Chapter 15
Rye
"What?" She scrambled to her feet and took a wild step backwards. The flat-out dismay on her face shocked me.
"I love you. You love me. I know you wanted time to figure out what's real and to experience your freedom. But everything's changed now. Your best protection from Bliss is with me. I want to be with you. For the rest of my life. I want to protect you and support you and make love to you and …" I trailed off because she was shaking her head wildly back and forth. Not generally the reaction a guy wants to see when he proposes marriage.
"Stop, Rye. Just stop. We'll pretend you never said any of this. We'll stick to the plan, walk that trail through the jungle and say goodbye. Just, don't—" She burst into tears.
I leaped to my feet and caught her in my arms. "Lauren
