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‘You left before I woke up that first morning,’ she reminded him.
‘That would be one of those foolish moments I was referring to,’ he said a little sheepishly. ‘And I’m sorry I hurt you. Truthfully, the way you made me feel scared me senseless. Just looking at you makes me burn up with need. When I woke with your head on my shoulder...I admit it—I panicked.’
Ava gave him a lopsided smile. ‘I did think it was nice when you fixed my phone.’
‘And that was when the trouble really started. After you got the news about your brother you became so withdrawn and I didn’t know how to reach you. I tried to tell myself that I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t stay away from you, Ava. I thought about you constantly.’
‘Why didn’t you call?’ she demanded fiercely.
‘Because I didn’t want to think about you constantly.’ He groaned. ‘I was still fighting the inevitable at that time...but that’s done. Gone.’
‘And you don’t like talking about the past.’
He loosened his grip on her hands and hauled her into his arms. ‘I don’t like dwelling on it. But you’ve shown me that ignoring it doesn’t work either. What I want is to learn from it and move forward. I love you, Ava—heart and soul. I want to be with you always. I want to protect you. I want to be the man you turn to when you’re busy and... Aw, hell.’ He swiped an unsteady hand through his hair. ‘When you walked off my plane the other day you took my dead heart with you and made me realise that not only couldn’t I live without it, but I didn’t want to.’
Ava felt her love for him swell up to the point of overpowering her. ‘Oh, Wolfe, I think I’ve loved you for ever.’
‘Thank God.’ Wolfe released a pent-up breath and bent to kiss her. ‘I think you just made me the happiest man on earth, and there’s only one way you could possibly eclipse that.’ He reached inside his breast pocket and withdrew a square box. ‘It probably doesn’t compare to the Crown Jewels in your vault, but I hope you will accept it, baby, as a declaration of just how much you mean to me.’
Ava gasped as she shakily opened the box and saw a ring—a huge navy blue sapphire with two sparkling diamonds on either side.
Wolfe removed it and steadied her hand before slipping it onto her finger. ‘Perfect. I knew the colour would match your eyes.’
‘Oh, Wolfe.’ Ava hugged him tightly, huge shiny tears blurring her vision. ‘It’s beautiful, and of course I’ll accept it, but...’ She stopped, suddenly realising the enormity of what he was setting himself up for.
‘But what?’ His eyes scanned her face. ‘If you have a problem I’ll fix it.’
‘It’s not me, Wolfe, it’s you.’ She gazed at the huge rock on her finger before forcing herself to meet his eyes. ‘You probably don’t know this yet, but my father has just announced that he’ll be abdicating in a month and—oh, non!’ She squirmed in his arms until he released her enough for her feet to touch the ground once again. ‘My father is waiting for me!’
Wolfe buried his face in her hair. ‘Wriggling around in my arms like that isn’t exactly the quickest way to get back to him. I’ve missed you,’ he admitted huskily.
‘And I’ve missed you. But I have to go to him. You know what he’s like. If I don’t he’ll most likely announce my engagement to Lorenzo without me!’
‘He won’t.’
‘How do you know that? Everyone must be talking. Wondering what is going on.’
‘Any fool back there who saw my face knows exactly what’s going on. And your father is no fool.’
Talking about her father reminded Ava of her earlier concern and she stilled. ‘Wolfe, if you take me on you have to know that your life will change dramatically. You’ll have to become a citizen of Anders. You’ll have to—’
‘Be your back-up person. I get it, Ava. I know what marrying you entails and, frankly, I’d want to marry you if we had to build mud brick houses in the middle of the desert for a living.’
Still she hesitated. ‘But what about your business? Your travel? I know if you curb your passions you’ll end up unhappy, and I couldn’t bear for that to happen.’
‘Ava.’ He cupped her face in his hands. ‘You’re not listening—which isn’t all that surprising—but...’ He laughed as she took a playful swipe at him. ‘But you should know by now that I don’t do anything without working everything out in advance.’
