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‘You don’t have to save me, Luke. I can save myself. Just like Cora under that waterfall.’
‘I know,’ he said, even getting the movie reference. For once.
She dropped her head. Examined the puddle forming at his feet.
‘I could get your suit dry cleaned, before you go?’
She was giving him an easy out. But he could hear the courage and the strength it was taking her to make the offer sound casual. When he knew it was anything but.
And it was the only thing he needed to finally break the seal on all of his insecurities. And step up to the plate.
His mother was right. Love was a gift, and he’d be nuts not to grab it with both hands – simply because he was too scared he might not be up to the job.
Taking her arms, he dragged her towards him, dampening her T-shirt and making her eyes pop wide.
‘Fuck the suit,’ he said.
And then he kissed her, like he meant it. Deeper than Babs and Bob, more desperate than Jake and Heath, curiouser than Judy, and even more selfish than Hugh the asshat, because he’d finally found his own Cora under her waterfall. But he’d be damned if he was ever going to let her go.
Epilogue
Three hours later.
‘I spoke to Gwen. I figured I could relocate to London, leave her in charge of the New York office, buy that house in Chepstow Villas, seeing as you’ll need a new place to live …’
‘But Luke, are you sure?’ Ruby asked, leaning up on her elbow, the sight of the man she loved lying casually in her bed making her heart race into her throat. Surely the choking sensation would eventually ease once she got used to the wonder of everything that had happened in the last three hours?
They’d gone straight to her flat, and after striping Luke out of his wet suit they’d made love – fast and furious at first, as if their lives depended on making up for the six lost days, and then slow and languid. Her body was still humming from the orgasms, but more than that, her heart was humming as if he’d somehow plugged her into an electric socket charged with happiness.
The only problem was all the happy hormones and humming heartbeats – not to mention the sight of his naked chest and those dark blue eyes searching her face so full of sincerity – were making it next to impossible to have a coherent conversation about practical considerations. Such as their future plans.
But Luke being Luke, he was insisting on having that conversation now.
She loved how he needed to have order in his life. But right now she loved his left nipple a bit more. And she was finding it super hard not to give into the urge to kiss it.
‘Of course I’m sure,’ he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her back against his side so she couldn’t give in to her nipple fixation.
‘But we don’t need to stay in London,’ she said, yawning, as she snuggled against his chest. Was there anything more glorious than having him in her bed and knowing he wanted to stay?
‘You relocating to London seems pretty extreme,’ she added.
‘Not really,’ he said, his fingers playing with her hair in that absent way he had that made her feel so cherished. ‘I’m doing a lot of business in Europe. It kind of makes sense for me to open an office this side of the Atlantic.’
‘But I won’t be tied to the city, anymore,’ she offered. ‘Not after I sign the sale agreement with Rialto tomorrow.’
He tensed, and she knew he was having to bite his tongue to stop the offer to save The Royale coming out of his mouth again. But she was proud of him when he asked instead. ‘Do you have to sign the deal tomorrow? There might be a way to find other financing so you can keep the theatre.’
‘Financing that isn’t yours?’ she asked, just to be clear that they’d had this argument already and she’d won.
She tilted her head up, and the joy exploded in her heart when he nodded. ‘I still think you should accept my help. But yeah, financing that isn’t mine.’
She smiled and pressed a kiss into his left pec. ‘I don’t know if I can hold them off,’ she said, honestly, pushing away the pang of regret. ‘Gallagher has agreed to keep all my staff on and he wants to redevelop the site for a big relaunch in December.’
‘But if we could find other investment, you’d want to keep The Royale?’
She swallowed, the emotion making her eyes sting at the passionate intensity in his gaze. Luke didn’t do things by halves, and she was his responsibility now, whether she wanted to be or not. And she realized she did want to be. As long as they both knew that didn’t come with strings attached.
So she nodded. ‘Yes, I’d want to keep it.’
