More Than Perfect(64)
“You agreed to marry me because you love me.”
He made the statement with an absolute certainty that devastated her. She closed her eyes and allowed the words to wash over and through her. To fill her to overflowing. It took three tries to respond. “Yes, Lucius. I agreed to marry you because I love you, and for no other reason. I’ve loved you almost since I first came to work for you.”
“And I’ve been an ignorant ass almost since you first came to work for me.”
She smiled, her smile growing to a grin. “I won’t argue with that.”
“I’m sorry, Angie. I should have trusted you.”
“I did lie to you. And collude with Jett. But I hoped that someday you’d feel what I’ve felt all this time and realize what I’ve realized.”
“Which is?”
She cupped his face and feathered a kiss across his mouth. “Why, that I’m the perfect woman for you, Lucius Devlin.”
He reached into his pocket and removed the engagement ring she’d left behind. Taking her hand in his, he returned it to her finger where it belonged. Where it would remain forevermore. Where soon, he hoped, it would be joined by a wedding band. And then he kissed her, kissed her in a way that left her in no doubt that he loved her. Would always love her. That she was his, just as he was hers. At their feet, Mikey crowed in delight, putting his stamp of approval on the relationship.
When Lucius finally surfaced, he gazed down at her. The shadows were gone, the final barriers fallen. What remained, the love and certainty that solidified there, belonged to her and no one else. Well, except for their son, of course.
“You’re wrong, you know. You’re not the perfect woman for me,” Lucius informed her. “You are, and always will be, more than perfect.”
Epilogue
Lucius and Angie married as planned, taking their vows just as the sun set against the snowcapped peaks of the Olympic Mountains.
The bride looked like a princess in an ivory gown studded with Swarovski crystals over delicate undergarments held together with dainty bows the groom looked forward to untying later that evening. She also wore the bridal gift he’d surprised her with—a bracelet, earrings and necklace—and, of course, her engagement ring.
No one present doubted theirs was a love match. If the guests found it strange that the couple promised to love, honor and always be truthful with one another, they dismissed it as a mild and acceptable eccentricity of the very wealthy. Nor did they doubt how much the couple adored the baby the groom held in his arms throughout most of the ceremony, only relieved of his precious burden when the time came to kiss his bride.
And during that first kiss between husband and wife, the fire diamonds she wore seemed to capture the light of the fading sun, sending a blaze of fire shooting through the room, a magical flame filled with love’s promise.
Everyone in attendance agreed.
It was all…Utter Perfection.