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She didn’t believe him for a minute, especially as he was opening a bottle of champagne.
‘You do drink champagne, I take it?’ he said, catching her look.
‘I don’t know,’ she admitted honestly. ‘I’ve never drunk champagne, but I’d love to try a small glass.’
A flash of surprise crossed Xavier’s face. She guessed there were a lot of things he took for granted that she had never tried. ‘But there’s never been a better time for champagne.’ Her heart started thumping as she got ready to spring her surprise.
‘Oh?’ he pressed with interest as he poured the foaming liquid into matching crystal flutes.
‘Yes.’ The prospect of voicing her solution to their problems was alarming, and if there had been any other way she would have taken it. But she had to be both courageous and bold, or she might as well pack her bags and leave the islanders to fend for themselves.
Xavier handed her a flute, which she eyed curiously. ‘Would you prefer something else?’
‘No. This is perfect. Thank you.’
This had to be what Doña Anna had intended all along, Rosie concluded as she reviewed her plan. She would be in charge of her own destiny, and she would have an equal say over the future of the island. Xavier had tried to buy her off, and when that failed he was trying his best to charm her, but she was the one with the leverage, not him. He was the one in need of an heir, and all the champagne and blarney in the world couldn’t change that.
‘Would you mind if I proposed the toast?’ she suggested.
He frowned a little, as well he might—he would have run for the hills if he’d known what she had in mind. And she wasn’t in a much better state. Her breathing had sped up. Her heart was beating so fast and loud she was sure he could hear it. This was huge, and once she spoke the words out loud—if, if he agreed, the die was set.
‘Of course—go ahead,’ he said indulgently, not suspecting for a moment what she had in mind. ‘You’ve had a bit of practice, after all—the ice cream,’ he reminded her. ‘Well? What’s your toast?’
She took a deep breath and then just spat it out. ‘I think we should get married.’
Xavier’s eyes widened. ‘I beg your pardon?’ he said faintly. ‘Am I imagining things, or did you just propose marriage?’
‘That’s exactly what I said,’ she confirmed.
He looked incredulous.
‘It would solve all our problems,’ she said. ‘Yours especially,’ she hurried on, ‘so it seems to me to be the sensible thing to do—’
‘Sensible?’ His expression was incredulous as he raked his hair.
‘Yes—shall we sit down?’ she suggested. ‘There are quite a lot of things to discuss.’
‘You don’t say?’
The look on Xavier’s face suggested the world and everything in it had gone mad. He must be shocked, Rosie reasoned as she crossed the room to sit on the sofa.
‘Please,’ she said, injecting her voice with what she hoped was the correct amount of supplication. ‘Won’t you join me?’
Xavier’s face was a grim mask when he came to sit across from her. ‘Go on,’ he prompted with a wave of his hand.
‘You need an heir or you’ll lose your half of the island to me, and unless you’ve got someone in mind—’
‘I don’t.’
‘Then...’
‘Better the devil I know?’ he suggested grimly.
‘You can’t buy me out, you should know that by now, and if we marry you get to keep your share.’
‘What’s in it for you?’
‘Everything,’ she said bluntly. And nothing, she thought. ‘A secure future for the island,’ she went on. ‘We can’t leave the islanders wondering if they have a future with you, or with me. They need certainty, as I think you pointed out. And how can you risk your investment without that same guarantee?’
