‘Because I was scared,’ she admitted. ‘I had doubts.’
‘Doubts about me, or doubts about being with me?’
‘I was scared that things would change. Scared that you’d compare me to Nadine and find me wanting.’ She looked anguished. ‘I always pick the wrong guy. It starts off well, I think it’s going to work—and then I find out that there are things he doesn’t like about me. Things he expects me to change. And you used to loathe me.’
Hope flooded through him. She didn’t have doubts about being with him; what she doubted was herself. Which meant she needed total honesty from him. ‘Yes, I used to loathe you. But that was before I knew you properly. I don’t loathe you now. And I don’t want to change you, Emmy. I don’t want to change a single thing.’ He drew her hand to his mouth and kissed it. ‘I’m sorry. I should’ve cancelled my meeting yesterday morning and talked to you, instead.’
‘You couldn’t. You were late, and it was important.’
‘I never thought I’d ever say this to anyone, but I don’t care if it was important. You’re more important to me than work,’ he said.
She stared at him, as if not quite daring to believe that he meant it.
‘I should’ve stayed with you. Better still, instead of telling you to go to sleep, the night before, I should’ve talked to you about what happened between us. Listened to you. Soothed your worries, and asked you to soothe mine. But I’m rubbish at the emotional stuff, so I bailed out on you. I thought it’d give me time to work out what to say.’
‘Did it?’
‘No,’ he admitted. ‘I still don’t know what to say. Or how to say it without it coming out all wrong. But...’ He took a deep breath. ‘My world doesn’t feel right without you in it.’ His heart was racing. Had he got this wrong? This could all implode, become so messy. But he owed it to their future to take that risk. ‘I love you, Emmy.’
Hope blossomed in her expression. ‘You love me?’
‘I don’t know when it happened. Or how. Or why. I just know I do. And Paris clinched it for me. I finally got why they call it the City of Light. Because you were there with me, and I was so happy.’ He took a deep breath. ‘It isn’t the same thing I felt with Nadine. You’re not safe, like I thought she was. I’m not entirely sure what makes you tick. I think we’re always going to have fights—you’re going to think I’m stuffy and I’m going to think you’re flaky. But that’s OK. We can agree to disagree. What I do know is that I love you. I want to be with you. And I want you, me and Tyler to be a proper family. Maybe we could have a little brother or sister for him. If you...’ He broke off. ‘Sorry. That’s too much pressure. I never expected to feel like this. I’ve made a mess of one marriage. I can’t guarantee I’ll get it right with you. But I’ll try. Believe me, I’ll try.’
She reached up and stroked his face. ‘Dylan. I’m rubbish at relationships, too. It scares me that everything’s going to go wrong.’
‘But maybe it won’t. Not if you want me the way I want you.’
‘I do.’
‘Are you sure?’ She’d already walked away from him.
‘I’ve worked you out, now. You’re a goalpost shifter,’ Emmy said. ‘You never think you’re good enough—and that’s not your fault, it’s because your mum’s as selfish as my dad and she made you feel you weren’t good enough. Except you are good enough. You are. You’ve got the biggest heart. And I...’ She swallowed hard. ‘I love you too, Dylan. So the answer’s yes. Yes, I want to make you, me and Dylan a forever family. Yes, if we’re blessed and when Ty’s a little bit older, it might be nice to have another baby.’ She smiled. ‘We might even have more of a clue what we’re doing as parents, the second time round.’
The trickle of hope became a flood. He dropped to one knee, not caring that the foreshore was rocky and slippery and wet. ‘Emmy Jacobs, I know I ought to wait for that piece of paper to come through before I ask you, but I can’t. I want the rest of my life to start right now. Will you marry me?’
She leaned down to kiss him. ‘Yes. We’ll still make mistakes, Dylan. Neither of us is perfect. But we’ll be in it together. We’ll talk it through and we’ll make it work.’
He got to his feet and kissed her lingeringly. ‘You’re right. And we don’t have to be perfect. We just have to be ourselves. Together. I love you, Emmy.’
‘I love you, too.’ Her phone rang, and she smiled at him. ‘I think that might be Syb. Our cue to go home.’
Home, Dylan thought. He was home at last. Because home was wherever Emmy was. ‘To our baby. Because he is ours, Emmy. Just as you’re mine.’
‘And you’re mine.’
He nodded. ‘For now and forever’.
* * * * *
Merline Lovelace
In this Duchess Diaries novel, USA TODAY bestselling author Merline Lovelace shows how revenge can be sweet when you have a royal (phony) fiancée.
When the glossy magazine where Lady Sarah St. Sebastian works as an editor names Devon Hunter one of the Ten Sexiest Single Men, he is besieged by embarrassing attention. The perfect revenge? Force Sarah to play his fiancée during a business trip to Paris. Because of a recent family indiscretion, Sarah must agree if she wants to protect the St. Sebastian name. But in the City of Lights, their fake engagement unexpectedly leads to real desire—and dangerous complications….
A career Air Force officer, MERLINE LOVELACE served at bases all over the world. When she hung up her uniform for the last time, she decided to try her hand at storytelling. Since then more than twelve million copies of her books had been published in over thirty countries. Check her website at www.merlinelovelace.com or friend Merline on Facebook for news and information about her latest releases.
To Susan and Monroe and Debbie and Scott and most especially, le beau Monsieur Al. Thanks for those magical days in Paris. Next time, I promise not to break a foot—or anything else!
Ah, the joys of having two such beautiful, loving granddaughters. And the worries! Eugenia, my joyful Eugenia, is like a playful kitten. She gets into such mischief but always seems to land on her feet. It’s Sarah I worry about. So quiet, so elegant and so determined to shoulder the burdens of our small family. She’s only two years older than her sister but has been Eugenia’s champion and protector since the day those darling girls came to live with me.
Now Sarah worries about me. I admit to a touch of arthritis and have one annoying bout of angina, but she insists on fussing over me like a mother hen. I’ve told her repeatedly I won’t have her putting her life on hold because of me, but she won’t listen. It’s time, I think, to take more direct action. I’m not quite certain at this point just what action, but something will come to me. It must.
From the diary of Charlotte,
Grand Duchess of Karlenburgh
Sarah heard the low buzz but didn’t pay any attention to it. She was on deadline and only had until noon to finish