Author's Note: Posting to bring some drama into your day because my day/week is going to be pretty miserable. Not much happens here, and hopefully it will also leave you wanting more. Next chapter we get to meet some new friends. Yeah, it's probably just a tease. But not a cliffhanger, I promise.

Zzz

Diego smiled as Victoria moved from side to side to look at the city he took for granted.

"How long will we stay in Santa Monica?"

"As long as you want."

Victoria looked curiously at her husband of three hours. "Don't you have to be in Monterey?"

Diego looked out the window as a distraction. "It doesn't matter if I make the conference. If you wanted we could stay here a while, stop in Santa Barbara before we head north." Stay away long enough to miss the conference which didn't exist. Diego frowned as he picked at a nail.

Victoria sat back in the seat across from him, and eventually Diego looked over at her. "I thought you needed to get to Monterey for your conference."

Diego shrugged. "There will be other conferences."

Victoria's eyes widened. "But this morning…"

Diego sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and taking one of her hands. "I thought you'd enjoy the conference, yes. I want to go, but it's a long journey. We can take our time." Victoria's mouth still gaped open as she looked at him. "Can you blame me?" Diego stroked her palm with his fingers. "Are you angry? I know I shouldn't have pressured you."

"But…I heard your father. He wasn't happy. If you didn't need to go to Monterey, why the rush? If you'd let Padre Benitez read the banns you wouldn't have had to pay for a special license."

Once again Diego remembered his sense of urgency, the concern that someone else would step in while he was in Monterey. He knelt between the seats, sad when he saw her tense again as he put his hands on her waist, his arms resting on her legs. He refused to back away. He'd do whatever it took to win her love, and her trust. If she thought he'd let her go because she wanted someone else…

"Would reading the banns have made a difference?"

Victoria tried to think through all that had happened today. The man kneeling in front of her and looking at her so intently was like a different person. "Why did you never tell me you loved me before?"

Diego shook his head and his fingers clenched a little around her middle. "Would reading the banns have made a difference? Was there someone else?"

Victoria shook her head slowly after a long moment, unable to find her voice. She'd given Zorro the chance this morning, and he'd refused her. She never imagined anyone would be waiting for her to let him go. She turned pink as he relaxed a fraction, because his hands dropped to her hips and she was suddenly aware of how close they were in the privacy of the carriage.

Diego pulled back to hold her hands in her lap. "There are reasons I didn't tell you before, but they don't matter now. I want you to fall in love with me. Not my hacienda, not my money. Can you blame me for wanting to take you away from Los Angeles? Away from people who talk and where everyone thinks they know what's best for everyone else? I wanted to show you how it could be between us. No Zorro, no alcalde." He grinned at her and shrugged a shoulder in what he hoped was a charming way. "No competition."

Victoria watched him for several minutes. "So one morning you just decided to propose."

Diego sat back on his heels, the suspicion and doubt in her voice making him flounder.

"Most men would ask a woman to dinner," Victoria suggested. "Go for a walk. Maybe a picnic before asking her to marry him."

Diego shrugged as he stared down at their hands, his thumb stroking her soft skin. "I took you for a walk."

Victoria laughed. "This morning!"

"And we eat dinner together all the time," Diego insisted. Victoria shook her head, though now she was more amused than confused. This shy, flustered Diego was the one she was more accustomed to.

"So we spent time together, I took you for a walk, and now we're married. No need to waste all that time."

Victoria tugged at her hands but he didn't let her go. "You said…"

Diego watched her turn pink again. "I know what I said." Diego rose up on his knees again, his chest just coming in contact with her knees, but not pushing for more. "I also know that when I say I love you, you don't say it back." Victoria looked down and Diego put a finger under her chin to bring her eyes back to his.

"Now we will take our time. I'm not going to pressure you anymore." Diego ran a finger over her lips. "That doesn't mean I'm not going to try to make you fall in love with me. Seduce you. You're my wife." Diego ran a finger slowly down her neck, pausing to feel her racing pulse before his hand moved down her arm and took her hand again. "No chaperones. I'm your husband. Everything else is up to you now."

Victoria definitely found herself being seduced by his voice, by how he looked at her as if she were the only thing that mattered in his world. She told herself to look at him as more than a friend, and she knew she was attracted to him. Her heart was still racing from a simple touch on her neck. Her eyes caught on his mustache and she flashed to another man who had often excited her. She shook her head to clear it, angry with herself for dwelling on the man who didn't love her. She wasn't going to think on Zorro anymore. It wasn't fair to compare them. She'd made her choice.

Diego sighed when she shook her head and he sat back in his seat, just in time for the carriage to rock to a stop. "Do I frighten you that much?"

Victoria's eyes widened as she realized she was failing already. "No, I'm sorry. It wasn't that."

Victoria looked at the door as she heard voices, but Diego put his hand out to hold the carriage closed as he watched her. Alicia never mentioned how hard it was to talk. Victoria never had trouble talking before. "It's not you." When Diego simply stared at her, she tried to form more words from her addled brain. "I just need some time. Everything has changed. I'm still trying to catch up."

"Are you changing your mind? You want to go back to Los Angeles?"

Victoria was surprised herself at the immediate refusal, at her panic that he would let her go. She covered the ring on her hand as if Diego was about to snatch it off her finger. She was already failing as his wife…she wanted to make him happy. "I want to stay. You're my best friend." She gave him a slight smile. "I just need a little time to get used to the husband part. People say I love you when they don't mean it."

"I mean it," Diego interrupted with a scowl. Did she think Zorro didn't mean it this morning?

Now Victoria reached across the divide and covered his hand with hers. "I know. I want to mean it, too."

Diego sighed, wondering why life had to be so complicated. He'd meant it this morning. He'd almost taken off his mask, but was glad he hadn't. This was better. He took her hand and kissed her palm. Now he was thinking it will be dangerous whenever he revealed himself to her. Not because of the alcalde, but because he would destroy that light in her eyes.

Zzz

Author's Note 2: hope you enjoyed, hope you review:)