The Earl's Snow-Kissed Proposal

by Nina Milne

  ‘For what?’

  ‘For being you. And for showing me something precious.’

  His voice was serious, yet with an overtone of warm chocolate that shivered over her skin. ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘You showed me the power of unconditional love. I thought everything in life was a barter, an agreement. You don’t live your life like that. Your love for Cathy is and always has been without condition. From the minute she was conceived through to now. My parents don’t work like that. We—Kaitlin, Cora, and me—we have always had to earn their approval. You are always there for Cathy, to help and support her regardless. You were there for me without any request for yourself. You went the extra mile at the fair—even bought champagne and cooked to celebrate its success. You gave up your own Christmas for Cathy’s safety, but without martyrdom. Instead you made Christmas special for me, gave me a stocking.’

  ‘You made Christmas special for me as well,’ Etta pointed out.

  Gabe shook his head. ‘As part of a deal.’

  ‘No.’ Etta shook her head. ‘There was no need to order pancakes, or set me up for a lifetime of self-defence. There was no reporter there to record those things. You didn’t have to try and convince me to face up to Tommy, to trust Cathy. You’re a good man, Gabe. I know that.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Gabe hauled in a breath and gestured to the snow globe that she still held clasped in her hands. ‘There’s a compartment at the bottom. Open it.’

  Etta did so and her mouth formed an O of disbelief as she saw the contents—an exquisitely delicate, multi-faceted diamond solitaire ring shone up at her. Her whole body stilled...her heart skipped a beat, somersaulted, and then pounded her ribcage as she tried to think.

  Gabe stepped forward and picked up the ring. ‘Etta. Will you marry me?’

  ‘I...I...’

  Yes, her brain screamed, just say yes. But she couldn’t—not until she knew he was sure.

  ‘But...I’m not suitable duchess material. I have nothing to offer on that score. And I don’t want a marriage alliance based on what we bring to the table.’

  Gabe visibly winced, then lifted one of her hands and held it against his chest. She felt the pounding of his heartbeat against her palm.

  ‘I love you, Etta. With all my heart. That’s what I am bringing to the table. All I have to offer is my love. All I want is the chance to try and win yours. I love everything about you. Your generosity, your loyalty and your beauty, your courage. I love it that you’re funny and that you love traditions and spout facts and embrace routine. And, most important, when you’re not with me I feel like there’s a piece of me missing.’

  Etta’s head whirled at the sincerity on his face, at the genuine timbre of his deep voice, at the way his gaze held hers, blue-grey eyes alight with a flare she knew was the real McCoy.

  ‘I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. No one else. I know you need independence, but I can eat cereal in my PJs whenever you want. I also know that I need and I want to get to know Cathy better, and if you give me a smidgeon of hope I know I can make you love me.’

  For heaven’s sake, say something, Etta.

  But emotions tied her tongue—sheer happiness jostled with a need to reassure him, to... ‘Gabe, I love you more than I can possibly tell you.’

  ‘You do?’

  ‘I do.’ She stepped forward, straight into his arms, and the feeling was so right her heart ached with happiness. ‘I should have told you in Vienna but I panicked. I thought loving you would make me lose control and perspective, but it didn’t. You helped me...showed me things about myself I didn’t know. You made me believe in myself, trust in myself. You’ve shown me that love can be a wonderful thing, that we can be partners, make decisions together as a team. No one has to be in control.’

  ‘So you’ll marry me?’

  ‘Yes. With all my heart.’

  As he pulled her into his arms her head whirled with sheer joy.

  ‘I love you, Etta, with my heart, body, mind, and soul.’

  And as he slipped the ring onto her finger Etta knew that this was the best merger she could have ever made—an alliance based on love.

  EPILOGUE

  ETTA LOOKED AT her assortment of bridesmaids, all standing in the beautiful churchyard. The spring day was chilly but bright, and the sun glinted down from the cloudless sky.

  ‘You all look stunning.’

  The words were the absolute truth. Steph, Kaitlin, Cora, Cathy, and Martha all wore simple floaty chiffon dresses, short at the front and long at the back. Their outfits were fun yet elegant. Each was in a different shade—Cora in bold red, Kaitlin in teal-green, whilst Steph had opted for navy blue, and Cathy and Martha had decided on burnt orange and lemony yellow.

  ‘Not as gorgeous as you, Mum,’ Cathy said. ‘But we do all look pretty fabulous. This wedding is going to rock.’

  ‘Yes, it is,’ Cora said. ‘And, truly, you look beyond beautiful.’

  For an instant nerves ricocheted through Etta even as she reminded herself of her joy in her dress—traditional ivory tulle with crystallised lace and gorgeous satin buttons and a chapel-length train. In a moment she would step forward into the historic church, which was bedecked with gloriosa and hyacinths and filled to the brim with aristocracy, celebrities, and royalty. All there to watch Etta Mason get married.

  The realisation chased away her nerves. Because the press coverage, the many people she didn’t know, the fact that she was on show, even the dress—none of it mattered. All that mattered was the fact that she would be walking down the aisle to Gabe, the man she loved with all her heart.

  And there were some people who did matter in there. Such as her sister, Rosa, and her adoptive parents, to whom she had sent an invitation and who had agreed to attend. It was a first step, and Etta hoped it was a step towards reconciliation. Matteas Coleridge was also in attendance, in his new position as future heir. Because Gabe had decided not to step aside; he wanted to fulfil his role as Duke, not because of the kudos of dukedom but because he genuinely loved the manor and the Derwent lands.

  Etta respected that, and she would stand by his side and support and help him as he would support and help her. As for children—that was something they would work out as they went along...the rights and wrongs of adoption...but Etta knew with bone-deep certainty that they would work it out together.

  She took a deep breath and nodded at the women who surrounded her, and then she commenced her walk down the aisle. She had decided that she didn’t want anyone to give her away. She was giving herself to Gabe, with a heart full of love and happiness. As she walked towards him and saw his awe-filled smile, his blue-grey eyes full of love, she looked forward to their future with joyful anticipation.

  * * * * *

  EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT

  Crown Prince Armando enlists Rosa Lamberti to find him a suitable wife—but could a stolen kiss under the mistletoe lead to an unexpected Christmas wedding?

  Read on for a sneak preview of

  WINTER WEDDING FOR THE PRINCE

  by Barbara Wallace

  “Have you ever looked at an unfocused telescope only to turn the knob and make everything sharp and clear?” Armando asked.

  Rosa nodded.

  “That is what it was like for me, a few minutes ago. One moment I had all these sensations I couldn’t explain swirling inside me, then the next everything made sense. They were my soul coming back to life.”

  “I don’t know what to think,” she said.

  “Then don’t think,” he replied. “Just go with your heart.”

  He made it sound easy. Just go with your heart. But what if your heart was frightened and confused? For all his talk of coming to life, he was essentially in the same place as before, unable or unwilling to give her a true emotional commitment.

  On the o
ther hand, her feelings wanted to override her common sense, so maybe they were even. As she watched him close the gap between them, she felt her heartbeat quicken to match her breath.

  “You do know that we’re under the mistletoe yet again, don’t you?”

  The sprig of berries had quite a knack for timing, didn’t it? Anticipation ran down her spine ceasing what little hold common sense still had. Armando was going kiss her and she was going to let him. She wanted to lose herself in his arms. Believe for a moment that his heart felt more than simple desire.

  This time, when he wrapped his arm around her waist, she slid against him willingly, aligning her hips against his with a smile.

  “Appears to be our fate,” she whispered. “Mistletoe, that is.”

  “You’ll get no complaints from me.” She could hear her heart beating in her ears as his head dipped toward hers. “Merry Christmas, Rosa.”

  “Mer…” His kiss swallowed the rest of her wish. Rosa didn’t care if she spoke another word again. She’d waited her whole life to be kissed like this. Fully and deeply, with a need she felt all the way down to her toes.

  They were both breathless when the moment ended. With their foreheads resting against each other, she felt Armando smile against her lips. “Merry Christmas,” he whispered again.

  Don’t miss

  WINTER WEDDING FOR THE PRINCE by Barbara Wallace

  Available December 2016

  PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY

  www.millsandboon.co.uk

  Copyright ©2016 by Barbara Wallace

  ISBN: 978-1-474-04187-4

  THE EARL’S SNOW-KISSED PROPOSAL

  © 2016 Nina Milne

  Published in Great Britain 2016

  by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

  All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

  By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

  ® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

  www.millsandboon.co.uk