“Is this an ultimatum?”

“So she speaks.” One of his eyebrows rose. “Yes, I suppose it is. I won’t let you chase me away totally, but if you can’t trust me, I have to back off. It hurts too much to be with you like this. It’s not right for you to expect me to stay if things are one-sided. But I love you. And, damn it, I am pretty much begging you to be with me.”

She took a deep breath and thought hard.

He sighed. “I’m going to run home and clean up. I need to make some calls. Why don’t you think about it and if you can be with me and give me your trust, come to me. You know the code to my penthouse. I love you, Dahlia. With everything I am. I want us to be together. I want you to want that, too.”

He looked at her one last time and left.

She sat, staring at the door for what seemed like an hour as she replayed their entire relationship from his first insulting pickup line to that moment where he walked out her door.

The laughter, the fear and the pain all flowed over her. She’d been in love with him for months. Her anger at him dissolved because he was right. She was the one who was wrong.

Her lack of trust in him crashed through her. Her doubts, her stupid fucking past, had hobbled her and she’d allowed it. Thought she was so damned strong, but she’d held on to stereotypes to keep herself from truly being happy with this man.

She’d been so wrong. He’d given her his heart, saw her stripped of everything and loved her, flaws and all. And she’d thrown it in his face. She’d run out on him, not even letting him explain, and when he’d tried, she’d yelled at him. She’d been a total coward.

She would not lose him. Nash Emery was hers. Her arrogant, very hot, very sweet man and she meant to make things right. Even if she had to deal with his idiot of a brother and get to the bottom of this crap about his mother.

Standing up, she went into her bathroom and showered, changing into the dress he’d given her for Christmas. Pulling a coat on over it, she headed to him.

Still shaking, she took a deep breath, pressed the entry code into the elevator and rode it to his penthouse.

* * *

It had been the hardest thing Nash had ever done, walking out on Dahlia. He’d watched her shake and tremble. Had known how upset and shaken she was, but his outrage and hurt had trumped his concern for her. He deserved respect and trust and he had to demand it. They had a future together, he knew she knew that. But they wouldn’t last if she didn’t let go of the last bit of her fear and trust him to love her.

An hour passed with no word from her, and he began to worry. What if he’d pushed her away completely? He did need to explain about his mother—he should have done so at her place. What if she used that to hold him back?

Well, fuck that! He’d go back over there and make her listen. Damned stubborn female!

His heart skipped a beat when the concierge called him to let him know Dahlia had arrived and was on her way up. Taking a deep breath, he went to the doors to let her inside.

When the elevator opened, she stepped out and he saw she was wearing the red stilettos he’d given her for Christmas. That was promising, wasn’t it?

Her smile was hesitant and he saw the emotion on her face. He held out his hand and she reached out, taking it, and he knew they had a fighting chance. But also knew he’d have to hold strong.

“Hi.”

She smiled and he led her into his place. When she took off the coat, he saw she was wearing the Chanel dress.

“I know, I’m overdressed. But I thought—” She shook her head and exhaled sharply. “I don’t know what I thought. It seems stupid now.”

“Tell me. You’re not stupid. I’m glad you’re here.”

She reached out, touching his face gently and he leaned into her hand.

“I thought that if I wore this, you’d see that I accepted it. Accepted the part of you, one of the parts, that scared me before.”

“And it doesn’t scare you now?”

“I’m going to try very hard not to let it. I’m sorry, Nash. You were right. I blamed you for what William said. I let my fears grab any little straw to push you away, and that was stupid and wrong. You’ve been so good to me. I do trust you, Nash. I know I haven’t acted like it. But I do, and I’m sorry.”

Letting out the breath he’d been holding, he pulled her into an embrace for long moments, letting the feel of her against him calm him.

He moved to look into her face. “I’m sorry, too. Sorry you had to hear that and sorry that you had enough history to make you wonder about me. I’m not ashamed of you. But I won’t lie. It’ll be difficult when you meet my mother. I didn’t want you to meet her because she’s a hard woman. But that’s about her, not you. I’ve called her and told her about you and how serious things were. I’m giving her time to digest it but made it clear there’s no other option but to accept it.

“You haven’t commented on my telling you I loved you. How…do…aw, hell, do you love me, too, or am I just an idiot?”

Reaching out to touch his cheek, she nodded. “You’re totally an idiot but I do love you. And since I’m an idiot, too, I suppose we’ll be okay. Although the mother thing makes me nervous. I want her to like me.”

Nodding, he kissed her forehead and the tip of her nose. “Thank you for loving me. And let’s just take it one day at a time with my mother, okay? Now, before I ravish you, I need to get a few things settled.”

She pouted. “Oh, all right. Speed it up, then. I want to get to the ravishing.”

He sat on the couch and pulled her onto his lap, facing him, pushing up her skirt. “This dress is pretty figure-hugging. Not a lot of room to ravish in this thing.”

“This is what you wanted to get straight?” Standing up, she pulled it off and laid it on the chair behind her.

“Holy crap. How am I supposed to concentrate with those tits staring me in the face?”

“Get to it already!”

“I think you should move in with me. We can get a place together. The penthouse isn’t a home and your apartment is too small for me to have an office.”

Dahlia’s heart pounded erratically. “I don’t know what to say!”

“Yes, you do. You want to say yes, but you’re afraid.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, so I want to say yes but I’m afraid.”

“See? How hard was that? I’m afraid, too. So there. I made an appointment with a Realtor for Sunday afternoon. Don’t argue, we’ve already agreed you want to say yes and we’ll get through the fear stuff together. My plan is lots and lots of sex.”

“You’re really pushy. But since I quit my job at the Dollhouse, I’ll have Sundays free. Of course I won’t have a lot of money. Certainly not enough to buy a house in your price range.”

“The second thing is that you’ll stop freaking about my money. I have it and you don’t. Yet. But you will when you start working full-time at Tate. Not as much as me because, well, I have a shitload of cash, but stop being so damned sensitive about it. Anyway, the house can be your wedding present.”

She gaped and he laughed. “Still scarring my ego, Dahlia. Give a guy a break. I love you and you love me. We’re moving in together. We’ve been together for six months. Let’s just say we’re getting married New Year’s. If you find out something terrible about me that’s a deal breaker like you hate my laundry soap or something, you can back out. If not, marry me on New Year’s.”

“You know, Nash, subtlety is utterly lost on you. Yesterday I was just your girlfriend, but now you want to set up house and marry me?”

“We’ve already established my greed. But I’m charming, good in bed, a good provider. And I love you. I want you to be happy and I want to be the one who makes that happen.”

“I hate when you’re charming and I’m utterly helpless against it.”

“You’re so romantic, Dahlia. Is that a yes?”

Sighing dramatically, she nodded. “If I say yes, will the ravishment take place sooner?”