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‘Yes, I do. Tell me now if you don’t feel—’
‘I love you too, Alex.’ Now wasn’t the time to listen to him work his way through any of the other options. ‘I always have.’
He leaned forward, stretching out his hand. Reaching for her across the chasm that divided them.
‘I’ve always loved you too, Marie. I couldn’t put the past behind me, and that broke us apart. But I want to make this work and I’ll do anything to be the man you want. I’ll stick by you always, whatever happens.’
Marie reached for him, putting her hand in his. ‘And I’ll never give in to you. You’ll never make me into someone that I’m not.’
He grinned suddenly. ‘I know. I shouldn’t have underestimated you.’
She could feel herself trembling. All she had to do was give herself to him, and it was the only thing she wanted to do. She and Alex could do anything they wanted...
‘I only want you, Alex. Just as you are.’
The urgency of her need to be close to him took him by surprise. Marie bolted across the top of the coffee table and fell into his arms, kissing him. He caught his breath and then kissed her back with the same hunger that she felt.
‘Just as I am? Crown and all?’ His lips curved into a delicious smile. ‘You’re sure about that, now?’
‘I’m sure.’
When he kissed her again, it all seemed wonderfully simple.
* * *
It was the best day of Alex’s life. They were both finally free.
Marie had reached for the book he’d been labouring over for the past couple of weeks, pulling it onto her lap, but they hadn’t been able to stop kissing each other. It had slipped unnoticed to the floor when he lifted her up to carry her to her bedroom. She’d practically torn off his clothes, and he’d been just as eager. If this was what commitment was like, then he was its new biggest fan.
‘What do you want to do? Apart from spending the rest of your life with me...?’ he asked. Marie had told him that already, and he’d voiced his own pledge. He belonged to her, and he always would.
‘Mmm...’ She stretched in his arms. ‘I want to shower with you and then look at my book.’
Her book. It was her book now. His memories, his life, were all hers.
Alex loved it that Marie found it important enough to choose a bright summer dress from her wardrobe and apply a little make-up, just to look at it. It gave it a sense of occasion.
She laid the book on the small dining table at one end of her sitting room, along with a couple of photograph albums from her own shelves. Then she sat down, opening the first page of the book.
‘Oh! I think you might just be the cutest baby I’ve ever seen!’ Marie reached forward, flipping over the cover of one of her own albums. ‘That’s me.’
‘So you were born adorable, then...?’
It took hours to go through everything. But it felt as if they were slowly taking possession of each other. As if Marie was saving him, and he could save her.
‘Are you hungry?’ By the time they finished it was late in the afternoon.
She nodded. ‘Why don’t we go out somewhere and eat? Anywhere. Then we could go to the seaside.’
‘We’ll drive down to the coast and find somewhere to stay for the night.’ Alex grinned. Just the two of them. No baggage, just his car keys and his credit card, and maybe a change of clothes. ‘There’s something I want to do first, though.’
He went to fetch the velvet-covered box from his briefcase, putting it in front of her on the table. She recognised it immediately, and raised her eyebrows quizzically.
‘I didn’t tell you all you should know about this.’
He opened the box and the large diamond glinted in the sunshine that filtered through the window.
‘Go on.’
