While she was torturing herself with such thoughts, the door suddenly opened.
“I know,” Bentley said in a strangely calm and amused tone, “you’re kicking yourself mentally for taking advantage of me in a weak moment. But it’s okay. I’m used to women trying to ravish me.”
She stared up at him wide-eyed and speechless. Of all the things she expected he might say, that was the last.
“Come on, come on, you’re not going to get a second shot at me in the same night,” he teased. “I have my reputation to think of!”
Her mind started working again, and she laughed with relief. She picked up her purse and scrambled out the door, her discarded coat over one arm.
“Listen,” he said gently, “don’t start brooding. We got a little too involved, too quickly, but we’ll deal with it.”
She hesitated. “I’m not, well, modern,” she blurted out.
“Neither am I, honey,” he said softly.
She could have melted into the ground at the husky endearment. She blushed.
He bent and kissed her with tender respect. “I know what sort of woman you are,” he said gently. “I’m not going to push you into something you don’t want.”
“Thanks.”
“On the other hand, you have to make me a similar promise,” he pointed out. “I’m not going to keep dating you if I have to worry about being ravished every time I bring you home. I’m not that sort of man,” he added haughtily.
She grinned from ear to ear. “Okay.”
He walked her to the door, smiling complacently. “I’ll see you at work Monday,” he said. He framed her face in his hands and looked at her for a long time. “Just when you think you’re safe,” he mused, “you jump headfirst into the tiger trap.”
“You know, I was just thinking the same thing,” she said facetiously.
He chuckled as he bent to kiss her again. “We’ll take it at a nice, easy pace,” he whispered. “But I know already how it’s going to end up. We’re good together. And I’m tired of living alone.”
Her heart almost burst with joy. “I… I don’t think I could just live with someone,” she blurted out, still a little worried.
He kissed her eyes shut. “Neither could I, Cappie,” he whispered. “We can talk about licenses and rings.” He lifted his head. His eyes were soft with feeling. “But not tonight. We have all the time in the world.”
“Yes,” she whispered. Her eyes were bright with the force of her emotions. “It’s happening so fast.”
He nodded. “Like lightning striking.”
She felt her heart racing. But in the back of her mind, there was a sudden fear, a foreboding. She bit her lower lip. “You don’t really know much about me,” she began. “You see, when I lived in San Antonio, there was this man I dated…”
Before she could tell him about Frank, his phone rang. He jerked it out and answered it. “Rydel,” he said. He listened, grimaced. “I’ll be in the office in ten minutes. Bring the cat right in, I’ll see it. Yes. Yes. You’re welcome.” He hung up. “I have to go.”
“Be careful,” she said.
He smiled. “I will. Good night.”
“Good night, Dr. Rydel.”
“Bentley.”
She laughed. “Bentley.”
He ran back to the Land Rover, started it and drove away with a wave of his hand. Cappie watched him go, then walked into her house, feeling as if she could have floated all the way.
* * *
Monday morning, Cappie still felt light-headed and ecstatic. She’d half expected Bentley to phone her Saturday or Sunday, considering how involved they’d gotten when he brought her home from the carnival on Friday night. But maybe he’d had emergencies. She hoped he hadn’t had second thoughts. She was so crazy about him that she couldn’t bear to even think about having him reconsider what he’d said. But she knew that wasn’t going to happen. They were already so close that she knew it was going to be forever.