Her mother patted her back. “I’ll get you some water, dear.”
Miranda didn’t move. Maybe she could curl up right here and die. She’d ruined one of the best things that had ever happened to her. For nine years she’d obsessed over Dane Croft, and when she’d gone and fallen in love with the man and he’d seemed to care for her back…she’d destroyed it all just to get revenge. And why? Just because he hadn’t told his buddies about her? She’d told him not to when they’d gotten together.
Miranda buried her face in her hands and moaned. She’d been so stupid.
A horn honked outside. Once, twice, three times. She glanced up, but didn’t see anything outside the cluttered shop windows. Her mother went to the window, and then covered her mouth, smothering a laugh. “You had better come see this,” she declared.
“I don’t care, Mama,” she said weakly, lost in thought. God, how could she have been so cruel to him?
“I really think you should, Miranda Jane Hill.”
Curious despite her nauseated misery, Miranda pulled herself from the chair and followed her mother over to the front door of the shop.
There, coming down the street, was a nak*d man. A very, very nak*d man. He wore nothing—even his feet were bare, and his body was corded with muscle. She could see tan lines on his arms and collarbone from a shirt, and she automatically looked south for more tan lines. His hands were in front of his privates, and he was holding something white and round there. She squinted, but the window was dirty and cluttered, and it was hard to see. Two people stood behind the man, and as he strode down the sidewalk, she noticed that cars were stopping to honk. The man was oblivious, striding forward with purpose in his step, ignoring the photographer that hovered a few feet away, rapidly taking pictures with an oversized camera and keeping just a few paces in front of the man as he walked.
What an idiot, she thought, her hand going to the high collar of her shirt even as she admired his body. Whatever this stupid gesture was for, he was never going to be able to live down the pictures. She knew that full well…
Then she recognized what the white thing in front of his privates was—a hockey helmet. She swallowed hard, and moved to the front door, scarcely able to breathe.
And she went out in the street and stared.
And stared.
From behind Dane, Beth Ann giggled. The man standing next to her didn’t crack a smile, but it didn’t matter—Miranda barely glanced at him. Her gaze went to the bronzed body of Dane Croft, completely nak*d and heading in her direction. Crowds of people had started to come out of the shops, flooding onto Main Street and whispering. A few women catcalled at his bare ass.
“Dane,” Miranda hissed as he walked down the sidewalk and moved to stand in front of her. “What the hell are you doing?”
He grinned at her, her heart flipping at the sight of those flashing white teeth. The photographer clicked away, but Dane seemed oblivious. “I wanted to talk to you before you run away again, and I figured this might be the best way to do it.”
She stared around nervously as even more people flooded into the street to watch. Even the cars nearby slowed down and parked to watch the show. And God, he was really nak*d. “Dane—”
“Let me speak, Miranda,” he said softly. “I have a lot to say.”
She swallowed the knot in her throat. “All right.”
Dane’s face grew serious and he stared down at her, his green eyes thoughtful. “Miranda, I came out here today, nak*d,” he said, pausing to look at the audience, and then shifted on his feet and turned back to her, “to tell you that I was an idiot in high school.”
“I don’t—”
“I’m not done,” he said with a grin. “Just getting started.”
She raised a brow at him and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting.
“I,” he repeated loudly, “was an idiot. When I got the offer to play for the NHL, I forgot about everything else. I’d trained for the past ten years to get there, driving back and forth to Houston every morning before dawn to get a few hours of practice in before school, and practice after school. I never imagined that when I was in high school, I’d meet a girl with pretty brown hair and smiling eyes who would make me think that there was anything in my life other than hockey. But when the NHL called, I went.” He tilted his head at her. “And it never occurred to me until just now that I never said good-bye to that pretty girl. I just up and left.”
She said nothing, stone-faced.
“I do remember that I tried calling her over and over again when the initial excitement of the NHL wore off and I missed her,” Dane said slowly, his eyes on her. “But by then, her mama didn’t like me much and I couldn’t figure out why she wouldn’t let her come to the phone. So I stopped calling and went on with my life. And, well, like I said, I was an idiot. I let myself get carried away with my own celebrity, because I was a legend in my own mind. I played hard, and partied hard, and didn’t care about anything until I woke up one day and everything was gone.” He gave a small shrug of his shoulders. “Just like that, I had nothing left, all because I didn’t listen to anyone. But it was a good thing, because it made me strong. When I lost everything, I had to rebuild myself into a different person. One who could stand on his own. One who didn’t have to have hockey or celebrity to have meaning in his life. And it brought me back here to the pretty girl with the long brown hair that I’d never stopped thinking about.”
His green gaze grew tender and he looked as if he’d like to reach out and touch her, but stopped himself.
Her breath caught in her throat.
“And when I saw that girl again, I knew I had to have her. So when she flirted with me, I flirted back. And before I knew it, we were seeing a lot of each other, and I couldn’t figure out why this lovely, gorgeous girl was keeping secrets. And then, one day, I found out. And we broke up.”
Her cheeks flushed, remembering that ugly night. How she’d screamed at him and sobbed, while he’d stared up at her, betrayed and uncomprehending. It wasn’t her proudest moment.
“And I didn’t understand at first,” he said softly, so low that only she could hear it. “How one thing that was so small could ruin someone’s life. And when I did understand it, I thought to myself, how is this girl ever going to forgive me?”
“But it wasn’t you, was it?” she said softly, hanging her head in shame. “I was wrong. I should have asked—”
“Hush. You’re ruining my story,” he said with a louder drawl. “So anyhow, I thought to myself, what do I want most in this world?”
She looked back up at him sharply.
“Is it a business with my friends, or hockey, or something else? And I realized it was something else.” His gaze softened as he looked at her, a curve of a smile playing at his mouth. “A something else with pretty brown eyes and a killer pair of”—he coughed—“heels.”
Behind him, the crowd laughed.
“And I had to figure out how to show this smart, funny, wonderful, strong woman that she’s the most important thing in my life. So I quit my job and abandoned a bunch of clients back in the woods.” His grin grew sheepish. “Pretty sure we’re going to have a bunch of angry students asking for refunds once they find their way back to the ranch.”
She gasped.
“And I took off all my clothes and went to the paper,” he said, grinning. “And told them that I was going to march down the street nak*d so I could know what it felt like to be so exposed to everyone.”
Tears pricked in her eyes. This stupid, beautiful man.
“And I’m pretty sure there’s a cop somewhere back there, waiting to arrest my ass,” Dane said wryly. “But I want to finish my apology first.”
“What are you apologizing for? It wasn’t you who took the photos—”
To her surprise, he handed her the helmet and dropped to his knee, stark nak*d, in the middle of the street. She blushed as she realized just how nak*d he was, and barely noticed that Beth Ann stepped forward and handed him something.
“Miss Miranda Jane Hill,” he said loudly. “I am very sorry that I fell in love with you back when we were both eighteen years old and it took me nine years of being an idiot to figure it out. I still love you and want to be with you. Will you marry me?”
With that, he flipped open a ring box and showed her the diamond inside.
Her eyes widened and she stared down at it, half horrified, half shocked.
The entire street was deadly silent.
“Mommy, I can see that man’s peepee,” said a child nearby.
A strangled giggle erupted from Miranda’s throat, and she smothered it with her free hand. He knelt there, staring earnestly up at her, so beautiful and serious.
He understood. He understood what it was like—of course he did. He’d been a tabloid mainstay back when he was famous. Why had she been too wrapped up in herself to realize that?
And now he knelt here nak*d, in front of her, in front of the whole town, to put them on an equal playing field. He couldn’t make it right for her, but he could put himself in an equally embarrassing situation, just so she knew that he knew how it felt. A tear slid down her cheek.
Dane looked utterly crushed at the sight. “Damn, Miranda. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
He began to get up, and she rushed forward, flinging her arms around his neck. “You’re such an idiot,” she sobbed.
“I know,” he said, patting her hair.
“I’m an idiot, too.”
“I know,” he said, and she could hear the chuckle in his voice. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes,” she said, and the town square erupted in cheers.
NINETEEN
In the spirit of things, the cops let Dane off with a warning, a towel was quickly located, and Beth Ann fussed over Miranda and Dane as Colt glowered at her.
Miranda’s mother hugged them both, whispered into Miranda’s ear that she and Dane needed some alone time, and took the opportunity to usher onlookers into her shop.
“My car’s nearby,” Miranda told Dane breathlessly, clutching his hand in hers. “Want to go somewhere private?”
He gave her a smoldering look. “Absolutely. But my car’s nearby, too, and my clothes are in it. I can drive.”
“Your car, then. We can’t go to my place, though. My house is being rented out,” she said with a grimace.
“We’ll go to my place.”
She looked at him in surprise. “At the ranch?” He’d never invited her back before. “Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent,” he said and leaned in and gave her a hard, quick kiss. “I’m quitting anyhow. Grant is going to have a fit when he finds out I just abandoned a class in the woods to come here. If I can’t be with you, I’m going to find something else to do. Maybe I’ll teach hockey.”
She stared at him in surprise. “You hate hockey now.”
“It reminds me of a part of my life when I was too stupid and full of myself to think about anyone else. But it’s something I need to face at some point.”