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She sprung up on tiptoe and flung her arms around his neck. ‘You know I do.’
He chuckled, his arms holding her as she dampened his shirt collar with happy tears.
‘I brought a nice bottle of Chablis with me, in the hope that I could persuade you to give me another chance,’ he murmured, his hot breath brushing her ear lobe. ‘How about I open it?’
She giggled, rejoicing in the feel of him swelling to life against her midriff. ‘Only if you promise to drink it naked.’
He laughed, then gripped her tight and lifted her off the ground.
Her delighted peals of mirth mingled with his husky chuckles as he spun her round, then lost his balance and tumbled them both onto the sofa.
The last of their laughter subsided as he brushed her hair back and framed her face. ‘I will if you will,’ he said, the tender promise shining in his eyes.
‘Oh, all right, then,’ she whispered, struggling to fake a frown. ‘If you insist.’
And, much to her everlasting joy, he did.
EPILOGUE
‘ARE you happy, Maddy?’
‘Can’t you tell, Cal?’ Maddy smiled at the sober concern in her brother Callum’s smoky green eyes as he held her loosely round the waist to swing her into a turn.
‘I’m not just happy. I’m blissfully, overwhelmingly and unbelievably happy.’
Or she would be once she got up the guts to tell Rye the news she’d kept buried inside since this morning.
As her brother danced her round under the bows of holly and mistletoe, the flicker of candlelight and torches illuminating Trewan Manor’s stately ballroom, she scanned the large gathering of friends who she and Rye had invited to witness their marriage vows that afternoon. Her heart caught in her throat for what felt like the fiftieth time that day when she caught sight of her new husband of two hours standing beside the dance floor, deep in conversation with his best man Phil and his friend Zack, who had travelled all the way from California with his family the day before.
Rye looked like a pagan Prince Charming, the careless waves of dark blond hair touching his collar, the silk tie he had worn for the ceremony now tucked into the back pocket of his suit trousers and the top buttons of his dress shirt undone to reveal the whorls of chest hair.
The insistent pulse of heat throbbed as she imagined undressing him the rest of the way in a few hours time.
‘He almost deserves you,’ her brother murmured in her ear. ‘So I guess I’ll have to live with the fact that he’s turned my smart, sensible little sister into a starry-eyed romantic.’
She tore her eyes away from Rye to find Cal studying her in that inscrutable way he had that always reminded her why he was one of the top barristers in the country.
Her cheeks flushed.
‘You really are happy, aren’t you,’ he said, but the familiar cynicism made his irises glint like emeralds.
Maddy’s smile faltered, a pang of regret piercing through the daze of euphoria—and unbridled lust. How could she and Cal have grown up witnessing the same misery and become such different people—with such different needs?
Yes, she had once been as suspicious as Cal about the existence of love.
But, despite that, she had always wanted to build a stable, secure relationship that would finally make her forget about the emotional roller coaster of their childhood. And what she’d eventually found with Rye had been so much more than that staid partnership she’d once craved.
What they had together was a miracle as wonderful as it was unexpected. After a year together, the life they shared was still an electrifying ride of passion and excitement, comfort and companionship.
Dividing their time between London and Cornwall and turning the dark empty rooms of Trewan Manor into the home it was always meant to be had given them the best of both worlds—not just the energy of the big city but also the gentler pace of rural life. And every so often, when they felt the need to take a time-out from everything, they’d turn off their mobile phones and lock themselves away in the cottage on the cliff path.
Her silk d
esign work had turned so swiftly from adored pastime to thriving business that her feet had yet to touch the ground. But Rye had been with her every step of the way, offering support and advice and encouragement, and even distraction when necessary. She grinned. The morning before her last show, he’d diligently seduced her into a puddle of lust to take her mind off the worst case of nerves known to woman.
She touched her hand to her midriff as the music slowed to a stop. Tonight, she and Rye would enter a new phase that would bring more daunting challenges. But, however stunned she’d been this morning, she knew they’d be facing this new challenge together.
‘Yes, I really am happy, Cal.’
