She was it.
‘This is so nice,’ Elena said at that moment, as if sensing his confusing thoughts. And his body, as if confused itself, responding by putting an arm around Elena’s shoulders.
He froze. Until she rested her entire body against him. Then he melted.
It was like the hug from the night before. Warm and comfortable. Except there was more now. She was looking up at him, smiling, and he felt himself stumble. Whatever part of him had been standing steady in the face of the onslaught that Elena was unknowingly waging against him broke down. Whatever sanity he had left that told him not to indulge his ridiculous idea fled.
The proposal spilled out of his mouth.
‘Marry me.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ELENA DIDN’T HAVE a moment to process before the clouds of celebration broke above her and it began to rain.
‘A proposal!’ the gondolier cried. He shouted in Italian to another gondolier close by. ‘A proposal!’ he said again.
‘Oh, no,’ Elena started to say, shaking her head, but the man had stopped steering.
He reached out to take Micah’s hand, then grabbed both of Elena’s and kissed them. When he saw she had no ring, he clapped, shouting about spontaneity and romance in Italian to his colleagues. There were two women who squealed happily, and another who wished them well quietly. All the while, Elena couldn’t say a word. Micah replied to them weakly, accepting the congratulations as more gondolas drew near.
By the time they reached land again, Elena had regained her composure. She smiled her thanks and waved at the women who’d squealed earlier. She let Micah help her out of the boat and even managed a smile for him. Their gondolier was still looking at them with pride, and she allowed him to hug her.
When they were walking away from all the commotion, Elena felt herself deflate. She almost stumbled down a set of stairs, but a steady arm snaked around her waist. It seared through her clothing, and, despite the drama he’d caused in the last hour, reminded her they had something.
But that didn’t mean she wanted to marry him. She was still working through the situation with her father and Jameson. How was she supposed to marry Micah with that going on? And what had provoked his proposal in the first place? They had spent a lovely day together, yes, but a day didn’t make a marriage.
Or was it the more that could make their marriage? She’d felt connected to him from the moment they’d met, after all. She’d been comparing her relationship with Jameson to him ever since then. Oh, no. This...this thing he’d done was making her lose her mind. She didn’t appreciate it. Not one bit.
Micah had the wisdom not to try to talk to her until they were back at the hotel. Wordlessly, he followed her to her room. She stepped back to allow him inside, then closed the door and leaned her back against it. Neither of them spoke for a long while.
‘What just happened?’ she asked eventually.
‘I... I proposed.’
He looked as stunned as she felt.
‘Yes, you did. I suppose that question was too vague, then. Why did you propose?’
‘I don’t know.’ He looked at her. Ran a hand over his head. ‘No—I do know.’
She waited for the rest.
He sighed. ‘I wanted to save you from marrying someone you didn’t know.’
He seemed genuine. And his motives were...she didn’t want to say pure, because that had implications she didn’t want to think about. He was well intentioned.
Still.
‘You can’t just propose to someone, Micah.’
‘I know.’
‘I mean, it’s one thing if we were dating and this was a surprise. In which case, a proposal on a gondola would be appropriate.’ Perfect, actually. Because if she removed the fact that he’d put her on the spot, and that they weren’t dating, she would have been thrilled with the proposal. ‘But obviously this isn’t a romantic proposal. It’s a business proposal.’
He didn’t answer for a beat. ‘It’s another option. From a...’ he hesitated ‘...a friend.’
Friends. That description didn’t seem right to her. It seemed inadequate. But at the same time, she’d rather he call her a friend than try to figure out what other label fit.
‘I don’t know what to say, Micah. We’ve only known one another for days. We spent a solid portion of that time not speaking.’
‘But when we spoke, it meant something, didn’t it?’ he asked quietly. ‘And days might not be long, but it’s longer than what you’ve spent with the man your father wants you to marry. Isn’t it?’ he prodded when she didn’t reply.
She nodded. Not only to his question, but to the rest of what he said. She knew him better than she knew Jameson. She trusted him more than she trusted Jameson. Which wasn’t saying much, considering how little she trusted Jameson. Relief rippled through her. She quickly realised it was because the notion of trusting Micah...was nerve-racking. Thinking that she didn’t trust him that much felt safer than thinking that she did. After what he’d done to her, the games he’d played, she was right to be cautious.
But he’d also apologised for doing that. He’d had a sincere motive, which she, of all people, could understand. He’d tried to earn back her trust. Told her the truth about his parents and cancelled all his plans to spend the last few days in Italy with her. She felt comforted in his arms; she felt alive in his arms.
But did that mean he was a safer choice than marrying Jameson?
‘Why marry you?’ she asked, a little desperately. ‘Shouldn’t I just say no to my father?’
He walked over to her refrigerator and took another bottle of water. He downed it as quickly as he had the bottle the day before.
‘According to my understanding, if you say no to your father, you’ll be punished,’ he said long after he finished drinking. ‘You’ll lose a job that’s important to you. I assume that puts you in a difficult position with your financial responsibilities. And you obviously won’t be offered help from your father. Not that you’d accept it.’
She angled her head, accepting all his presuppositions.
‘I can keep you from losing your job.’
She blinked. ‘How?’
He gave her a wry smile. ‘The same way I got you to do this story on me.’
‘You can...you can really do that?’
‘I can.’
‘No,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘My father is powerful. He has connections. Friends. He’ll buy the paper if he has to.’
‘I’ll buy the company that owns the paper,’ Micah said patiently. ‘I can arrange for it before we go home.’
‘Wh—why?’
‘If you’re my wife, I’ll do anything I have to in order to protect you.’
And he had the power to, she realised. He could fight her father on his level. He could beat him. She would never have to do anything her father bid her to do again if she had Micah protecting her.
It removed the fear of her losing her job and security from the equation of the Jameson situation. But what about the rest? She paced the floor, silently thanking Micah for giving her a moment to think. The media would go wild for a marriage between her and Micah. She was an heiress; he was a self-made millionaire. And they got married after she was assigned to write a story about him? It was a romance novel in real life, and the press would portray it as such. The focus from the tragedy at the John diamond mine would shift, and the John image would be elevated.
Her father would love it.
As for the business... Her father would love that, too, if she was honest. He would love to hitch his wagon to Micah’s star. Micah was a fresh, young businessperson who would invigorate John Diamond Company’s image—and potentially the business itself—and make Cliff John look like a visionary.
Had Micah thought about that, too?
‘What’s in this for you?
’
‘Beyond helping a friend?’ She narrowed her eyes. He smiled. ‘Fine. I can’t deny the business advantages our partnership will have.’
‘You mean a partnership with my father.’
No, I mean our partnership. You were magnificent at the banquet, Elena. Your presence there is part of the reason Lucca and the rest of the Vittoria board are looking forward to working with me.’
‘You could have achieved that without me.’
‘I would have mangled my speech, annoyed people with my bluntness, and had them whispering about me learning humility if it wasn’t for you.’ The ends of his mouth tilted up. ‘You make me look good. You make my business look good. Advantages.’
Stunned, she swallowed. ‘This has...nothing to do with my father?’
‘I’ve been planning to pitch to him for years,’ he said, smile disappearing. ‘That won’t change if we marry. It can’t.’ His eyes pleaded with her to understand.
She did. Even if it stung a little.
‘Of course.’
‘I can make sure whatever business we do together doesn’t affect you in any way.’ He moved closer to her, but didn’t touch her. ‘I can protect you from him.’
‘Can you stop me from wanting his love, too? No,’ she said quickly. ‘That was unfair. I’m sorry.’ Her legs were shaking, so she sat down on the bed. ‘This is a lot to think about.’
He came to sit next to her. ‘I know. And I’ll give you as long as you need. As long as is feasible, considering your father wants to announce your engagement to another man in a matter of days.’
She nodded, but didn’t speak.
‘I’ll give you every assurance you need to feel safe,’ he said softly. ‘Not in the form of promises, but in a contract. We can stipulate everything legally. If I do anything to break that contract, you can take me to the cleaners.’
Her lips curved. ‘I don’t want your money.’
‘I know. It’s part of the reason I want to marry you.’
‘Worried about gold-diggers?’
He gave a surprised laugh. ‘No. I was thinking that your reasons for marrying me are nobler than money.’ He paused. ‘But come to think of it, it would be nice not to worry about gold-diggers.’
She snorted, but her mind was already wandering. Past all the business stuff, past her father, both of which they agreed on. It settled on the more dangerous things. The emotions that sat in a tight little ball in her chest marked with Micah’s name. If that ball ever unfurled, it would cause untold damage. It was more likely to unfurl if they were married. As would the physical attraction she had for him. That ball sat much lower, felt like fire whenever he touched her, and begged her to touch him.
‘You joke now,’ she said, desperate to get away from the thoughts that made her heart pound, ‘but what if you want a real relationship one day? What if you fall in love with someone and—what?’ she asked at his smile.
‘I barely managed to keep this friendship alive, Elena. I have no hopes that I’ll be able to keep a flirtation alive, let alone a real relationship.’
‘If you speak with them the way you’ve spoken with me—’
‘Let me rephrase,’ he interrupted. ‘I don’t want to flirt, or date, or marry. For real, I mean.’ His smile was wry now. ‘It’s too much time and effort. I won’t be missing out on anything by marrying you. But if you feel like you will be—’
‘I don’t.’ She sighed. ‘I just want to focus on work and—’ She stopped herself. ‘Children. What about children?’
He frowned. ‘Never thought about them.’
‘But do you want them?’ she pressed.
‘Do you?’ he countered.
She shook her head vehemently. ‘If I have my parents’ genes in me, it would be better for both me and the non-existent child if we didn’t cross paths.’
‘You would be a great mother.’
‘We’ll never find out,’ she told him.
‘Agreed.’
‘So easily?’
‘I’ve never thought about them, and you don’t want them. Seems pretty easy to me.’
She studied him. ‘You’re being pretty cool about this. Too cool, for someone who’s about to be married.’
‘You haven’t said yes yet.’
She almost said it then, but thought better of it.
‘I need time to think.’
To figure out if saving myself from this situation I’m in with Jameson is worth risking you hurting me some day.
‘You have as long as you need.’ He stood. ‘Just remember this.’
She looked at him. ‘What?’
‘There could be worse things than being married to someone who respects you. Who you respect. Hopefully,’ he added.
‘I do,’ she said softly. And knew he was right.
* * *
Micah called his lawyers immediately after he left Elena’s room. He paid them a lot of money for the privilege of their advice, though he did feel bad about the hour. Not bad enough not to call them. He wanted to be ready if Elena agreed to his proposal. And he had a feeling she would. Which meant he might be married soon.
He should have been worried. Anxious. Something along those lines. He shouldn’t be feeling...whatever he was feeling now. A hum, a buzz inside him. As if he’d consumed a swarm of bees and they were making their way through his body. He wouldn’t call the feeling excitement. More anticipation.
He couldn’t deny the advantages to marrying Elena. Everything he told her was true. She was the perfect business spouse; her linguistic skills were more helpful than he could have imagined; it would make a potential business partnership with her father easier. But he hadn’t only been thinking about business when he proposed. He’d been caught by her. In the way the sun glinted off her hair. The smell of the salt of the canal and the perfume on her skin. When she was tucked into his side, he felt fortified. He felt whole. An illusion, he knew. No one could make him whole besides himself.
But that was it. Elena made him feel as though he could make himself whole. He hadn’t even known the version of himself when he was with her existed, to be frank. He laughed, relaxed. His brain turned off, not constantly calculating or devising his next steps. It was different from how he’d been in the thirty-two years of his life and he liked it. He liked who he was with her.
And that should have worried him. That there was more than business involved in his decision to propose. That he was considering marriage at all when it hadn’t appealed to him in the past. His parents hadn’t married, so he didn’t have anything to—or not to—emulate. And the people around him who were married treated the institution cavalierly. Adultery and disrespect were as much a part of marriage for his peers as their spouses were. Micah had no doubts, considering what his research revealed about the man, that Elena’s would-be fiancé would follow that custom if they did marry.
It highlighted another alarming reason for his proposal: he wanted to protect her. From her father, who seemed callous and uncaring of the woman Elena was. From the man her father wanted her to marry, who would likely find ways to erase Elena’s personality. He couldn’t bear the thought of it. She was too vibrant, too vital.
Marriage might not have appealed to him, but being in Elena’s presence did. Being in a partnership where they could treat one another as equals and respect each other for who they were? He could get on board with marriage for that.
Why did he just become aware of a slight trepidation kicking with every beat of his heart?
He went to the bar and took out a tiny bottle of brandy. He poured half of it into a glass and drank it, then poured the other half into it and added ice. He took the glass to the sliding doors, and opened them to Venice.
Laughter and music from some far-off place drifted up to him. He couldn’t see much, but he could hear the water of the canal. It lapped ag
ainst buildings, lightly, so that the sound was barely more than a whisper. The light breeze was likely the cause of it, but as it touched his face Micah couldn’t fault it. The balcony he stood on was small, about five steps away from his hotel room, but it was enough to house two small chairs. He settled into one, and tried to figure out that trepidation.
Downsides. There had to be a downside to marrying Elena. Everything had downsides. There would be legal complications that came with being married, wouldn’t there? But he had a team of competent lawyers and both he and Elena would stipulate the terms of the agreement. That didn’t seem so much of a downside as it was admin. He could handle admin.
Children. He had never thought about them. To him, that said enough. Children deserved parents who wanted them. At the very least, parents who thought about wanting them. He had no desire to repeat the mistakes of his parents. Elena didn’t want children either. That solved the problem easily, if making prospects for the physical part of their relationship less exciting.
Well. That posed a problem he didn’t think could be easily solved. He couldn’t see himself dating if he was married to Elena. Not only because the thought made him slightly nauseous for reasons he’d rather not examine, but because no woman had appealed to him the way Elena did. He had no interest in discovering if someone in the future could appeal to him in that way. It complicated sating his physical needs. But could the same be said for Elena?
If she wanted to go outside their marriage, he would have to respect it. He didn’t own her; he didn’t believe marriage or any relationship would change that. But he didn’t want her to go outside their marriage. He wanted her to turn to him if she needed...that.
And that was a downside that made things a hell of a lot harder for the both of them.
CHAPTER TWELVE
‘DO YOU UNPACK your belongings when you’re staying at a hotel, or do you keep things in your luggage?’
Elena thought it was a strange morning greeting from a man who had just proposed to her, but she answered. ‘I keep most things in my luggage. Generally my toiletries go in the bathroom and I have to pack those up. Good morning, by the way.’ She slid into the booth opposite Micah. ‘Did you sleep well?’
Marrying His Runaway Heiress Page 9