‘Marry me, Miranda,’ Darius murmured a long time later as the two of them lay in each other’s arms on the sofa together.
Andy looked up at him with wide eyes. ‘You want to marry me?’
He gave a happy laugh. ‘Where did you think this conversation was going, Miranda?’ He pretended some of his old sternness.
‘I— Well, I—’
‘I trust you didn’t think I was going to let you take me down to your studio and ravish my body, and then just let you walk away when you’d used me all up?’
‘Ah.’ Andy felt the warmth of a blush enter her cheeks. ‘Regarding that ravishment...’
Darius saw the uncertainty in the green eyes that couldn’t quite meet his gaze, along with that telling blush to her cheeks. ‘Miranda, are you—? Is it possible that you’re—?’
‘Still a virgin? Yes.’ She buried her embarrassed face against his chest. ‘I was going to tell you, of course.’
‘Well, I should hope so!’
‘It’s just not the sort of thing you blurt out to a man who you think just wants—well, who just wants...’
‘I get the picture, Miranda,’ he drawled ruefully, totally thrown—enchanted—by the thought of his virgin bride. Except she hadn’t said yes to his marriage proposal yet...
Darius sat up to move down onto his knees on the carpet beside the sofa before taking both of her hands in his.
‘Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife, Miranda?’ he prompted seriously. ‘Will you marry me, and be with me, live with me for the rest of our lives, be the mother of our children?’
It was more, so much more, than Andy had ever dreamed of. That Darius loved her was miracle enough, that he wanted her to be his wife, to be with and live with him always, to have his children, was happiness beyond measure.
‘Oh, yes, Darius, of course I’ll marry you.’ Her eyes were blurred with tears of happiness as she launched herself into his arms, overbalancing him so that they both fell onto the carpet, followed by complete silence apart from their happy sighs and the wondrous murmurings of their love for each other.
‘IT’S ALL GOING to be fine, Darius.’ Kim reached out to firmly grasp his hands in hers as he peered tensely from the theatre box down onto the stage as they waited for Miranda to make her appearance as Odette. ‘I haven’t said this to you before, but your love and belief in Andy are what has made tonight possible,’ her sister added huskily. ‘And I will be forever grateful to you because of it.’
Darius and Kim had developed a friendship over the past three weeks, mainly because of the deep love they both felt for Miranda. The same deep love that had made Kim distrust him that first night at the restaurant, but which now gave the two of them, and Colin, a deep family bond.
It had been the happiest three weeks of Darius’s life, his love, and admiration and pride for Miranda growing stronger every day.
His love because somewhere in amongst the chaos the two of them had managed to organise a wedding for next month, and in just two weeks’ time he would finally claim his virgin bride.
Admiration because Miranda had found the courage to go with him to the police about Tia Bellamy. The other woman had vehemently denied Miranda’s accusation at first, but broken down and confessed when informed that several other people had come forward—with a little helpful nudge from Darius, after he had made his own investigation into the other woman’s behaviour—with reports of the other woman’s vindictiveness, to a degree that the ballet company had now suspended Tia’s contract while the investigation continued.
Miranda, as he had known she would, had remained strong throughout that ordeal.
And he was so proud of her for the way in which she had battled to overcome and conquer the years of not dancing, by pushing herself to the limit and beyond with hours and hours of punishing rehearsal in preparation for tonight’s performance.
Not just for herself, she had told him, but also for him. Because he had believed in her when she hadn’t.
Was it any wonder, knowing that he was the reason Miranda had found the courage and will to dance in public again, that he now felt so nervous he thought he might actually be physically ill?
‘Courage, mon brave.’ Xander placed a reassuring hand on Darius’s shoulder, nowhere near physically recovered, but having managed to hobble to the box in the theatre with the help of his crutches. ‘Andy is going to be amazing,’ he added with certainty.
All of Darius’s family, and Miranda’s, were sitting together in the family box: Xander, Kim and Colin, and his mother and Charles. Because they were a family now. All of them. Brought together by the deep love he and Miranda felt for each other.
If anything Darius was even more in love with her now than he had been three weeks ago.
‘Here we go,’ Xander murmured as the lights dimmed and the curtain began to rise.
* * *
Andy’s heart was beating wildly in her chest as the curtains lifted in front of where she stood poised in the centre of the stage, the opening bars of the music beginning to play softly, the audience falling expectantly silent.
Andy froze as she looked out at that sea of faces, her heart now pounding loudly, a buzzing in her ears, her stomach churning as she wondered if she was going to be able to do this, after all.
And then she looked up into the box, where she knew Darius was sitting with their families, a calm falling over her as she saw his love for her glowing in his face.
Love and pride.
The same love and pride Darius could see shining for him in Miranda’s expression before her shoulders straightened and she began to dance. For him. Only for him. She was a delicate white swan, flying nimble and free across the stage, every movement graceful and perfect.
His Miranda...
* * * * *
Read on for an extract from PLAYING BY THE GREEK’S RULES by Sarah Morgan.
CHAPTER ONE
LILY PULLED HER HAT down to shade her eyes from the burn of the hot Greek sun and took a large gulp from her water bottle. ‘Never again.’ She sat down on the parched, sunbaked earth and watched as her friend carefully brushed away dirt and soil from a small, carefully marked section of the trench. ‘If I ever, ever mention the word “love” to you, I want you to bury me somewhere in this archaeological site and never dig me up again.’
‘There is an underground burial chamber. I could dump you in there if you like.’
‘Great idea. Stick a sign in the ground. “Here lies Lily, who wasted years of her life studying the origin, evolution and behaviour of humans and still couldn’t understand men”.’ She gazed across the ruins of the ancient city of Aptera to the sea beyond. They were high on a plateau. Behind them, the jagged beauty of the White Mountains shimmered in the heat and in front lay the sparkling blue of the Sea of Crete. The beauty of it usually lifted her mood, but not today.
Brittany sat up and wiped her brow with her forearm. ‘Stop beating yourself up. The guy is a lying, cheating rat bastard.’ Reaching for her backpack, she glanced across the site to the group of men who were deep in conversation. ‘Fortunately for all of us he’s flying back to London tomorrow to his wife. And all I can say to that is, God help the woman.’
Lily covered her face