He didn’t need to live in Austin to work. He could do his job anywhere.
Would she travel with him? He certainly hoped so. He wanted her by his side always.
But, did she feel the same way about him?
He spun away from the front door, thinking that he was acting irrationally. He couldn’t propose to a woman he’d known for less than a week. It was nuts!
And yet, he knew that he loved her. More than love, he connected with her on an intellectual and sexual level. He knew it was corny, but Tallia was his soul mate. He’d never thought much of that term, but it was true. He understood it now.
Was he a wuss? Possibly. But at the thought of Tallia, he didn’t give a damn. He wanted her in his life forever.
Somehow, he had to convince her that they were meant to be together.
Turning around, he was startled to see her coming out of a hallway he knew led to the business center.
“Tallia!” he called, walking over to her.
She jerked, but came to a stop as she watched him walk over to her. “What are you doing? I thought you were still out doing the bridesmaid thing with Lillian.”
She looked around and he knew that she was hiding something from him.
“We…uh…finished early. Lillian needed to go talk to Phillip about some argument they had yesterday.”
Stephen watched her carefully, sensing that something was wrong. Especially since he’d been with Phillip earlier today and he’d mentioned that he hadn’t had time to see Lillian in a few days. They couldn’t have argued, so what was going on?
“Are you okay?” he asked, looking into her eyes. They were a bit redder than he was used to. “Have you been crying?” he asked.
“No!” she gasped, hugging her computer and the paper closer to her chest. “Not at all!”
Yep. She was lying to him. And that irritated him. With a sigh, he pulled her closer, ignoring the computer that she continued to hold between them. “Tallia, what’s wrong? Are you…am I pressuring you into a relationship you’re not ready for?”
She pulled back, but her hand clenching his arm told her that he hadn’t guessed correctly. “Not at all!” she told him emphatically.
“Then tell me what’s wrong.”
She sighed and leaned against him, her cheek resting against his chest.
“I did something bad,” she told him. “Something you might not like.”
Every muscle in his body tensed with that admission. Had she been with another man? Impossible! First of all, they’d been together all night and he’d only left her when she’d walked into the restaurant to be with her friends for the day. There hadn’t been time.
Plus, Tallia just wasn’t that kind of a woman. She was honest and forthright, never fearing him or what he might think. In fact, she challenged him in ways he loved. He needed her!
“What’s going on?” he asked, waiting for her to tell him instead of assuming. The women in his past might be the kind who would cheat, and it hadn’t ever bothered him. If a woman wanted to move on, that was it. But if Tallia…he couldn’t even think of her in another man’s arms!
She pulled out of his embrace and looked down at her computer. For the first time, he noticed a printout. “Read this,” she said, handing it to him.
He looked at the paper, then into her eyes. “I’m not going to like this, am I?” he asked, bracing himself for a “Dear John” letter. This was the end. She was moving on. For the first time, it mattered. It mattered a hell of a lot!
She couldn’t hold his gaze, which only made his stomach muscles tighten with dread. “Just read it, and please don’t get mad.”
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Can I get a drink while I read through this? I suspect that I’m going to need it.”
She gestured to the other side of the lobby towards the hotel bar and they walked. She walked a few steps ahead of him, and he normally would have watched her cute butt as she walked. Not this time. He was too preoccupied trying to figure out an argument for them to stay together.
Hell, he’d gone out and bought a diamond ring while she was typing up a letter telling him to get lost. What a moron, he thought.
The bartender quickly brought them a beer and a glass of wine and he nodded his head towards a table off in the corner. “We might as well have a bit of privacy for this conversation,” he said and led the way.
“I hope you don’t get angry, Stephen. I tried to be concise, but…”
He held up his hand to stop her. “Let me just get this over with.”
With that, he took a long sip of his beer, and glanced down at the papers in his hand. At first, the words didn’t make any sense. This wasn’t about her breaking up with him and how much she appreciated their time together, but that she needed to move on. This was about…he started over, not sure he’d read the words correctly.
Immigration? This was about immigration policy? He skimmed through the text and realized that the first page was all about the democratic perspective on the current administration’s immigration policy. The next page…the words were his! Hell, he’d argued those viewpoints with her just the other night. He looked up at her, not really understanding.
“You’re quoting me?” he demanded, trying to figure out what was going on. He knew she’d been crying but…about immigration? That didn’t make any sense.
“Did I capture your argument properly? Or is there more to your argument that you think should be included?”
He watched her for a long moment, noticed that she shifted in her chair, almost as if she were uncomfortable somehow. Looking down again, he continued to read, skimming through the rest of the article. Yeah, there was more that he would add, but she’d grasped what he’d already argued with her. The next page was…
“You compromised?” he asked. When she blushed, shrugging one shoulder, he looked down again. Continuing to read, he absorbed the words. The last page was a combination of both of their arguments, mixed together to form a solution to the problem. Probably not the only solution, but…
He looked at her, trying to understand. “I have a lot of questions,” he said.
She smiled warily. “I was hoping that the arguments would spark conversation. It’s sort of a way to get both sides talking again. To compromise. It seems that right now, everyone is so insistent that their own way of getting things resolved is the ONLY way. But if both sides could come together and figure out how to form a viable policy, it might help move things forward.”
He stared at her for a long moment, stunned.
“You don’t like it,” she sighed, her shoulders drooping as she stared at her glass of wine.
“I think it’s brilliant!” he replied with feeling.
She looked back up at him, startled, and she bit her lip. “You do?”
“Absolutely! I would like to add in a few things to my side of the argument, but yeah, I think it’s incredible!”
Her smile brightened and she actually blushed with his effusive compliment. “Well, I was going to submit it to my editor for…”
“No. I have a better idea.”
He stood up and ran a hand through his hair. “I have no idea how to do this but…” he took the ring out of his pocket and stood in front of her. “I know this is sudden but…don’t reject my proposal yet. I really think we can make a relationship work.” He looked uncomfortable, but determined. “I love you, Tallia. I love your spirit and your passion for the wrong side of an argument,” he paused until she stopped laughing. “I love your smile and your intelligence. I love you.” He got down on one knee and lifted the ring up to her. “Just think about it, and…oomph!”
They were on the floor of the bar and she was kissing his face. “Yes!” she gasped. “Yes!”
He immediately rolled over, ever the alpha male, and took control of the kiss. It was only the applause that stopped him from carrying her out of the bar. When they looked up, four waiters and the bartender were standing over them, clapping.
“We’re making a spectacle of ourselves,” she laughed.
“Just like all democrats,” he teased, and stood up. He lifted her with both hands, pulling her right into his arms. “So, you’ll marry me?” he asked. Thankfully, the bartender and waiters disappeared and it was too early in the afternoon for the other hotel guests to be filtering into the bar.
“Yes!” she gushed. “I didn’t think you felt that way, but I love you, Stephen! I love your stupid, conservative, irresponsible opinions. And I love the way you make me think through the solutions. And yes, I think we can make a relationship work between us. There’s always a solution.”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. The bartender clearing his throat was the only reason they stopped and Stephen lifted his head up to glare at him. Quickly, the bartender lifted a bottle of chilled champagne up. “Congratulations. Mr. Beauchamp expresses his best wishes.”
Stephen looked at the label and grinned. “Alex is a pain in the ass, but he has good taste in champagne.” He took the bottle in one hand and Tallia’s hand in his other as he pulled her out of the bar.
The bartender grinned as the couple made their way towards the elevators. Turning, he prepared to clean the table for the next guests, but the papers caught his eye. He was just about to call out to them when the title captured his attention. Without remorse, he read through the article, nodding his head in agreement when he came to the last page. “Not a bad idea,” he said to no one in particular. He then made his way to the front desk and asked them to put the paper into an envelope for their room.