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“I got lucky. I bought it in San Francisco while I was there. I’ve been carrying it around, waiting for the best time to give it to you.”
“You have?” Deidre asked in amazement. She thought of his intense lovemaking when he’d returned home early from San Francisco. He’d known...even then.
“I kicked myself numb after what happened with John Kellerman for not giving it to you sooner. Then everything went to hell, and you left town, and I wondered if I’d lost the chance.”
“But you didn’t. I love you, Nick,” she said feelingly before she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. A moment later, they separated, both of them slightly breathless. Nick grinned at her unabashedly.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked, laughing because so much happiness was inside her that it was brimming over. “Won’t everyone at DuBois think it’s foolish of us to mix business and romance?”
“Maybe,” he said shrugging. “People will hear the news of our engagement and assume you turned my head. Once they catch a glimpse of you, they’ll know why, and shut up after a spell.”
Deidre gave him a repressive glance.
“It’s true. I told you before—I’m a man, not a job. But there’s no reason whatsoever our getting married has to affect the running or prosperity of DuBois Enterprises. Lincoln always kept DuBois a private business. It was his dream to make it a family-run one. Now his dream will come true. I’ve never been surer of anything in my life,” he said quietly. “You?”
“I feel the same way,” she said in a whisper, every trace of her doubt vanished.
Nick picked up their champagne glasses and handed one to her.
“Let’s make a toast. To Lincoln.”
“To Lincoln,” she murmured. She tapped her flute to his and they both drank.
“I’m beginning to realize you were right about Linc. At first, I thought he was mad for mentioning you and me in that letter—for suggesting that two people who were virtual strangers might share the happiness that wasn’t meant to be between your mother and him.”
“And now?” Deidre asked quietly as he removed her flute from her hand a
nd set it back on the table. He took her into his arms and kissed her damp cheeks. Deidre lifted her head and their mouths brushed together.
“Now I think he might have been the wisest man on the face of the earth for throwing us together.”
Her blissful laughter was cut off beneath Nick’s all-consuming kiss.
* * * * *
