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So why wasn’t he asking, begging, her to marry him?

Because this wasn’t what he wanted.

He wanted Miranda to love him.

And there was no chance of that ever happening.

With a hop, the robin he’d been staring at vanished into the undergrowth, bringing Callum back to life. His hands dropped from her shoulders. He felt the loss of the softness of her skin acutely.

He loved her.

God.

Despite the success of his parents’ marriage he’d always known that love wasn’t easy or straightforward, and that it would make an emotional mess of him—and he’d been right. Good thing she didn’t know how he felt.

But he had to ask again. Give her the opportunity to accept what he could give her. Because then he’d get what he wanted more than life. Her.

Callum drew a shuddering breath. “Miranda, you really could marry me—and make my dumb suggestion a reality.” He directed the words at golden curls that cascaded down the back of her head, relieved he didn’t have to meet her eyes. This way she would never know how desperately he craved to hear her say yes. “We would go downstairs and celebrate our engagement. What do you say?”

Miranda spun around.

Callum was asking her to marry him? There was an expression in his eyes that caused her heart to ache.

A flutter of hope made her stretch out her hand to touch his chest—to check he was real, that this wasn’t a dream.

The tension of the moment was shattered by the jazzy “Jingle Bells” ringtone of her phone in her cardigan pocket. Definitely no dream. Life had intruded.

Miranda hesitated. It might be Adrian, calling her back after terminating their call yesterday, but she didn’t want to speak to him. Not now, not while Callum was asking her to marry him. Not when she knew Gordon was right. She had been less than trustworthy. Her stomach clenched.

“Answer it.”

Reluctantly she hauled it out of her pocket, but by that time the ringing had stopped. She stared at the screen and her heart sank. “It was Adrian.”

“Do you want to call him back?”

She shook her head. “I called him yesterday—he’s probably just returning my call.” No point telling Callum her brother had hung up on her because she’d wanted permission to tell Callum the truth.

As she was about to pocket the phone, it started to ring again, loud and intrusive. Faced with no choice under Callum’s expectant gaze, she answered it.

Impatient now, Callum thrust his hands into the pockets of his trousers and turned away to stare back out the window, trying not to listen to Miranda’s conversation with her brother. He searched for the robin but couldn’t find it.

Miranda was going to accept his proposal. He’d seen it in her eyes.

The corners of his mouth turned up as he anticipated Fraser’s surprise. Callum would be the first of the Ironstones to marry. For once he would’ve beaten his brothers at something life-changing. There was some small masculine satisfaction in that.

Behind him Miranda’s voice lowered, catching his attention.

“I can’t talk about that, Adrian. Not now.”

What was going on? What did she need to speak to her brother about that she couldn’t say in front of him?

Frowning slightly, he swiveled to face her.

She gave him a fleeting, sideways glance from beneath those long, dark lashes and turned away. “Thank you for that. I appreciate it more than I can tell you.” A silence. Then, “Yes, I know it’s hard for you, but it has to be done. I must go. I’ll call you later.”

Was Adrian in some kind of trouble? Callum told himself the suspicion was unfounded.

Except…there was that air of discomfort.

When she clicked the phone shut he asked, driven by a compulsion he couldn’t name, “What’s wrong?”

Her lashes fluttered down. She drew a deep breath, looked up and said in a rush, “Adrian’s being blackmailed.”

Twelve

“What?” Callum’s eyebrows jerked together into a ferocious frown. “What do you mean Adrian’s being blackmailed?”

Miranda forced herself to hold his gaze. Inside she was trembling. I can trust her. Callum’s words rang in her ears. He wouldn’t want anything to do with her after this. She wouldn’t blame him for reneging on his proposal.

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