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“Nicholas. Why are your knuckles swollen?”
“I had a slight run-in with somebody’s jaw.”
“But Jake said—”
“Not him. He slugged me and I figured, from his vantage point, I deserved it.”
“I don’t understand. If not my brother…”
“That guy named Raoul’s jaw looks a lot worse than mine.”
Lissa stared at her lover. “Nick. You didn’t.”
“I read what he said about you.” His eyes narrowed. “And I didn’t like it, so I decided to pay him a little visit. I stopped at his restaurant and confronted him and, you know, one word led to another…”
Lissa began to laugh. “Raoul has had a very difficult day.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, I don’t want to talk about him now, not when I’m still trying to believe that you’re really, really here.”
Nick lifted her face to his.
“I’ll always be here, sweetheart. You’re everything I could ever need or want.”
“A happy ending after all,” she said softly.
“There’s no other kind for us.”
Lissa rose on her toes, caught his bottom lip between her teeth and bit lightly into the tender flesh.
“Prove it.”
His smile became the one she loved, sexy and arrogant and filled with wicked promise.
“Ah, Duchess,” he said softly, “and here I thought you were such a good girl.”
“That whipped cream I mentioned…” She fluttered her lashes. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any on hand, but I do have a box of delectable, delicious, easily melted chocolates.”
Nick kissed her. This time, his kiss was deep and hard and it told her that everything she’d wanted, everything she’d ever imagined wanting, was right here, in her arms.
“I love you,” he said. “And I love the idea of that melted chocolate.” His arms tightened around her. “But first you have to say the only word that matters.”
“What word?”
“Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Yes, you’ll marry me. Yes, we’ll grow old together. And yes, you’ll let me do my best to make you happy for the rest of our lives.”
Lissa sighed. “For a cowboy, you drive an awfully hard bargain, Nicholas.”
He smiled. “Is that a yes, Melissa?”
Lissa wound her arms around her lover’s neck and gave him her answer with her kiss.
* * *
