He was too close.
Help!
If she said yes, all her problems would be solved. It would be so easy to throw herself into his arms and accept his proposal. She’d be able to live with her daughter; she’d have Nick at her side, her partner by day, her lover by night.
It was too tempting.
Fear that he’d talk her into a marriage she wanted so badly made her say, “You’re only doing this because my mother said I needed to be taken care of.”
He took her hand.
“Not true.” Nick tugged her toward him. “I’ve already asked you to marry me once, so I certainly didn’t need Catherine to come up with the idea.”
She let him draw her closer, inch by breathtaking inch. “I hadn’t forgotten. But last time you asked me for Jennie’s sake…because you love your daughter.”
“Clearly I’ve been doing it all wrong.” Nick had maneuvered her right next to him, now he bent his head and kissed her. Her lips parted. But instead of deepening the kiss, he murmured, “What I should have been saying was that you need to marry me for my sake.”
Candace was too scared to breathe. “What do you mean?”
Then he kissed her. This time it was deep and dark and sexy, none of the light butterfly wings that he’d been tormenting her with for the past few seconds.
When he’d finished, he raised his head and his eyes met hers. “Haven’t you figured it out yet?”
His expression was gentle, and Candace could feel her throat tightening with emotion.
But she didn’t dare hope…so she waited.
“I love you.”
It felt like her birthday and Christmas had come at the same time. Candace closed her eyes and offered a prayer of thanks.
When she opened them again, he was still gazing down at her, his expression quizzical. “If you marry me, we would be a family. You, me and Jennie. Then there’s Catherine and my sister and her family.” He smiled at her. “That’s more family than I ever dreamed of having.”
“Oh, Nick. I love you, too.”
“So you will marry me?” Uncertainty flickered in his eyes, and then it was gone. “I’m not going to allow you to say no again.”
“I have no intention of saying no.” Candace found herself smiling. “All those noes…it sounds ridiculous. So I’ll just have to say yes.”
He punched the air. “Yes!”
That made Candace burst out laughing, but she stopped abruptly as he kissed her again. Her arms crept up around his neck, and she leaned into him.
“Let’s go to bed.” Nick’s heart was thudding against her chest.
She pulled away and gave him a demure smile. “Why not?”
Rising swiftly, Nick helped her to her feet. Then, arm in arm, they made their way to his suite.
This time they made love with slow intensity. Every touch counted. Every kiss brought a burst of new emotion. By the time Nick finally pulled her over him and they united, both of them were ready for the hot glow that waited. The heat built and built until the world spun.
Afterward, Nick pulled her into his arms, and pressed a kiss on her forehead. “That was fantastic.”
“I’d have to agree,” she said.
“One more thing.” Nick shifted the pillows before leaning back, and arranging her into the crook of his arm. “There’s a house that’s come up for sale that I want to show you.”
She turned her head, and looked up at him. “Oh, good, does this mean you’re going to sell the marble mausoleum?” A weight she didn’t know existed lifted.
“Mausoleum?” he sounded affronted.
“It’s not a home,” said Candace. “It’s too cold.”
“Cold? The heating system is spectacular.”
“I don’t mean the temperature—it doesn’t have a heart.”
Nick gave her a secret smile. “Wait until you see what I have to show you. I think you’ll want to call it home.”
“You might have to consider trading the Ferrari in for a family model,” Candace told Nick as he throttled the Ferrari back and slowed down. They’d left Jennie with Alison and her sons while Nick took her to see the secret house he’d been so tantalizingly closemouthed about.
A Realtor’s For Sale sign leaned drunkenly against a large pohutukawa tree.
“Is this it?” she asked.
Nick swung the sports car into an overgrown tree-lined driveway. “It’s a jungle in here,” he commented. “Let’s see what state the house is in.”
Puzzled, Candace turned her head to look at him, and her heart constricted at the sight of his beloved profile. He would forever have this effect on her. She must be the most fortunate woman in the world. She pulled her thoughts together and tried to remember what she’d wanted to ask. It came to her. “I thought you’d already seen the house.”