Ignoring her hint, Ramon stepped inside and firmly closed the door behind him. A grim smile touched his mouth. "Somehow, I thought that was what you would do."
Katie looked at his ruggedly handsome features, which were stamped with determination, and his powerful shoulders, which were squared with purpose. Confronted with six feet three inches of potent masculinity and iron resolve, Katie chose to make a strategic retreat in order to gather her scattered wits. Turning on her heel she said over her shoulder, "I'll get you a cup of coffee."
She was pouring it into a cup when Ramon's hands settled on her waist drawing her back against his chest. His breath lightly touched her hair as he said, "I do not want coffee, Katie."
"Some breakfast?"
"No."
"Then what do you want?"
"Turn around and I will show you."
Katie shook her head, grasping the edge of the Formica counter top so hard that her knuckles turned white.
"Katie, I did not tell you the main reason why I did not want you to wear that bathing suit, because I did not like admitting it to myself. And you are not going to like it, either. But there must always be honesty between us." He paused then said with a reluctant sigh, "The whole truth is that I was jealous—I do not want anyone but me to ever see so much of your beautiful body."
Katie swallowed, searching for her voice, afraid to turn around, shaken by the feel of his hard, muscular length against her back and legs. "I accept your explanation, and you're right—I don't like it. What I wear is my decision, no one else's. But none of this really matters anymore. I'm sorry for behaving so childishly last night; I should have come out to say goodbye to you. But I can't marry you, Ramon. It wouldn't work."
She expected him to accept that. She should have known better. His hands slid up her arms to her shoulders, tightening to gently but firmly turn her around to face him. .Katie kept her eyes on the tanned column of his throat above the open collar of his blue shirt.
"Look at me, guerida."
That deep, husky voice calling her darling did it. She dragged her wide apprehensive blue eyes up to his.
"You can marry me. And it will work. I will make it work."
"There's a cultural gap between us a million miles wide!" Katie cried. "How can you possibly think you can make it work?"
His eyes held hers steadily. "Because I will come home to you at night and make love to you until you cry out for me to stop. I will leave you in the morning with the taste of my kiss on your lips. I will live my life for you. I will fill your days with gladness, and if God sends us heartbreak, I will hold you in my arms until your tears have passed and then I will teach you how to laugh again."
Mesmerized, Katie stared at the firm sensual mouth slowly descending to hers. "We'd fight," she warned shakily.
He brushed his lips against hers. "Fighting is only an angry way of caring.''
"We'd—we'd disagree about everything. You're tyrannical and I'm independent."
His lips clung to hers. "We will learn to compromise."
"One person can't do all the giving. What would you want in return?"
His arms enfolded her. "No more and no less than what I offer you—everything you have to give with nothing held back. Ever." His mouth covered hers, coaxing her lips to part for the gentle invasion of his tongue.
What began for Katie as a warm glow kindled into a fire, then burst into raging flames, racing through her in a quivering fury. She was leaning into him returning his endless drugging kisses with helpless urgency, moaning softly as her breasts swelled to fill his caressing palms.
"We belong together," he whispered. "Tell me you know it," he ordered thickly, his hand forcing its way under her elastic waistband to cup her bare buttocks and move her tighter against the throbbing hardness of his aroused manhood. "Our bodies know it, Katie."
Caught between the wildly exciting feel of his hand against her bare skin and the proud evidence of his desire pressed boldly to her, Katie's weakened defenses crumbled completely. She wound her arms tightly around his neck, running her hands over his shoulders, smoothing his thick black hair, digging her nails into the bunched muscles of his back. And when he hoarsely commanded, "Tell me," she crushed her parted lips against his and almost sobbed. "We belong together."
The whispered words seemed to echo around the room dousing Katie's passion with cold shock. She leaned back in his arms, staring at him.
Ramon's gaze took in the hectic color tinting the smooth curve of her cheeks, the panic widening the deep blue eyes beneath their luxurious lashes. Threading his hands through the sides of her hair he upped her face between them. "Do not be frightened, querida" he said gently. "I think you are not so much afraid of what is happening between us as you are of how quickly it is happening." His thumbs stroked her heated cheeks as he added, "I would do anything to be able to give you more time, but I cannot. We will have to leave for Puerto Rico on Sunday. That will still give you four full days to pack your clothing. I had intended to leave two days ago, I cannot delay my return beyond Sunday."
"But I—I have to go to work tomorrow," Katie protested distractedly.
"Yes. To tell them that you will be leaving for Puerto Rico and that this will be your last week here."
Of all the monumental obstacles to her actually marrying Ramon, Katie seized upon the lesser one of her job. "I can't just walk in there and resign with only four days' notice. I am required to give two weeks' notice, not four days. I can't"
"Yes, Katie," he said quietly. "You can."
"And then there's my parents—oh no! We have got to get out of here," she said with sudden urgency. "I forgot about them. All I need is for them to come over now and find you here. I've already had a 'Katherine' phone call from my mother this morning." In a flurry of motion, Katie broke free of his arms, hurried Ramon into the living room, grabbed her purse, and did not relax until they were in his car.
"What," Ramon asked, slanting her an amused, sideways look as he turned the key in the Buick's ignition, "is a 'Katherine' phone call?"
Katie watched the easy competence with which he drove, admiring his long masculine fingers on the steering wheel. "When my parents call me Katherine instead of Katie, that means the battle lines have been drawn, their artillery is being moved into position, and unless I wave a white flag quickly, they are going to start firing."
He grinned at her and Katie relaxed. When he turned up the expressway ramp onto eastbound Highway 40, Katie said idly, "Where are we going?"
"To the Arch. I have never had the time to really see it up close."
"Tourist!" Katie teased.
They spent the rest of the morning and well into the afternoon outwardly behaving exactly like tourists. T
hey boarded one of the paddle wheelers for a short trip through the murky waters of the Mississippi River. Katie absently watched the passing scenery on the Illinois side of the river, her mind whirling with disjointed thoughts.
Ramon lounged against the railing—watching Katie. "When are you going to tell your parents?"
Katie's hands actually perspired at the thought. Wiping her damp palms against her yellow slacks, she shook her head. "I haven't decided," she answered, being deliberately obscure about what she hadn't decided.
They strolled along the old brick streets of Laclede's Landing near the riverfront and stopped at a wonderful little pub where the sandwiches were masterpieces. Katie ate very little and stared out the windows at the throngs of downtown office workers coming to the Landing to eat.
Ramon leaned back in his chair, a cigar clamped between his teeth, his eyes narrowed against the smoke—watching Katie. "Do you want me to be there when you tell them?"
"I haven't thought about it." They wandered along the parklike setting that was dominated by the soaring Gateway Arch. Katie lamely acted as tourist guide explaining that the Arch is the tallest monument in the United States rising to a height of 630 feet, then fell silent and stared blindly at the river flowing by in the foreground. With no particular destination in mind, she walked to the sweeping steps that led to the riverfront and sat down, thinking without really being able to think at all.
Ramon stood beside her, one foot propped near her thigh—watching Katie. "The longer you wait to tell them, the more nervous you will become and the harder it will be to do."
"Did you want to actually go up in the Arch?" Katie evaded. "I don't know if the tram is running, but if it is, the view is supposed to be fantastic. I can't actually say from firsthand experience… I’ve always been too afraid of the height to open my eyes."