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There was a long silence broken only by the distant rush of waves over rock. Then he let go of her arms and took her face in his hands. ‘Look at me. I want you to look at me.’
‘No.’ She closed her eyes. ‘This is so hard for me, Logan.’
‘Then let me make it easier. I want you looking at me when I tell you that I love you, too. I love you, Evanna.’ He stroked her face with his fingers and she opened her eyes.
‘What did you say?’
‘I love you. I should have told you the night we made love but you fell asleep and I had to get back to Kirsty. And then the next morning I was ready to tell you and you started talking about how much you wanted us to still be friends.’
She looked into his eyes, those lazy blue eyes that always made her weak at the knees. ‘We had sex, Logan. It wasn’t about love.’
‘Yes, it was. It was all about love.’ He gave a crooked smile and she felt suddenly peculiar. Her heart was hammering and her pulse was dancing. But she pushed down the little spurt of excitement.
‘You’ve known me all your life, Logan. I’m sure you do love me. Like a sister.’
‘Not like a sister.’ His gaze dropped to her mouth and lingered there. ‘Nothing like a sister.’
It was becoming hard to breathe. ‘I’ve been under your nose for ever.’
‘So maybe I’m just a bit slow.’ He stroked her hair away from her face with a gentle hand. ‘Or maybe, subconsciously, I always thought that you were out of bounds. You were my baby sister’s best friend. Then you were a colleague.’
‘You’ve kissed just about every girl on this island, Logan MacNeil. But you never kissed me until last Saturday.’
‘If I’d known how good it was going to be, I would have been kissing you in the playground, right under Ann Carne’s nose.’ He hesitated. ‘Perhaps I didn’t kiss you because you were the only one that mattered to me. Our relationship was too important to risk messing it all up.’
She couldn’t listen. She couldn’t allow herself to believe it. ‘Logan, you’ve had a terrible year, and—’
‘Stop.’ He covered her lips with his fingers. ‘If you’re going to suggest that this is rebound or therapy or anything like that, don’t waste your breath. What I feel for you is real, Evanna. And it’s for ever.’
‘But—’
‘It doesn’t make sense, does it? You’re going to ask me why I suddenly know I love you when you’ve always been in my life. Why haven’t I felt it before? And I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t know why I haven’t realised it before.’
‘You loved Catherine.’
‘Yes, I did.’ His voice was soft. ‘I won’t lie to you about that. I did love Catherine. But she’s gone. And now I’m in love with you. I’m crazy about you and I can’t let you leave the island. You told me that I should grab happiness and I agree with you. But you’re my happiness, Evanna.’
She struggled to speak. ‘Logan.’ Her voice shook and she tried again. ‘I’ve dreamed about you for so long—wanted you for so long …’
‘I never knew. I never knew that you felt like that.’ He gave a groan and lowered his mouth to hers, his kiss warm and insistent. Then he lifted his head just enough to speak. ‘I must be blind and stupid. Will you marry me?’
How could it happen? How could a person go from misery to happiness in one bound? ‘It’s too soon—you need time to think about things.’
He shook his head. ‘Evanna, I’ve known you for twenty-six years. How much more time do you think I need? Will you be my wife? Will you be a mother to my daughter?’
Kirsty.
Tears filled her eyes. ‘I’ve wanted this for so long I can’t believe that it’s true.’
‘Believe it.’ He muttered the words against her mouth. ‘And then say yes. You said that you wanted a home and a family, a man who loves you, here on Glenmore Island. You have it, Evanna. If you want it, it’s all yours.’
She slid her arms round his neck and buried her face in his neck. ‘I want it. I want everything.’ She lifted her head and melted into the heat of his kiss, excitement burning away the exhaustion and misery of the past few days. ‘I love you, Logan. I can’t believe you want me to be your wife and a mother to Kirsty. And your practice nurse.’
He gave a slow smile. ‘For now.’
‘What do you mean, for now?’
He kissed her once again. ‘You can be my practice nurse until I find you something better to do. I’m planning on keeping you fairly busy in the bedroom, Evanna MacNeil. We’re going to have a large family.’
