“And you do the same.”
He turned and walked away. She stood there for a minute, thinking. He was even a flirt like those Westmorelands before they’d married. And the man even had that Westmoreland sexy walk. How crazy was that?
“Jillian?” She turned when she heard Aidan call her name.
“I thought you were going to wait for me on the steps,” he said when he reached her.
“I did but then I thought I saw Riley and—”
“Riley? Trust me, Riley would not be in Rome, especially not with Alpha expecting their baby any day now.”
“I know, but this guy looked so much like Riley that I raced after him. He could have been Riley’s twin. I apologized for my mistake and he was nice about it. He was an American, here on business. Said his name was Garth Outlaw. And he really did favor Riley.”
Aidan frowned. “Outlaw?”
“Yes.”
“Um, that’s interesting. The last time we had our family meeting about the investigation Rico is handling, I think he said something about tracing a branch of the Westmoreland roots to a family who goes by the last name of Outlaw.”
“Really?”
“That’s what I recall, but Dillon would know for sure. I’ll mention it to him when we return home. That information might help Rico,” Aidan said as they walked back toward the Spanish Steps.
Rico Claiborne, a private investigator, was married to Aidan’s sister Megan. Jillian was aware that Rico’s PI firm had been investigating the connection of four women to Aidan’s great-grandfather, Raphel Westmoreland. It had been discovered during a genealogy search that before marrying Aidan’s great-grandmother Gemma, Raphel had been connected to four other women who’d been listed as former wives. Rico’s investigation had confirmed that Raphel hadn’t married any of the women, but that one of them had given birth to a son that Raphel had never known about. Evidently, Jillian thought, at some point Rico had traced that son to the Outlaw family.
“Ready to head back to the ship?” Aidan asked, interrupting her thoughts.
She glanced back at her watch. “Yes, it’s getting kind of late. You can join me and the book-club ladies when we go shopping tomorrow if you’d like.”
He shook his head. “No thanks. Although it’s a beautiful city, I’ve seen enough of Rome for now. But I will bring you back.”
She lifted a brow. “You will?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“For our honeymoon. I hope.” Aidan then got down on one knee and took her hand in his. “I love you, Jillian. Will you marry me?”
Jillian stared at him in shock. It was only when he tugged at her hand did she notice the ring he’d placed there. Her eyes widened. “Oh, my God!” Never had she seen anything so beautiful.
“Well?” Aidan asked, grinning. “People are standing around. We’ve gotten their attention. Are you going to embarrass me or what?”
She saw that people had stopped to stare. They had heard his proposal and, like Aidan, they were waiting for her answer. She could not believe that here in the beautiful city of Rome, on the Spanish Steps, Aidan had asked her to marry him. She would remember this day for as long as she lived.