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‘It’s beautiful,’ she said.
‘It’s nothing compared to you.’ She turned to him in surprise, and he shrugged, moving away towards the front door.
‘You know flattery isn’t going to win this one for you?’
‘It’s not flattery if it’s true,’ Ben called back. And besides, he’d try every trick he could think of if it meant getting Luce to stay.
* * *
Inside, the château was cool and dark. The spring evening had turned chilly, and Luce wrapped her cardigan tighter around her as Ben flicked on the lights. Lamps around the walls flared into life, lighting the wide entrance hall and sweeping staircase.
‘You want the tour?’ Ben asked, and Luce nodded.
She followed him through the first door on the left.
‘Drawing room,’ Ben said, waiting while Luce looked around.
Everything looked dusty, unloved. Sheets lay over the chairs and sofas and the candlesticks and brassware were tarnished. There was none of the careful design of his hotel rooms, or even the cosy decoration of his cottage. This was somebody else’s home—not Ben’s. Not yet, anyway.
‘When did you get here?’ she asked as he led her back into the hall and through the next door.
‘A week ago,’ Ben said. He flipped on the light switch, revealing case after case of dusty leather books. ‘Library, obviously.’
‘You flew straight here the day after I told you?’
‘I had work to do.’
Of course. For someone who said he didn’t want to turn into his father, Ben seemed to be doing his damnedest to become exactly the same sort of workaholic.
He led her across the hallway to show her a front sitting room and a formal dining room. More antique furniture, more dustsheets. More floral wallpaper and heavy curtains.
‘This place doesn’t seem very you,’ she commented.
‘It isn’t yet. Lot of work to do.’
‘Is that why you came straight here as soon as you got back from your work trip? Or is there a hotel nearby you’re looking at acquiring?’
‘Always with the questions...’ Ben took her arm, tucking her hand into the crook of his arm just as he had that night in Chester. ‘Come see the kitchen, then I’ll explain everything.’
The kitchen stretched across the back of the house, with huge full-length windows leading out to the garden. The units were old and battered, but Luce could see what a fabulous space it could be, redone properly. The whole house had huge potential. Small for a château, she supposed, but plenty big enough for any modern family.
Not that she would be moving to France, of course. Ben hadn’t even suggested it. In fact she had no idea at all what he wanted from her.
‘It’s a lovely kitchen,’ she said, rounding on him. ‘Now, talk.’
Ben smiled, and the love in his eyes as he looked at her shocked her. He looked...open. Free.
‘I spoke to Seb,’ he started. ‘The morning after I saw you. Told him what an idiot I’d been. Told him I couldn’t see how I could fix it—having you and a family—with my job. But without the job I couldn’t support you, and being stuck in an office five days a week would drive me crazy.’
‘I know that. I’d never ask you to do that.’ Luce pulled away from him. ‘I told you—you don’t have to be involved if you don’t want to be. But why you dragged me out here to tell me this again—’
‘I didn’t,’ Ben said, grabbing her hands. ‘Just listen—please. Actually, come upstairs with me.’
‘Only if you talk as we go,’ Luce said, hating the burning tears she could feel forming in her eyes. Damn hormones. They confused everything. She just wanted answers. No need to get upset.
‘Okay,’ Ben said with a laugh. ‘You’ve been very patient with me.’
Holding her hand, he walked them back into the hallway and up the staircase.
‘Seb asked me what I really wanted,’ he said. ‘And I realised it was the same question I’d kept asking you. You hadn’t been able to answer it. But suddenly I could. The only thing in the world I wanted that morning, and every morning since, was you in my life. You and our child. No one-night rules. No running away. Just you. Always. However you’ll have me.’
Luce looked up in surprise and the stair carpet slipped under her foot. Ben wrapped a strong arm around her waist and she grabbed at his shoulders as she found her balance and tried to get her heartbeat back under control.
Ben smiled at her, carrying on as if nothing had happened. ‘So Seb ordered coffee, and we worked out a plan to make it all work. A long-term, lasting plan. You’d have been so proud of us.’
