The Loving Gift

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘He told you he was coming back, and so he will,’ Penny told her firmly, leading the way up the wide staircase. ‘David is a man of his word.’

  The last was said a little defensively, Penny obviously wondering how she dared question David’s loyalty and trustworthiness. Not that Jade could blame her for feeling a little indignant; there was no comparison between the two men.

  It was a lovely, sunny-looking room, decorated in gold and creams, that Penny showed her into, explaining that she would have to share the bathroom with the two boys, their bedrooms just across the hallway. ‘They’ll be coming up to bed shortly,’ Penny dismissed. ‘They only stayed up to say hello to everyone. They’re getting so excited about Christmas now,’ she added affectionately.

  Jade had forgotten all about it! The day after tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she wasn’t prepared for it at all. By that time she would either have everything, or nothing, to celebrate…

  She was right about Wellington’s reaction to his new surroundings: he wasn’t at all impressed, although he curled up and went to sleep on the foot of the bed quite amiably once he realised they were staying put for the night.

  Jade lay awake in the darkness; she could hear the muted sounds of the party below, heard Penny putting the two boys to bed a little later, and then she was aware of nothing else, the exhaustion of the day taking its toll on her.

  She was dreaming of the eyes again, everywhere she looked, accusing eyes. And this time, hard as she searched, she couldn’t find that warmly caressing navy blue pair. She looked and looked, but as those navy blue depths remained elusive her panic began to grow.

  ‘Where are you?’ she muttered. ‘You have to be there. You have to be!’ she groaned. ‘Oh, David, David, where are you?’ she cried, still searching, searching.

  ‘I’m here. I am here,’ that comforting voice assured firmly as she continued to thrash about wildly.

  But she still couldn’t find him in that sea of eyes, moving restlessly, whimpering softly.

  ‘Jade! Darling, wake up,’ that voice prompted tensely. ‘Jade, you have to open your eyes.’

  She struggled through the layers of sleep, searching for that voice, but the accusing eyes wanted to hold her back, keep her down in the shadows with them. And she wasn’t going to stay, was determined to leave that behind, wanted to be out in the light. With David. And he was waiting for her out there, she knew he was.

  ‘Darling.’ She was shaken gently. ‘Open your eyes and look at me.’

  She trusted him, had faith in him, opening her eyes as he told her to. And there he was, so beautiful in the golden glow of the bedside lamp, the concerned frown leaving his brow as her face lit up with happiness at the sight of him, and she launched herself against him, her arms about his neck as she clung to him.

  ‘I don’t know how you come to be here,’ he spoke joyously into her hair, holding her just as tightly as she held him. ‘But I do know I never want to let you go. Oh, God, Jade, I love you. I love you so much!’

  She had known that, known it from the first. The words had never been spoken, but then they hadn’t needed to be—every glance, every touch, every gesture had been full of love.

  The kiss they shared was a rapturous delight, and Jade never wanted it to end. But of course it did, though not the warmth; that remained like a sunny day, bright and beautiful.

  ‘I love you,’ Jade told him ecstatically.

  Light blazed in his eyes. ‘I hoped as much when I walked into the room and found you waiting in my bed.’

  She blinked. ‘Your bed?’ she gasped. ‘But—Penny.’ She smiled tremulously at the other woman’s machinations.

  ‘Decided to give me an early Christmas present, did she?’ David lovingly smoothed her hair back from her face, touching her cheek gently. ‘I must remember to thank her,’ he mused.

  ‘We both must.’ Jade gazed up at him glowingly.

  ‘And to think I almost didn’t come back here at all tonight,’ he breathed softly. ‘As it was, I left it until after midnight to arrive; I didn’t feel in the mood for a party.’

  ‘Neither did I,’ she grimaced. ‘But Penny made very sure that the only people we would see tonight was each other.’

  David nodded. ‘This was the room she gave me for the duration of my stay. If you had looked in the wardrobe and drawers you would have seen that I had left some of my clothes in them.’

  She wished she had looked; at least knowing his things were there would have made her feel closer to him. ‘Who would have guessed Penny is a romantic?’ she teased.

  David smiled. ‘I’m just glad that she is.’ He spoke huskily.

  They kissed again, lingeringly, desire rising heatedly, neither able to stop touching the other in the wonder of their love.

  ‘What made you change your mind and come back?’

  Jade knew they had to talk, resting her head against David’s shoulder as she drew in a ragged breath. ‘Shadows,’ she explained dully. ‘David, there are some things about me that you don’t know—No, don’t let me go just yet.’ She clung to him as he would have moved back slightly so that he could look at her. ‘After we’ve talked, you may not want to hold me again,’ she told him tremulously.

  ‘That won’t happen,’ he assured her softly, firmly. ‘Not ever.’

  She swallowed hard. ‘Don’t be so sure.’ She quivered. ‘I—the man who escaped from prison a couple of days ago— That man, Peter Gifford, he—’

  ‘Darling,’ David cut in determinedly, ‘I can’t bear to see you putting yourself through this. Jade, I know who Peter Gifford is, and what he once was to you.’

  ‘You can’t!’ she gasped, shaking her head in fierce denial.

  ‘I do,’ David insisted gently. ‘Darling, I’m in publishing, and I take an active interest in all parts of it. Some of my best friends are newspaper magnates. But last of all,’ he added softly, ‘I know the Marshalls quite well.’

  ‘Oh, God,’ Jade choked, her face buried in her hands.

  ‘Love, I realised who you were after you reacted so strangely to a couple of what I thought were harmless comments, began to question myself as to why that could be after you became really panicked the couple of times we saw police cars, and finally came up with the answer.’

  ‘Then why did you continue to love me?’ she cried in distress. ‘How could you?’

  ‘Jade, you only have to be seen in the company of children for it to be obvious you couldn’t have been involved in hurting one the way Selina was,’ he told her firmly. ‘But I couldn’t tell you that I knew the truth, I was frightened that would drive you away from me altogether.’

  Jade looked up at him slowly, afraid to believe, and yet so desperately wanting to. The love she had always seen in his eyes for her hadn’t diminished in the slightest, still darkening his eyes to navy blue, clear and strong, unreserved.

  ‘I didn’t know Peter intended—I had no idea he—I never would have—’

  ‘Darling, I know that, whatever happened, you weren’t involved in it,’ David interrupted forcefully. ‘Just as I’m sure the police do; they just have to cover all their options, unfortunately. Darling, I’ll understand if you don’t want to talk about any of it,’ he reassured her gruffly. ‘But if you do want to tell me I’ll gladly listen—for your sake, not mine,’ he added firmly. ‘I don’t need any more reassurances.’

  And so Jade told him, every revealing, heartrending, foolish detail.

  ‘My poor darling,’ he rasped once she had finished, his arms tight about her. ‘Left with no one to turn to—’

  ‘Don’t pity me.’ She shook her head. ‘Selina was the one who was hurt.’

  ‘Yes, she was.’ David nodded, not even trying to dispute or gloss over that fact. ‘But the scarring you have is just as deep, if of a different kind. And to think I believed you must still be in love with the bastard, that you had returned to London in the belief that he would contact you and the two of you could go away together!’

&nb
sp; Jade gasped at that. ‘I hate him, blame myself for ever being taken in by him!’

  ‘Love can make fools of us all.’ David sighed heavily. ‘If I hadn’t been hurting so much at your rejection of me I might have realised that, far from looking forward to seeing Gifford again, you were actually frightened. Jade,’ he framed her face with gentle hands, ‘will you marry me, live with me, be my beautiful, beloved wife?’

  ‘But your friends? The Marshalls—’

  ‘My friends will all love you. And I’m sure the Marshalls never believed you were involved in Selina’s kidnapping. I remember them saying what a favourite you were with her, how she turned to you even more once she came back to school.’

  Yes, Selina had clung to her quite considerably once she had been returned to her parents and had come back to school a few weeks later, but that had only made Jade’s feelings of guilt all the deeper once she’d learnt the truth.

  She didn’t want David to suffer socially because he had married her.

  ‘Darling, don’t cross bridges before you come to them.’ He smoothed the frown from between her eyes. ‘And we’re going to pay your parents a visit and tell them of our engagement. Don’t be too hasty to judge them either, Jade,’ he told her firmly as she would have interrupted. ‘I think you were just too sensitive at the time, may have misjudged their reaction to what had happened. There could have been any number of reasons for their sudden lack of a social life, but the one that springs to mind the most is the fact that they may have wanted to devote all their time and love to you, to protecting you. The fact that they watched you only shows that they were concerned. Whatever, Jade, we will go and see them, there’s nothing to be lost by doing that. And if they care about you, as I believe they do, then they’re probably worried out of their minds about you.’

  Whether he was right or not, she knew she could face what had to come. With David at her side she could face anything.

  ‘In the meantime,’ he drawled softly, ‘at least I don’t have to wonder any more what will be in my bed Christmas morning; it will be you, and every other morning of our lives, too!’

  It sounded wonderful. Heaven.

  But just before she sank into his arms, another thought popped into her mind. ‘You still haven’t explained completely about Christi and Dizzy,’ she frowned.

  His soft chuckle, before his mouth claimed hers, was full of wickedly mischievous humour…

  * * *

  ‘Gently,’ David said sharply. ‘Careful of her head,’ he advised softly, for all the world as if Jade’s mother had never held a baby in her arms before.

  Jade shared a humorous smile at David’s expense with two of the women who had stood as godmothers to Lia Sara, Christi and Dizzy returning the smile as they all watched the indulgent father as he fussed over his three-month-old daughter.

  Lia Sara had been born exactly nine months to the day after Christmas Day, a tiny, red-haired, and now green-eyed, bundle of mischief, who her father had claimed was his last Christmas gift to Jade!

  Christmas Eve one year later had seemed an ideal day for their daughter’s christening, with Lia having four godmothers: Christi, Dizzy, Cathy and Penny, and four godfathers too: Lucas and Zach, Dominic and Simon.

  David had lost no time after their wonderful Christmas together the year before in introducing her to his friends Christi and Dizzy. That was when Jade had learnt that when he had called them friends that was exactly what he had meant, the other two women both the proud mothers of young babies, their husbands, Lucas and Zach, two of the most attractive men—David excluded, of course!—Jade had ever met.

  Lucas could seem a little daunting at first, unapproachable, until you saw the unashamed love in his eyes for his young wife, and then he became as humanly vulnerable and likeable as the rest of them.

  The other couple, Dizzy and Zach, on the surface, were the most ill-matched pair imaginable, Dizzy so bubbly and flamboyant, Zach a staid professor of history, obligatory pipe, tweed jacket and all! But beneath Dizzy’s outgoing nature was a sensitivity and vulnerability that her husband was completely attuned to. And the myth about Zach himself was completely shattered when David introduced him as Claudia Laurence, the author of all those passionate historical novels! No wonder David had been so amused when he promised to introduce Jade to ‘her’!

  In a very short time the other couples had become Jade’s close friends too, until Jade wondered how she could ever have doubted she would fit into David’s world.

  Guests of honour today at Lia’s christening were Jade’s own parents, to whom, through David’s help and understanding, she was now closer than ever. And the other guest of honour was Judy Maxwell. Sara’s mother had become an honorary ‘grandmother’ to little Lia, she and Jade having formed a warm understanding that they had both felt from their first introduction. Maybe Sara really did approve of the love Jade and David shared…

  Thank you, Sara, Jade offered up a silent prayer to the other woman on this day when all was so very right with her own world, knowing Sara wouldn’t begrudge her that happiness; rather, she would rejoice in it.

  Jade smiled tremulously as her gaze met David’s across the room, their love passing between them like an electric shock.

  Electrified satin, his eyes promised for later.

  And Jade knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she would always have David’s love. As he would always have hers. And that love would always keep the shadows at bay.

  * * * * *

  Now, read on for a tantalizing excerpt of USA TODAY bestselling author

  Jennie Lucas’ next book,

  THE HEIR THE PRINCE SECURES

  An exquisite encounter with a Sicilian leaves Tess alone, penniless and pregnant. Until Stefano returns, discovers his unknown heir, and reveals he’s royalty! Now to protect his tiny daughter, he’ll make Tess his Cinderella bride!

  Keep reading to get a glimpse of

  THE HEIR THE PRINCE SECURES

  CHAPTER ONE

  LOVE MEANT EVERYTHING to Tess Foster.

  NOT JUST LOVE. Romance. Pink roses. Castles and hearts.

  As a lonely teenager living in the attic of her aunt and uncle’s Brooklyn bakery, Tess tried to keep her romantic dreams secret. In a modern world of easy hookups and one-night stands, it was embarrassing, even shameful, to be an idealistic virgin waiting for true love. As other girls giggled over their first fumbling sexual experiences in the back seats of cars, Tess kept quiet and hoped no one would notice that she spent her own Saturday nights with dusty books in the library, dreaming of handsome princes.

  She’d known, even then, that when she finally gave herself to a man, it would only be to someone she truly loved. She’d wear white on her wedding day and lose her virginity on their honeymoon. She’d settle for nothing less than the fairy tale.

  Then, at twenty-four, she met Stefano.

  One moment, she’d been working as a waitress at a glamorous cocktail party hosted by a Spanish media mogul. Carrying a silver tray of champagne flutes through a crowd of movie stars and tycoons, Tess had been lost in thought, worrying whether she’d be able to afford another semester of design school.

  Then a handsome stranger’s dark, smoldering gaze had pierced her heart, making her lose her breath.

  That had been it. That one look from him had almost brought her to her knees.

  Because no one had ever looked at her like that. It was as if Tess, the hopeless, invisible wallflower, had suddenly become the most desirable, fascinating woman in all the world.

  And the man who was looking at her…

  Dark and sexy, he’d stood arrogantly apart, his perfectly cut tuxedo a mere veneer of civilization over his powerful, muscular body. His dark eyes had burned through her as he came toward her, moving with an almost feline grace.

  “Buonasera,” he’d said huskily.

  Tess had turned the silver tray toward him so fast the flutes nearly knocked over. Her voice had squeaked. “Champagne?”

  �
�No.” With a sensual smile, he’d glanced at the martini already in his hand. “I don’t want champagne.”

  “Something else, then?”

  His voice was husky, with the barest trace of an accent. “I want your name.”

  And that had been the start of the most spectacular night of Tess’s life. When she’d finished her shift at the party, he’d whisked her off in his chauffeured town car to an elegant, romantic dinner at the most exclusive restaurant in New York. Afterward, he’d suggested they go dancing. When she’d said she didn’t have a dress, he’d stopped at a designer boutique and bought her one that sparkled and swayed against her skin.

  She’d tried to resist, but she couldn’t. Not when he’d looked at her like that.

  Tess had danced in his arms for hours before he’d kissed her, leaving her intoxicated, breathless. He’d invited her to his suite at the luxurious Leighton Hotel. Looking into his dark, hungry eyes, she’d known only one answer.

  “Yes,” she’d whispered.

  In just one night, he’d ruthlessly taken her virginity. And more than that: he’d dazzled her lonely, romantic heart into loving him.

  But the next morning, waking up alone in the cold, gray dawn, she realized that she’d never even learned his full name.

  A few weeks later, she’d found out she was pregnant. Her uncle had been furious, her aunt disappointed in her.

  For the last fourteen months, even as Tess’s two best friends, Hallie Hatfield and Lola Price, had rolled their eyes, she’d stubbornly insisted that Stefano would someday return to claim her and their baby. After all, even if she didn’t know his last name, he knew hers. Stefano could find her anytime he wanted.

  If he hadn’t come yet, there had to be a good reason. Maybe he had amnesia, or his plane had crashed on a desert island. Those things happened, didn’t they? Tess imagined every reason she could think of, except for the obvious one. Her friends thought she was nuts.

  But Tess had to believe Stefano would return. Because, otherwise, she’d surrendered all her dreams for nothing. She’d given up her chance for a career, for marriage, for one love that would last her whole life—all for a one-night stand that had left her pregnant, abandoned and alone.