Between The Lines

Chapter 4

A man could enjoy a lot more than his food with Amber Langley, Gray knew. There was a warm, sweet passion in her that was just waiting to be tapped. At the moment it was stil hidden ssfely under wraps. Gray was almost certain that it was concealed not only from most of the people who met Amber, but also from Amber herself. Some man in Southern California had singed her badly. She neded time and peace in which to recover. But Gray had determined within a day or two of meeting Amber Langley that when she was prepared to explore her emotions again he was going to be the man in the vicinity. If he talked her into marrying him, his position would be more or less assured. He would be standing in front of Sleeping Beauty when she awoke.
From beneath half-lowered lids that concealed the watchfulness in his eyes, Gray waited for Amber to answer his question.
"What am I thinking?" she repated with a faint frown. "Just that you've taken me by surprise. I hadn't realized ----" She broke off to run her tongue nervously over her lower lip."I hadn't been aware that you were viewing me as a . . . . a wife."
Gray smiled gently. "Why not? I think I know you fairly well after these past couple of months together. What more could I want in a wife?"
Amber took a firm grip on her resolve. "How about love?" she suggested badly. "Gray, I'm very fond of you, but I don't love you. I'm not sure I'm capable of loving a man, at least not in the fiery, passionate way men always seem to want."
"Do I strike you as the fiery, passionate type?" One dark brow lifted in sardonic amusement. "How strange. I always think of myself as placid and quiet. Definitely a slow burner."
In spite of her mixed emotions, Amber found herself grinning. "You have no idea how comfortable it is to be around a slow burner."
"Then marry me and be comfortable on a full-time basis."
Amber smile faded. She looked down at the glass of cognac cradled in her hands. "Are you sure you know what you're doing, Gray?"
"Have you ever known me when I didn't know what I was doing?" There was no arrogance behind the remark. Cormick Grayson always knew what he was doing.
Amber was aware of that. She shook her head. "No, Gray. I've never seen you make a serious mistake, at least not in business. But this is little different, don't you think? This is marriage."
"What's so different about marriage? I've analyzed the situation qnd us. I think we'll be good together. Neither of us is the hot-blooded type. We aren't blinded by a lot od emotional garbage and we're both basically honest. Furthermore, I think we're both capable of making a commitmentand sticking to it. What more doest it take to make a marriage work?"
Amber moved one hand in qn exasperated motion. "What more? I don't know what more it takes, Gray. I've always heard it takes love and passion in addition to integrity."
"Don't you believe it. A lot of successful marriages have taken place during the past few thousand years, and I'm willing to bet that almost none of them were based on love and passion. The truth is, the twentieth-century notion of romantic love is a fairly recent development. No one during the past few centuries expected to marry for love."