by Helen Lacey
Your boyfriend’s here.
She scowled again and pressed buttons like a crazy person.
He’s not my boyfriend!
Evan’s next response was quicker.
Sure looks like it from here.
She stared at the text, ignored his teasing and then replied.
What’s going on in there? What’s happening?
It took the longest thirty seconds of her life for her brother to respond.
He’s talking to Dad. Sounds serious.
Robin’s breath caught in her throat. Amersen was talking with her father and it sounded serious? It didn’t make sense. What would he possibly have to say to her dad?
What are they talking about?
Her brother responded within seconds.
You, I’m guessing.
She wanted to race up to the house and demand to know what was going on. Except that a minute later she saw the back door of her parents’ house open and then spotted Amersen striding in her direction.
* * *
By the time Amersen had trudged back to Robin’s door, she was standing on the porch, looking hopping mad. He still had the flowers in his hand and the stupidest grin on his face.
“Are you out of your mind?” she demanded when he reached the bottom step.
He looked up and shrugged. “Peut-être...possibly.”
She clamped her hands to her hips. “Did you actually just talk to my father about me?”
He glanced back toward the main house, saw her brother, mother and father standing by the back door and then smiled. “News travels fast around here.”
She scowled. “What did you say to him?”
“I asked for his permission to marry you.”
Robin’s heart almost stopped. “What?”
He shrugged loosely. “It seemed like the right thing to do. To show that I...that I respect you and your family. And to show you that you have changed me.”
Her head reeled. “You’re insane. Give me one good reason why I should marry you.”
“Because it’s Christmas soon, and it will be the worst one of my life if you say no. But, mostly, because you love me?” he suggested hopefully, placing one foot on the bottom step. “Or because I love you.”
She looked like she wanted to throw something at him. “Love me? You love me now? You didn’t appear to love me this afternoon when you said we hardly knew one another.”
“I was angry,” he said quickly. “I said something stupid and insensitive and I am sorry.”
She still didn’t look convinced. “But you were right. We don’t know one another very well. And now, out of the blue, you turn up on my doorstep and start talking about marriage? It’s...it’s...crazy thinking.”
“I’m crazy for you, Robin,” he admitted and came up the steps and pushed the flowers into her hands. “That is all I know.” He reached into his pocket and was about to get down on his knee when she grabbed his arm and kept him upright, obviously conscious that her parents and brother were still watching them from across the yard.
“Oh, no,” she said and dropped the flowers on the love seat by the door. “I don’t want any more gifts from you. Particularly one that goes right here,” she said and held up her left hand.
Amersen’s insides crumpled. “You are refusing me?”
“I’m saying that—”
“You are all that I want,” he admitted, feeling her getting further and further out of his reach. It hadn’t occurred to him that she might refuse his proposal, and then he realized how arrogant that made him sound. The thing was, he was pretty sure she loved him. No—he was certain that she did. “Do you not love me?”
She dropped her hand and stepped back. “That’s not the point.”
“Then explain, please?”
She pointed to the flowers and to his pocket. “The point is, flowers and diamonds are not who I am. The fact you keep giving them to me shows you don’t know me at all.”
“Then tell me,” he implored. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want you to know me,” she said and held a hand to her chest. “I want you to know me deeply, in here. I want you to know what I like, what I fear, what I dream about. And I want to know you. Not the image you portray to the world—sexy and charming and brash—but everything else. Like what you dream about, what name you want to give the first child you have, what makes you happy and what makes you cry. The real you,” she said, her voice breaking, and he saw the tears in her eyes. “That’s what I want.”
Amersen wanted to hold her so much his arms actually shook. What she was asking for was something he’d never given to anyone before. And it terrified him.
“I...I...I’ve never...”
“I know,” she said when his words trailed off. “That’s why it’s so important. Without it, we can’t be anything.”
He backed up slowly and headed down the stairs, striding toward his car. When he reached the vehicle, he saw Robin on the porch, shaking her head slightly before she retreated inside. He grabbed a few things from the car and then headed back to the house. This time he didn’t knock. He walked straight inside. It was time to take what he wanted.
She was in the living room, seated on the chintz chair by the fireplace. The room was exactly as he’d remembered. Pure Robin. The lights on the Christmas tree already sparkled. The glass slippers he’d gifted her were still on the mantel, alongside the snow globe. She didn’t want gifts. She wanted him.
Every ounce of love he had in his heart felt like it was suddenly on his sleeve.
But she still looked skeptical.
“I know you wear purple because it was your grandmother’s favorite color,” he said quietly. “You never talk about her, but I know she was important to you because there are several photographs of her in your parents’ home, with you at her side. She used to make hats for you, purple ones, and you are wearing one in the picture above the fireplace. I know that being outside in a garden makes you happy and feeds your soul. I know that you want to visit many cities around the world but have not been able to afford to. I know that you want to find a relationship as loving as the one your parents have. I know that the cowboy you used to date made you feel as though you were lacking in some way. But be assured, ma chérie, you are not.” His gaze never left hers, and he saw the tears glittering brightly in her eyes. “I know that you say chocolate is your favorite food, and you actually like mint-flavored chocolate the most. I know that you feel free and alive when you are out riding your horse. I know that one day you hope to have a home with a garden so big you could spend all day walking around the grounds. I know you are kind and considerate and have sweetness etched into the deepest parts of your soul. It is why I have fallen in love with you.”
She was crying, and he longed to haul her against him. But he wasn’t done. He pulled a few items from the bag in his hand and placed them on the coffee table.
“This is my inhaler,” he explained, his throat tight. “When I was a child, I spent much time in the hospital, and after many rounds of medication the doctors recommended I start swimming, which I did, and the health of my lungs improved. You’ve seen me use it, and I admit I felt a little uncomfortable...” His words trailed off and he swallowed hard. “No, that is not right. The truth is, I felt vulnerable...and that is something I am not used to feeling with anyone. I don’t like feeling that way with anyone. But with you...it is different. I don’t mind it as much. I feel safer.”
Robin wiped another tear away as Amersen continued. “And that,” he said, pointing to a dog-eared little book, “is my English/French dictionary that my father gave me many years ago, when I was still in school. I take it everywhere with me because sometimes I forget the right word when I am speaking English, even though I have an app on my phone that will do the same thing. And this,”
he said, motioning toward a battered leather key ring, “is the first thing I bought when I made my first paycheck when I was sixteen. And if I am ever fortunate enough to be blessed with children, I would like to call our first daughter Sarah.”
She didn’t blink at the way he said our. But he couldn’t deny what was in his heart. He hoped one day to be a father—to share a child with Robin. He hoped he would be as good a parent as his own. He also hoped he could earn her love and keep it for all the days of his life.
“I know I have many flaws. I know I do not always play by the rules. But I always trust my instincts.” He took a breath—long and hard and shuddering. “And my instincts are telling me that this is right...that I am exactly where I want to be. You asked me what I dream. That is simple, ma chérie, my dreams...my dreams are all about you.”
He finished speaking and swallowed the heavy lump of emotion in his throat. She hadn’t moved. But tears were streaming down her face. Amersen blinked and realized he had tears in his own eyes, and he stepped forward, aching all over, his hands trembling. He knew what she wanted—he knew she would never settle for half measures with him. With them. She wanted all that he was, every fault, every fear, every vulnerability that he’d always carried like a burden, determined to be a better man than his biological father.
He held out his hands toward her. “My hands are full with money and ambition and fame...but without you, Robin, they are empty. You asked what makes me cry. That is easy to answer—imagining my life without you in it.”
He waited as she got to her feet. Waited as she took a couple of steps toward him. Waited as she wiped the tears from her cheeks and then pressed her thumb to the corner of his eye, feeling the moisture there. Then she pulled back and spoke, arms folded, eyes wide. “Are you quite finished?”
“Yes,” he said, his voice raw. “I have nothing else.”
“Then stop talking and kiss me.”
There was invitation in her expression, and he needed no other encouragement. Within seconds she was in his arms and he found her lips with his own, quickly losing all coherent thought as he kissed her beautiful mouth. He thrust his tongue inside, groaning as she pushed against him.
“Do not toy with me, Robin,” he said raggedly against her lips. “Tell me what I want to hear. Please.”
But she didn’t respond with words. She grabbed his head and anchored him to her, kissing him with a kind of hunger that undid him. He returned each kiss, touching her through her clothes, which suddenly wasn’t enough. Her hands were on his chest, his shoulders, and she was tugging at his jacket. He quickly ditched the jacket and her impatient fingers began unbuttoning his shirt and pulled it from his waistband. And they kissed—long and deep, drugging kisses that were hot and wet and fueled by the hours since they’d last touched. Amersen ran his hands down her back and settled on her hips for a moment before he grasped the edge of her sweatshirt and pulled it up. Within seconds the rest of their clothes were gone, landing in places around the room, and they were on the rug in front of the Christmas tree, naked, chest to breast, legs entwined, mouths fused together as their kisses got hotter and deeper.
And finally he was inside her, staring down into her beautiful face. She had never looked more lovely than she did in that moment. “Je t’aime, ma chère,” he whispered against her mouth and then translated. “I love you, my darling.”
She sighed and wrapped her legs around him, holding him close. “I love you, too. So very much.”
Amersen’s heart almost exploded in his chest. “Thank you,” he said and buried his face in her neck, moving inside her, feeling her tremble and shake beneath him. In that moment, nothing else existed—just Robin, just her legs and her arms and her sweet mouth. Just the sensuous, loving delirium that rocked him through to the core. The dim memory of other faces, other bodies, faded, and in his heart and soul there was now only her. Just this one woman he loved so much. “Thank you for loving me in return.”
She gripped him hard, and they came apart together. It was more than pleasure, more than sheer release, more than anything he’d experienced before. It was as though they had risen up and found the moon, the stars, the sun and every other planet in the universe.
When they returned to earth, he didn’t move. He couldn’t. His legs were heavy, and his arms were going numb. But he didn’t care. He just wanted to hold her for eternity.
“You know,” she said softly, kissing his shoulder. “We have to move at some point.”
“I cannot bear the thought of being apart from you.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she assured him. “But I am a little cold right now.”
She had a point. By now it was dark outside, and they’d neglected to start a fire. But he didn’t want to ruin the mood by worrying about a fire.
He moved and sat up, grabbing a blanket from the back of the sofa and wrapping it around his shoulders, before he settled himself against the wall and then cradled her in his lap, her back pressed against his chest. “So, you never did answer the question.”
She turned her head, resting her cheek against his collarbone. “Actually, I don’t think you asked. More like demanded.”
He knew she was teasing, and any other time he would have played along, but not having an answer was killing him. “Marry me? Please?”
She grabbed his hand and linked their fingers intimately, smiling audaciously. “So...where’s my ring?”
He grinned. “In my jacket.”
“Where’s your jacket?”
Amersen pointed across the room. “Over there.”
She giggled and stretched, grabbing a fire poker while trying to keep the blanket over her nakedness. Then she used the poker to fish for his jacket and dragged it along the carpet, laughing delightedly.
“You know,” he said after several attempts, “it would probably be easier to walk over there and get it.”
“But nowhere near as much fun.”
“True,” he said and trailed a series of kisses across her nape. “But try not to put a hole in my jacket, okay, ma chérie?”
She laughed, clearly finding him hilarious. “You are such a slave to fashion, city boy. I suppose I also need to get used to your handsome face being plastered on every billboard in Texas once Amersen Noir is launched,” she said as she tossed the jacket at his face and then laughed again.
Amersen growled playfully and then extracted the small velvet box from the pocket. He held it in front of her and waited. It took about two seconds for Robin to take the box and flip the lid.
“Oh.” She sighed. “It’s beautiful. Simply perfect.”
The purple amethyst, set in platinum, was surrounded by a series of flawless diamonds—as soon as he’d spotted the ring, he knew it was the one for Robin. The delight in her expression was all the confirmation he needed on that score.
“Does that mean you’ll wear it?” he asked hopefully.
She held the ring between two fingers and looked at him. “How long have you had it?”
“About three hours,” he replied. “Ben helped me choose it.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Ben?”
He grinned ruefully. “My...half brother.”
Her blue eyes widened dramatically, and she turned in his arms. “What? You saw him?”
“Saw him,” he said. “Met him. Talked with him. And I talked to Gerald.”
Her expression softened. “And how did it go?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Better than I had imagined. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but it was...okay.”
She reached up and touched his jaw, pressing her palm lovingly. “I’m so proud of you.”
Heat pricked his eyes again, and he laughed at himself, wondering when he’d become such an emotional fool. “So, are you going to marry me?”
She looked deeply int
o his eyes, and a lovely smile curled her mouth. “Yes, I am.”
* * *
Robin could barely contain the happiness that was surging through her heart. The beautiful ring was now in place on her finger, and Amersen was kissing her with such sensual expertise she was deliriously breathless and happy.
“When?” he demanded against her mouth.
She considered a sensible approach. “We’ll have a two-year engagement.”
He shook his head. “No...impossible. Too long.”
“Twelve months,” she amended, threading her fingers through his hair. “I’m not going to be rushed, and you’re not going to always get your own way with me. You have a lot going on and we need time to get to know one another. Twelve months,” she said again. “No compromise.”
He half smiled. “Okay. Unless you get pregnant,” he said, his eyes smoldering. “And since we just made love without protection, those particular cards may be on the table.”
Pregnant?
She was dizzy thinking about having Amersen’s baby. And she wanted it. Maybe not yet, but one day.
“Tell me what happened with Gerald,” she prompted, curious and eager to shift the subject a little.
He sighed heavily. “I knew I had to face him...otherwise I would never have been able to get on with being who I am. In my heart, I am Luc Beaudin’s son, but I also know I cannot ignore everything else. I can’t pretend that the Fortunes don’t exist...particularly since I am going into business with some of them. And you know, perhaps that’s why this deal appealed to me,” he admitted quietly. “Perhaps, in some way, this is how I take small steps toward them. All I know is that I had to take ownership of whose blood is in my veins. Before I could offer you anything, I needed to face that part of myself.”
She looked at him solemnly, loving him with every part of her heart and soul. “So, do you forgive me for the whole thing with Olivia?”
“Do I forgive you for interfering in my life and making me face my demons?” He touched her chin gently. “Yes. Do you forgive me for hurting you and making you feel as though you...we...didn’t matter to me?”