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“Such as?” Deidre prompted.
“First, to say I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too, Nick.”
“I was too amazed and pissed off about the idea of John Kellerman coming here to sabotage everything, I couldn’t even think straight. I missed the opportunity to set things right with you the other night.”
“I couldn’t think either,” she said. She studied the bubbling fluid in the flute, too ashamed to meet his eyes. “I was too busy panicking. I was more than mad. I was scared. I was scared of what it meant if you—the person who was closest to Lincoln—doubted the soundness of his mind when he’d convinced himself I was his daughter.”
“Sometimes the people who are closest have the most trouble seeing the truth about the other,” he murmured.
“I was afraid of other things,” she said quietly. “I was scared you’d been keeping secrets from me...manipulating me.”
He put his arm around her and stroked the skin on her shoulder just next to her dress. She suppressed a shiver of pleasure at his touch.
“I thought I told you never to be scared when it comes to me,” he said.
She gave a small smile. “I guess it temporarily slipped my mind. Once I got to Chicago and I started to see things more clearly, I realized you were hardly acting like a person who was using me. Just the opposite, in fact.”
He laughed, low and rough. “If I had been smart, I would have known there was one thing I could have told you that day at Cedar Cottage that would have reassured you that I wasn’t plotting against you.”
“What’s that?”
“That I’ve fallen in love with you.”
Deidre froze.
“You...you have?”
“I think I’m concussed I fell so hard,” he said dryly under his breath.
He sounded so starkly earnest, Deidre couldn’t help but smile.
“So the thing of it is, it would be pretty stupid of me to take you to court or hassle you or do anything that wasn’t in the service of your complete happiness, wouldn’t it?” he murmured. Her breath stuck in her lungs when he leaned forward and kissed her with warm, firm lips. “I only want you to be happy, Deidre. Please believe me.”
“I do,” she whispered.
“I know the fact that we’re Lincoln’s coheirs has muddied up the waters. I know people like Nick Kellerman are going to raise their eyebrows and hiss about our relationship. But I don’t care. Lincoln was wise to split things between us fifty-fifty.”
“I still don’t want to run DuBois Enterprises, Nick. That’s your job. Lincoln knew no one could do it better than you. He trusted you, and so do I.”
“You still have half of the controlling interest. That’s never going to change. If you ever decide to take the helm with me at DuBois, I’ll be more than happy to share. You can change your mind whenever you like—our marriage won’t change that.”
She smiled and kissed him again fervently.
“There’s something else,” Nick said quietly next to her lips. He withdrew his arm from around her and took her champagne glass, setting it on the table beside him and leaning back on the couch. Deidre met his stare.
“I know being Lincoln’s daughter meant the world to you,” Nick said. “But the fact of the matter is, I don’t care whose daughter you are. I just want you to be my wife. Marry me, Deidre.”
She felt him place something in her hand. She stared in numb disbelief at the signature light blue Tiffany jewelry box. Her hand shook as she opened it. Teardrops skittered down her cheek when she saw the stunning pavé ring with the sparkling large diamond set in the middle.
She looked at Nick and saw the question lingering in his eyes.
“Yes,” she whispered emphatically.
His mouth tilted in a smile. He reached for the box and removed the ring.
“It fits perfectly,” she said when he slid it on her finger a moment later.
