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, but I just thought that was him.”
“But he loves you.” Jenna grinned. “I’m glad, and relieved. I think he might just about deserve you, Jane. Just about.”
Jane looked at both of them. “The thing is, I don’t need days to know how I feel, and what I want.”
Thomas looked over the rim of his champagne, wiggling his eyebrows at Jenna. He turned back to Jane and shook his head slowly. “Then what the heck are you doing here with us, girl?”
She reached for her clutch. “You’re right. I’m sorry, guys. I’ve got to go.”
“Yeah, you do!” Jenna squealed, clapping her hands together.
“Do you hate me for rushing out like this?”
Jenna rolled her eyes. “This somewhat softens the blow,” she smiled, pointing towards the bottle of champagne. “Tell Carter we want him at the next dinner with us.”
Jane nodded, and blew a kiss at her friends, then walked as quickly as she could from the hotel. She had her head down, and wasn’t looking where she was going, so she bumped straight into the hard wall of Martins’s chest.
“Oh! I didn’t see you.”
His expression was bemused. “Apparently not.”
“I need to go to Carter’s.”
“Of course.” He opened the door to the jet black Bentley, allowing Jane room to slide into the leather interior.
The short drive to his apartment, her mind was swimming with questions of what to say and how to say it. But when he opened the door, and her eyes landed on him, she knew. She just knew.
Dressed in only a pair of low slung jeans, he was delicious from his bare feet to his muscular chest.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, a slightly perplexed expression on his handsome face.
“I don’t need days to know what I want, Carter.” She put her hands on her hips, wishing she’d stopped to eat dinner. A few sips of champagne had made her feel woozy. Or maybe it was the realisation that she was so close to getting everything she could ever want in life. “I love you. I don’t care if I have two dollars, or two million. For that matter, I don’t care if you are rich or poor, or obscenely rich, as the case may be. It’s you. I just want you. Forever after, I want this.”
His smile was slow to spread across his face. “You know, I hoped you might feel that way.” He tossed a look over his shoulder. “Stay here.”
She frowned, but waited outside his apartment, for the minute or so he was gone. When he returned, it was with a small burgundy box. Jane lifted her hands to her mouth as she exclaimed under her breath.
Carter knelt before her, his smile glued to his face. “Jane Morrison, will you do me the honor of agreeing to be my wife?”
She nodded. “Yes! A million times, yes!”
He slid the ring onto her ring finger and stood, pulling her to him. His lips crushed against hers, imprinting on her with love and gratitude. “You are everything I have ever dreamed of. How did I ever think my life was full before I met you?”
She shook her head. “I know. I can’t imagine a day without you now, Carter. You are everything I have ever wanted in this life.”
He laced his fingers through hers, lifting her hand to his lips and placing a kiss against them. He wanted to take her inside and make love to her like he intended to do for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, it was not possible. “Oh, Jane. I should warn you. We have company.”
She furrowed her brow but allowed him to pull her gently into his apartment. Karina sat, cross-legged, on the floor of the lounge, an iPad on her lap. On the sofa, was a man she hadn’t yet met. Similar in coloring to Carter, but different in looks.
“Eliot? Karina? I’d like to introduce you to the future Mrs. Carter Mann-Hughes.”
Jane smiled at them shyly, then looked at Carter. “I really do like the sound of that.”
EPILOGUE
“Almost there,” he said with a laugh in his voice. “Watch yourself, there’s a small step here.”
Jane bit down on her lip, gripping his hand as he guided her blindfolded form further along a path and over a small rise. She shivered as a blast of icy wind hit her, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Where the heck are we?” She asked impatiently, earning a smile from Carter.
